Part Deux Addison Oaks Stage Race

In this second installment of the Addison Oaks Stage Race was the Expert/Elite Single Speed Cross Country. As we toe the start line, or in this case, front tire, my single speed race compatriots and I exchange a few pleasantries and the gun goes off. I don't like to lead out in the races as it's a good time to let someone else do the work and size up the competition. This course start allowed me to tuck in behind the leaders wheel and save a little energy. As we start the Water Tower climb I realize our pace is not as high as normal, so I am content to stick to the leaders wheel and see how is single track prowness is. Rolling through the first single track is fun and feels like a fast fun, albeit hard ride. I'm having a blast, the breathing is good despite the heat and we are rolling along nicely. We cruise through the first lap and our little single speedd peloton work horse is still out front doing all the work. We do make it through all the two track and hit the paved path on the back side of the course, as we approach the end and just before the single track our third single speeder sees the first Elite woman catching and annouces she'll probably want by real soon...not only are the wheels rolling on my Specialized S-Works Carbon Stumpy Single Speeder, they start to roll in my head as I plan my strategy. The Elite woman annouces she wants to pass and there is absolutely no safe place to pull over, so we keep our pace as is. As we reach a section with an option to go left or right, our work horse leader pulls to the right, which is the slower line, and I hit the gas. Within 30 seconds I turn around and no one is with me. I keep the gas on the entire length of the single track which spits us out near the start/finish area and I have a one minute lead on the my chasers. I continue to feel good, hit the Water Tower climb and keept the pressure on and roll through the single track with a smile on my mug. I continue to pass a few riders and I catch an old friend, annouce my presence and use him as my personal domestique. He obliges me and pulls me through all the two track and paved path to the single track where I go around him and keep putting some coal on the fire. Third lap done and I have a two minute lead...I go through the start finish and notice my competition is further back, I go through the 4th and final lap and back off a little, but still end up two and a half minutes up on 2nd place as I roll in. I take a little break and chat with my newly found single speed buddies, congratulate each other and my day is done, time to relax! First place both days, my time today would have put me third in the 50+ Expert group, good stuff! Go ride! Jay Jones

Addison Oaks Retreat Stage Race

Two days of racing, Saturday brought us two short efforts with a Time Trial in the morning and a Short Track in the afternoon. I'm use to 6, 8 and 12 hour racing, so these two short races would call upon my cyclo-cross mojo. My weapon for the day was my 17.4 lb. Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper Carbon Fiber single speed with it's Whiskey No. 7 carbon fork. With my early registration, I started with a 10:23:30 start for my Time Trial. I lined up next to my starting partner and the gun went off and I hit the gas. The start was flat, a few tight turns, some long straights and all on grass, so a little work was required but letting the other racer pull me along helped a little. Once we hit the Water Tower climb I passed my starting partner and hit the single track at my own pace! I came upon the next racer in the single track and they were nice enough to let me by after ringing my handy bell. The gear ratio I selected for today's festivities was a 34x17, which was perfect in the single track, but not the best on the two track, so if I got lucky, I would get behind a geared bike who would instantly turn into my personal domestique. No such luck, I had to spin my brains out, but got to the next single track section virtually unscathed...but wait, there's a little surprise, the single track is blocked off and more two track, which makes the course a little longer. As I hit the final single track section I am feeling good and my timing is pretty good, the only road block is a small technical climb strewn with softball size rocks, I clean it nicely and hit the gas to finish strong with a time of 29:50! I am the only Expert/Elite Single Speed racer for the day, so my 1st place is automatic, but I always like to check my time with the Expert 50+ age group (my racing age is 52) so I was very pleased when I see that my time would have put me in first place in that age group! On to the afternoon's Short Track, the gun goes off and we have a mass start of all the Expert racers. There was some carnage within the first 100 feet and two racers tangled up like they were cage fighters, fortunately I was on the other side of the track and stayed clear of the crash. Holding your line in this tight twisty course was imperative, with that said, I was forced to run over a root and my tire burped and the tire lost some pressure. I thought I would be okay, but all the turns on a single speed requires one to stand up and deliver! But with the low pressure I was afraid of rolling the tire off the rim and I decided to slow down and finish the race as the overall points for the weekends racing were more important than a strong finish. So I limped in with a smile on my mug and looked forward to tomorrow's cross country. Go Ride!

