Tough mudder?

Last night I did some hill repeats, a chill pace loop, and a race pace loop at Bear Creek.  During the chill loop I noticed some of the stuff they have set up for the Tough Mudder competition this weekend.

Somehow they kept some snow around for these guys/gals to run through. 

They also put in this pond, which they are supposedly gonna throw a bunch of ice in, that they will have to swim through??

I always forget how fun this place is to ride.  The second lap was at race pace, just to see where I'm at compared to last year.  My fastest lap in the race was 53 minutes last year, and yesterday I did a 49:47 but I also added about a half mile to the loop.  I was pretty happy with how I felt, considering I didn't feel too good at Greenbrier.  Though, I really need to work on consistency between laps - as my lap times last year at Bear Creek were 53, 57, 1:06.

See you at Granogue!

159..

As of 1:40 pm today only 159 of you have registered for Granogue. Go register now! This weekend looks to be some great racing weather, unlike last years mudfest.  This course is cool mix of everything cool about mountain biking.

The many groups of people that go into making this race possible are awesome.  The vibe at this event is always great with XC and endurance races going on.  They also have a huge bike gear raffle benefiting HERA Women's Cancer Foundation.  You only get the chance to ride here a few times a year, they have a cyclocross race and mountain bike races there.

See you Sunday!

Last minute race..

I rode Friday with Yozell and Thorpe, a really chill pace road ride with a stupid climb up Deysher Rd just outside of Fleetwood. I was feeling pretty tired the whole ride.

The weather was looking to be shitty leading up to Greenbrier, so I planned to just chill at home. At the last minute, ie. 10pm on Saturday night, I decided to race the Greenbrier Challenge. VeganRob and Matteo roped me into taking the drive with them - fortunately I got to sit back and relax in the back of the Daniels Landscaping Dakota.

We rolled into the park around 12:15, registered and kitted up for a short pre-ride. We only got about 1/3 of the way through the course and had to head back for the start. I probably should've warmed up on the road and gotten some efforts in to prepare for the start - fail.

The start went off quite fast up the gravel then double track climb - and I was feeling the pace already. I settled in behind the 4th rider up the next climb, but these guys were pulling away from me. I was about a minute down from the leaders on the first lap, and rode the 2nd lap pretty much by myself in sitting in 4th place. On the third lap I wasn't really feeling it, 2 guys got by me and I couldn't stay with them on the climbs.

I finished out DFL - 6th place, 15 minutes off the winning time of Josh West from Bikeman.com. I really feel the climbing of this course is where I lost most of that time. There was 3300 feet of elevation gain in 4 laps.

Intervals?!?!

Tonight I got outta work a little early from work, and decided to meet up with VeganRob and do some hill repeats, I mean nearly puke induced intervals. We ended up doing 6 - 5 min hill repeats at Lehigh with a few Lungbuster repeats, one up the Witch, and one up Superman.

This workout hurt quite a bit, but I guess its supposed to. It is however, the first bit of structure I've done this season. I was thinking about holding off on doing any intervals and just race on Sundays and suffer. I guess it's probably better to be a "little" prepared.

Helmet-less riding...

I got all my gear together to do a nice easy recovery ride, only thing I forgot was my helmet. As opposed to skipping the ride I rode helmet-less. No, I'm not trying to be this guy , I just wanted to get out and ride since I had some time outta work and had everything else.

It was kinda nice having the airflow without the helmet, although a little weird feeling at times. I friend of mine hit a pothole at like 40mph several months ago and broke his shoulder and the helmet he was fortunately wearing. So I was a little sketched out without one, but everything was all good.

I guess I just need better planning in the morning when getting gear together. My helmet was in the other car from the weekend trip. Enough babbling about a helmet.

This weekend is the Greenbrier Challenge in Boonsboro, MD near Frederick in Greenbrier State Park. Its a great venue, with a 4 hr enduro starting @ 9:30am and XC distance races starting at 10am through 2pm for the expert/pro race. This race is part of the KendaCup series, which also includes Bear Creek AMBC PA State Championships on Aug.1, Massanutten Hoo Ha in Virginia on June 20, and The Bulldog Rump H2H AMBC Nj State Championships on July 11.

LBD minus 5 hours...

The 4th annual Leesburg Bakers Dozen 13 hour race was this weekend. I took another shot at this event, having done a duo two years ago with a decent finish, last year a solo bailing at 8 hours and 70 miles.

This year I have been getting some longer rides before the event, and went into it pretty well rested. I thought I had nutrition figured out, I planned on using Infinit Nutrition as my primary fuel, with some gels and solid food here and there.

Looking back I probably should've eaten more solid foods throughout the morning and afternoon. I had a much better start than last year, and ran some pretty consistent lap times for 4 laps before stopping to switch bottles. Maybe pitting every two laps for a little food would've been better. More knowledge for the next longer race I guess.

I hit the wall at around 8 hours, I figured having already done 15 more miles than last year in the same time, I pulled the plug before I started riding stupid. That was on the 11th lap, I had no power and a really low heart rate and just wasn't feeling right.

8 hours is a long time on the bike, congrats to the folks who did the full 13. At least I got a few hours of partying in after my ride. Next up is probably Greenbriar or Granogue - go register NOW for this race, it's one of the best races in the MASS put on by Fatmarc - one of the most positive guys in the sport. Not sure if it'll be XC or enduro - fortunately the enduro at both are only 4 hours.