With the long thanksgiving weekend, I decided to get in some good riding. Since I am planning to do the Excruciation Exam at the first of January, I figured it would be a good time to get some mountain biking and road biking in.
Luckily I was able to get out of work early on Wednesday. I took the bike with me to work and stopped by Cypresswood for a ride on the trail. Trail was in good shape. I got in 11 miles.
Thursday, I went and road 30 miles with my friend in the woodlands. Came home and had the T-day meal and prepared for mountain biking on Friday.
Friday my neighbor and I headed to Rocky Hill Ranch to do the long loop. Finished the 20 miles in about 2 hours.
Saturday was a cool morning. We started at Fairfield to get in a few extra miles from Zube. By the time we finished the ride we had about 70 miles.
After all this riding, I did not have the legs for another ride on Sunday. So four good days of riding to kick the holidays off into good shape.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 09, 2009
Rocky Hill Round-up
Sunday November 8th I completed my second Mountain Bike race in the fall TMBRA series. The race was held at Rocky Hill Ranch just outside Smithville, TX. Since this was both the last race of the fall series, and the last time Rocky Hill Ranch will be in the fall, the race director decided to make the race a little special. They decided to make everyone ride the full 20 mile loop. This meant that everyone was scheduled to start at 8:00 with the different catagories starting at 5 minute intervals.
I ended up riding with one of my co-workers to the race. Matt was kind enough to pick me up on the way. Since RHR is about 2 hours from the house, he picked me up at 5 AM. I had a good case of pre-race gitters. I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, and set the alarm, but forgot to turn it on. No matter, I woke up before I had set the alarm, and got ready anyway. I was waiting and ready when Matt got to the house.
We arrived around 6:45 and were one of the first few racers to arrive. We got ready, checked in, and started our warm-up. We started out by riding up the course to see how they had routed by fat chucks, the long rocky steep hill near the start. After seeing they were bypassing the bad climb and using Mel's Way, we headed back to the start.
Matt races in the Cat 2 40-49 race. So he headed out about 20 minutes before I did. The start area was full of riders waiting for the start. Eventually it was time four our start. I decided that I was not going to go out overly strong because I knew it was a long race and longer than most of the races in the fall series.
The start came and I was right in the middle of the pack and we all stayed together until just past Mel's Way. Which was tough because RHR is nothing but solid climbing for the first 1.5-2 miles. After that it gets into some nice flowing singletrack. At this point I got in with a small group of about 4 riders. We stayed together for a while. There was a group of faster riders that came up to us. Most of the group decided to try to keep up with them. I chose to keep a consistent pace since we still had about three/fourths of the race left. Turns out that my strategy worked well. Half of the group slowed down and I caught them around mile 7. One of the guys stayed on my wheel. It was his second race and he was having fun. I followed me through the feed zone and up through the western fence line. Somewhere around mile 15 we got caught and passed by a woman that had a guy trying to keep up with her. Eventually she dropped him and I lost my previous friend and caught up with the other guy.
I remember starting to cramp a little around mile 17, so I sucked down a gel and some water and was able to hold it off. It is a bit tough to eat a gel while on a mountain bike and avoid trees, but I did it. With about 1 mile to go I looked back and I was all by myself. So I pushed forward and was able to finish about 30-45 seconds ahead of the next rider. When I finished, my total time was 2 hours 21 minutes. Which I was pleased with.
Once I crossed the line, I headed over to the truck and cleaned up, found some free beer, and got ready for the ride back. Matt and I decided to stick around for awards. After the results were posted, I saw that I was 27th out of 36. Not bad. About that time the sky started to rain a bit. luckily it held off until after the race. Since it started to rain and neither Matt or I was getting any awards, we decided to head back home. On the way we stopped for some food in Giddings then shared race stories.
Over all, what a great race. I think that RHR is one of my favorite trails in the Houston area. especially the full 20 mile course.
I ended up riding with one of my co-workers to the race. Matt was kind enough to pick me up on the way. Since RHR is about 2 hours from the house, he picked me up at 5 AM. I had a good case of pre-race gitters. I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, and set the alarm, but forgot to turn it on. No matter, I woke up before I had set the alarm, and got ready anyway. I was waiting and ready when Matt got to the house.
We arrived around 6:45 and were one of the first few racers to arrive. We got ready, checked in, and started our warm-up. We started out by riding up the course to see how they had routed by fat chucks, the long rocky steep hill near the start. After seeing they were bypassing the bad climb and using Mel's Way, we headed back to the start.