Farmers Fat Bike Race

Fat is in! Yup, you heard it here first, fat is in! In case you don't know what I'm talking about, it's 3.8 inches of fat tire fun! The fatter the tire, the bigger the smile.
My first race of 2012 was on a set of fat tires, along with 75 others on fat tires at the Farmers Fat Tire Race in Grand Rapids. The weather has been pretty mild for this time of year. Barely any measurable snow and mild temps. But the preceeding 36 hours of the race the snow came down and we had a good 6-8 inches of fresh powder to make this a true winter race.
The Duo team riders got to go first when the gun went off, a couple of minutes later, all us solo riders were allowed to hit the course. With this being only my second ride on the Pugsley and the first in snow, I had no idea what to expect. The start was uneventful as everyone found their place in line. Most of the course had one solid lane thru the snow and if you felt adventureous you could go onto the lane that wasn't proven and go for a pass. As some of the slower duo-team racing traffic was caught, this was an option you had to exercise or stay in the conga line and take a little rest, which wasn't a bad idea either.
As the race went on and the traffic spread out, you could pretty much run your own race. There was one run up that some folks managed to ride, but every time I hit it, there was traffic, so I never did get a chance to try it. About the 9th lap I was pretty happy that I hadn't wiped out yet, but that would soon change and what's funny, I didn't see it coming and I was on the floor before I knew what happened, good thing there was a lot of freash snow to soften the landing!
I managed to keep the pace going, but when I stopped to get my third and final bottle at around 2:20 (race being over at 3:00) I heard some of the race "officials" shout out it was the last lap. Which didn't really register until I came in the next time around and all the racers were being ushered off the course. So at the 2:37 mark of the race, it was over. I managed 11 laps and 9th place. With the race ending a 1/2 hour sooner than I anticapted, my strategy didn't help my placing but in the end, I had a blast! I got to see some of my "Fat" friends and race in the snow!

Go ride!

Jay

8 Hours of Bloomer

I've come to the realization that you have good days and bad days...but two bad races in a row is telling me something different. Both of these races were in the 90's, so the heat may have played a factor.

The temps were comfortable at the 10:00 start and I started out comfortably. With the heavy rains we had the prior week leading up to the race the course was re-routed in a couple places so it was a crap shoot for my gear selection. I can't remember what gear I had last year, but with this course design there is no gear that works well for the entire course. We had a long section of rails to trails so a bigger gear would be ideal, but once you get off that, you have a long section of two track and single track where it seemed all you did was a steady climb except for two portions of switchbacks, so it was a decision that had to be made carefully.

With that said, I used a 34x18 on my Specialized S-Works Carbon Single Speed rocket ship...well, maybe for the first 3 hours it was a rocket ship, but I'm getting ahead of myself. About the third lap I started to do some evaluation of my gear selection. I would keep track of where I would need my tall gear and I realized the only spot would be on the rails to trails. With the new single track replacing some two track, I need the gear even less, so I decided to change gears. Actually, I asked Bryan Kreger to change my gear while I rode my back up bike...this is where my demise started showing its ugly face.

I swap bikes and I'm off again...and the difference in the bikes if felt immediately, not a bad difference, but a difference nonetheless. The back up bike is totally rigid so the big set of switchbacks is a little rougher, but on the smooth part of the trails, it's like "butta". But one major issue was the gear selection on the back up bike was EVEN harder than what I had on the other bike so the next lap would involve some walking.

I completed the lap on the back up bike and upon my arrival into the pit, Bryan has some not-so-good news for me, I need a spacer on the cassette body for the new cog to work and neither of us have any spacers in our tool boxes, so I stop and Bryan figures out a plan that works for the both of us and I agree and I head out to do another lap on my back up bike.

When I get back to the pit Bryan has my bike ready and I head out again. At this point I have 11 laps in and the heat is starting to take it's toll on me. I am nauseous and pretty light headed, especially on one climb where it's all in the sun and it feels like an oven. I have to stop as I get dizzy, I take a small break and get a drink and wait until the dizziness subsides. As I wait, fellow single speed competitor Steve rolls up and both of us talk about the downward spiral of our race plans. We both head out at the same time and have a little fun riding together.

I manage two more laps with a long break before them and realize it's not in the best interest health wise to keep going, so I decide to stop and just recooperate with my friends. I don't know what's going on with the heat issue I'm experiencing this year, but hopefully we get a couple cooler races or I'm in trouble.

Go ride!

6 Hours of Stony Creek

My intentions for this race was to use it as a tune up for the Mohican 100 in Ohio in 2 weeks. I wanted to gauge my fitness and see what I had to work on. Pre-race bantering on the MMBA Board had me wondering about gear ratio, but I stuck to my original plan and went with a 34x18 on my Specialized Stumpy fully rigid 29er.
With the weather playing a huge role in this race, I also decided to stay with a Specialized S-Works Fast Trax LK up front and Specialized S-Works Renegade in the back, this prove to be a worthy set up as I had no issues except in the greasy spots, but then again, everyone did. So the extra wheelset with more knobbier tire was not needed.
As we lined up for the gun to go off, I spot Wayne Cook, a man who I have chased in just about every race around here. He's fast and he's good. I am unable to spot any other bikes with just one gear so I focus on him...for about 3 minutes because he takes off as soon as the gun goes off and I settle into a nice little group of 7 riders.
We wind our way through the roller coaster section of the race course and we have a pretty good clip going. Michigan Endurance Queen Danielle Musto is in this group along with 16 year old Kurt Voight. As we come to an intersection of single track going across two track, the lead portion of this group stays on the single track and I know enough to turn left onto the two track, so I shout out to them and keep speeding on and they all somehow turn around. A few minutes later, they catch up as they all have gears and I pick a nice little place in the pace line and let them pull me around.

