Adirondack Mountain Weekend

Another Weekend, another race - this time Whiteface Mountain UPHILL Bike Race. Donna and I made a weekend of it as she did an ADK A+ rated hike up and over Ester and Whiteface while I rested up and warmed up and then raced up the 8-mile road to the summit of Whiteface. Mid-week I enjoyed a great Mountain Bike ride in the Norhteast Kingdom of VT during our June Conference. We ended the weekend staying at a great and peaceful B+B in Keene Valley.

Hill training on Willard and developing a better power to weight ratio were benefits of putting the Whiteface Race on the schedule. As a result my time continued in a pattern setup back in 2004 when I first did the race. My time then was 1:08. I missed in 2005, but rode again in 2006, two years later, and 2 minutes slower at 1:10. In 2007 the pattern of losing 1 minute per year continued as I clocked in at 1:11, which put me at 28 out of 41 in the 50 to 59 age group and 166 out of 245 riders overall.

After last weeks race the only riding I did before this race was a 3:40 ride covering about 25 miles of beautiful Vermont single track at the Kingdom Trails. Marty and I were the only ones taking advantage of the mountain biking paradise at our disposal. We took a lift in a pick-up so the first 2 mile climb on the highway was avoided. After dropping us at the campground, the Trail Director gave us directions for a great loop. We would climb up the right side of the toll road, then drop down Dead Moose Alley, then climb up again about 1/2 way until we hit the CCC road over to the ski area, dropping down the J-Bar run, which is the best single track I have ever been on! Then it was up to the start of Moose Alley that drops all the way down to the river. White School takes you back to the start. The weather was great and I could go hard and then wait for Marty - getting good interval workout and enjoying the scenery.

I have developed a routine for driving up to the race, resting and then warming up before starting the race. This year I park again at the Post Office and took a nap in the shade. As I was waking up a car pulled into a space near mine and starting setting up. I looked at the car and it was a Toyota Supra Turbo - 1991 with 191,000 miles on it, so I had to tell him about Jesse's Supra. Tom and Bridget were from Rochester and he had a beautiful Titus frame built up with mountain bike components. The handlebar had bar ends that formed 'antlers' to the inside and had bar end shifters on them. He had back issues and had the bike custom fitted and built. Tom is a 9 year veteran of the Mt. Washington climb, but doing Whiteface for the first time. We had a good time talking and Bridget offered to take a jacket up to the top for me. I got about an hour of riding before the start and then waited for the 'real' start with Tom and other older riders.

Each year the first two miles are a killer. I get to start in the last wave, 15 minutes behind the first wave, so the warm up fades and the body needs to kick in again when the gun goes off. I used the 34 x 11:21 gear combo and was in the 21 most of the time. When I checked back in my training log I saw that last year I had the 11:23 sproket on. This year's gearing had locked me into grinding hard and not spinning. The thought has been that if I have lower gears available I will not spin fast enough to keep the speed high enough. But, I thought I had used the 11:21 last year. The down side is when you are locked into the lowest gear right from the start, with the ability to shift higher only coming after the 5 mile mark when the road levels off some from the 8% average grade, it plays with your head.

Donna cheered all of us on from the hood of her Crown Vic at the 4-mile mark. She told me I was looking good, but I answered, "I don't feel good!" Actually, I was just starting to feel better. In fact I stood and passed several riders that had fallen off the wave ahead of me just after passing Donna. The course eases up just a tad at the Toll Station and then goes back into the 8-10% grade until the 5.5 mile point. I passed a few riders that had mechanical and physical issues before catching some that had fallen off the earlier waves.

