Tour de Trails 2012

Last year I wrote about some baseballs fans try to visit every baseball park in their lifetime. I thought it might be fun to see all the local trails in one year.

KY:

Fort Duffield, not yet.

Cherokee Park, not yet.

Waverly Park, not yet.
AJ Jolly Park, not yet, it's nearby too.

Tower Park, Haven't ridden since the race in 2009!

General Butler, Raced last year. Fun Old School trails

Capitol View, rode almost 11 hours and 10 lap here during 12 Hour race. Very fun course. Ouch.

England-Idlewild, Check! I've trained there a couple times this year, hopefully racing there soon.

Devou Trails, I hit'em this week. Nice loop I can bike commute to!

OH:

Paint Creek, Never been there!

Huffman MetroPark, Never been there!

Caesar Creek, Not in a couple years...

Mount Mitchell, Near my in-laws. The old-section is very fast and flowy. The new section is pretty bad-ass and technical (for me). Cool local 8 miles of trails!
Keehner Park, Been twice this year. Cool little trail system if you live nearby.

Hueston Woods, Raced there last year, didn't hit all the trails.

Landon-Deerfield, We take Kona there from time to time, nice lil loop.

John Bryan, always ride the 6 Hour race, we just went up recently. Very fun!

East Fork, My home court.

South 80 Trails, kind of a flat little short loop. Might make a nice short track course. These are still being developed. Since this is right out my front door in Mariemont I hit'em a lot. HOwever, they are being mowed by a Kubota tractor — which means the trails are double-track and not very technical.

IN:

Muskatatuck, not yet. Maybe AMBC race?

French Lick, not yet.

Brown County, Epic, but haven't been there in 2 years! Need to get back.

Versailles, Check! This was often dry when Cincy trails were wet this spring. Great Trails!

Bad at Math?

I was doing some rough math, I may have won the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance MTB Race series in the Expert division... I dunno, we'll see. Too early to pop open the fine champagne.

I wonder if Tower gets rescheduled I will have to dust off the Paragon again and defend some points. But from now on I'm focusing on cross and the 6 Hours of Versailles.

Race #89: I got the bonk!

I love England-Idlewild. It is one of my favorite local race courses, along with east Fork and Versailles. I typically do well here and I was looking forward to the race. Could I hold onto my lead over Marty in the CORA series? Could I beat my friend and teammate Matt Fox?

Well the race got off to a vicious start. It was fast and people were jockeying for position. I felt pretty good and I was holding the wheel ahead. There were a few crashes and I gained some spots. At some point there was a miscommunication between Marty and I. He thought I wanted to pass so he got over, I thought he wanted me to pass so I tried. Well, my handlebars hit a tree and I went down. Damn! I lost a handful of spots. Then there were more crashes and I gained the spots back, but only after redlining my little engine.

So I got back up to a pretty good position, maybe even a podium. Foxy was on my wheel and we had a couple riders behind in a pretty tight chase group. The first two laps I could "gas it" and create a separation but I noticed something. All the sections where I typically lay down the law and completely own it, I found myself feeling a bit whooped and not 100%. I kept feeling like I was saving myself for the next lap.

Well, Foxy and the others eventually caught up and held my wheel for half a lap. Then it happened. I missed an opportunity to take a drink and a few minutes later I started riding poorly. I was getting tired. I lost one spot. A few minutes later the wheels fell completely off the wagon and Foxy passed and I went backward. I decided to guzzle water no matter how slow I rode and tried to recover. I was to defend my position and I ended up getting fifth.

It was just a bit frustrating to ride a less than stellar race on this course, but unlike past years where I came on strong riding from the back of the field, this year I was feeling the pressure in the front of the race.

I think I have to make sure my nutrition is worked out a bit better in future cross-country races. I changed my nutrition mid-season and I could feel the effects in the last two races.

Race #88: Deja Vu all over again...