We do this for about 2.5 laps, it's a blast and the pace is higher than I expected or planned, but this is a training ride and a fact finding mission, so I don't mind. This group finally splinters and I am working with Kurt and someone else. I'm happy with where I'm at and finally settle in.

Laps 3-5 I am alone and with a few people here and there, grab a wheel when I can on the flats and then make a move just before the single track so I am not held up. Just after starting the 5th lap, I come up on a few people that I'm not really suppose to catch or much less pass...but nonetheless, it's at a most opprotune time as it's at the beginning of a long flat section. One such rider is Chris Goddard and I grab his wheel and let him know it's me. He pulls me up to the famous Wayne Cook, the man I marked at the start line. I am quite amazed at this situation and us three end up working together for a little bit. Wayne and I end up dropping Chris and then we take turns pulling and take turns checking each others weeknesses and strong points out. He's fast on the flats and I can make time on him on the climbs. We both make a quick stop in the pits, mine is about 15 seconds long, enough time to grab a fresh bottle and some Enduralytes and I'm on my way.

As pull away I look behind me and no Wayne...until about three minutes later, he pulls up behind me and sits on my wheel. We have some fun together flying through the roller coaster section and he shouts out, "Jay, slow down, I don't want to race today, I wanna ride!" We both have a good laugh. But all he was doing was setting me up for a decisive move on the flat section...I sat up a little to stretch and he hit the gas and within 10 seconds he's 100 feet in front of me on a long steady climb. My legs cannot answer so I settle back into my pace and am content to watch him slowly ride away. I decide right then that I will continue to run my race and keep plugging along, I feel pretty good and only my left quad is cramping a little, nothing that a few more Enduralytes and some Hammer Sustained Energy doesn't cure.

As I arrive at my pit at the end of my 5th lap I'm all business and my friend Robin Scurr is waiting there with a fresh bottle (as he has been all day long). He knows exactly what to do and gives me some encouragement then sends me on my way. I am riding all alone on my 6th lap and have a nice pace going. I am surprised at my pace and still am feeling good. About half way thru the 6th lap I come around a corner just before a long climb and I see Wayne pushing his bike, as I ride past him he says, "the race is yours, good job!" So the competitor in me puts an explaination point on the climb to make sure he sees me and keep pedaling (which is hard to do, cause Wayne is a good guy). With him conceding I am rejuvenated, which is a great feeling so late in the race. I press on and continue to keep a decent pace up. I finish the 6th lap alone, stop to grab one more bottle and head out for my 7th and final lap. I ride all alone, pass a few people and have a good lap.

As I near the final huge climb, definitely the hardest climb in the race, I am determined to stay on the bike as I have made all the climbs all day long. I have about 5 revolutions per minute, but the bike is moving and I'm still on it. I push thru and come into the start/finish area and Brent Walk (race promoter) shouts out my name on the P.A. system. I am dirty, wet and tired, but I have a smile and I am very happy with today's effort.
I end up with 7 laps, 73.58 miles in 6:01 hours, avg speed 12.2 mph, max speed 29.3 mph, avg heart rate 149 bpm, max heart rate 169 bpm, climbed 6133 feet and burned 5870 calories!

I get 1st Place in Single Speed Solo and 2nd place overall in the Solo class...not to bad for a 51 year old asthmatic!

Go race!

L.O.H.S. Spring Race May 5

This is the first of the Lake Orion High School Spring Race Series. It's a week night race series designed to have some fun and get a little racing in. I use them for high efforts back slash, hard days. Even though the race is short, it's a high effort for the entire race, very similiar to a cyclo-cross race.
With that said, I take a 1/2 lap to get a good warm up in as I know the race will be face paced from the gun with the likes of who showed up. A pace line forms quickly and I am about in 9th place as we dive right down a short hill and head for the single track. My teammate Dave Moore is right in front of me, he offers me his place in line just before we hit the sweet single ribbon of dirt thru the woods...I politely decline and we are on our way.
Shortly after I am regretting my decision as the first six guys slowly pull away. There is no place to pass and I am relegated to letting the lead pack go away. No worries, this is all for fun. As we hit the first open area I make my pass and I am all alone. I see one of the guys has fallen off the pace of the lead group and I slowly count the space between him and I and it's roughly 1 minute. I do some quick deductions and it will be hard for me to make up the time in this short of a race, but I try nonetheless.
As we weave in and out of the turns, berms and valleys I get the false sense I am closer to the one in front of me, but I don't let if fool me and keep pushing the pedals. My goal is try to catch him before the finish line with a few hard efforts, I am unable to bridge the gap. As I look behind me I am making some good time on the people I started the race with. Although I don't know this for sure, but the fact that I can't see them is a pretty good sign that I am. I keep the pace to the end, just to keep my intended 'hard work out' in tact.
I end up finishing in 49:44, 2nd place in the Advanced 40+ group. Bernie Wendel and I are the only cats on single speeds in the group and it's fun to mix it up with all the gears and suspension and what not!
The next race in this series is Wednesday, May 11, another good weekday night for a race...and some fun!

