12hr Burnin at the Bluff

10 was the only thing on my mind for this race. last year I did 9 laps on this pretty tough 13 mile loop course. I needed to shave off about 49 minutes from my time last year to be able to go out for a 10th lap. Chris could of done it a couple of years ago but they wouldn't let him go back out, nobody other than him has ever been close. So figuring it up pretty easy you need to average 1hr and 20 minutes per lap including pit stops to get the big 10.

This race is amazing, with everybody pretty much showing up the day before to camp and check in it creates a awesome atmosphere. Mitch got us a really good campsite close to the start/finish so it made things much easier. Most of us arrived late Friday and it didn't take long to get everything set up and go for a pre ride. The pre ride went awesome got to try out the new lights that John got me on last minute notice thanks big John.

The race started out great, they didnt make us run too far and before I knew it we were flying down some sweet single track. I knew Zach and Mitch were probably not too far behind but wasn't to concerned about it, I mean after all we still had 12hrs of racing to go. The first lap went by quick I remember last year finishing up the first lap and being about half dead. This year the first couple of laps were gone with a blink and things were going too good. The times I had written down on the board for where I wanted to be after each lap were right on. Usually when my races are going good I pretty much blank out everything around, when I used to train by myself all of the time I never had a problem when I felt real good to push to the point of no return, I still wonder how I made it back from a few rides. As I get more comfortable with racing I am getting more to the point of that, If I feel good I got to go for it and that is where this race was going. I knew I needed a perfect race to get what I really wanted and if I couldn't I would probably need Mitch or Zach to get me to the end. When I look back at the Mohican 24 it was Mitch that got me through that one when I pushed too hard through the first 10hrs or so.

So laps 3 and 4 were about the same as the first two, I had slowed down a little on each lap to get closer to the 1hr 20 mark and felt comfortable with eating and staying hydrated. I had switched to the full suspension bike by now, I wanted to ride the hard tail for the first half of the race but on lap 3 I got a small hole in the bottom of the tire so I switched after that lap.

Finishing up on the 5th lap I was only a minute behind where I wanted to be and other than loosing a water bottle on that lap and getting a little dehydrated I still felt really good. In every long race I usually have one really tough lap, the one were your body tries to tell you you shouldn't be doing this. Lap 6th would be the one, I wasn't too concerned about it I have been here plenty of times before and knew I would work through it. I was happy to get this lap done, after looking at the times on the board I was about 1 minutes off of where I wanted to be and still had to get some food and water bottles. I am usually not a fan of setting goals in a 12hr race, What has always worked best for me is usually to go out hard on the first lap then set a really comfortable pace and then if I have anything late in the day to pick it up a little. I knew I would need a lot more than that to get in 10 laps so when I was off of my pace after the 6th lap one half of my brain was telling me it was impossible and the other half as usual was telling me anything is possible as long as you just keep moving forward.

I was hoping the 7th lap was going to bring some better legs but by the time I reached the first big climb about the only thing that was moving at any kind of speed was my brain! My hrt rate was really down and my mph average was even lower. darkness was coming but not quick enough. I milked that lap out for all it was worth and was trying to figure out how in the hell I was going to do 2 more! At this point I was wondering were Zach and Mitch were. I knew Mitch had some really bad Mechanical early on and at one point someone had said I was about 20 minutes up on Zach. When my race is going really good I give little thought to where everybody is at and just keep the pedals turning. But by now with how slow my 7th lap was and how bad I felt I was just thinking how cool it would be to have someone to ride with. Going out on the 8th lap was cool I rode with one of the seagel guys for a bit and that helped big. I had been having really bad cramps for about 3 laps but was blocking them out of my mind. I remember the first year I did this race it was just a goal to do 8 laps and I think it took me like 14hrs. Thinking about that gave me a lot of motivation to keep going on. It wasn't too far before the beach area when Zach caught up to me, more than he knows that was kind of a refreshing site. Zach was definitely stoked and he should be, he was about to be leading the race. I remember him saying we should ride this thing together but how I was feeling at the time and wasn't planning on it getting better anytime soon I told him to go. The thing is with these long races when your feeling good this late in a race you got to take advantage of every chance you have and so he was gone. I been on that side of the fence before and its a great feeling.

Finishing up the 8th lap was good. I was only 5 minutes down. Jim and Keith were at the pits trying to get me pumped up. This would of been awesome had I felt at all like racing. But I was pretty done and the only thing I wanted to do was finish one more lap. going in to the last lap I was starting to feel a little better, hung onto a few wheels at times and was starting to enjoy the rest of this race. Never did put much thought into catching Zach and was still figuring that Mitch would catch up but had no clue after his mech. how the rest of his day had went. So when I reached the dam I did what I had done every other year I have done this race, I took a break looked at the stars and thought about how much hell I put myself through to get to this point and wonder if its worth it, the answer is always simple.

