Lumberjack 100

Mitch, Todd, Dwayne, and I headed up to Manistee, Michigan for their Lumberjack 100 mile mountain bike race. This race sells out and there were 350 racers. There was no single speed category for the women, only men! I decided to try out my new 1x9 Superfly hardtail. I have been racing single speed for so long that I forgot how to shift!

The course consisted of three 33 mile loops . There were rolling hills, some short steep climbs, some double track, and small amt of fire road. There wasn't really any technical parts of the loop. There were a lot of women who just hammered the course. I need technical climbs to keep me fired up!

I think the hardest part of the race was seeing the 2 lead men finishing their 3rd 33 mile loop heading in to finish and I was heading out for my 3rd loop. Wow! I think the leading male won it in 6hrs 33 min. That is hauling!! My time was 11hrs 40min finishing 18th in women's. I wasn't too happy with my time but, was told that many don't finish it their first time. Todd finished top 99 out of over 200 men, Mitch top 40, and Dwayne 13th in single speed.

12hr Berryman Off-Road Duathlon

Well...I should of re-thought this one. After feeling really good after last year's 12hr and winning it, I was hungry for more suffering this year. However, one small problem. Over the past 4

months, I have had increased pain in my right heel. Running on it seems to flair it up. I had been training hard for the duathlon but, finally asked for help from one of my fellow interns in orthopedics. He suggested xrays and it was what I was afraid of-bone spur in my heel!! Check out that hook! Ughh. Ok..I'll run on it until the last week before I had to register and see how it feels. I was doing round the clock Ibuprofen and icing it. It felt better..so I thought. I didn't care. I saw some great competition registered and I wanted to be pushed even harder this year so I registered.

I choose to do the bike loop 1st. I took off on my single speed. Climbing on a switchback, my back wheel came off. Oops. Almost a bad crash. But, I quickly got the chain back on the cog and wheel fixed. This took a little time off but, long race to go. I came in 1:25 and beat my lap time from last year. Then, it was time for the run. I knew this was going to hurt but, it really hurt. It felt like "the hook" was coming through the bottom of my foot. I tried to alternate with walking some but, no relief. I started re-thinking my strategy. If I could be consistent with my bike times then, it could make up for my run times since running was more Carrie and Emily's strength.

I came in from the run, not happy with the time, and shot back out on the bike again for #2 bike loop. The pain didn't go away! Every climb, since I mostly stand on the single speed, caused pain to shoot through my foot. I've never felt this before MTN biking. But, I never rode after I ran to find out. I finished the 2nd bike loop and called it quits. I don't get credit for the 2nd bike loop because you have to complete a bike leg and run leg to equal one full loop. So, I had no choice but, to settle for 3rd place.

Emily ended up winning. Wendy ended up crashing and getting sutures in her arm. I had to do some more irrigating to one of her lacerations that didn't get sutured. I pulled more rocks out and butterflied it. Not sure it would hold though. She ended up spending 5 days in the hospital but, not sure what the complication was. I devoted the rest of my time helping Zdenek fight for 3rd place. The heat was taking it's toll on everyone. I knew what he needed in transition with food, drinks, and encouragement to make him faster and kept tabs on the few minutes that separated him from David Frei. Frei ended up winning 3rd over him by less than 60 seconds. What a race!

"The hook" and I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon but, can't get in till August. No more running for me for a while. Next big race...Lumberjack 100 miles in Michigan.

Headed back down to Arkansas once again for Syllamo's Revenge 50 miler. Loreen and I arrived in the early evening with time to check in to our cabin and head to Angler's for a little dinner. We placed our order for our big pre-race meal. Within 10 minutes, the owner came out and announced to all that we had to leave due to 2 tornadoes heading our way! Ok...where do we go? We were 7 miles away from our cabin. So, we booked it back west to our cabin without dinner. 2 cop cars were speeding the opposite way with lights/sirens on. I decided that our cabin wasn't going to provide any shelter so we pulled in to another local restaurant. I asked if they had a basement and they said no but, they had a walk in fridge. Sold! We stayed there for about an hour until everything was safe. There ended up being tornadoes/funnel clouds all around us but, no damage for us. Race on!

Conditions were wet and slick for the race but, better than the previous year from what I heard. My goal was top 10 for this race knowing some of the competition and that I would be racing my single speed among the geared women. I was also going for the Arkansas Marathon Series and this was the last race of the series.

We speed off on the park's paved road for a short bit just to hit a huge bottleneck on the 1 mile gravel road climb which is a 8% grade. I managed to weave through a lot of that because I couldn't really climb it too slow on the single speed. Once I hit the single track I felt like I was bushwhacking on the bike! This 1st section was really overgrown. I know I wasn't the only one who came home with scratches all over my arms and poison ivy. The second section was pretty technical with lots of slick rocks. I was feeling great through this section and managed to hold 6th place. Eventually, I lost 2 spots about 5 1/2 hrs in. The last section was what I remembered from 24hrs of Syllamo, nice fast flowing single track. I finished the race in 8th and accomplished my goal.

Loreen and I headed to Mountain View for a little dinner that night. On the weekends, small acoustic bands are playing music all over town. Here's one of the bands we listened to. They were awesome. Just click the play button to hear them.

