No rest for the wicked... the Julian Death March is this weekend. JDM is closer and lower key than Vision Quest, but plenty grueling in it's own right. The course swings between the mountains and desert, with course options of 50, 64, or 86 miles and 7k, 9k, or 12k feet of climbing.
Two fun things about JDM: 1) I'll be joined by Rodder teammates Scott and Milin. Rodder in the house! 2) Apple pie. Yum.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Vision Quest, part two
Here's my ride report for my second Vision Quest. Last year I had a good ride and finished just under 7:30 for about 50th place. This year I had been doing more training and felt in better shape. I hoped to improve my time, but I hadn't raced since January so I wasn't sure how much improvement to expect.
It's dark at the 5:30am start. Not twilight, not dim, but middle of the night dark. To get there, I'd gotten up at 3am to drive up from SD. Ridiculously early, but the kind of thing you can do because it's a big day you've been anticipating for a long time. As we climb Blackstar Canyon, the lights of riders above and below float through the darkness. There are low clouds (marine layer?) and as I climb through them it gets humid and my glasses fog. I reach the gate and turn onto the Main Divide in about 52 minutes. This first climb, about 2000 feet, is just a warm up for the rest of the ride. As I reach the Doppler ball (radar installation), the sun is coming up and the clouds are a deep red.
Near the top of Blackstar, I begin to settle in, and am feeling strong on the Main Divide. It's 8 miles of fireroad - up and down, but mostly up. My right hip flexor and back is feeling tight, which hurts and could signal a long day, but I ignore it. I see a spectacular crash as a guy in front of me (later I find out his name is Eric), crashes on his single speed carbon Air Nine and loses the rear wheel. As in, when he gets up, the rear wheel is not in the drop outs. Yikes. This section takes me about 55 minutes, meaning I reach Silverado Motorway in 1:46. Then it's down, down, down.
One of the interesting and challenging things about Vision Quest is the transition between long fireroad climbs and technical, singletrack descents. Silverado Motorway is a 3 mile, 1800 foot descent on loose, rocky singletrack. After nearly 2 hours of (mostly uphill) fireroad, I find it hard to descend aggressively. My plan is to ride in control and not risk a crash, even if it means giving up some time. But I am feeling comfortable and riding pretty well. I do get smoked by a couple of guys, though. One is Fuzzy, a well known pro who rides for Niner. He and I will trade spots back and forth throughout the day, with me making it back on the climbs and Fuzzy taking the descents. I find out later that the other guy rides there all the time and knows the trail well. I'm sure that helps, but he's still hauling ass. Anyway, I make it down Motorway in about 15 minutes and hit the aid station at Maple Springs.
A seemingly endless climb leads from Maple Springs back up to the Main Divide and on to Santiago Peak. Last year, this was the toughest part of VQ for me (ok, it was a tie with the hike a bike). Seven miles of relentless climbing. 2500 feet. Then, a bit of false flat and another 4.5 miles and 1200 feet. This year it seems to go by faster. The first part of the climb is on pavement and slightly steeper. It's made harder because you're transitioning back to climbing after the long descent of Motorway and the stop at the aid station. After a while, though, I settle in, my Red Bull shot takes effect, and I start to feel pretty good. My right side loosens up and I pass a number of people. My energy continues to hold for the final section of the climb, leading to Santiago Peak. This is the highest point on the course, at about 5600 feet above sea level.
The descent from the peak to the start of the Upper Holy Jim trail is uneventful. From there things get more interesting. Upper Holy Jim is the trickiest descent in the course - steep, rocky, loose. I haven't been doing a lot of technical riding (rainy winter = lots of road riding), so I am prepared to play it safe and walk dicey sections. Even so, it feels like my front tire is all over the place. The first crash isn't too bad, but the second one is a little rougher. Both are "loose control and steer into the side of the trail" crashes. There is lots of manzanita to "cushion" my fall. After the third crash, my legs cramp pretty hard and it takes a while to get up and pull my bike off the trail. My head starts filling with a bunch of thoughts that are leading towards a freak out: this is going badly, your ride is falling apart, all the preparation down the drain, you could really get hurt, etc, etc. I turn those thoughts off, lower my seat about four inches, and act like I know how to ride this shit. This turns out to work well enough to make it down the rest of the UHJ without trouble. After a short stretch of Main Divide fireroad, I turn onto Lower Holy Jim, which is less technical. LHJ is reminiscent of San Juan Trail, probably one of the better known OC trails (at least in San Diego). I don't feel totally comfortable, though; I'm still a little shaken from UHJ. About 1/3 of the way down, I realize my front tire pressure is really low. Not sure when that happened - maybe I burped it when I crashed? maybe that's why I crashed? But in that case I think I would have noticed it sooner. The good news is that it seems to be holding air ok, it's just low. Instead of taking a minute or two to stop and put some air in, I decide to try to make it to the aid station at the bottom of LHJ. I am careful of the front tire, but eventually it's clear that I have to deal with it. When I do add air, it's such an improvement, and so quick, that I wish I'd done it earlier. Finally, I reach aid station 2. Descents are supposed to be fun, but that one had been nerve-wracking.