Go ride.

Friday Night Ride

I was suppose to do the Cohutta 100 tomorrow, but my son needs me to help him move out of his dorm room, so I shall be northbound, instead of southbound tomorrow.
With nothing to do on a beautiful Friday evening except ride, I decide to do just that. I don't know my route, I just start riding. Within a few miles I decide to do a big loop and work my way over to Fox Lake Road. This road has a climb that's a mile long and a little over 100 feet in elevation. You may not think that's much, but on a single speed mountain bike on an unimproved road, it's a grinder. My goal is to do this climb three times...I feel real good after my 3rd time, so I do it one more time and make my way back home.
My ride was 31 miles, 2:13 ride time, 13.0 avg speed, 26.5 max speed, avg heart rate 128 bpm, max heart rate 167 bpm, climbed 1564 feet and burned 1601 calories.

Go ride

The Wind and Rain

It's another Saturday, I have no plans/obligations so that must mean a long bike ride! Again I will hook up with my two friends/team mates Jay Atwater and Derek Hill at the top secret location in Waterford. We head out pedaling into the wind and kind of know pretty quick that the day will present it's challenges. Our route isn't decided yet, but the first part will lead us to wherever we decide, will it be Fenton and the French Laundry or Holly and the Bittersweet Cafe...we'll decide in a few more hundred pedal strokes.

As we hit the first gravel road, we can see it's going to be a muddy ride which is no problem for the two of us who have fenders, but the one who doesn't, he's going to get dirty. Along with the first part of the gravel road comes a nice long steady climb. I take the lead and set a pace which I believe my two buds will be able to follow. About a third of the way up the climb I stop hearing the noise of an extra set of mountain bike tires following me, but I like my pace so I keep it and much to my surprise, they did not stay with me. Last week in the same spot, it was the opposite way around, I was in the back hanging on to their pace. As we finish the first part of our ride and are ready to cross a paved road I suggest we use some pavement for part of our route, both Jay and Derek agree. We hit the pavement and have a few "downhill coasting" races and a lot of fun. But Derek isn't having the best day and is suffering a wee bit on the climbs, so they decide to make it a shorter ride and with me having the Cohutta 100 in two weeks, I must get some miles in while I have a chance.

With this in mind, I quickly check the weather on my handy dandy smart phone and see there is a dark green swath of rain heading my way. Instead of heading to Holly or Fenton, I turn south directly into the wind. I am feeling very good today, so I decide to go as hard as I can at a comfortable pace. I am doing well and ride some roads that were part of the Tour de Cure from two years ago. Traffic is light and the roads are cyclist friendly.

I make a turn on White Lake road and head east back towards my starting location. I take White Lake road all the way back to the Waterford area and wind my way back to the top secret starting location. I go around the block one more time to get in an even 40 miles.

My totals for the day 40.01 miles, ride time 2:28, avg speed 16.1 mph, max speed in the coasting races 39.6 mph, avg heart rate 140 bpm, max heart rate 167 bpm, climbed 1268 feet and burned 2046 calories.

It was a great ride, I didn't want to stop, but the wind and rain had other plans.

Go ride.

Riding with my Cycletherapy Peeps

With my busy schedule I do most of my training all by my little lonesome self. So when I ride with some friends it's always enjoyable. Then throw in a route I've never done before and its like a whole new adventure.
The plan was to ride the city of Holly from a top secret location in Waterford. We pounded a little pavement before hitting the dirt. I'm on my single speed cross bike and the two cats I'm riding with, Derek and Jay Atwater or on geared mountain bikes. So I'm pretty sure I'll have my work cut out for me. The warm up wasn't much of a warm up, we had a pretty good clip going...not the most ideal conditions for this old man, I need a little bit slower and longer warm up, but no worries...I have to able bodied cyclists to draft from! =:)
As we head out of the township of Waterford we find the solace of dirt and then some of the climbing starts. We head out Pontiac Lake road to Cuthbert then wind our way north to Rattelee Lake road and I-75. We turn west and hit some longer sustained climbs, after Derek doing most of the work to this point, we take turns pulling and seeing who can do the most damage on the climbs. It turns into a little contest and we have some fun.
Upon entering the little hamlet of Holly our conversation turns to food, yes, this is a food ride where our turn around destination is some place to grab some grub and then head back. When we pull up to the appointed eatery, we realize they are closed. After some quick thinking by Mr. Atwater, we point our bikes to the Bittersweet Cafe. So one block later we are relieved to find it open and the place was hopping. We are greeted with a Chamber of Commerce type person who is happy to see us and invites us to experience the downtown area. We enter the cafe with our bright orange kits on and grab a table. We are greeted by one of the owners and they too are very appreciative of our visit, and inivte us back and plants a seed for a group ride.
As we saddle up and head back after some good food we head out easy this time and get ready for some hills. My plan is to attack each hill and see what I have. Some hills I can get my rhythm with one gear, the ones with a steep pitch, not so much. Either way, I am working hard to test my limits and if I can drop my geared buddies, well, that's just icing on the proverbial cake.
We have a good hard ride on the way back, take turns pulling and we end up with a nice cool down on some pavement and one stupid driver who wanted to see how close he could get without hitting us...in the words of the great Bugs Bunnny, "What a maroon!"
Other than that, it was an awesome ride with 50.3 miles in 3:21 average speed 15.0 mph, max speed 30.1 mph, average heart rate 141 bpm, max heart rate 176 bpm, climbed a total of 1959 feet and burned 2618 calories!

