April 30, 2017 NIMBA Bonneyville XC and forgotten Lowell 50 Race Report (April 8)

     So this is my second race at Bonneyville. I did it the previous year as a time trial. I hadn't been there before then. I did okay, but definitely felt that I left time out there not knowing the trail very well. I ended up making it down this year a week before the race to scout out the course. I made a couple quick laps knowing that I had more in the tank, but figured I should be competitive enough to follow wheels. With it being a XC I figured knowing the course would be less critical. Jody put together a great course for this weekend, I just wish we didn't get smashed with a torrential down pour. The rain definitely limited the turn out, but there was still 8 brave souls that started in my class. Bill Martin was there and would be the man to beat since he won the TT last year. He didn't disappoint this year too. He rode off with a few minutes between him and the chase group of Dan and Gavin. Experience paid off for Dan as he ended up beating Gavin, but the kid will only be getting faster. I ended up just off the podium in fourth. I'm not sure why I started off so conservatively, but I ended up losing the chase group as I was too timid going into the woods at the start. I feel looking back that I should have forced the issue since I overestimated the passing opportunities. With that being said, I was starting to make up ground on the last lap, but it was way too late.

      Lowell 50 is the last gravel grinder of spring. Going into this race I was pretty hungry to find a podium step. I feel like my form was coming around for this race. It was finally a nice day for a race as you could see in the picture above. There was four of us from TCL in fat bikes. Paul fresh off his podium at Barry, Dan with his first and runner up gravel races, and Jamie Clark super hungry too flirting with the podium this spring. This spring was missing a couple of the usual heavyweights with Randy Coddington, and Matt Acker not racing in fat today. Instead we gained another worthy competitor with Joseph Martin, perennial podium finisher in overall category for as far back as I can remember.

     TCL was the team that was fielded for the race so I was hoping we would be able to use that to our advantage. Lowell only has a couple of strategic points to worry about, but it just so happens that the first one is very early in the race. The segment is called "Rude Awakening" according to STRAVA. It is a punchy effort of roughly 1:30's of max power. At the top of this climb the fat bike field was virtually cut in half.  The added effort of the big wheels didn't faze Joe too much though. He was more than willing to keep on the gas as we rode away from the climb. I believe at this point Dan actually had his chain come off his chain ring.  I was looking around as I only saw Joe, Jamie, Paul, Kevin Collins, and I riding in the pack running down stragglers from the 52 milers. Some how I thought Dan had made a break and was out of site, but he was actually trying to solo back on to the peloton. I heard a familar grunt as Dan was deep into the red from running us back down. At about this time we were running into high winds and high traffic. I lost contact with Joe, Jamie and Dan as they had made a nice move around some traffic and I was unable to follow. I figured I'd be able to get around the pack and catch back on, but was unable to do so as they really put the hammer down.

      I looked behind me for support and realized that I was separated into a no mans land. A handful of strong gravel racers were latched onto my wheel as I was pulling a solid 24mph and not pulling in the lead pack. Unable to branch I fell back into the chase group I had become a part of. I was hoping to see more pace lining happening, but unfortunately I was part of a group race leaders happy to be at the front of their respected categories. I kept my eyes down the road looking to see if we were pulling in the fat leaders, and also kept my eyes behind me to ensure I wasn't getting ran down from behind. Thirty three miles into the race in a very fast, but washed out and rough gravel section my chase group had a nasty accident. It just so happens that there is a video from a racer directly behind me that caught the footage. 
Ignore my jiggly self haha. On a serious note the riders only had a case of road rash without any broken bones. I came to a complete stop from the accident and could see the second chase group gaining time. I sprinted back up to speed and made sure I didn't get ran down. It was disappointing fourth place finish for me. The team came in with 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 6th.

Side note: Possibly the last race for my trusty Salsa Beargrease that has been with me for 3 hard race seasons and thousands of miles.

Yankee Springs TT 2017

MMBA YANKEE SPRINGS TIME TRIAL
SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2017

 

  

   Oh Yankee Springs. The big start to west Michigan mountain bike racing. There were lots of rumors that the TT would be the reverse direction this year since the trail became bidirectional last fall. A couple of weeks before the race date it was confirmed to be the normal direction. It was tough getting out to Yankee to train with the horrible weather and the fact that I ended up out of town for a week in North Carolina. My free time also seemed to line up with the yellow (reverse) direction so I didn't get to run any hot laps before the time trial in the normal direction.