Photos from Brent and Amanda, Podium pic from Dion at VeloVivid.com

The epic spring rain that hit the Midwest had wreaked havoc upon Caesar Creek. So the race was cancelled and moved back to Hueston Woods. The race was also on a Saturday, the same weekend as KyMBA, OMBC and DINO races — attendance was down. It was only Brent and I in Expert Men. So Philip merged the Expert and Sport class. It really spiced things up! I was happy to have more people to throw down against.

I was still a bit tired from John Bryan so I felt like I wasn't killing it. But I guess that John Bryan really gave me some fitness because even though I wasn't going 100%, my first 3 lap times were pretty comparable. After lap 1 I was 5th place overall, and 2nd in Expert (obviously since there was only 2 of us). I tried to keep it consistent and I reeled in 4th as he had a mechanical, and eventually I passed Darrin to be 3rd overall.

Actually my 3rd lap was the best, I cleaned most of the technical stuff. Earlier in the race the fatigue from John Bryan made me dismount everything and I had to do cyclocross practice. The sport guys finished and about that time I fell apart. I noticed I lost 3-4 pounds the day before and I didn't realize that I was dehydrated the morning of the race. I think I ended up bonking and barely made it in the 4th lap! I was lucky no one was there to woop me!

After the race I got to hang out with Dion and Jeni in Downtown Oxford. It was nice to make a day of it. The weather has cooled and it's made for some lovely rides and hanging out outside.

Races #84 & 85: Cat 1 Upgrade with Cat 6 Skills

Cool news, someone at USA Cycling likes me and upgraded my XC license to a Cat 1 Expert. Sweet.

Race #78: Ver-Sales, Is that how you say it?
I love Versailles. We have ridden there more than any other trail this year, it was much drier than East Fork so it was our second home court this year.

But I could not wake up that morning! I think I had some kind of groggy allergy attack, and we barely made it to the race on time. So no warm up and I am now one of the most crowded starting lines in my short XC career. DINO does a great job of promoting a great series with a pretty large turnout, and a very competitive Pro and Elite field.

My start was pretty decent. The only problem was that I still wasn't awake for 3/4 of the first lap. I couldn't corner the bike or react to anything quickly. So I went backwards! Finally I woke up and teammate Karwash let me ride his wheel for awhile. He pretty much taught me how to ride a bike again.

So I just tried to start picking off riders on the second and third laps. My fitness was pretty decent and I wasn't overheating too bad. I was better than last year and half the sport racers DID NOT pass me. Awesome! Actually I was still waaaaay faster than last year, I knocked 13 minutes off my time! That feels good. I like progress — I'm still not a perfect bike-handler but I am getting much better. Teammates Foxy came in just ahead of me and Karwash just behind,



Race #79: Battle on Mount Mother
Whoa, another race from yesteryear! I haven't seen a XC race at Harbin Park since the early 2000s. Brings back memories of being a tubby lad cheering on my girlfriend as she disappeared into the woods for awhile.

This was a smaller "local" race and I was really hoping for a podium. Sometimes success is an angry monkey that won't get off your back until it sucks all the fun out of everything. Now I just can't be happy to finish a race without going home in an ambulance — I have to podium?! Ugh. Well I did my best. The race got off to a pretty fast start. Stephen Huddle was revvin his engine, all full of piss and vinegar after finishing his time trial from Canada to Mexico. Marty was just behind and I got third into the woods. Suddenly Stephen had a mechanical and pulled off and I was second, with Brent and teammate Matt Fox on my wheel. I was trying really hard to keep Marty in sight but I must have blown up a little and crashed when my brain ran out of oxygen.

So I got back up and chased. I caught Brent and Foxy at the end of the first lap and attacked to get back into second place. I went to reach down for my bottles and guess what? They're gone — I guess they were too scared to hitch a ride with me after the crash.

