The 6 Hours of Brady's

I wasn’t planning to race this weekend.  I figured it would be better to recover over the weekend by doing long training rides after competing at the Cohutta 100 last weekend and having the Wildcat 100 on the race schedule for next weekend. But, the 6 Hours of Brady’s was just too hard to resist doing with a great course design of single track trails, being close to home, and also having a very nice payout to all of the solo classes.  So, I decided to skip my rest weekend and do the six hour race instead of resting.

 

I signed-up for the masters class because the payout for all the solo categories was the same and I was hoping I would not have to go super hard at this race, so I could save some gas in the tank for the Wildcat 100.  I also had a major landscaping project planned at my new home for Saturday that I knew would kick my butt.  And, kick my butt it did!  I ended-up spending 14 hours in my yard on Saturday planting 17 shrubs and shoveling 4 ton of river rock.  My arms and back were spent after doing all of this and I wondered how I was going to feel at the race the next day.

 

I woke-up at 5:00AM to prepare for the race on Sunday.  While drinking my first morning cup of coffee, I noticed my arms were still pretty spent from all the shoveling I did on Saturday.  I came up with what I thought was a bright idea during my next cup of coffee and decided to build-up my geared bike real quick for the race instead of using my normal single speed machine.  First, I tried moving my suspension fork to my geared bike, but it didn’t work because the steer tube was about 1/8” too short.  Fortunately, everything else built-up pretty quickly and the thought of racing with gears for the day seemed like it would make my day much easier than using a SS bike.

 

With nothing packed for the race and the extra time I spent preparing my geared bike for the day, I ended-up leaving home about thirty minutes later than I had initially planned.  Additionally, I forgot to take into account that my new home was an extra 15 minutes away from the race venue I have been to a number of times over the years.  Needless to say, I wound up arriving for the race a little late, like 20 minutes before the start.  I like feeling prepared for races, but I was certainly not feeling this way when I arrived at this race so late.

 

The start was fast, kind of like an XC race start.  As a matter of fact, the whole race kind of felt like an XC race.  This may have been because the mostly single track course did not give riders much of a break, or because there was always somebody to “race” against with all the duo class riders on the course too.  I rode in the first group for the first lap and most of the second lap.  Eventually, I decided this was not wise when I remembered about trying to save some steam for next weekend and also knowing I had a comfortable lead over any chasing master racers.

 

Initially, I found my geared bike to be just the ticket needed to help me deal with my sore, overworked body.  But, as the race approached the 3 hour mark, I noticed my arms were feeling really beat up from riding the course with a rigid fork and I was starting to not enjoy the whole shifting thing.  Luckily, my SS bike was waiting in the transition area and I decided to switch over to it for the last three hours of the race.  I immediately noticed a difference on my SS bike and my lap times came back down again. 

 

The next three hours of racing was pretty much uneventful and I pretty much just rode at a fast training pace.  My legs never felt real good at Brady's.  I'm not sure if this was from doing Cohutta and a hard week of training afterwards, or from the all the work I did landscaping on Saturday.  It was probably a combination of the two.  I do know that I was happy about deciding to race with guys my own age at Brady's because I certainly would not have been competitive in any other category with the way my body was feeling at the end of this race.  I did hold on to my lead to take the masters win, but was pretty much completely spent after the race.

 

I can't end this blog without saying a big thank you to Chris Miceli and all the riders from Beaver Valley Velo that made the 6 Hours of Brady's race one of the best endurance races I've done.  The course was in great shape, well marked and everything about the event seemed to be organized very well.  I may have beat myself up pretty good this weekend, but I'm glad I made the decision to do this race and will certainly be doing it again in the future.

 

Happy Trails...  Gerry

 

Thanks to Mike Briggs for the photo!

The Cohutta 100: I wore rain pants!