With about 1.5 miles to go you can see the top, and it is always a mental anchor. It is hard to believe I am going to pedal up to that point in the time that is left. I have the computer set to give me the race time and distance, but did not look at the time until I had only a few minutes left. I did look at the miles as I climbed. At this point I always struggle to keep the effort high enough. I use the heart rate monitor to make sure I am pushing hard enough, but not too hard. The right amount of effort is between 160 and 165 beats per minute (bpm). If I go harder, I will blow-up; lower and I will regret not going harder. I looked at the monitor at this point and saw that I was doing 157, so I tried to dig harder. Lower back pain has kept that from happening at this stage the last two times and this time is no different. Standing and sitting helps and eventually you start to hear the cheering of the crowd at the finish.

The finish is always around one more bend in the road than I think it is. As a result when I hear the crowd I push to over 170 bpm and can not sustain it. But, it serves the purpose of passing a few right at the end. As I finally do round the last turn the road pitches up to make you really work to hit the finish. It is a long straight climb and now you can let it all out. Heart rate topped out at 175 as I hit the finish line with several riders that see-sawed back and forth with me the last mile or so. The worst part is that you immediately have to dismount the bike and walk in the order you finished so they can properly record your placing.

A mere 30 seconds after feeling like you are going to explode and collapse, you feel great again. In fact better than great, you feel awesome! I get back on the bike and slowly roll up to the end of the road and look out over Lake Placid and the rest of the mountains. Soon the cool air on top and the soaked clothes combine to make you very cool. I get some water, Gatorade, bananas and oranges and then start looking for Tom and Bridget. Before I find them, I spot Dan, who leads our winter spinning class, crossing the line. After I get my jacket and talk briefly to Tom I start the descent - the funnest part! You hit 40-plus MPH really easy and there are large pot holes that can throw you down if you are not careful. After stopping a couple of times to admire the mountain top views I start really going fast. The last 4 miles are great as there are fewer potholes and turns to worry about so you do not have to scrub off any speed. Finally I get down to the car after hitting a 48 MPH max speed for an extended time. I change at the car and then drive over to find Donna at the post race dinner. We found John from last week and Dan and visited after we ate.

Donna was also pretty spent after her strenuous hike, so we both welcomed the comfort of the Trails End Bed and Breakfast in Keene Valley, about a 20 minute drive from the race finish. We quickly showered and hit the large comfortable bed in our large and airy room. Great place and breakfast in the morning was only surpassed by the post-breakfast nap until the 11 am check out time forced us to leave. A great finish to a great weekend. We drove home after stopping at Chapel Pond to look up at the great rock ledges.

May Wrap-up

Memorial Day Weekend provides a memorable end to May. A 62-mile, 5000-foot climbing ride in the Adirondacks on Saturday, followed by Donna and I teaming up for the Saratoga Duathlon on Sunday, and a mountain bike ride up the 11 mile Kelly Stand Road in Vermont privided an opportunity to go hard at three disciplines / bikes in one weekend.

Saturday's MHCC group ride led by Art G., called "Team Guerrilla Road Ride, Alternate Plan B (TGRRAPB)," was the first "Quick Ride" of my cycling life back in 2000 and I have returned every year since. The first ride was with my old FujiClub 12-speed and I was very nervous not knowing any of the riders. I had no idea what a ride of that length or amount of climbing would entail. I even did not know what to bring along in terms of repair tools, food, etc. I strapped my large handlebar mounted pack on and loaded it up with spare parts and tools! At the last minute, after I saw that the rest of the riders had tiny saddle bags, I ejected my 5 inch adjustable wrench. I kept up with the pack of 15 or so riders the first half of the ride, but paid the price the second half with cramps. I limped in many minutes after Art had provided a wheel to bring in an overweight guy that was behind me with 10 miles to go.