So on lap 2 I stopped where I crashed and looked for my bottles. Brent attacked and Foxy passed. Back in fourth place again. I could only find one bottle and it was hot out. Luckily Bridget threw a cooler next to the start/finish line. So at the beginning of lap 3 I stopped to fill my bottle. Curses! I was losing time.

So I saw Foxy in the woods ahead of me. I counted from where he passed until I got there... 70 seconds. That's a lot to make up. So I buckled down and told myself that I do the Time Trials here all the time — I gotta do a TT lap. So I did. I gunned it, my riding was smooth. I knew where to exert myself and where to recover. I caught Foxy near the end of the lap. I felt awesome.

He mentioned Brent was ahead and I should go get him. I could do 2 things here: 1) Ride like a Hero and See if I can Epicly Pull in Second Place or 2) Ride conservative and try to poach Foxy at the line for my precious podium. I always go for option 1. The sky is the limit right?

So I kept gunning it. And Foxy stayed with me. Unfortunately I think I "burned too many matches" earlier in the race and I was running out of steam. So just before Mt Mother I pulled aside and let Matt pass because I knew he had it and I was a pedaling pile of dookie. I could have been a jerk and held my spot, but I was done and I feared a strong rider coming from behind and knocking BioWheels completely off the podium. Good thing I let him pass, I barely made it up the hill and I felt a touch of a cramp coming on.

So the epic finish. I had to claw back another deficit. And I did. I caught Foxy on that long technical climb at the end of the lap. But Foxy showed his class and years of skill as a rider and gained about 10 seconds on a descent. The end of the race was a like a Classic Roubaix or a Cyclocross race. We were sprinting the last third of a mile. It was bad-ass! I couldn't pull him in and he got third, but the crowd got some excitement! Mountain bike races are rarely that close. After feeling a smidge burned out on riding that week, it felt great to have adrenaline coursing through my veins and to be part of an epic duel.

It was nice to see Foxy up there and Marty was back on the top step! Sweet.

Tour de Trails

Some baseballs fans try to visit every baseball park in their lifetime. I thought it might be fun to see all the local trails this year.

KY:
Tower Park, Haven't ridden since the race in 2009!
General Butler, Check!
England-Idlewild, Check! I like this park I usually hit these trails a lot.
Devou Trails, I hit'em last night. Great hill repeats and fun downhills!

OH:
Paint Creek, Never been there!
Mount Mitchell, Never been there!
Keehner Park, Never been there!
Huffman MetroPark, Never been there!
Hueston Woods, Raced there last weekend, didn't hit all the trails.
Landon-Deerfield, Haven't been there since December of 2009.
Caesar Creek, Not yet this year but racing there soon.
John Bryan, Not yet this year but racing there soon.
East Fork, My home court.

IN:
Versailles, Check! This was often dry when Cincy trails were wet this spring. Great Trails!
Brown County, Not yet this year. Hopefully Bloomington CX weekend...

Race #82: Hot hot hot!

It was really cool racing at Hueston Woods. Like General Butler, this is another classic race course that I am getting to race for the first time. Similar to Butler, it is an older style of trail building that is very roller coaster: killer climbs and fast descents.

This week has been chaotic with Patrick the Paragon (my Gary Fisher mountain bike). First, two chain rings needed to be replaced (I spent most of the Harbin time trial off the trail fiddling with my chain suckage) then a crank arm bolt stripped and my crank arm fell off when I went for a ride! Mitch and the Crew at BioWheels saved the day and replaced my crankset at the last minute! They really saved my keester and my CORA race series points.

Geez it was hot today! I think my fitness is still a little off and I really suffered out there. Not to mention that I couldn't handle a bike worth a darn. The race started out semi fast, not like East Fork. I jumped on the front for a second but my legs didn't feel that great and I let Marty and Brent have the hole shot (I wig out if someone is sitting on my wheel sometimes).