I woke-up at 4:15AM for the Cohutta 100 this past Saturday Morning.  When I looked at the weather app on my phone, it was showing a current temperture of 49 degrees and I could hear the rain beating down on the tin roof above me.  Doing an off-road race in weather like this is never a lot of fun, not to mention doing one that is a 100 miles long. The other racers staying at the cabin with me were already talking about not starting the race.  I wasn't thinking these thoughts exactly, but I knew the day was going to be a long, painful one on the bike and I wasn't too excited about doing it.

At the starting area, I got my gear ready and saw a pair of rain pants in my bag that I use for warming-up at cyclocross races on cold, wet days.  I've never thought about racing in these pants for a cross race, nevermind a mtb race; however, knowing I would be in wet fifty degree weather for more than 8 hours made the thought of wearing these pants seem like a good one.  I wasn't even sure if these pants would hold up for 100 miles of non-stop riding in muddy conditions, but I decided to give them a go anyway.  In addition to wearing my rain pants, I also wore a long sleeve base layer, my Team CF racing jersey and a Team CF warm-up jacket in an attempt to keep my core body temperature as warm as I could for what I knew would be miserable racing conditions.

I was a little reluctant to race with all these clothes, but figured I could stop and remove them at a check point if the temperature warmed-up.  But, after the first couple hours of racing, I was certainly having no thoughts of removing any of my extra layers and was actually very happy with my last minute racing attire choice.  As a matter of fact, there were periods of time when I was feeling a little cold even with all the clothes I was wearing.  I saw other racers on the course wearing only shorts and a short sleeve jersey and I wondered how they were dealing with the cold, uncomfortable conditions.

Interestingly, my clothing choice didn't seem to be slowing me down too much.  I was able to attach myself to the rear of the lead group going into the initial single track section and stayed with the majority of them until the trails came out on fireroads about 15 miles later.  Things were blowing apart in the large field of racers and by the end of the first trail section, I was with only one other geared rider and sitting in about eighth place overall.  During this time, I did not see any other singlespeed riders and things were looking good for me with 25 miles of the 100 miles being completed.

Many of the Cohutta fireroad ascents on the course have sections where a rider can look down on the switchback turns below to see if anyone is chasing.  On one of these climbs, I saw another singlespeed racer, Mike Montalbano, chasing hard and judging from his pace I knew it wouldn't be long until he caught me.  When he did catch me, just prior to checkpoint 3 at about mile 36, I knew it was time to start riding hard again.

We arrived at the checkpoint together, but I was able to leave a little quicker than Mike.  He was soon back on my wheel, however, and it wasn't long before he was able to ride away from me.  This occurred at about the same place where Harlan Price rode away from me at 2010 edition of the Cohutta 100 and I started to have unpleasant flashbacks of that race.  Mike was climbing well and definitely riding harder than my legs were willing at this point in the race.  I was comfortable with my pace, though, and could still see Mike riding up the road about 30 seconds in front of me, so I continued my steady pace.  After less than fifteen minutes of riding behind Mike, I started closing the gap between us.  Eventually, I caught Mike and we ended-up chatting and riding together for about five miles. 

During our friendly ride together, I never forgot about the race we were doing and I decided to throw a little attack to see what response I would get.  Mike didn't seem to be too interested in chasing me when I looked back, so I stayed on the gas to increase the gap between us. Shortly after getting clear from Mike, there was a super long descent down to the race turn around point.  Even with all the clothing I was wearing, my body was still getting cold and I wondered how riders wearing just shorts on their legs would feel.  I like being warm and seem to ride better when my leg muscles are not cold.  I'm sure my race time would have been much slower if I wore less clothing and I also think my choice of clothing was one reason I seemed to be riding well in the nasty conditions.

I spent the last half of the race riding alone.  I knew Mike would be chasing hard, at least this is what I imagined in my head, so I never let up on my pace until crossing the finishing line.  For some reason, my body felt very good during the second part of the race and thankfully my bike cooperated with my high level of physical output.  By the end of the race, I was able to finish in the first singlespeed spot and in sixth place overall.  Needless to say, my body and bike were completely covered in mud at the end of the race, but I felt alright because of the warmth and protection my rain pants provided.