 

      I was extra ambitious to do well when my friend/teammate J'son put his *Scepter* up for grabs.  What's the Scepter you ask? Webster defines it as an ornamented staff carried by rulers on ceremonial occasions as a symbol of sovereignty. J'son received this for his victory the previous season at the TT in the Fatbike class. Here's a low res pic I have of the coveted Scepter. After J'son received the Sceptre he declared that any race where we were competing meant it was up for grabs. It just so happened that J'son and I were second and third riders to go off the line for the Expert racers. I love being the chaser and do some of my best riding under that kind of pressure. As I sat at the starting line it reminded me so much why I love this sport. Sun was shining and it was fun to catch up with fellow riders; some which I hadn't seen since last season.  This year would have a record number of racers so instead of the single gate drops they where releasing racers two at a time. 

 

     10:03 struck and I cheered for J'son as he shot out of the gates. I had 15 seconds to gather my thoughts and get ready to launch. The announcer introduced Mayford and I. Of course my last name was mispronounced. It rhymes with vowel by the way. Count down hits 10:03.15 and I pretty much completely wiff on clipping in. A very rare mistake for me.  I hit the first part of the lap at a PR pace. I was really hoping to see glimpses of J'son, but I didn't see him at all. Instead my teammate racing expert 29-u came up. I cheered and let him around as he rode off towards two smoking laps. He ended up winning his age group. My other teammate Dan started 15s behind him, and I completely expected to see him. I kept looking back every so often to see him coming up, but I didn't see him. By the time I finished my first lap I knew he must have either crashed or had a mechanical. He ended up with a broken pedal.  First lap was 48.16 which was over a minute faster than my previous PR. I kept the hammer going as hard as possible, but Yankee is a course that can/will eat all the power you can throw out. I started fading and ended up with a 50:29 for my second lap. With a 1:38:45.2 I ended up 12/44 in age group. My best result to date. J'son ended up digging deep and squeaked out a podium finishing in 1:35:11.4. No Scepter for me haha.

 

      Extra side story: I rode up to the race with J'son. As we're unloading the car to get ready for warm ups he realizes he left his water bottle filled with Infinite Jet Fuel on the counter of his kitchen. Being the good teammate that I am I shared what I had in my camelbak to fill a water bottle he had in the car. Right after I do this J'son realizes the sign up tent has huge coolers filled with Jet Fuel.  *face palm*

Racing for Team Clark Logic, and hopefully the arrival of consistent posts!

     Its been a couple years since my last post with numerous races and countless miles riding. The main change is riding for Team Clark Logic. I'm excited to learn with some of the best local talent in the area and hopefully add to the success of the team. Below are some of the race recaps for the first few big races of the season.

February 26, 2017
The Brewery Vivant Farmhand Fat Bike Race

      This race has always been a tough race. It brings out the best regional fat bike racers and this year was no exception. National Fat Bike Champion Cole House was there as well as Jorden Wakely, Matt Acker, TCL alumni Tyler Weston and more talented riders were there. Coming off an illness that kept me off the bike for over two weeks I didn’t have high expectations.  I went in there with the goal of getting a good three hour workout in and having some fun. I shot off the line with TCL teammate Dan Kannegieter. This year there was no snow except the icy manmade base on the Cannonsburg slopes. The first hill came up fast and I knew that it wouldn’t be wise to try and match my teammate, so I settled into my own pace. It was a lonely race for the most part. About two hours into the race I saw Cole House and Wakely banging bars on a climb. They seemed to be into a very heated battle for first. They soon left my sight bur around a blind corner I saw Wakely off his bike. I’m not sure what happened to him, but he wasn’t very happy. As it turns out only Cole would put me a lap down. To make a long story short I came in 11^th out of I think the 40 riders in solo male that would brave the ice. One person past me on the final lap, but I thought he was part of a team since his number plate would indicate that he was a duo rider, but it actually was just a late registration racer with a funky number. Moral of the story is I shouldn’t have taken the last lap easy. Dan made the podium in 5^th place.