Since that first ride I have learned a great deal on how to eat and train. We have had as few as 7 riders on cold, rainy days and set the record for the most riders this year due to the great weather at 32. The second year of riding TGRRAPB I learned about over-hydrating. I just drank water and wound up cramping again, even though in better shape, due to diluting out my electrolytes. After this lesson I always carry one bottle of water and another of sports drink and alternate drinking from each. The third year I learned how eating too many carbs and not enough protein induces insulin to drain all of your circulating blood sugar leaving you without fuel for muscles. At the half way point we stop usually for about 20 to 30 minutes at a country store in Adirondack for a rest stop. The picture shows us a this year's edition. After devouring large amounts of GU and power bars and sports drink we started off around Schroon Lake. After about 20 minutes my legs seized up on this ride for the third time in a row. By the fourth year I finally completed a TGRRAPB in good shape. I now pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my longer rides and can eat it with confidence even at a long stop knowing that the protein and fat will prevent the insulin surge.

The long climbs and descents and smooth Adirondack roads twisting by lakes, rivers, streams and mountains make the TGRRAPB a must ride for every year. There is a core group of riders that returns year after year. Some are the same riders that do other Quick Rides and others I only see on this ride. This year we had a fellow that claimed to be an American European ProTour rider. He had a beautiful Team Phonak BMC team issue bike and told great stories about riding for Landis and others on the Phonak team. We always stay and eat some cake that Art's wife provides and talk about the ride and other things as we recover. The group this year was pretty unanimous in thinking our ProTour rider was spinning a tall tale on us.

The last three years I have gotten myself into the shape and have the experience to do the ride well without needing lots of recovery time. In fact, I have done it knowing I will be doing a 20-mile time trail the following day teaming up with Alix or Donna in the Saratoga Duathlon. The first year Alix and I managed to run-ride-run to first place in the mixed team division. Alix ran a good first 5K and I used my Trek Y-foil to advantage and completed the 4-lap, 5 miles per lap course in about one hour. The result was that Alix was the first women to start the second 5K run and she held her position through to the finish. She brought the crowd to cheers as the first women finisher - she said it was awesome! That first year Donna did all three legs and placed first in her age group.

The second year the race grew in size and Donna, Alix and I failed to repeat our first place finishes, but we still were respectable. I finished 16th in the field of 200 for the bike leg portion of the race, which I thought was good. It is great fun to pass riders and move so fast through the field. The Y-Foil is such a fast bike being all carbon and DuraAce components. The aerobars with bar end shifters allows you to stay aero the whole time. The course is flat except for a short climb at the end of each lap. Once you figure the right gearing, you get into a pattern that repeats lap after lap. I watch the computer and time each lap trying to bring in negative splits. If you stay under 15 minutes per lap you are going over 20 MPH. The previous day's ride is either a good warm up or a drain on leg power or both!

This year I felt really good after doing the TGRRAPB so I expected to do well in the duathlon. For the first time I am teaming up with Donna, instead of Alix. Donna tags me at the end of her 5K and I start running with the bike out of the transition area. She yells that she has set a PR for the 5K with her first leg time. OK - now the pressure is on; I better come through with a good effort to support her PR. Last year I averaged 22.3 MPH, so to go better I need to hit well under 15 minutes per lap. I started off and felt off. Legs felt ok, but my stomach was not right. I had eaten too much - taken in what I would normally do for a long ride, not a 1 hour hard effort. By the time I rounded the third corner I started bringing up breakfast. The first climb to finish the first lap and I was not pumping in the right gear - not going fast, others were passing me! My time for the first lap was 14:45 - not fast enough. After that lap I started to feel better.

As is often the case, I passed riders and the same riders would pass me back - each of us showing our own preferences for different parts of the route. By the third lap we are thinning out to be the same riders and only passing really slow riders. My lap times were getting better each lap. By the fourth lap I felt really good. My finishing pace was a new record for me at 22.6 MPH, which was good enough for 7th overall out of 150 riders. Donna ran another good 5K leg and we finished 4th out of 12 coed teams and only 25 seconds off of 2nd place. We enjoyed the great spread of food and each had messages at the end of the race.