Happy Trails, Gerry

Greenbriar AMBC Race

Well, April has been a whirlwind for me.  After doing the Tuscarora Endurance Race at the beginning of the month, I finally closed on my newly purchased house and was off the bike for 1.5 weeks.  Not riding my bike for that long was killing me and I wondered how bad my fitness would be after taking so much time off the bike.  In addition to not riding much, I also missed two races I pre-registered to do: the Amish Roubaix and the MASS Michaux Endurance Race.  But, there really was no choice in the matter with so much to do at home.  So, with my lack of riding and preparation, I registered to do Greenbriar for a chance to qualify for USAC MTB XC Nationals.  I'm not even sure I'll be doing XC Nats, but I figured qualifying for them needed to be done just in case.

I like racing at Greenbriar.  The course has a good mix of technical and fast trails.  I've always done well on this course, but my lack of training had me concerned about how I would do at this showing.  Overall, the course was in pretty good shape on race day.  The final descent was a little sloppy, but it almost always is.

When the race started, I figured it would be wise to get the hole shot and stay in the lead for as long as I could.  This always seems to work for me and gives me a chance to figure out who the fast riders are.  I was able to enter the trailhead in the lead.  I stayed on the gas for the first lap and seemed to be feeling alright.  By the second lap, I had a pretty nice gap on my closest SS competitor and decided to ride a bit more conservatively.  The next two laps went smoothly and I ended up with an unexpected victory for the day, about two minutes up on second place.

It felt good to be racing again and I'm happy that my fitness didn't seem to be effected too much from my riding hiatus.  Well, I guess I'll need to give Nationals a little more thought now, since I'm qualified to do them.  Now I just need to decided on whether I should do my 45-49 age class or SS.  Maybe the races will be scheduled on different days and I'll be able to do both!

Next up is the Cohutta 100 this coming weekend.  I'm sure it will be a much tougher race than the 21 mile XC race at Greenbriar and I sure hope my body will be up for the challenge.  Check back next week for an update!

Happy Trails...  Gerry

Also, thanks to Abe Landes for another fine photo!

True Grit 100!

The National Ultra Endurance Series added a couple of new race venues this year and I was lucky enough to try one of them this past weekend in St. George, Utah. Since the True Grit 100 is new to the series, I wasn't too sure what to expect from the course or from many of the other singlespeed riders registered. Additionally, I was not too sure if my body was ready for such a difficult race this early in the season.

As the race date approached, I wondered if I made a mistake by deciding to do this race. I had a list of 101 things to do on my plate (including the start of a new position at work and the purchase of a new home) and felt like I was very ill prepared. I decided to think of the race more as a good training opportunity than the meaningful race if was. So, I jumped on a plane with my new Specialized Carve with a rigid carbon fork and began my True Grit adventure weekend.

Since I've raced pretty much every NUE Race with a full rigid SS bike, I figured this choice would be fine in Utah also. However, after doing some pre riding of the course, I decided that using a suspension fork would be a much better choice. Fortunately, my CF Teammate, Cary Smith, was able to hook me up with a spare Brain equipped Rock Shox he had. Cary also provide me with some much needed information about the course and how to best prepare for the checkpoints. Without the use of his fork and knowledge, I'm sure this race would have been much more difficult. Thanks, Cary!

The race started right at the crack of dawn. The promoter suggested using a light, but I decided against it. I really didn't want to be bothered with carrying a light for 15 minutes of riding during a 7 plus hour race. I will admit that it was a little tough to see initially, but I never felt unsafe. As a matter of fact, I was able to ride at the front of the pack with the fastest riders at the start just fine without a light. This lead group only contained about ten riders and seemed to be missing many of the folks I expected to be there, including no other single speed riders. I learned after the race that many riders had missed the start because they assumed the race would begin when there was more sunlight.

A shot from part of the Zen Trail.