24hrs of Syllamo

It was already time to load up the car again and head back down to Arkansas for 24hrs of Syllamo. I knew this course was going to be more brutal than the previous 24hr MTN bike race I did last year and of course, doing it on my single speed. They said it was going to be 2,400 feet of ascending and descending per loop. Loops were 10.5 miles long.

We arrived Friday night to set up camp and was greeted by other St. Louis folks-Team Seagal, Team Redwheel, Bob Jenkins and crew, and others. I got a good nights sleep since my strategy was to go straight through the night. The killer coons ate Wendy's oatmeal, who was my competition, so I brought her back some hot oatmeal from a local restaurant I went to for breakfast. A girl has to eat before a big race like this!

Race started at noon Saturday and would go till noon Sunday. The start started with a short run to the bikes. I was warned of the same start as Syllamo's Revenge, which is 3/4 mile gravel road at a 11% grade. This was a lot of standing on the single speed. Right off the bat, a few suffered from flats on this road alone. We took a left off this road onto the red section which consisted of flowing single track with a few steep climbs. The bulk of the trail was twisting beautiful single track winding through the Ozark Mountains. The last section was an incrediable long rocky descent that took you back to Blanchard Springs. This last section left a smile on my face every time and made me say "I want to do that again." But, reality hit quickly and I realized I had to climb that dang 11% grade hill again after the start.
After 5 consecutive laps some sort of stomach problem hit me. I usually don't get sick in races so not sure what it was from. We couldn't drink the water from Blanchard Springs so I got my water from another camp site. Jim Davis came to my rescue and gave me some Pepto Bismal. Wendy Davis was a few minutes in front of me (I think I gave her some super turbo oatmeal that morning) but, my stomach problems kept me out for 2 hrs so she gained a couple laps on me. After a couple hours, I felt fantastic! Time to play...game on!!! Close to 10pm, I hit the trail and wasn't going to stop again. I realized I was gaining time on each lap. Around 4-5 AM, I saw Wendy sitting down, FINALLY, and looked like she might have been a little tired. I quickly raced back out and realized I finally made up my time. I knew I could get 2 more laps in and finished sometime after 1pm winning the Women's single speed division completing 11 laps. I was also very happy with my 7th place overall position with the men too.

Steve did a fantastic job putting on this race. There weren't many racers who came down for this since it was the 1st race but, I know he will draw in many more racers next year. This course is not as technical as Syllamo's Revenge so it can definitely be done by many. He already has the date for next year, April 9, 2011, so check it out!

Ouachita Challenge 2010

Last weekend, I hit the road heading from St. Louis to Oden, Arkansas for the Ouachita Challenge to race my new Superfly single speed. This is a 60 mile course offering a tour on Saturday and race on Sunday. There are 275 slots for each day and both always sell out within 1 day.
Let me tell you, these folks do a great job putting on the tour/race. Everyone is friendly, there are plenty of volunteers for the race, great food at the aid stations (I saw but, didn’t want to stop), breakfast and dinner before and after the tour/race, and great schwag to include 2 bike frames (1 was Niner frame).

The course was tough and had cut off times this year. There was about 6400 ft of elevation gain, some awesome single track on the Ouachita and Womble trails, and some gravel roads. This course offers spectacular views of valleys, rivers, and lakes on top of Brushy Creek Mountain and Blowout Mountain. I loved the way my Superfly SS handled the trails, cornering, and climbs. I am in love with this bike!

Be sure to put this race on your calendar for next year! http://www.ouachitachallenge.com/

Next, heading back down to Arkansas this weekend for 24 hours of Syllamo and Syllamo’s Revenge in May.

Making a New Trail at Cedar Bluff

Do you ever wonder how mountain bike trails are built and what tools they use? As a mountain biker and racer, I decided to help out and join GORC to build a trail this weekend. Today, GORC focused their attention on a re-route at Cedar Bluff in Castlewood State Park. We met at 9 AM at the Sherman Beach parking lot and took a short drive to meet again at the "Haunted House." There were about 20 of us and we took a short hike up a road to the soon to be new trail. This section will be cutting out some of the washed out section if you are going clockwise after going under the railroad bridge. Let me tell you, this section is going to be sweet! The trail wraps around the bluff and is pretty rocky so will drain well. It's a gradual climb with small twists and technical spots which will keep you entertained yet, challenged. If you choose to go the opposite way, you will be grinning the whole way down . It will be a fast decent but, the small twists and rocks will make you think when choosing your line. After the hard labor, Lone Wolf brought us lunch. It was delicious! Thanks Ralph. If you want to put a little time back into the trails and see what this new trail is all about, join GORC April 24th. The plan is to complete the trail on this date! This is going to be awesome.

Snowy Trails

Got up early this AM so I could hit the snow covered trails at 6:45 AM. What a blast! There were only critter prints, possibly coon, on the trail before me. Surprisingly, it was nice dry snow. Todd, Loreen, Kari, and Jamie, joined me shortly after I started. Then, the girls and I joined up for the Team Revolution Women's Frostbike Ride for the remainder of my ride at 9 AM. There were nothing but smiles today on the trail. I even saw other friends, Ken, Stephanie, Laura, Carrie, and Jeff, doing a pre-run before their race next weekend. Good to see so many folks playing outside in the snow!