They were going pretty fast. I think I let about 10 seconds open up and I tried to close the gap drilling an uphill when my front tire slid out. Perhaps I was riding sloppy because I overheated. So I cooled down and tried to protect my third place and rode efficiently in the hopes of poaching a spot but those guys were more than a minute ahead now.

I felt like I was in no man's land until about lap 3. A rider was coming within striking distance of me. Like last week I kept gunning it whenever I could but I started overheating and riding sloppy again. There were quite a few technical uphills and I kept coming off the bike and having to cyclocross sprint up them! Somehow I caught Marty (I think he overheated too, it was 92F) and I tried to keep this other rider at bay. I worried I might blow and cramp and crop to 4th.

That other rider caught me at the end of lap 3 and I was lucky it was a rider in another race. But I still had to protect my spot. I took my last gulp of water at the beginning of my last lap and had to hope that I wouldn't cramp and have Marty catch me. I swear he was just behind me. I think I got a second wind, tried to ride as smooth as possible and somehow I pulled off my second place! I nearly melted from the heat and the pressure and my brain kept daydreaming about water and it kept telling me to quit.

Many huge thanks to BioWheels, this is the third time they have come to my rescue and fixed my bike last minute for a race, each time I have gotten on the podium! My career would be nothing without them!

Race #80: No Place like Home

Photos by Cindy Gay

East Fork was my introduction to Expert Cross Country mountain bike racing last year and what an experience it was. I had turned myself inside out, putting in one of my fastest rides ever — only to come in last place. This is the trail I ride most all year long (when we are not being drenched by weeks of monsoons) so I know every pebble and twig. And on such a fast trail this is a huge advantage for me.

I wasn't feeling that great after my return from vacation and was really worried about how bad it could go for me. But looking at last year's result I couldn't do worse!

East Fork always starts with a road section featuring a long climb, it does a great job of selecting the best riders for the hole shot. This year it was really fast and to my surprise I was hanging in there. The field split but I grabbed Marty's wheel to get up to the front group. We caught the group and Marty kept riding up the side of the train, he was really flying. I was happy to be tailgunner. I did get gapped up a set of little rising rollers but teammate Joe was there to help pace me back up.

I followed Joe into the trail. I figured it would be wise to follow his wheel due to his expert handling and experience. Joe set a great pace on the first lap and I was happy to sit in and pace myself because I knew it would be a long day. It was really hot and going too hard too early may lead to an epic blow-up or extreme cramps. Karwash caught us and we caught up on life —longest conversation I have ever had in a race...

I went harder on the second lap trying pull in riders who might be suffering. The second lap was pretty uneventful but the third was glorious! On the third lap I felt complacent and in no-man's land. I think I started riding a bit slow on the singletrack. The sound of disc brakes woke me back up and reignited my effort. I always let another stronger rider pass and this rider behind me got within 10 seconds and I was about ready to pull over and let him pass.

But part of me wanted to be hard to catch so I got really aggressive and started gunning it again. I think I was riding faster than on the first lap. I went into time trial mode, wisely selecting parts of the course where I could excel and being cautious on sections where I was likely to crash. The rider behind me was really solid and would usually come back within 15 seconds on technical sections. Each power section I gunned it, each hill was crushed. There would be silence from behind for a few moments and eventually squeal of breaks would return.

There was one last long hill on the trail. I gave it everything I had at the bottom, you would think I was trying to win the Tour de France. But by the top I was wasted. I was feeling a cramp coming. I burned the last match with a quarter lap to go. Was it enough?

Nothing but silence from behind. I rode up the final hill to the finish line checking over my shoulder every 5 seconds.

Wow, that was exhilarating! I managed to come in 8th, I am very happy with that race. Not a bad start to the 2011 Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance Race Series. Bjet did one better, she won!

The Dirt Double

This was quite a tough weekend. I was hoping my mountain biking season would have been over weeks ago but a rain-delay and Bjet and Marty were doing the longer race gave me the idea to crush myself one last weekend. I also was inspired by Jacques Anquetil's incredible feat known as "Le Double." The main difference between Anquetil and I is that he actually won both events.