From aid station 2, I head up Trabuco creek trail. This is the first single track climb of the day. Trabuco is rideable, but soon I reach the turnoff to West Horse Thief, which is super steep hike a bike. For about a mile. With an average grade around 20%. Last year this section took forever, but now it goes by faster. I am also able to ride more of it, which I attribute to all the strength-building workouts I've been doing. Thanks Eric!
I reach the top of West Horsethief feeling pretty good, and realize that I have a shot at finishing in under 7 hours (last year's time was 7:28). I'm all alone as I ride the last section of Main Divide to the top of Trabuco trail. I see one other rider on Trabuco. I enjoy the descent and feel great as I hit the lower section where slower riders are still coming up. The last section of the course is 4 miles of slightly downhill dirt road. I make good use of my big ring and sub 7 hours looks certain. Then I feel that wobbly feeling in the back - flat tire! I put some air in to see if it will seal, but there's a pretty big hole in the tire. Indecision is the enemy, so rather than trying to limp out on it or wasting more time (and CO2) trying to get it to seal, I quickly throw in a tube. There's one last creek crossing, then the finish in O'Neil park.
My time is 6:48:53, good for 31st. This is about 40 minutes better than last year. I attribute the improvement to training more consistently, and with a plan; working with Coach Eric Palmer (plug plug) has really paid off. Thanks also to Doug and Mike at North of the Border for all their support (plug plug).
VQ has a dedicated following, and if you talk to or read posts from these folks, it becomes clear that it's a special event. The idea of being tested is common. I was rattled by the difficulty I had on UHJ, but pulling it together and returning to a good performance was a mental victory.
It's dark at the 5:30am start. Not twilight, not dim, but middle of the night dark. To get there, I'd gotten up at 3am to drive up from SD. Ridiculously early, but the kind of thing you can do because it's a big day you've been anticipating for a long time. As we climb Blackstar Canyon, the lights of riders above and below float through the darkness. There are low clouds (marine layer?) and as I climb through them it gets humid and my glasses fog. I reach the gate and turn onto the Main Divide in about 52 minutes. This first climb, about 2000 feet, is just a warm up for the rest of the ride. As I reach the Doppler ball (radar installation), the sun is coming up and the clouds are a deep red.
Near the top of Blackstar, I begin to settle in, and am feeling strong on the Main Divide. It's 8 miles of fireroad - up and down, but mostly up. My right hip flexor and back is feeling tight, which hurts and could signal a long day, but I ignore it. I see a spectacular crash as a guy in front of me (later I find out his name is Eric), crashes on his single speed carbon Air Nine and loses the rear wheel. As in, when he gets up, the rear wheel is not in the drop outs. Yikes. This section takes me about 55 minutes, meaning I reach Silverado Motorway in 1:46. Then it's down, down, down.
One of the interesting and challenging things about Vision Quest is the transition between long fireroad climbs and technical, singletrack descents. Silverado Motorway is a 3 mile, 1800 foot descent on loose, rocky singletrack. After nearly 2 hours of (mostly uphill) fireroad, I find it hard to descend aggressively. My plan is to ride in control and not risk a crash, even if it means giving up some time. But I am feeling comfortable and riding pretty well. I do get smoked by a couple of guys, though. One is Fuzzy, a well known pro who rides for Niner. He and I will trade spots back and forth throughout the day, with me making it back on the climbs and Fuzzy taking the descents. I find out later that the other guy rides there all the time and knows the trail well. I'm sure that helps, but he's still hauling ass. Anyway, I make it down Motorway in about 15 minutes and hit the aid station at Maple Springs.
