So long...

Goodbye old buddy. I'll miss you.

Lee McCormack at Valmont Bike Park

I caught Lee McCormack, the man behind LeeLikesBikes.com, teaching a mountain bike skills clinic today at Valmont Bike Park. They were working the drop in on the Large slopestyle line and Lee stepped it up to hit the XL line for, what he claims, his first time.

I won a series of private lessons with Lee several years ago at the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance Annual Gala and I continue to see ways to add new elements of what he was teaching.

Breck Epic Stage 1

I've sat down and started sorting out some of the video I took during the BreckEpic mountain bike stage race. Stage One took us up Boreas Pass Road and over to Pennsylvania Gulch and descending back onto Boreas Pass to ride much of the same trails as the Firecracker 50 ultra endurance mountain bike race held annually on July 4, such as Bakers Tank, the Iowa Mill climb, Nightmare on Baldy, Sally Barber Road and Little French Gulch.

You'll note that I had a second row starting position for stage one. Because I was racing in the Open Mens division, I had the opportunity to line up with riders like 2 time (now 3 time) National 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike Champion Josh Tostado, who I am directly behind in the video, and other riders like Federixo Ramirez, multiple La Ruta de Los Conquistadores mountain bike stage race winner, and Travis Brown, a long standing figure in the mountain bike community. Even though I would finish on Day Six placed 18 out of 19 riders and 10 hours off first place, it was still fun to be able to start on the first few rows each day.

The clips in this video include the start, Aspen Alley, Baker's Tank, Pinball Alley, Iowa Mill, Nightmare on Baldy (enterance), Nightmare on Baldy exit on to Sally Barber Road, Carter Park switchbacks. I have oodles more footage from this stage but I wanted to keep these videos pretty short.

And for you data junkies, here's Stage 1 from Strava, crack for competitive cyclists.

Mid day coffee break.

GoPro in the Fishtank

I've been playing around with the time lapse function of the GoPro Hero 960 I bought a few months ago. This morning I decided to see what it looks like inside our fish tank. The GoPro has a waterproof case so it was no issue to stick it right on in and let it sit for half an hour shooting a new picture every 5 seconds. This 30 second clip is obviously just a small amount of that footage.

Breck Epic Stage 2: Colorado Trail

Today's course would take up into some of Breckenridge's finest singletrack riding on the Colorado Trail. After our "neutral" roll out of town, we climbed... and climbed some more including a up a service road known as "Heinous Hill." There wasn't much riding on that one. I had already seen this climb once before when I came up to Breckenridge to do some scouting and thought I was lost multiple times after how awful it was on that climb. While pushing up Heinous Hill, I saw the rider with the #3 race plate. He, like me, is in the unfortunate situation of being a Sport level racer under 30 years old. As a result, we get to race in the Open Mens' Division which is stacked with top racers like multiple La Ruta de los Conquistadores winner, a former U23 national champion and other pro racers. We are not out here to win this but to finish it.

Heinous Hill topped out and sent us racing down towards the Colorado Trail crossing multiple forks of the Swan River. I knew that from the bottom of descent I had about 2 miles to fuel up while riding on the road before hitting the Colorado Trail. We took a hard left turn and ripped a short section of the CT before hitting Aid Station 1. From Aid Station 1 it was a 5 mile climb up to the top of West Ridge with amazing views. My goal for this climb was to ride all of it, which I was able to do bouncing between my small and middle chainring. After topping out, we got to ride one of the best singletrack descents in town. After a series of fast switchbacks, we rolled out through a meadow at high speeds.

The fun ended when we hit the bottom of "Vomit Hill." This short grinding climb just sucked energy. We topped out and down the backside just to climb back over it on another section of the Colorado Trail.

After topping out on that section of the Colorado Trail, I was within 1 mile on aid station 2 and 10 miles of today's finish but with another grinder of a climb to go. I was getting a bit gassed and needed to fuel up at aid station 2 but miscalculated how much time I would have to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich before I would need both hands to navigate some singletrack. At the top of the final climb through the Gold Run woods, I was feeling gassed and ready for the finish. I knew that once I hit X10U8 It was all downhill and once I did, I let it rip to the finish line.