Matt races in the Cat 2 40-49 race. So he headed out about 20 minutes before I did. The start area was full of riders waiting for the start. Eventually it was time four our start. I decided that I was not going to go out overly strong because I knew it was a long race and longer than most of the races in the fall series.
The start came and I was right in the middle of the pack and we all stayed together until just past Mel's Way. Which was tough because RHR is nothing but solid climbing for the first 1.5-2 miles. After that it gets into some nice flowing singletrack. At this point I got in with a small group of about 4 riders. We stayed together for a while. There was a group of faster riders that came up to us. Most of the group decided to try to keep up with them. I chose to keep a consistent pace since we still had about three/fourths of the race left. Turns out that my strategy worked well. Half of the group slowed down and I caught them around mile 7. One of the guys stayed on my wheel. It was his second race and he was having fun. I followed me through the feed zone and up through the western fence line. Somewhere around mile 15 we got caught and passed by a woman that had a guy trying to keep up with her. Eventually she dropped him and I lost my previous friend and caught up with the other guy.
I remember starting to cramp a little around mile 17, so I sucked down a gel and some water and was able to hold it off. It is a bit tough to eat a gel while on a mountain bike and avoid trees, but I did it. With about 1 mile to go I looked back and I was all by myself. So I pushed forward and was able to finish about 30-45 seconds ahead of the next rider. When I finished, my total time was 2 hours 21 minutes. Which I was pleased with.
Once I crossed the line, I headed over to the truck and cleaned up, found some free beer, and got ready for the ride back. Matt and I decided to stick around for awards. After the results were posted, I saw that I was 27th out of 36. Not bad. About that time the sky started to rain a bit. luckily it held off until after the race. Since it started to rain and neither Matt or I was getting any awards, we decided to head back home. On the way we stopped for some food in Giddings then shared race stories.
Over all, what a great race. I think that RHR is one of my favorite trails in the Houston area. especially the full 20 mile course.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Tour de Donut
Time to kick November off with the first ride. Vanessa and I did the Tour de Donut. It consisted of a 55 mile route or a 30 mile timed event where you get a 5 minute time credit for each donut you eat. I opted for the 55 mile route. I started off early in the group and worked as a ride marshal. I got into a couple really good groups. The first 30 miles I had over a 21 mph average. I got in with another group for the next 10 miles and continued with a 20+ average. Around mile 40 I reached my limit and could not keep with the group any more. Time to slow down and do my ride. This was also the point when the wind was more of a headwind. The last 17 miles was significantly slower then I had been riding, but I was still able to finish with a 19.6 mph average. Not bad for almost no mile in the month of October.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Limited Training.
Well after the mountain bike race, I went on a fairly limited training run. I had two good weekends of riding, including a nice fast pace for the lions bike for site ride. I did the 57 mile route with an average speed of 19.3 mph. The rest of the month was short easy rides. It was good to get those rides in because work had me traveling most of the month of October. I spent the first three weekend in October with only 1 day of riding. All in all I only had two rides in October. Not much of a training month.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Dave Boyd Huntsville Classic 2009
This weekend was the Dave Boyd Huntsville Classic, hosted by Bike Lane. This was the first mountain bike race I ever attended. This year I actually got to race also. We have been planning on this weekend for a while. The plan was to camp out all weekend. We even booked a shelter early on so that we would be sure to have a campsite for the weekend. Friday came and Vanessa headed up and reserved a shelter. We were able to get shelter #1, which is the closest one to the start/finish line. We got to Huntsville about 9:00 Friday night and pitched the tent. It was dark and starting to sprinkle, so pitching the tent was a bit of fun. After we got the tent up we found out that we were missing one pole for the rain fly. So we made do and used the fly with out one pole.
Saturday morning was the big set up day. We woke up around 7:00 as it started getting light. Once we got ready, the crew was getting thing set up for the race. Vanessa and I jumped in and began helping out. It was raining, but not bad. The rain was confined to a light drizzle, which was just enough to keep the ground wet. We finished around 1:00, and got a chance to ride the course and see for ourselves how good the course was. We had been getting comments all morning about the train being in great shape. I made the lap easy and did not push it. After the ride, I got cleaned up and ready to help out for the evening. We hung out and told stories and just had fun for the evening. It was Ken's birthday so we partied well into the night. Around midnight, I had to call it a day, since I had to get up early to help with the race.