It wasn't long though before the one SS rider I knew would challenge me came into view. When AJ Linnell caught me we rode together and chatted for a short while before he was able to slip away from me on the technical Zen Trails. During my pre ride of the Zen Loop, I decided it would be best to conserve my energy and do my best to protect myself from the consequences of crashing or having a major mechanical by going too fast on this section of trail. Doing this gave AJ a nice time gap over me by the time we exited this loop, but I knew there was a lot of racing ahead too.

The next section of trail known as Stucki was super fast and allowed for me to make up the time I lost to AJ.  By the end of this section, I was actually able to put a little extra time on him before we entered another technical section of trail known as Barrel.  I rode Barrel a little cautiously during the fist loop because it was pretty rocky and I didn't want to possibly get a flat tire or crash.  I guess AJ didn't ride the trails as cautiously because he caught back up to me by the end of the first loop of Barrel. I rode the second lap of Barrel much faster to stay a head of AJ.

After we finished the two loops of Barrel, AJ and I entered the fast Cove Wash Trails.  During this section, I created another gap over AJ.  Over the next few hours, I built on this gap until my fourth and final loop around Barrel.  With about 8 miles to the end of the race, I got a flat tire by tearing the front sidewall on a sharp rock.  At this point, I wasn't too sure how much of a lead I had, but knew I had to do a quick repair to hold off AJ.  Luckily, I had a fairly trouble free repair and was able to get back on my bike just as AJ came into view.

Racing hard during the last few miles of an ultra endurance mtb race is painful, but I knew this is exactly what I needed to do if I wanted to win the race.  I spun my cranks as fast as I could on the trails leading back to the finish and hoped my torn tire sidewall would not completely fail before I finished.  I was so relieved to finally see the finishing line in view and nobody chasing when looking over my shoulder one last time.

I must admit that crossing the finishing line in first place is always a good feeling for me, but the roller coaster ride of this race made this win feel a little more special.  Overall, the True Grit 100 was a lot of fun to ride and definitely a very good early season test of my fitness.  I was very happy with how my body performed during the race and with how nicely my new Specialized Carve SL rode the technical trails.  Also, I'd like to congratulate my other CF teammates at the race.  Cheryl Sornson took the womens open win, Cary Smith was second in the open mens and Charles Buki was third in the 50+ master men.  Let the season begin!

Happy Trails........  Gerry

Declaring War Against Cystic Fibrosis!

As many of you are aware, I am now racing on Team CF.  The mission of the team is to use cycling as a platform to promote fitness for those with CF, to increase awareness of CF, and to raise money for CF research.  I am excited about being on Team CF and doing what I can to battle this horrible disease.  One small contribution I am making to the team is participating in an event known as the Cycle for Life.

In 2013, there is going to be a Cycle for Life Event held in Pittsburgh, PA.  I have helped in the course design and think it is going to be a fun ride and event for both experienced and novice cyclists.  I encourage your participation in the event, or if you're unable to do the ride, to find a cyclist you would like to sponsor.

If you're interested in participating in the Aptalis Cycle for Life and would like more information about the ride, please use this link: http://www.cff.org/Chapters/wpa/index.cfm?ID=24127&blnShowBack=True&idContentType=1508&Event=24127

If you're unable to do the event and would like to make a contribution to my ride, please use this link: http://www.cff.org/LWC/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?idEvent=24127&idUser=614051

I do appreciate your help and I know all those who suffer from CF will also be very appreciative of any contribution you can make.

Hopefully, I will see many of my cycling friends at this ride!  Happy Trails....  Gerry

Another Season

It seems fitting to start my first blog post of 2013 after doing my first race of the season, Southern Cross in Dahlonega, GA, especially since the last post I added to this page was also about an ultra cross race.  My hiatus from writing was not because I had nothing else happening in my life since last October, but more because I had too much going-on.  In addition to doing regular cross races all fall until the second week of December, I've also been busy buying a new house, securing a new position at work and joining a new cycling team, Team CF.

When I'm busy like this, time seems to fly by even faster than it usually does.  It's hard to believe winter is almost over and the racing season is here once again.  I've had a pretty standard off season with some riding, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking and outdoor activities mixed into my training to keep things interesting.  But, with my first race of the season completed and my first NUE Race fast approaching, I know it's time to take my riding a little more seriously now.  I'm hoping the weather will cooperate with me and my riding plans.  