March 19, 2017
Melting Mann Fat Bike 32 Miler

Camelbak under the jersey isn't very flattering haha.

     My excitement for this race was extremely high this year. I’ve had great luck  in the past with fairly strong finishes. Rolling into the race with Jon Ballema, Jamie Clark, and Dan Kannegieter  gave me lots of confidence that we’d have some fire power in the race. Lots of rain came down before this race and had me nervous. I’ve never been the strongest of racers when it comes to muscling through deep mud. The first few miles of the race was mostly road and fairly hard pack gravel roads. Our group of fatties was rolling together along with the rival team from Indianapolis. It was a tough pace as some single speed studs where placed in the same wave. About five miles into the race we hit a loose, muddy climb and that would seem to setup the first break. A single speeder got out of shape in the middle of the pack. My instinct was to dive to the edge of the road and keep my momentum, but in this case it was a terrible mistake. I soon found my fat tire bike in almost axle high mud. I fought with every watt of power I had to get out and jump back into the lead group. I spent the next two miles trying desperately to branch up to no prevail. I was riding solo, but looked back to see that Jamie and Jon had also been tangled up a couple miles back. I soft pedaled until they came up and we would work well for half the race until the next mishap. Mann road is usually the make or break point in the race. Taking the hard left onto the road was surprisingly drama free as the rain had setup the sand better than any other year I could remember; however cresting that first hill would reveal the horror show.

 An extremely fast downhill that was covered in the greasiest of mud was in front of me. I, surprisingly, was ready to smash this section with enthusiasm. Another racer seemed to share my enthusiasm as pedaled hard down the hill passing me. Bad luck would strike again as the racer soon lost control flying off his bike right in front of my line. Unfortunately I was on Black Floyd’s (fat bike road slick) and couldn’t avoid heading straight at him. In a last ditch effort to avoid a collision I jumped off the bike and drug the bike towards the side of the hill while surf sliding down the hill. The silliness of all that was as soon as I knew I was alright and had avoided hitting the other racer I soon looked up the road to see where Jon and Jamie had speed off to. I had lost 30 seconds to them. The rest of Mann road was a sloppy struggle as I clawed back time. I would catch Jon on the gravel headed west slowly headed back towards Vandalia.  We worked together for a few minutes, but I really wanted to run Jamie down, and I didn’t think Jon was quite ready for the effort of racing fatties after his extended time out from racing. I charged as hard as I could, but I didn’t have any fellow racers to work with. There were times when I’d look down at my speed and would barely be above 10mph and my heart rate was maxed. Soft and slow is an understatement. Two miles to go and I could see Jamie with his bright helmet in the distance. I put my head down and just powered as hard as I could on the last couple pavement roads. Ended up 39 seconds behind for a 7^th place finish. I’m not sure where my fitness is after this race. I felt like I may be able to contend, but with the bad luck and tough conditions I was several minutes off the pace for a podium position. Dan ended up winning the race with some help from our resident single speed monster Jake Grevenstuck (J Gravy) haha.

March 26, 2017

Barry Roubaix 36 Thriller Fat Bike

      The whole week leading up to this race had my anxiety through the roof. The forecast has been calling for a half an inch of rain for the two weeks leading up to the race. Lately the weather forecasting has been pretty spot on, but I kept optimistic that they wouldn’t be correct. A few days before the race they increased the amount and all but guaranteed rain at the launch time of 10am. I put in a decent week of training, although it is possible I over did it. It is hard to feel confident that I am where I need to be fitness wise after such a debacle the weekend before. It also is tough to know when I sold my reliable power meter and have been using my “smart trainer”, but that’s a story for another time. 

     Thursday was a recon ride with Jamie, Dan, and the newest member of TCL, and friend, Paul Bonar.  The course was absolutely perfect with firm graded roads, and Sager road was the best I had ever seen. I crossed my fingers about the conditions for sat. Friday night I packed my gear, and I brought almost every piece of gear I had because I wasn’t sure what the temperature was going to be. Different weather providers had temps from 30 to 50 degrees. My Garmin said the race temp was a balmy 32. Heading to the line and team tent I was excited for this race. I was a little too excited. I forgot to put my racing plate on my bike. Sadly this is something I had happen to me last year in the spring Lowell 50 race. I rushed to the car and then back to the line. Luckily I had plenty of time to get into the very front of wave 12. 