Sunday morning came early. Vanessa had to get up at 5:00 am so she could get ready for the day. Registration opened at 6:30 am. I slept in a little later, but then got up and started to clean out the tent. The more I could do in the morning, the less I would have to do after the race. I got the rain fly off and hung it up in the shelter. I thought it would help the tent to dry out. Luckily Sunday morning it was dry, but it did not stay that way. Around noon we got a pretty good rain, just before my race.
My race was the third group to start on the Cat 3 races. Around 12:40 we started to stage for the race. They called up the 19-29 group, then the Collegiate Cs. I rolled up to the line for the 30-39 group and waited for our start. When the whistle blew, I got a good jump on the crowd. I headed into the single track in one of the top 10 spots. I held a pretty good pace for a while, but lost some ground on the climb to the power line. The next section of single track was nice, but lost some more ground to a few riders just before getting to the nature center. This is where Egan caught me. I was able to hang with the next group for quite a while. Most of of us stayed together until we got to the first typically sandy section. This was where I was caught by Vandy. Once we got into the trail, he passed and it was the last I saw of him. We made it to the jeep trail to the damn, which was one of the few spots where the trail was slippery wet. There was a small group that passed me in this section. I knew that the next section would be interesting since we were getting close to the fence line climbs. One of the first really rooty up hill climbs on the course. I crossed the bridge and saw about 6 guys stopped and starting to walk. I was riding away, calling out and most moved for me, one guy just said it was not his fault, but did not move. I had to stop, get around him and take off again. That was the last time I had to stop on the course. I pulled away while we were climbing, but they would catch me on the down hill. The next climb, the same guy took a bad line, so I went far left and passed him again. After the next down hill he passed me and I did not see him again. I was feeling pretty good, but had a difficult time finding a gear I felt comfortable in. I was caught by another rider about 2 miles out. From that point on, most of the climbs were done, and those that were left were short and not bad. I put the bike in the big ring and just tried to follow the line cut by the previous racers. Just before we got to the bridges, the guy behind me said that I was setting a good pace. After we cross the last bridge, he passed me, and we both passed another rider. I decided it was time to latch on to his wheel and ride it in. There were a couple times where he started to pull away, but I always managed to catch him. Once we made the last left turn I stuck to his wheel. This is the section of the single track which is narrow and fast, but at the end, there is a short but good climb before you start the long down hill to the finish. When the guy in front of me when wide to make the turn, I went narrow. Stood up and sprinted up the hill. Left him in the dust. and caught another rider on the hill. Two down, now I set my sights on the rider a few hundred yards in front. I set up the gears, spun up and started the diesel engine running. There was a rider who latched onto my wheel, but I was able to drop him about the time I caught the rider in front. It felt good to see the rider in front of me look back and then stand up to try to get away. I caught him just before we hit the pavement and motored on to the finish line. I looked down and saw my average hit 11.0 mph right after crossing the finish line. My GPS recorded my speed at 26 mph as I crossed the line. I felt good, I expected a top 20 finish.
When the official results came out I did indeed turn my fastest lap of the course, 53:05. I bettered my previous time by about 3 minutes. The final results came out and finished 17 out of 31 riders. While there were a few slick muddy spots, over all the course was the best It has ever been since I have ridden at Huntsville.
Saturday morning was the big set up day. We woke up around 7:00 as it started getting light. Once we got ready, the crew was getting thing set up for the race. Vanessa and I jumped in and began helping out. It was raining, but not bad. The rain was confined to a light drizzle, which was just enough to keep the ground wet. We finished around 1:00, and got a chance to ride the course and see for ourselves how good the course was. We had been getting comments all morning about the train being in great shape. I made the lap easy and did not push it. After the ride, I got cleaned up and ready to help out for the evening. We hung out and told stories and just had fun for the evening. It was Ken's birthday so we partied well into the night. Around midnight, I had to call it a day, since I had to get up early to help with the race.
Sunday morning came early. Vanessa had to get up at 5:00 am so she could get ready for the day. Registration opened at 6:30 am. I slept in a little later, but then got up and started to clean out the tent. The more I could do in the morning, the less I would have to do after the race. I got the rain fly off and hung it up in the shelter. I thought it would help the tent to dry out. Luckily Sunday morning it was dry, but it did not stay that way. Around noon we got a pretty good rain, just before my race.