On Monday we decided to take out the mountain bikes and explore a favorite road over in Vermont. The Kelly Stand Road is a dirt road that climbs for about 10 miles along side a beautiful tree-lined stream. People camp between the road and stream and there is little traffic. The road is only open in the non-winter months and connects Arlington to Stratton Mountain. The Appalachian Trail crosses the road at the 9 mile mark. At the 11 mile mark there is a historical marker where Danial Webster addressed 15,000 people in July of 1840 at the Whig Convention! It is hard to believe that this little traveled road in the middle of the Vermont forest would ever have had that many people on it. The climb is long and steady but never too steep. A good workout for sure and an awesome, long and fun descent. We ate some food down along the stream and then drove home.

Today, the last day of May, I did my first ride after the Memorial Weekend trio of rides. It was one of my usual routes out Lick Spring Road, up the Summit Lake climb (.5 miles, 250 feet), up north road, back to Greenwich. I decided to finish by going up Willard and then going home, since I am training for the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race in 3 weeks. At the top of Willard I see a CRBC rider heading down. I figured he was out alone on a training ride, beating the afternoon thunderstorms like I was. When I get to the Willard Ski Area driveway I see several cars, bikes and bikers milling about. I turned into the driveway and saw that these were more CRBC clad riders. One saw me roll up and said, "Hey, this isn't one of our guys." I asked who was playing in my neighborhood. He told me that they were filming a commercial for Litespeed bikes! Sure enough they had beautiful Litespeeds decked out in Zipp wheels. They said they had to take pictures here instead of Tennessee to keep for getting shot out on the good country roads. I warned them that getting shot was still a possibility here. He asked if I was just out for a ride and I told him I lived 6 miles down the mountain and I was finishing off a 40 mile ride. We talked about the Battenkill-Rubaix Race and I rode home. Once again I was reminded how special an area we live in - a road and mountain biking paradise that I hope the rest of the world only slowly learns about so it stays that way.

Battenkill-Rubaix Lives Up To Namesake

Our little local race, named after the Paris - Rubaix race held on the same weekend, has grown-up in its third year. With over 1000 entrants it is now the largest Pro-Am race in the Northeast and the fastest growing. With 55 miles of hills in farm country and 25% dirt as our 'pave' the course attracts all categories. The roads are the magnet pulling in all these cyclists - and these are the roads I get to ride outside my doorstep all the time!

As mentioned in previous blogs, I have been anticipating the race for some time. I had to enter in November to avoid getting shut out like last year. The first year Donna and I showed up race day and entered! Many of the categories were sold out by January now that the race is so popular. Anticipation should have meant I trained well for the race, however, the winter weather has not cooperated. By not cooperating I mean that not only has riding been difficult in the cold/wet weather, but my other Ridn has lingered later into the season. The day before the race Donna and I boarded at Killington all day.

I did get to ride some in California two weeks ago. And, last weekend I hit some of the race course hills on short but very hilly (+90 feet per mile) rides to get my legs used to the effort and to scout out the condition of the roads. The condition of the roads changed late in the week as we were hit with a good snow storm for April (hence the trip to Killington). But race day weather cooperated with no precipitation and only a 10-15 MPH wind with temperatures in the high 40's - spring-like for this year!

I was very relaxed at the start as I found my Cat 5 45+ group of 49 riders. I was not able to get into the Masters 50+ group because I did not get a Cat 4 License. But I did talk to Art G as he was staged to go off 5 minutes after me. I told him he would pass me at some point.

The group held together until we hit the first dirt climb on Bog Road. The 8% grade dropped a few and the pot holes took out some. I was in the middle of the pack when I looked down and saw my rear water bottle jump up and hit my leg as I bounced in a pot hole. I also watched helplessly as the bottle careened off to my left. No chance to stop without causing a major pile-up, so I pedaled on. I immediately knew this was going to be a problem towards the end of the race. I was already concerned that I was short of liquids with only the two bottles and no one in the feed zone to hand me one. I put that in the back of my mind and focused on the positive of having to carry less weight up Juniper Hill.