So,anyway, let me get back to talking about Southern Cross (SCX).  I can think of no better way to test out my fitness than by doing this race.  It's a ride of about 50 miles on primarily gravel roads with approximately 6600 feet of climbing.  Doing a race like this early in the season against southern riders with many more miles in their legs than me is a perfect way for to see where my fitness level is.  In my past two attempts at SCX, I've used bikes with gears: a cross bike in 2011 and a mtb with cross tires in 2012.  This year I chose a single speed CX bike because my plan is to compete in the SS category in the American Ultra Cross Series this year. Before the race started, my goal was to match my finishing time of last year and to beat the winning SS time of last year set by my CF teammate Roger Masse.

Overall, the race started very well for me.  I was able to latch on to the lead group of riders after going through the initial cross course section of the route and stick with that bunch for the first five miles or so.  I lost contact with the group when the gear ratio I was using, a 40x21, wasn't quite enough to keep pace when the attacks started on the long, fast and gradual climbs.  I didn't see any other SS riders around me and I knew it was better to get into my own rhythm than it was trying to match the fast pace being set by the geared riders.  By the top of the first major climb, at about mile 17 or so, I thought my race was going as planned and I was happy with how I felt.

I then started the long descent back down the mountain.  It was pretty cold outside, at about 35 degrees, and I thought I had a pretty commanding lead, so I decided to take no crazy risks on the fast descent.  I must have rode the descent way too conservatively because by the bottom of the hill another SS racer, Kelly Klett, had joined me.  At that moment, I knew my race strategy needed to change and become more aggressive.

A photo of me headed back up the mountain at SCX.

Kelly was riding very well and much better than I ever remember him riding in the past.  When we started the second trip up the mountain, I thought he might fade away because he was on a mtn bike and I was using a lighter cross bike.  Kelly climbed strong and if anything, I was having difficulty hanging with him.  And, to make matters worse, I knew another long descent would soon come after we crested the mountain.  Fortunately, I was able to ride my skinny tired cross bike like a mad man down the mountain this time and hang with Kelly.  It was definitely faster than I wanted to go on that bike, but I knew it was necessary if I had any chance at winning the race.

The paved roads leading back to the winery were uneventful.  With Kelly and I each only having one gear, we both realized that attacking each other would be a waste of energy, so we rode at a steady pace into the Monteluce.  I was hoping to out run Kelly on the run-up, but he hung with me and I knew it would be hard to out ride his mtn bike on the remainder of the course.  The rest of the course was much more mtn bike friendly and sections that Kelly rode with ease on a mtn bike were not so easy on a cross bike.  My final blow came when I had to run the creek crossing that Kelly was able to ride.  I did my best to close the gap, but knew the distance to the finish line was too close and my heart rate was too high for me to get the win.

But, even though I did not get the win, I was happy with my time and also happy with my overall fitness for it only being February.  I definitely have some work to do before I can say I have race fitness, but it sure was fun to do the Southern Cross Race as an early season fitness test!  Also, congrats to Kelly for riding an excellent race and to my CF Teammates Cheryl Sornson and Stephanie Swan for their great finishes!

Happy Trails...  Gerry

Photo Credit: Donna Combs Garcia

Iron Cross 2012

Well, I did my last endurance race for 2012, the incredibly awesome Notubes Iron Cross US Ultracross Series Race in Pennsylvania's beautiful Michaux State forest this past Sunday.  Leading up to the race, I was a little worried about what the weather was going to be like on race day.  Early in the week, cold temperatures in the upper 40's and rain was in the forecast, so I decided on using my Salsa Mamasita 29er MTB instead of a cross bike.  This would be my first attempt at doing Iron Cross on a MTB and I was curious to see how the course rode with a more technically stable and comfortable ride.