Go ride!

Chilly End of March Ride

Let's see, spring has officiallly arrived, the robins are singing and have been so for a week or two, and the bicycle race season has officially been kicked off...so why is it still 32 degrees out for a high temperture? Who knows.

Any who, I went out for an easy recovery ride...a day late, I should have went yesterday. But it was not meant to be. I have a lot of little, middle size and large loops I can do on gravel roads around the hood. Today I wanted to go for about an hour and 15-30 minnows.

I put the fenders on and was ready to combat any conditions the roads may dish out. I've never had fenders before so it's kind of nice not to have a trashed bike. The conditions ranged from ice...dirty ice, to some soft light mud. All rideable and all good.

My ride time was 1:13, 17 miles, average speed 13.8 mph, max speed 21.4 mph, average heart rate 136 bpm, max heart rate 164 bpm, climbed 570 feet and burned 885 calories. So, with those stats, my ride plan was accomplished, nice and easy...with a few harder efforts up the hills.

A good ride, but I really wanna get rid of the winter tights! =;)

Go Ride!

Barry Roubaix 2011

Otay, I love this race, I love the course. It mimic's a lot of how I train, back roads on my single speed cross bike. And most of my early season miles is on the fixie...so this race is nothing new, my body is use to this type of race.

What I wasn't use to was the gear ratio that I selected. I've been running a 38x17 the past two months. Last year I had a 39 tooth chain ring along with some different cranks, so I assumed I used a 39x16. So I decided to switch from a 17 tooth to a 16 tooth and I thought I would be okay.

I was in Wave 3 with all the people over 40, single speeders and fixed geared racers. There were a ton of fast cats, so the roll out was fast and I could see the lead group pull away, which is no big deal so the panic button wasn't hit just yet. The pavement treated me well with my gear selection...I was rolling along, spinning at about 110 rpm's while working a little on the climbs. I was happy. Then we hit the dirt and a few climbs. In traffic, with a long line of cyclists in front of you, it's hard...no, impossible to ride the single speed style which is gain some momentum before the climb, so I was working real hard near the top of the climb. After a couple of these, I was unable to recover as I would have to keep pedaling down the other. With this said, I didn't even bother hitting the panic button, I threw the whole thing away. I knew my day was done and it was confirmed when people that I am always in front of starting passing me.

With each proceeding climb, I was digging deeper and spending more money than my account had. I decided not to worry about the race and my standing as I did have some big plans. I stilled raced when I could, but with this gear ratio, I lost way to much time on the climbs.

I ended up finishing in 2:26, a whopping 18 minnows slower than last year! I never cramped, just couldn't turn the cranks like I wanted too. I have a good baseline of where my fitness is at and let's just say...I'll be riding more real soon...just don't run me over on the pavement...

Go ride!

24 Hour Spin-a-thon for Waterford Coalition for Youth

24 Hours of fun, hanging out with all my cycling peeps and more importantly raising funds for the Waterford Coalition for Youth (WCFY). This organization helps promote a safe and healthy way of life for the youth in Waterford, Michigan, which is the same city my favorite bike shop, Cycletherapy resides in.

Our goal was to have at least two riders riding at the same time. A few times throughout the 24 hours, we would have up to 5 or 6 riders at one time. My time was from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on Saturday afternoon and then from 10:00 PM to midnight Saturday. I ended up going to 5:00 PM on my first shift as there was a misunderstanding in our time assignements and there was no one to ride. I didn't mind, it was good to be one the bike.

After my first shift I got a massage for a donation which went to the WCFY. It was a good choice as my legs were fresh for my later stint. I hung out for a while and chatted bike nerd stuff with other bike nerds. Families were there and a lot going on.

As 10:00 PM neared I got into a fresh kit and set my bike back up on my rollers...which were borrowed by others throughout the day, so setting up was just throwing my bike back on. As I got back on the bike, it was apparent the bee-hind would be a little sore, but not too bad. We popped in a new movie and the two hours went by fast. Just before my 2nd shift ended, others were setting up for their midnight shift...three riders, pretty good for a midnight gig.

Overall I was on my bike for 5 hours. It went by very fast. Lots of funds were raised for the WCFY and Ernie had a great sales day! So overall, it was a huge success. Thanks Ernie and to all those who pedaled!