My race was the third group to start on the Cat 3 races. Around 12:40 we started to stage for the race. They called up the 19-29 group, then the Collegiate Cs. I rolled up to the line for the 30-39 group and waited for our start. When the whistle blew, I got a good jump on the crowd. I headed into the single track in one of the top 10 spots. I held a pretty good pace for a while, but lost some ground on the climb to the power line. The next section of single track was nice, but lost some more ground to a few riders just before getting to the nature center. This is where Egan caught me. I was able to hang with the next group for quite a while. Most of of us stayed together until we got to the first typically sandy section. This was where I was caught by Vandy. Once we got into the trail, he passed and it was the last I saw of him. We made it to the jeep trail to the damn, which was one of the few spots where the trail was slippery wet. There was a small group that passed me in this section. I knew that the next section would be interesting since we were getting close to the fence line climbs. One of the first really rooty up hill climbs on the course. I crossed the bridge and saw about 6 guys stopped and starting to walk. I was riding away, calling out and most moved for me, one guy just said it was not his fault, but did not move. I had to stop, get around him and take off again. That was the last time I had to stop on the course. I pulled away while we were climbing, but they would catch me on the down hill. The next climb, the same guy took a bad line, so I went far left and passed him again. After the next down hill he passed me and I did not see him again. I was feeling pretty good, but had a difficult time finding a gear I felt comfortable in. I was caught by another rider about 2 miles out. From that point on, most of the climbs were done, and those that were left were short and not bad. I put the bike in the big ring and just tried to follow the line cut by the previous racers. Just before we got to the bridges, the guy behind me said that I was setting a good pace. After we cross the last bridge, he passed me, and we both passed another rider. I decided it was time to latch on to his wheel and ride it in. There were a couple times where he started to pull away, but I always managed to catch him. Once we made the last left turn I stuck to his wheel. This is the section of the single track which is narrow and fast, but at the end, there is a short but good climb before you start the long down hill to the finish. When the guy in front of me when wide to make the turn, I went narrow. Stood up and sprinted up the hill. Left him in the dust. and caught another rider on the hill. Two down, now I set my sights on the rider a few hundred yards in front. I set up the gears, spun up and started the diesel engine running. There was a rider who latched onto my wheel, but I was able to drop him about the time I caught the rider in front. It felt good to see the rider in front of me look back and then stand up to try to get away. I caught him just before we hit the pavement and motored on to the finish line. I looked down and saw my average hit 11.0 mph right after crossing the finish line. My GPS recorded my speed at 26 mph as I crossed the line. I felt good, I expected a top 20 finish.
When the official results came out I did indeed turn my fastest lap of the course, 53:05. I bettered my previous time by about 3 minutes. The final results came out and finished 17 out of 31 riders. While there were a few slick muddy spots, over all the course was the best It has ever been since I have ridden at Huntsville.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Labor Day Weekend
Well after training for Hotter'n Hell, I did not want to get out of form. I had a weekend by myself, so I decided to make a biking weekend out of it. It started off with a mountain bike ride on Friday evening. After work I stopped by Cypresswood and hit the trails for a few hours. I got in about 10 miles.
Saturday I rode 75 miles on the road. Fifty miles were with a friend. We met at the back of The Woodlands and rode up to Montgomery and came back through Magnolia. After we got back, I decided that I wanted to get a few more miles. I did a 20 mile loop through The Woodlands and got lunch on the way.
Sunday was on the Mountain bike to pre-ride for the race on Sept 13th. After one lap at Huntsville State Park, I started a second lap and helped trim growth covering the trail. Between the two laps, I finished with 17 miles on the bike.
Monday, Northwest cycling club decided to ride a century. I decided it could be fun, but I needed to be at the airport by 4:00. My neighbor and I decided to start early and ride to the start. We left the house at 6:30am to be at the start on time. The route had us going through Magnolia then down to Zube Park, and back to the start again through Magnolia. I ended up getting home just after 3:00pm, and finished with 106 miles.
Across the 4 days, I ended up with 209 miles. Not a bad way to start off September.
Saturday I rode 75 miles on the road. Fifty miles were with a friend. We met at the back of The Woodlands and rode up to Montgomery and came back through Magnolia. After we got back, I decided that I wanted to get a few more miles. I did a 20 mile loop through The Woodlands and got lunch on the way.
Sunday was on the Mountain bike to pre-ride for the race on Sept 13th. After one lap at Huntsville State Park, I started a second lap and helped trim growth covering the trail. Between the two laps, I finished with 17 miles on the bike.