Of course, when I actually plan for things to be bad, nothing bad actually occurs.  And, this rule held true for Iron Cross.  Instead of getting the nasty weather given in the advanced forecast, the trails were dry and the temperatures were not as cold as expected.  I was so happy about not having crappy weather the day of the race that I didn't even give my bike choice another thought on race day.  But, since I only brought my MTB with me, I really didn't have another choice and couldn't have switched bikes before the race anyway.

The Iron Cross Race uses a mix of paved roads, gravel roads, single track trails and just about everything else in-between these riding surfaces to make this race more interesting than any other ultracross race I've done.  There are sections that are absolutely better for a MTB, but the road sections and all the climbing are definitely better and faster with a cross bike.  If the trails would have been a muddy mess, there is no question a MTB would be the fastest choice on this course.  But, with the course being in very good shape on race day, I think a cross bike would have been a better choice for me this year, especially with one of the most technical trails towards the end of the course being removed this year.  With that said, however, four of the top five overall finishers this year were on 29ers and three of those bikes had suspension forks.

My Salsa Mamasite IC race bike.

I made the most of my 29er on race day.  I knew my bike would not be the fastest on the paved sections of the course, but I also knew the bike would allow for me to bomb the most technical descent on the course, the Lippencote Trail.  Knowing the course well from my previous attempts at it, I made it a priority to be the first into this section and by the bottom of the trail, I had gained the overall lead in the race.  Another rider exited the trail a few seconds later and we were able to work together on the fast road sections and maintain our lead until the bottom of the long Wigwam Run-up.  Garth Prosser pushed out a huge effort to bridge-up to us by this point.

With Garth and me being tied in series points, I knew he was the one and only rider I had to beat for the day.  I immediately jumped onto his pace when he caught me on Wigwam and by the top of the long run-up, I had actually put a few seconds between us and crested this crazy-long run-up in first place overall.  We grouped back together after the checkpoint and rode all the fast gravel and road sections together leading to checkpoint #3.  During this time, two under forty riders, Aaron Snyder and Adam Farabaugh (2012 USAC U23 Criterium Champion), bridged-up to us.  Since I was more concerned about beating Garth than I was with the under 40 kids, I tried to conserve as much energy as possible by doing little work to help our group extend our overall lead.  I knew that I would need it for the final long climb and to have any chance beating Garth's climbing legs.

The final long gravel climb starts immediately after checkpoint #3.  I was hoping to hang with our fast little group up the climb, but also knew the three of them were climbing much better than I was.  So, sure enough, I fell off their pace and had to go into my damage control mode to conserve as much energy as I could for the last section of single track.  I thought that I might be able to regain my lost time in the last few miles of single track, but with the trail not being super technical and with Garth riding so strong, I was unable to catch him before the finish.  By the end of the race, Adam took a commanding victory, Garth was second, Aaron was third and I finished in fourth overall, 2nd 40+ rider.

My time was about 8 minutes faster than last year.  I'm not sure if that was because I used a 29er instead of a cross bike or because I rode most of the last half of the course with a group of riders instead of being alone like I was last year.  Since the weather turned out being a non-issue, I actually think my time would have been even faster this year if I would have used my Salsa Vaya Ti rather than the Mamasita.  When I have a NoTubes tubeless wheelset on my Vaya, it rides technical terrain very well and I know it is also a better bike for climbing, so I'm pretty sure it probably could have saved me a couple of minutes without the day having any of the nasty weather conditions I expected.  Oh well, I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

I really had a blast racing Iron Cross this year and I'm already excited about doing it again next year.  Zach Adams and Mike Kuhn did an excellent job putting together a perfect race this year and I need to say a big thank you to them and all of the volunteers that made the race an amazing experience.  It would be really cool to have more races like this to do during "cross" season, but I guess it's good to give my body a little break from all the long stuff I do, too.  Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye to my endurance racing season and hello to short, fast cyclocross races.  But, before I say farewell completely, here is a great race recap video of the 2012 NoTubes Iron Cross Race put together by Zach Adams for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Watch more video of Gerry Plug on cyclingdirt.org

Happy Trails....  Gerry