The first 7 laps of the race, only got part of the 8th when the Garmin went dead.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/user/dwayneg was bummed a little for not getting to 10 but that was a long shot anyway still stoked on finishing another 12hr. solo

Results from the race, http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=991101&perclass=1

Lucas playing hockey

Super Fly vs HI FI 29er

John from CYCLEWERX mentioned the full suspension Gary Fisher HI FI 29er early last month. I thought it would be cool to compare the two to see if one would be faster than the other. I thought for sure the Super Fly would be way faster. After getting in two laps on each at council bluff last Sunday the Super Fly felt faster, but after downloading all of the info from the Garmin I definitely conserved more energy on the full suspension. I made it out to Chubb today and new the only way to solve this problem would be to ride the place I know best, with all of the times I have ridden this place I would know for sure if there were any spots that the full suspension would be slower than the hard tail. Long story short I had one of my fastest high water route chubb rides yet. Both of these bikes or amazing and I will still definitely use the hard tail for the shorter races but it would be hard not to use the full suspension for the long stuff. Other than a few trees down and a big hole in the trail just past the tracks the trail was in pretty good shape. ride on!

Arthur at the Park

If you can turn this into this, you know you have done good.

We went to Arthur at the park in Forest park on Saturday. Other than the lines being really long it was a lot of fun. Its amazing the feelings you get out of a simple smile. Happiness comes in different forms, Saturday it was seeing how happy Lucas was sitting on Curious Georges lap, Sunday it was 4 laps at Council Bluffs including a early morning night lap to get ready for the 12hr in a couple of weeks.

24hrs of Mohican

This race was tough, from the time we left on Friday til we got there it rained, it down poured when we arrived. After we talked to the promoter asking what the trails would be like and he said its Mountain biking, I was thinking he took it the wrong way. I mean we didn't just drive from STL in the rain to hang out in our tents. So me Mitch and Chad were stoked, we got the tents and everything set up between the rain drops and were off to Pizza hut for some serious food. By the time we got back it was time to go to bed. I don't think sleep was a problem for any of us.

When we woke up it was still raining a little, Mitch did up some killer bagels for us for breakfast. I stacked up what I thought would be the perfect amount of energy for the next 24hrs. Getting everything ready for a 24 isn't easy we spent a good part of the morning getting everything ready. I went for a little ride on the trail and figured out pretty quick that the trail is mostly rocky and rooty with pretty much no mud build up on the bike. I had a good feeling this place was going to rock. O yeah I almost forgot about Mitch's crud catcher he maid for us before the race that was helping big time!

The race meeting went well and we decided we would ride the first lap together. The run is always a pain in the butt but luckily it went quick and we were off into some killer single track, I am still amazed at how many people were walking the first little climb because there were a lot more bigger climbs to come so I find out later. The first lap was good we passed a lot of people and got the course dialed in. With the first lap out of the way and the field pretty spread out it was cool to just cruise the course. The only thing I noticed that would become a big issue later was the humidity and the effort you had to put out to get up some of the climbs.

The first half of the race went by quick, at some point I had a lap lead over Chip Meek but he made it up pretty quick while I took a little nap and tried to deal with some stomach problems. Mitch was pacing himself good and riding very strong. Chad had some early issues with a tire, and a small dear that kicked him pretty good, it was to early to be hallucinating so I was buying his story!! Anyway he seemed to still be having a good time. Through the night was fun but could of been a lot more fun if I could of got rid of the stomach problems. never could really eat much and at this point soaked three jerseys from sweating, weird stuff.. Me and Mitch rode some killer night laps together hard to believe we were riding some of the technical stuff just as fast as we were in the day time.

Coming in off of one of the night laps around 4am my light went dead not a big deal I was on the last little down hill back to the campground, but the stomach issues were still there and my motivation had been gone for some time now, that doesn't happen to often and pretty much never happens on the bike. If I remember right Mitch was there and we decided to sleep and wait for the sun to come up before going out on another lap. I think Chad was there but don't remember! Well the sun finally came up and it was nice to not have to use lights. The rest of the laps went good, Me and Mitch ended up riding a bunch of laps together which helped me out big time. You cant complain when you take second in a tough race like this, Mitch took a super strong third and I was stoked to make it through another 24. Looking back on it I stayed hydrated enough but wasn't taking in enough calories. In a 24 hr race one little thing can change everything, and everything changes everything!! This place is and was a great place to do a 24hr race, good food great showers and a super tough course. what else could you possibly ask for!

Greensfelder race.

This race went great. Last year I did 12 laps in 3hrs and had enough time to do another but with the rain set in I chose not to. This year the goal was to do 13. Brad and Zach were there and ready to race and I knew these guys were going to be tough. My strategy in a race is always to try and set a good pace and stay consistent. In this race that kind of went out the window off of the start line. Took the hrt rate to about 175 and kept it there for probably the whole first lap. The warm up lap helped big time, all of my lines were pretty dialed in and everything felt great. The first lap I got a little bit of a lead but not as much as I wanted so I went out on the second lap with the same effort as the first. This is never a good idea in a endurance race and I figured i would pay for it later. Later never really came and I ended up just having enough time to do 13 laps. Brad and Zach were never that far behind I dont think they missed the cut off time by much, great race guys.. Cant complain when a race goes this good. It was awesome having my Father in law and the rest of the family there cheering me on on every lap thanks big guys!!. stats from the race.

simple motivation

What motivates you! This has been beating in my head for a while and has given me the conclusion that for every reason I have to give up there is ten more not to! Ride on...