Monday, Northwest cycling club decided to ride a century. I decided it could be fun, but I needed to be at the airport by 4:00. My neighbor and I decided to start early and ride to the start. We left the house at 6:30am to be at the start on time. The route had us going through Magnolia then down to Zube Park, and back to the start again through Magnolia. I ended up getting home just after 3:00pm, and finished with 106 miles.
Across the 4 days, I ended up with 209 miles. Not a bad way to start off September.
Monday, August 31, 2009
HH100 Weekend
Well, another Hotter'n Hell 100 down in the books. This one was another record setter, although not for heat. The record was for attendance with 14,205 riders.
We started our weekend on Thursday and left work a little early and headed to Wichita Falls. We got to the hotel about 11:00pm, checked in and unloaded the truck. I wanted to get to town early to pre-ride the mountain bike course.
Friday morning I woke up at 7:30, got ready and attempted to pre-ride the course. I found part of the course, but it was difficult. I rode along and picked up a trail what I thought was the race course, it was marked with paint and ribbons used to mark the course. I suspect that that section was used in the trail run, and not the mountain bike course, because when we got to the actual race, we went on other trails, that I did not ride. After a 17 mile pre-ride, I cleaned up and got ready for the rest of the day. We went to the local winery, and then headed to the consumer show. At 4:00 I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the race.
The race started at 6:00. My group, CAT3 30-39, left about 6:09. The race was individually timed, mass start race. Finish order was determined by elapsed time of the timing chips. I got a good start with the group and was able to keep up until we got into the single track. The course was the tightest I have ever ridden. It was a very nice course though. I had one wipe out, and watched one guy fall over backwards on the trail. My finish time was 1:00:59, which put me in 12 place out of 39 riders. My best placing ever. After the race I headed to the hotel, and got the pasta bar, cleaned up and got ready for the road ride.
The next morning started off at 4:10 am. We got up, got ready, and were in the breakfast line right at 5:00am. By 5:30 we were in line at the start about 20 feet back from the line. The NWCC group joined us and we were all set for the start. Just after 7:00 the National Anthem was sung with the fly over at 7:05 at the end of the song. With the big boom of the starting cannon, we were off. The crowds we pretty bad for about 25-30 miles. I ended up stopping 3 times, mile 30, 60, and 77. For all my stops my computer logged a stop time of 30 minutes. My ride time was 5:15 for 101.76 miles. I got in a little before 1:00, and took my usual dip in the fire hydrant sprinkler at the finish.
I am looking forward to doing the race and ride again next year.
We started our weekend on Thursday and left work a little early and headed to Wichita Falls. We got to the hotel about 11:00pm, checked in and unloaded the truck. I wanted to get to town early to pre-ride the mountain bike course.
Friday morning I woke up at 7:30, got ready and attempted to pre-ride the course. I found part of the course, but it was difficult. I rode along and picked up a trail what I thought was the race course, it was marked with paint and ribbons used to mark the course. I suspect that that section was used in the trail run, and not the mountain bike course, because when we got to the actual race, we went on other trails, that I did not ride. After a 17 mile pre-ride, I cleaned up and got ready for the rest of the day. We went to the local winery, and then headed to the consumer show. At 4:00 I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the race.
The race started at 6:00. My group, CAT3 30-39, left about 6:09. The race was individually timed, mass start race. Finish order was determined by elapsed time of the timing chips. I got a good start with the group and was able to keep up until we got into the single track. The course was the tightest I have ever ridden. It was a very nice course though. I had one wipe out, and watched one guy fall over backwards on the trail. My finish time was 1:00:59, which put me in 12 place out of 39 riders. My best placing ever. After the race I headed to the hotel, and got the pasta bar, cleaned up and got ready for the road ride.
The next morning started off at 4:10 am. We got up, got ready, and were in the breakfast line right at 5:00am. By 5:30 we were in line at the start about 20 feet back from the line. The NWCC group joined us and we were all set for the start. Just after 7:00 the National Anthem was sung with the fly over at 7:05 at the end of the song. With the big boom of the starting cannon, we were off. The crowds we pretty bad for about 25-30 miles. I ended up stopping 3 times, mile 30, 60, and 77. For all my stops my computer logged a stop time of 30 minutes. My ride time was 5:15 for 101.76 miles. I got in a little before 1:00, and took my usual dip in the fire hydrant sprinkler at the finish.
I am looking forward to doing the race and ride again next year.
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