     Last year I was caught behind a wreck right at the starting line and had to bury myself to fight back onto the peloton which is extra brutal when your pushing a four inch brick of a front tire through the wind. This year went off without a hitch and it was our rivals and our team dictating the pace. Three sisters loomed on the horizion and traffic was already getting bad with slower racers from previous waves struggling up the hill. Each racer zig zagged through the openings on the first sister. I found a nice clearing and continued to roll my momentum hard up the second sister. I looked around and noticed my comrades and rivals were all behind me so I slowed up for a minute as I crested the second sister. At this point I expected things to get exciting and I wasn’t disappointed. Randy Coddington, the solo winner from the previous year laid down a devastating attack.  He had the momentum on me as we rolled into the third and largest sister. I got out of the saddle and powered as much as I could but Randy was pulling seconds on me and Danny had to make the jump to have any chance at besting Randy.  Towards the top of the hill the lactic acid had already claimed my legs for the time being. Paul, and Team Heroes teammate Alan of Randy’s slowly pulled ahead of me. 

     At this point I was sitting in 5^th which was where I hoped I would finish. I looked behind me to see the third and final Team Heroes rider Don along with a guy curiously with no team colors and a full suspension fat bike. I didn’t think much of it assuming he would shortly drop off.  This guy was Dirty Kanza 200 fat bike winner, and 40+ Iceman Fat Bike winner Roy Kranz lol. The next few miles I powered up the rolling hills and on occasion would work with Don. The amount of spray the fat bikes created was absurd. My glasses were rendered obsolete in no time. I took them off and rotated seeing out of one eye. The other eye would be watering profusely as I tried to blink out all of the grit. About 15 seconds in front of me I could see Paul and Alan. I wanted to branch up. Don took a hard pull then I took a hard pull and we got onto their wheel. It was about this point where the course was the softest it would be in the whole race. I was still recovering from the anaerobic effort when the two Team Heroes made an attack. I tried to advise Paul he should cover if he could, but between the soft ground, and traffic we didn’t have the fire power to hold on. The problem with starting in a late wave for these races is the lack of cyclists to work with. 

     Paul, Roy and I roared onto the pavement pounding out watts. However, unlike last year when I was part of a fatty peloton doing 30mph+ relatively easy it was a 25mph threshold ride on the fatty.  It was on the road where numerous racers would recognize Roy and scream his name. A few people recognized me and my blue wheels as we sped by countless racers on the road. I realized the name Roy from a friend of mine, Jody, who had lost to him at Iceman. Mind you, my friend Jody rarely loses to anyone; especially at a big race. I became slightly psyched out at the presence of riding monster, but soon tuned that out. I was on the more preferable race rig and with teamate Paul. A friend of Roy’s mentioned we were only about a minute behind third and fourth. Roy asked me if that was the case, and I noted that there were only four guys ahead of us. Powering as hard as possible we kept hoping to see glimpses of the next group. Strava Fly By’s says at one point we were only 20 seconds back. Getting demoralized and knowing Paul’s strength in climbing, I whispered to Paul it might be time for you to make a move and secure 5^th. The Wall was coming up fast and both Paul and I noticed Roy having to back off up the hills. Paul made his jump half way up the hill and soon had over 20 seconds on Roy and I. I proceeded to Ride on Roy’s wheel for the next 10ish miles not wanting to do work pulling him to Paul. 

Rolling in behind Paul and Roy.

     At around 30 miles left Roy closed the gap and it was again a three man show for 5^th. During the race it was so muddy and involved to ride that I had forgotten to take in any nutrition. Being so close to the end I gambled that it was too late. I believe on one of the last noteworthy hills in the race I ended up letting a gap open up, and as we crested the hill I was rewarded with a very strong easterly wind. With nobody else to work with and the legs on E I limped my way to the finish line. The results had me in 7^th place 18 seconds back from Paul and Roy. What was even more frustrating was 3^rd and 4^th barely a minute up on us. I was happy to bounce back and have a competitive weekend, but I can’t help but replay a handful of moments in my head. Dan ended up 2^nd, and newbie Paul out sprinted Roy for the final podium spot.