A seemingly endless climb leads from Maple Springs back up to the Main Divide and on to Santiago Peak. Last year, this was the toughest part of VQ for me (ok, it was a tie with the hike a bike). Seven miles of relentless climbing. 2500 feet. Then, a bit of false flat and another 4.5 miles and 1200 feet. This year it seems to go by faster. The first part of the climb is on pavement and slightly steeper. It's made harder because you're transitioning back to climbing after the long descent of Motorway and the stop at the aid station. After a while, though, I settle in, my Red Bull shot takes effect, and I start to feel pretty good. My right side loosens up and I pass a number of people. My energy continues to hold for the final section of the climb, leading to Santiago Peak. This is the highest point on the course, at about 5600 feet above sea level.
The descent from the peak to the start of the Upper Holy Jim trail is uneventful. From there things get more interesting. Upper Holy Jim is the trickiest descent in the course - steep, rocky, loose. I haven't been doing a lot of technical riding (rainy winter = lots of road riding), so I am prepared to play it safe and walk dicey sections. Even so, it feels like my front tire is all over the place. The first crash isn't too bad, but the second one is a little rougher. Both are "loose control and steer into the side of the trail" crashes. There is lots of manzanita to "cushion" my fall. After the third crash, my legs cramp pretty hard and it takes a while to get up and pull my bike off the trail. My head starts filling with a bunch of thoughts that are leading towards a freak out: this is going badly, your ride is falling apart, all the preparation down the drain, you could really get hurt, etc, etc. I turn those thoughts off, lower my seat about four inches, and act like I know how to ride this shit. This turns out to work well enough to make it down the rest of the UHJ without trouble. After a short stretch of Main Divide fireroad, I turn onto Lower Holy Jim, which is less technical. LHJ is reminiscent of San Juan Trail, probably one of the better known OC trails (at least in San Diego). I don't feel totally comfortable, though; I'm still a little shaken from UHJ. About 1/3 of the way down, I realize my front tire pressure is really low. Not sure when that happened - maybe I burped it when I crashed? maybe that's why I crashed? But in that case I think I would have noticed it sooner. The good news is that it seems to be holding air ok, it's just low. Instead of taking a minute or two to stop and put some air in, I decide to try to make it to the aid station at the bottom of LHJ. I am careful of the front tire, but eventually it's clear that I have to deal with it. When I do add air, it's such an improvement, and so quick, that I wish I'd done it earlier. Finally, I reach aid station 2. Descents are supposed to be fun, but that one had been nerve-wracking.
From aid station 2, I head up Trabuco creek trail. This is the first single track climb of the day. Trabuco is rideable, but soon I reach the turnoff to West Horse Thief, which is super steep hike a bike. For about a mile. With an average grade around 20%. Last year this section took forever, but now it goes by faster. I am also able to ride more of it, which I attribute to all the strength-building workouts I've been doing. Thanks Eric!
I reach the top of West Horsethief feeling pretty good, and realize that I have a shot at finishing in under 7 hours (last year's time was 7:28). I'm all alone as I ride the last section of Main Divide to the top of Trabuco trail. I see one other rider on Trabuco. I enjoy the descent and feel great as I hit the lower section where slower riders are still coming up. The last section of the course is 4 miles of slightly downhill dirt road. I make good use of my big ring and sub 7 hours looks certain. Then I feel that wobbly feeling in the back - flat tire! I put some air in to see if it will seal, but there's a pretty big hole in the tire. Indecision is the enemy, so rather than trying to limp out on it or wasting more time (and CO2) trying to get it to seal, I quickly throw in a tube. There's one last creek crossing, then the finish in O'Neil park.
My time is 6:48:53, good for 31st. This is about 40 minutes better than last year. I attribute the improvement to training more consistently, and with a plan; working with Coach Eric Palmer (plug plug) has really paid off. Thanks also to Doug and Mike at North of the Border for all their support (plug plug).
VQ has a dedicated following, and if you talk to or read posts from these folks, it becomes clear that it's a special event. The idea of being tested is common. I was rattled by the difficulty I had on UHJ, but pulling it together and returning to a good performance was a mental victory.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Vision Quest initial report
Great ride today in VQ - finished in about 6:50, much better than last year (~7:30). Conditions and weather were good, had some flats but no major mechanicals. Here's a photo of the post ride smile:
 |
| Muddy, bloody, and happy |
Friday, April 1, 2011
ready, set, go
The new Rodder Racing kits arrived yesterday, just in time for my first event of the spring season! Vision Quest is tomorrow: 56 miles, 11k feet of climbing. Ouch. Stay tuned for a race report.
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