I felt good with today's pacing but I was having to hold myself back as I was hoping to go up a spot in the overall rankings after the racer (bib #3) flatted on the first descent. I kept having to remind myself about not overdueing myself in an effort to win, as I most certainly won't do so.

Breck Epic Stage 1: Pennsylvania Creek

Breck Epic Stage 1: Pennsylvania Creek

Today was the opening stage of the 2011 Breck Epic, a six day mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge, Colorado. I was familiar with much of the course at it is used as part of the Firecracker 50, a 50 mile mountain bike race on July 4th.

We started with a police escort up Boreas Pass Road and dropped into a new (to me) trail known as Aspen Alley, which flows through one of the largest Aspen tree groves here in Breckenridge. Interspersed were old mine tailings and thinking I could ride down a section my rear slid out and I hit the deck. As you can see, I managed to do a number on my knee but it's feeling pretty good to go for five more days of adventure.

Once we hit Little French Gulch, a steep and rocky climb on a good day, the evidence of a storm several weeks ago was readily apparent. The trail had been washed out and massive shifts in the rocks and soil dramatically changed the ability to ride that climb.

 After some more singletrack climbing, we shot down and out onto French Gulch Road for the day's final climb- Sallie Barber Road. I told myself to put in a sustainable 30 minute effort and that would get me to the top. From the top of Sallie Barber, it is mostly a singletrack descent to the finish with some great local trails. I hit the last aid station and motored on at a pace that I felt was just right for me. I ripped the descent and crossed the finish line in 5:17 and change. In total, my computer calculated 37.5 miles of racing and 5,600 feet of climbing.

Other than the mishap less than four miles into the race, I had a strong ride and felt that my pace was pretty spot on for what I believe is sustainable for the next five days. I have no visions of course records but certainly a strong test of my physical and mental capacity over the week.

Breck Epic Packing

Every item has a specific purpose and has been thought about as I've packed up for Breck Epic, which starts tomorrow morning.

Aid station bags will have almost identical spare parts, including shoes, a tube, a tire, sunglasses, and clothing. Nutritional items (not pictured) will vary, with more food in the first aid station bag.

I've toiled between a saddle bag and backpack. It was not until I purchased the Ergon BX-2 pack that I've enjoyed riding/racing with a pack but due to the nature of the Breck Epic, I'm carrying a few extra items I wouldn't normally carry for a race like a rain jacket and a first aid kit so I've opted for the pack. At least today, I'm thinking when it gets to hiking up some of the passed and steep climbs I'd Thayer have a bit more weight on my back than have to be pushing stuff strapped to my bike.

Jerseys- not enough for a fresh one everyday, which means I'll be doing some laundry, but one is Boulder Cycle Sport's current year kit and then I have a slew of older jerseys as backup.

these are my more sport specific personal care items like chamois cream and SportLegs. I do have a tube of diaper rash cream as I had a few saddle sores earlier this season and it's worked well with healing. It also subs in for chamois cream well (just a very thick one).

These are my recovery tools. I've been using a foam roller since my knee surgery in 2003 left me with IT band issues and the TP Therapy Grid has taken rolling to a new level. It is much more firm than a standard foam roller and the pattern does affect how it works my muscles.

Evening Pump Track session

Spent a little while at the Superior Bike Park after dinner getting in some laps on the pump track. Shot this video to test out some digital capabilities and uploading processes. Not the most exciting but helpful.

E and I got out on Sunday afternoon for a short ride down Coal Creek to Mayhoffer and Cowdrey Draw. The view isn't bad either.

Live. And Live well.

The excerpt from Kyle Lake's final sermon below was read at his funeral. Kyle was a pastor who died while preparing to perform a baptism the morning he was to give this sermon and read these words. The tragedy that struck the cycling community this morning with Wouter Weylandt's death at the Giro d'Italia. Maybe there is comfort in some of these words as I was reminded of them this afternoon while reading about Wouter.

"Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all… because soon he'll be wiping his own.
If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."

30 Days Update

Tuesday, April 5: An early morning mountain bike workout which included six 6 minute intervals in my zone 3 effort. This was my first set of any kind of intervals this season so even though it was a lower effort than one tends to think about for an interval training workout, I definitely could feel it later in the day. One challenge I tend to have with endurance racing is keeping my heart rate high on the descents as to prevent my body from going into too much of a recovery effort and I think that this workout and the course that I used gave me good practice at keeping my heart rate up, even while descending at other speeds. if I am able to keep my heart rate up, it makes returning to cruising and climbing pace easier (or at leat it feels that way to me).