Muddy Back Road Ride

Did a nice little ride tonight, nothing to long as I did a "Power Pump" workout at work today during lunch. You may ask yourself what's a Power Pump class? Well, it's kind of like a P90X routine, non stop fun. So tonight was just a spin on some back roads, just me and the mud. I have a read fender on and it kept me pretty clean on the back side. With a skinny cross tire on the cross bike...FIXED gear of course, the wearing of mud was kept to a minimum.

I managed 17.3 miles, 1:15 ride time, avg speed 13.8 mph, max speed 22.0 mph, avg heart rate 141, max heart rate 177 bpm, total feet climbed 515, total calories burned 815.

I'm somewhere around 400 miles this year...yippee!!!

The NUE Journey begins.

I signed up for the Cohutta 100 in Ducktown, Tennesee. I Can't wait, I love this part of the country. I have friends not to far from there and will make this a mini vacation...Question: What's a vacation without the bike, some pain and a little work? Answer: Not a real vacation. (Just kidding.)

12 Hours of Addison Oaks

Some races are meant to be, some others aren't, this one follows the later. But for a while, it was the former.

On a beautiful fall day in Oakland County it's around 10:00AM and Brent shouts out through the loud speakers for all the teams to take off! Then one minnow later, the lets all of us solo racers go! For the next 12 hours this will be my mode of operation, in the saddle grinding out the miles. Everything went well, I was feeling very good and putting in the laps in an unexpected fast pace. I was pretty sure I had the Single Speed Series Championship locked up, so I was experimenting on my game plan by going out faster than normal and see where I would blow up.

Everything was going to plan after a stop in the pits for a little solid food and a break off the saddle. When I got back on and headed up the Water Tower Climb, my chest tightened up and I started coughing...asthma. Sometimes it will subside if I ease back, so after cresting the climb, I slow down and ease up my effort. After riding like this and still coughing I slow down even more and come to a stop and do my inhaler. I wait a few moments and get back on and start pedaling.

As I keep going my coughing will not stop and that is not a good sign. So I am barely rolling and taking it very easy on all the climbs...if that's possible on a single speed. I decide to stop after this lap is complete and take a major break, do my other inhalers that help control the asthma symptoms and see if this will work. After about an hour of non-stop coughing I decide to call it a day and have to drop out with 11 laps in 6 hours and some change and kick back, cough, relax and hang with my buddies who are doing some team racing.

I have to thank the Kreger family, they are the best support anyone can ask for, they feed me and take care of me like I'm their own.

It was a good day, despite not being able to finish.

Ride safe.

Jay

24 Hours of Hanson Hills

I was looking forward to this race as it would be my first 24 hour attempt. I didn't know what to expect and my fitness was okay, not exactly where I would have liked it to be, but like most things, life steps in and takes away a little training time. So with that said, I was packing and getting things ready as early as 4 days before race day. The box was on top of the Jeep and I was ready to roll Friday after work.

I arrived in Grayling around 7:30PM and checked into my motel. Once I got settled in I decided to go to Glen's Market and get some 24 hour race day food. What's funny is that I normally wouldn't guy these items, so it was funny when I arrived at the check out and the cashier rang up, two Red Bulls, an 8-pack of small Cokes, a box of strawberry Pop Tarts, a bag of Fun Size Pay Day candy bars and bag of Frito's! With light batteries charging and all the junk food to fuel any endurance athlete, I was ready to go.

The alarm rang at 7:00AM. I look outside and it's cloudy and looks chilly. I immediately look at the weather on my trusty Droid X and see a large weather cell with some heavy rain not to far away and heading straight for us. I decide to forgo everything and go to the Hanson Hills ski area and set up the pit, which includes a tent and awning and a few extra things to make my next 24 hours easy. Just as I finish, the rain starts coming down and it's a steady heavy rain, whew! After I check my new home, I go back to my room and check out and get a little breakfast and head back to H.H.

I get back just in time to suit up, check tire pressure and take a last minute pee and head to the start line with about 8 seconds to spare, the gun goes off and our 24 hours of racing begins. I settle into a nice pace with a 12 hour racer setting a nice even pace, not fast at all which is good, I would hate to go out to fast. I follow my pacesetter for the entire first lap and there's actually 4 of us content to ride together, which made it pretty nice.

At the end of each lap, I would roll into my pit which was about 40 feet from the course and grab a new water bottle with some nutrition in it and maybe pop a couple Endurolytes, get back on the bike and roll. After 4 hours I take a little break, snap a pic of my pit and bike (see above) and post it on Facebook, I knew some of my biking buddies would appreciate a time out during a race to post on Facebook and it gave them something to talk about while SITTING ON THEIR COUCH!!! =;)

I liked coming in after each lap which took around 1:05 and actually getting off the bike for about 15-20 seconds and getting what I needed and then immediately back on the bike. I didn't feel any of the 4 hour blues, I felt pretty good, so that was a good sign, but this pace was slower than my 12 hour pace so I didn't expect it to be there. Where it did come was about the 8 hour mark, so I decided to take a long break and get my lights ready. When the time came, I was ready to rock when the sun went down. I only managed two laps in the dark and I was ready to take a long break.