I struggled to catch back on to the lead pack as we made the turn onto Route 22 and headed into Salem. Drafting through town allowed me to get my heart rate down and to fish out a Cliff Shot for the upcoming climbs. The paved climb sorted some riders out, but I managed to stay in contact. As we hit the dirt and the severe 18% pitch of Juniper I was shocked to see riders up ahead walking their bikes up the hill! Could it be that soft? I pedaled on confident that I have climbed this hill in these conditions before. But it did take a lot out of me! I recovered on the rollers and crossed the bridge onto 313. As I did, a few trains of riders flew by me. I was upset with myself for not having the energy or anticipation to catch on. I knew we would be riding into the head wind all the way to Cambridge.

I caught onto the third group of about 7 riders that came up from behind and we got a good pace line going. After taking two turns at the lead I was recovered and wound up going off the front after the third pull. Here I was again, all alone pushing into the wind. As I got into town another rider was riding with me, number 394, and we wound up doing a two up ride all the way to Meeting House. It was fun to share pulls with him and we definitely helped each other out. With the many Categories out in staggered starts and no way to determine from the Number which category each rider was in, it was hard to tell if you were cooperating with people you were racing against or not. With the lead groups long gone, it did not matter much.

As we started up to Meeting House Art G passed me. I caught back and reminded that I told him that he would pass me. We then struggled to the top and hit the dirt. The Meeting House climb also took people off their bikes. I got over in pretty good shape, but not over extended, as I knew Becker loomed not too far in the distance. Becker was a killer, like it always is. The road was softer than usual and again people were walking. I passed Art back for good there and raced through the potholes. As I hit the small rise at the end of Becker I shifted to the small ring while I was still crossed over on the 18 in back and the chain dropped as a result. I hopped off the bike and quickly got the chain back on, but as I did, my legs seized in cramps. The water shortage was beginning to take its toll.

It is a lucky thing that I put Gatorade and water in each bottle at the start, as opposed to my usual practice of water in the front and just Gatorade in the back. Even though I was stuck with one bottle (front) it was Gatorade. I was at about 1/3 of a bottle now. The Cliff Shots were working well as I could feel a boost after chewing them. The honey - water mix was all gone too. I stood up and pumped up the Intervale rises and then flew down the descent. As we turned onto 74 I hooked up with about 5 other riders and we got a good pace line going all the way into Greenwich.

As I rode onto Route 29 I realized that I now had a tailwind. I left the group behind and stayed ahead of them all the way to the Route 49 Feed Zone. I looked longingly at the people standing there with water bottles and wanted to just grab one and take off, but I was down to about 1/4 of a bottle and heading for the last climb. When the dirt rode rose my legs shut down. Ten miles to go and it was tough. Any pressure on the legs resulted in painful cramps. I even resorted to weaving back and forth on the steeper sections. Some riders were passing me, but most were in similar predicaments. As I got to the top I explained my problem to one rider who offered me his water. But I knew it was only 5 more miles and it was all descent and flat.

I flew down Joe Bean Road and turned onto the final stretch of road. A small rise in the road that I would normally just stand and pump over required me to shift into the small ring. And once again, I dropped the chain! I got off the bike and as soon as my feet hit the road all leg muscles contracted at once. I nearly went down. However, I got it together and got the chain on. As I started slowly pedaling I noticed the Cat 4 Women's car bearing down on me with a lone breakaway rider following. About 1k back was the pack of about 6 chasers. They flew by and about a mile later I coasted across the finish line.

I finished in 3:12 while the Cat 5 45+ winner clocked in at 2:50. I finished in 19th place, but more importantly -- I finished! Art G hit the line about 2 minutes later, so while he did pass me (and had a faster time) at least I stayedout in front of him again. It was not long until I found Donna at the finish line and got refueled and rehydrated. We watched some Category sprints and I stayed and watched the Pro finish. The leader crossed the line and celebrated too soon, getting nipped at the line. Overall, another great race effort day and the first race of the season is history.