I was only off the mountain bike for a week or two but it was a tough reminder that maybe I really need to work on my handling skills. I feel I work so hard and waste my energy by handling inefficiently. At the end of the weekend I felt like a losing boxer on the ropes — every little knock, fall, bobble and peddle strike took their toll on my body.

Race #48: 6 Hours of D.I.N.O. at Versailles
At the last minute I kind of realized I really didn't want to do this race. I was cranky and the lame Le Mans start (where we had to take off a wheel or seat post) really p.o'ed me. But it took off the pressure.

Lap 1: 1:06:50
Actually my first lap was magical, for the first time this year I felt no pressure and kind of had that surfer's high. I was having a wonderful lap until the end, where I dropped my chain going into one of the rocky creek crossings. These dudes started yelling at me and killed my buzz. Bobbled again going over the water fall. Bridget caught me at the end and I was in a bad mood! Poor loser Jimmy!

Lap 2: 1:05:14
Rocking with Bjet, we took turns on the front. This was a tough race for our team TT because I was stronger on the hills and Bridge was better on the descents. Nate caught us at the end of this lap and I ended up bobbling every descent and lost a bunch of time to Bridget. She actually crashed looking back trying to figure out how I disappeared...

Lap 3: 1:07:41
I ended up catching and leaving Bridget to kill the climbs. I actually hammered this lap and took a few minute pit stop at the end of it.

Lap 4: 1:06:34
Eberything started to hurt a little. Actually started reconsider Caesar's the next day.

Lap 5: 1:12:30
This lap stunk! I actually stopped to refuel at one point (thinking I was going to have to do another lap). On top of it my lame saddle bag un-velcro'ed three times on technical sections! Why didn't I just jam it in my pocket? Really could feel the lack of calories on this lap...

I was totally surprised to be finished, I thought I was going out again. I stopped at the end and Charlie and Nate yelled at me to finish. I was glad I didn't have to do another. I was pooped and totally in awe of all the 12 and 24 hour racers. I was lucky that even though I came in way after Nate I was still in fourth, and Charlie was in second! Sweet!

Jimmy Vs. Versailles Trails
12.33 mph, 30 miles, 02:26:00 (07.25.2010 DINO/CORA Race)
11.16 mph, 63 miles, 05:38:49 (09.11.2010 6 Hour Race)
10.67 mph, 40 miles, 03:45:00 (07.31.2010 Training ride with Bjet and Charlie)

Race # 49: Caesar Creek
I didn't have a ton of speed, and maybe my style was a bit off but I actually had a bit of fun in the race. There were some tough parts and I kind of treated it like a cyclocross skills test. I tried to go fast but threw out the anchor!

It's embarrassing to cross the finish line as they start the podiums! Ouch.

Jimmy Vs. Caesar Creek Trails
8.70 mph, 19.5 miles,02:14:30 (08.23.2009 Caesar Creek Race)
8.22 mph, 28.5 miles, 03:28:00 (09.12.2010 Caesar Creek Race)
6.95 mph, 34.5 miles, 04:58:00 (04.11.2010 5 Hour Training Ride)

Racing into 'Cross Fitness

Last year at this time I was racing less and using tools like the PowerTap to test myself and get ready for cross season. This year I am racing much more — and in some ways I am stronger, some ways I am weaker. I need to work on my accelerations/sprints/starts because I am really lacking there.