Wednesday, April 6: 2 laps arounds the parking lot on my singlespeed. I rolled out of the garage late in the evening to grab the mail and then took a quick spin in the parking lot.

Thursday, April 7: Suspension testing on the Trek Fuel EX 8. This sounds a whole lot fancier than it really was actually. After getting home from work at almost 11pm, I twisted the rebound dials on both the front and rear suspension to try them out in a different position to try and balance out the feeling on the bike. It's a work in progress to get that bike dialed in and it will require much more time than the one lap around the parking lot I gave tonight.

30 Days of Biking

In the spirit of the #30daysofbiking movement, I am going to give it a go in April with all the other folks. Yes, I know I was supposed to register to be a part of the 30 Days of Biking, but I was late in the game to catch on to this year's plan so I'll launch my own bid to complete 30 days of biking here on Rolling In The Dirt. The concept is simple: for the 30 days of April, ride around the block or ride a century each day and then share the story on the web.

All I had in me for today was four laps of the parking lot on the singlespeed at 8:45pm. Anything counts and as I figured out last week, the singlespeed didn't really need a new bottom bracket-- the crank arms just needed some tightening and then some air in the tires to get it rolling again.

Hall Ranch and St Vrain Canyon

Heart Rate Testing

My training plan, Weight loss and Base Training, by Linda Wallenfels (LW Coaching called for a Heart Rate Test today, in follow up from four weeks prior. I've chosen to use The climb up Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder as my testing grounds as it has a good steady climb and is far enough from the house I can get in a good warm up and cool down without having to kill myself to get there. I start once I pass through the stoplight at Baseline and 17th Street and go up from there. Although my average heart rate for the 20 minute test hasn't changed in the past four weeks, I perceive that my power has increased as I was able to climb a quarter mile past where I finished last month's test. This shows me there have been gains in the past month but that better diligence in training will produce even greater dividends.

Decisions...

(see full image)

(iP)

Superior Bike Park

Lee McCormack, the brain behind the pump track movement and LeeLikeBikes.com shows how to rally the new expert pump track at the Superior Bike Park, in Superior, Colorado. Working with the town of Superior, Lee gave leadership to the park design and construction of a beginner pump track and flow track as well as an expert level pump track and flow track. over the past two weeks, Lee and team have built the park and today was opening day. After a full loop on the Dirty Bismarck, I headed down into Rock Creek and caught up with Lee and gave a go at the pump track. I'm looking forward to figuring out a way to incorporate the pump track into my training for the Breck Epic as a way to build muscle endurance and technical skills.

Breck Epic Training

Yesterday marked 24 weeks until the Breck Epic rolls out of town for Stage 1. That means it is also time to start getting the real training underway. I have chosen to go with Linda Wallenfels plans and today I started with her Weight Loss and Base Training plan which will finish on May 22. I am not planning any big races during this time which is good but will also allow me to focus more on the plan than being race ready. I will likely line up for the Front Range 60 and the Battle of the Bear race the first weekend of May to get some back to back racing days in but I don't see myself gunning for much more as the plan does not call for any super intensity (that I've seen yet). Here goes anything.

Cyclo-X Refrigerated

Albeit a few weeks late, I found this video with a few race highlights from the last cyclocross race of the season that was on January 22 at the Boulder Reservoir. Going into the race I was unsure how I'd fair as I was coming out of a nasty head cold and a busy few weeks at work. I had a strong start and was leading for laps 1 and 2 but with a serious head wind on several parts of course, that turned out to be a bad move later on in the race. True to form for a race at the Res, much of the course was sand but unlike previous races, it was wet and well packed in some places and very loose and heavy in others and after bunny-hopping a single barrier, I crossed wheels with Lucas Clarke from Primal and went down and lost 4 spots as I recovered. As the top five riders took off, I was left to hold my position and battle with Anthony Carcella from the Velonews team. We went back and forth until we managed to cross wheels followed by a dropped chain, I let AC get a gap as I couldn't get the chain back on quickly. I was able to hold on to finish in seventh, which gave me just enough points to move me into third for the Colorado Cross Cup.

Frostbite Fondo

Frostbite Fondo