As I curled up in my sleeping bag with a plan of getting up around 3 or 4 at the very latest I was having a hard time going to sleep, with noisy neighbors and loud music for the 24 hour competitors. So I didn't sleep much and I believe I finally fell asleep around 12:30AM. I woke up once and it was quiet, stuck my head out of the sleeping bag and thought that the weatherman was right for once, it was definitely in the 30's. So without hesitation, I got back n the sleeping bag and fell back to sleep.

I finally woke up at 5:00AM and immediately changed into dry warm clothes, the temperture was 33 degrees and the sky was super clear and I seen a million stars on my walk to the "Standings Board" to see where I was at. I was not to surprised to see I was one lap down in the Single speed category. I did a quick math calculation and figured I had time to do 4 laps and if I felt super good, maybe 5, but that would be stretching it. So I set out at 5:00AM, it's 33 degrees, pitch black and very, very lonely. The 2nd big climb of the course I come upon a cyclist, he's a single speeder, and happy to say, he's pushing his bike where I am riding mine. It happens to be the first place guy and I tell myself that "I'm riding, he's pushing and there's 5 hours to go and plenty of time to get the lead back. I am rejuvenated early on and it helps me with the next two laps.

I watch the sunrise on the tail end of my second lap and the sky change colors, it turns out to be a beautiful morning and the lights on the bike are soon turned off. I come into my pit, mix two bottles in anticipation of two more quick laps. It's funny, I have come to two endurance races and late in the game have found some energy to keep forging on!

I'm on my fourth lap of the morning and thinking if I hurry, I can make it into the start/finish in time to do another and hopefully secure first place. As I near the end, I have forced to walk the long last climb. I make it to the top and remount the bike and start pedaling. I look at my watch and realize that no matter how fast I go, there's no way I can make it to the start/finish in the next 10 seconds, so I just finish safely and roll in. I can hear Brent annoucing my name and saying something to the affect that time has run out and I missed the cut off just incase I wanted to do another lap. I wasn't to disappointed and I was ready to accept any placing I got.

As I rolled past the start/finish I ask where my nemisis was and he was actually within ear shot and shouted out, "here I am." He was changed into regular clothes and looked pretty fresh, so I assume that he stopped a lot sooner than I. I soon find out I got first place, beating him by one lap.

I managed 2nd overall in the solo categories, not to shabby for a 50 year old asthmatic on a totally ridid single speed!!!

I did learn a few things though. 1. Have your light scenario all worked out well before the race. 2. Frito's and their salty goodness hit the spot. 3. I didn't need any realy solid food besides that. I survived on few gels and Hammer nutrition, namely Sustained Energy and Endurolytes.

Ride safe!

Jay

Addison Oaks Cross Country

I like racing Addison Oaks for some reason, it's a nice "track". I signed up for the Expert/Elite Single Speed class, something I promised I would do last year. I was using this race as a hard training day as it was one week before my very first 24 hour race.

We lined up and there was 8 of us, which is a lot larger than last years entries. The gun went off and I settled into 4th place and kept the 3 in front of me in my sights. I watched them all gain about 5 seconds on each other and the gaps didn't change much until the paved trail at the north end of the park. Then it split up a little bit more, or should I say, I fell off a little bit. I was not worried, I was racing at my pace and was staying there, although I wanted to do some drafting, it wasn't imperative that I did or did not, it would just make my life a little easier.

A mechanical would take out the 2nd place guy and that would move me up to third. I could see the guys in front of me in one place on the second lap, but they were to far in front of me to make a run for it. So I settled in again and did my best to keep those behind me...well, behind me. When on the end of the second lap a single speeder come up on me pretty fast and I was ready to let him go by, he said he didn't want to and we flew through the single track in unison. We passed a few slower sport riders and kept our pace up, we came around the start/finish area and he kept up a nice pace and I slowed to grab a water bottle from a pit crew member. Got my mojo going again and I went back out for my third lap feeling good.

The third lap was good, on pace of the first two laps and I was feeling good and I couldn't see any competition coming up, so I was happy. At the start of my fourth and final lap I climbed the Water Tower Hill and caught a few slower riders. At this point I just assume they are leftovers from the Sport race, but I come up to a group of 8 riders in a single file line in the first single track section and no place to pass. This went on for the entire last lap, although it did slow my lap time down by 2 minutes there was no mishaps that I seen and the beginners were enjoying their foray into mountain bike racing...and that's what it's all about!

I ended up with 3rd place which was a pleasant surprise.

Ride safe!

12 Hours of Drummond Island

Well, it was a wet weekend up north and it didn't disappoint for the 12 Hours of Drummond Island. Although it did hold off until the later hours of the race it made the first mile of the course pretty scary, I crashed on my 3rd to the last lap, so I was a little apprehensive after that. Once the darkness came, I was done and only managed 7 laps.