Race #38: Clawing My Way Out of the Cellar
I was very embarrassed to come in last place at East Fork, and this race I didn't want to let it happen again. I got off to an ok start at the beginning, but once the trail went farther than my pre-ride I ended up sucking it big time. There was a rocky technical section with cliffs, waterfalls and creek crossings — and I had some insomnia the night before and I started riding backwards... Five experts dudes passed me, then all these sport guys passed me! I was really sucking. Finally this guy passed me, and I could tell I was better than him and I got pissed off and started riding my legs off! I think I ended up passing four guys back (although some had to DNF eventually). Versailles is cool, there are some nice power sections. I was very excited to still average 12.3 mph and not to be in last, until I looked at the results and I was last in my age group (but all ages started at the same time, so am I not last?)…

Wednesday Night Cross Worlds
Did some battle with Mitch, but he took it easy on me because he rolled his tubular. The crowd was a little small — I actually came in first twice, but only because of Mitch's bad luck.

Race #42: The Running Man
I went to my first Kingswood TT. I opened up my kit bag and no shoes! So I had to do the TT wearing my running shoes. Everytime I caught air over a bump I prayed to God my feet would find the pedals before my balls hit the seat! I still got fourth! I had a heart rate monitor and I had that thing nailed at 167 - 171 hbpm for the first two laps. Next week I want to be more consistent with my lap times, I hate when I get slower! Lap 1 was 13:59, Lap 2 14:54, and Lap 3 was 15:08 for a total time of 44:01.


Race #43: Showing my butthole on TVMy mountain bike race at E/I got off to a bad start. My friend's wedding the night before left me a little stuffed and hung over! Before the race started my kit got caught on my saddle and tore a hole in the seat, and I think the local public access TV was there filming the race. I hope I looked good and didn't show too much to make the TV show R rated!

The race start was a little rough but I eventually started attacking all the hills and trying to use my cross fitness to crush the first half of every lap. Plus Bjet and I were together for a second but she crashed in a rocky creek bed. I made sure she was okay but she slowed a little after that. I ended up gaining some spots and did lose any! Whoa!

I was totally blown away by my results, I was very consistent every lap. I would use parts of the course to attack and parts to recover (winding sections of trees and downhills). My lap times were: 29:36, 29:09, 29:14 and 29:47! I came in 6th place! This was the best cross-country mountain bike race I have ever had! Last year I came in 9th in sport only averaging 10.65 mph — this year I topped that by averaging 12.48 mph.

Race #40: Une Trés Vite Lanterne Rouge

I decided to step it up this year and try and race with the big boys. I've been doing all these endurance MTB events and it seemed silly just to ride a couple laps. I wanted to race Expert and focus mainly on the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance race series.

I looked at last year's results, figured out their average speed and crossed my fingers. My last ride at East Fork was about 27 miles and took me roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes. I just didn't want to be embarrassingly slow. So I set my bike computer to show AVG MHP and hoped that I could maintain 11.5 mph (the speed of last year's lanterne rouge).

Well, I brought my best but it wasn't good enough! Man, the start was fast (I rode 4 hours the day before, and didn't get to warm up enough) and I had nothing going onto the trail. The top 5 of the Expert Vet race plus Betsy Shogrun caught me in Phase 1 of the trail! But suddenly I picked up my tempo and kept that last guy from Vet in sight.

I looked down half way through the first lap and my average speed was mid-13s! For the rest of the race I bled some speed, and the last lap the heat got to me and I started to cramp a little. But depending upon the actual distance I ended up average 12.7-13mph! Whoa. I ended up finishing 2:07:53, nearly 40 minutes faster than my last training ride of a similar distance at East Fork!

This is was my little engine is used to doing:
Approximate Average Speeds in Previous MTB Rides
11.4mph (04.25.2010 Big Frog 65 with tons of fire roads)
10.9mph (04.07.2010 Riding Austin's Walnut Creek trails on CX bike)
10.6mph (09.13.2009 England-Idlewild Race)
9.98mph (07.04.2010 East Fork Ride with Bjet)
8.97mph (06.05.2010 Mohican 65)
8.75mph (01.30.2010 Chilly Sat Mornin Beatdown at East Fork)
8.17mph (08.23.2009 Caesar Creek Race)

Even though I came in last place I am still really proud of my performance and surprised myself at what I could pull off!