The overall series is my number one priority and I didn't want to chance another crash and yet another injury. This has been the year of crashes and injuries for me and I was the only in my class, so I was unmotivated to go out in the dark. I will save it for another day.

Ride safe!

Tree Farm Shakedown

I met a few of my Cycletherapy home fries...Derek Hill, Ed Barker and The Kid, Jason Acker. We did an easy lap with some Cycletherapy club mates and had a good time. But I wanted to try this tight and twisty trail at race pace, so the 2nd lap was all business.

If you haven't rode the Farm, then I will tell you it's like a slinky all stretched out and then laid out to rest. There are a few straight aways, but few is the keyword. Lot's of roots on the corners so it makes things interesting.

We ended up having a 2nd lap time of around 51 minnows. Not bad as it's been only the 3rd time I've rode there.

We are assembling a team for the Tree Farm Relay on Saturday the 24th. Should be a good time!

Ride and smile!

The 12 Hours of Ithaca

If there ever was a close-to-perfect race, this was it.

I have to tell ya, this race was unworldly. At about the 4 hour mark I was thinking it was going to be a short day as my hands starting hurting. So I started taking small breaks (like 2 min.) off the bike when it was time to grab a new water bottle in my pit. With these short breaks it was enough to keep me going on the bike, but my lap times were falling. I was doing 24:30 minute laps for the first 6-7 laps but then slowed to 25:30 laps. But it didn't matter, I was still rolling and staying on the bike and that is what is most important. At one time I was tied for 1st overall, and when my friends (The Kreger family, Bryan and Jennifer) told me, I was rejuvenated, but my hands still hurt. This course has over 1200 turns, no kidding, which will explain why my hands hurt, I haven’t done this much turning since being lost in the new Meijer store layout.

At about the 5 hour mark is when the race just started to reach a plane I have only experienced maybe once or twice. I was riding the trail seamlessly. In other words, there were no favorites spots, or fast spots or slow spots or most unfavorite spots, it just turned into a long ribbon of single track where everything blended together, where it just flowed, no matter what I did, it just flowed without interruption. I didn't even stop at the pits except for a quick water bottle change every other lap and I just rode thinking I would blow up any minute, but I was enjoying the ride and kept going!

Up to this point I was not worried about where I was at in the race standings, but my friends would tell me every now and then. Then right at dark, I stopped to see the standings and much to my surprise I see a guy who I didn't think was racing and he was in front of me by two laps, I was a little disappointed, but I was still riding out of my mind, so I went to my pit and grabbed another bottle, some Endurolytes (an electrolyte replacement tablet), some energy gel and went back out with lights turned on! This lap turned out to be my slowest, but the transition from day to night is always requires some adjustment.

At about 10:30 PM, my buddy Bryan was telling me that I was tied for first in the single speed class again, but the guy was still in front of my by 7 minutes. So he gave me a little pep talk and told me to "get going!!!" I sped off and starting talking to myself (which my therapist tells me not too) and doing the math, I had to cut 3:30 out of his lead in each of the next two laps, which can be done, but again, I had to ride out of my mind even more so. So I was pedaling where I was coasting before, the light change was totally over and I was able to start "flowing" again and I was able to turn in lap times under 30:00, which isn't too bad after 11 hours of racing and 140 miles. I decided to do two more laps and I have one full bottle and a small handful of Endurolytes and I was ready to do two fast laps without stopping and hopefully gain all the ground I needed.

As I kept going, I was thinking I may catch up to him on the 2nd of these two laps, the trail is quiet and hardly anyone is on the trail at this time of the race. Every now and then you can see a headlight or taillight, but you don't know where they are as the trail twist and turns all over, so I relegated myself to 2nd place but in the back of my mind I was hoping that maybe the 1st place guy was ready to pull off and call it a day. At this time of the race you don't know exactly what's going on, so if you have enough gas left you should be planning on staying out as long as possible and be as fast as you safely can, so I come in to the start/finish area at 11:55 with my two planned laps done and I decide to do another lap. I shout out to the volunteers that I am going out for a last lap, that way they know I'm out there and still racing. (This race format allows you to start your last lap up to 11:59:59 if the race ends at 12:00 midnight) I felt surprisingly good and was ready just to go slow on this last lap, but I wanted to push it as hard as I could without wrapping myself around a tree or cramping and see if I could pull off another -30 lap time….soon, it would be all over.

I came in to the start/finish with a sense of relief as I knew I was done, but I was also very, very surprised at how well I felt. My buddy Bryan came up to me and told me that my competition ended up stopping at around 11:00 or so and I ended up doing 3more laps in that time frame. So I ended up beating him by 3 laps, which was very cool.

In the end, I was first in my class (Solo Single Speed) and 5th overall. I did 27 laps on a 5.6 mile course, so I ended up racing over 151 miles!