Okay, so I know I didn't post about yesterday's stage and it wasn't because I died or anything. It's because it was a long day and by the time I got back to the cabin I was wiped and really didn't feel like moving. Even to type. So...this will be a little catch up.
Stage 6 yesterday was the queen stage of the Transylvania Epic Stage race. 42 miles of climbs, descents, and awesome trails with views and oh, just a few rocks, to round out the day. On day 5 out at R B Winter park I had a pretty good day, pushed it pretty hard, and walked away feeling like I raced my bike. It's a good thing, because day 6 was not one of those days.
I started out in the usual group that I'd been riding with throughout the week. Ben Sawyer (riverside racing) was with us and I was hoping to keep pace with him throughout most of the day. We made our way through the days first enduro stage then started what I had set in my mind as the 'big climb' of the day. (There was a climb on the elevation profile that looked to be about 7 miles long). After a short downhill we abruptly turned into singletrack, which turned into a hike a bike. Huh, this was way steeper than it looked in the profile. As w neared the top my memory of the map became clearer, we weren't even CLOSE to the big climb of the day.
Through a few more road sections and some trail we finally popped out at the base of the climb. I settled in for good this time and rode my tempo, knowing what power I could sustain. After setting the tempo for the group on the lower part of the climb riders started to push it a little and gap me halfway through. I did what I could, knowing that there was still 3 miles of climbing to come and rode steady. I wasn't really paying attention, but afterwards that Mary McConneloug (pro rider and previous Olympian) was having a rough morning and was sitting right on my wheel the majority of the climb. This only came to realization when she found me after to thank me for dragging her up the hill to rejoin the group (she ended up going on to win the stage in the women's field). So yeah, having a Olympian thank you for helping them out- pretty cool.
The rest of the day consisted of some of the rockiest terrain I've ever ridden. The ride up Tussey Ridge was incredible and to ride across a ridge line like that was quite an experience. As fun as that was, when I got to the enduro downhill section immediately after, I felt like I was moving at half speed. Weird. Really weird. It was one of those days...
Which brings us to the last stage of the event. A 26 mile Xcode event that had us riding the singletrack I sand mountain in both directions. We had done portions of this trail in the prologue, so I was encouraged by the fact that I'd be seeing something familiar. I ran into Ben at the start and he asked me " so are you racing today or are you cruising?" I answered "yes".
I had no grand plans for the last stage. Have fun. If I felt like racing and that's what I was in the mood for, the. Great. If I felt like chilling, the so be it. But regardless of how I chose to ride I was determined to enjoy the ride. It was a perfectly sunny day. The trails were dry. There was no 'tomorrow's stage'. Nothing to do but go enjoy riding my bike.
At the start of stage 7 I rolled out with Ben at a pretty casual pace. We wound our way through some of the campground roads and into some of the singletrack there. The second we dove into the trail, however, the switch flipped. I wanted to go fast on y bike today. I busted a move through the tight, twisty flowing trail and got out to sand mountain road. We climbed up the road always and made our way into the single track from the prologue. I was enjoying myself.
The sand mountain. Singletrack was part of the east coast rocks competition, so when we got there I swiped in and started to absolutely CRUSH myself trying to sprint though every corner and wheelie drop every xobstacle. I was having fun.
Towards the end of the east coast rocks section I caught up with Chris Cyr, who surprised me at the start line by taking off like a shot himself. He was sitting 7th in his age group only a few minutes back of the riders ahead of him, so he figured he'd see what he could do today.
As we got to the double track climb at the end of the east coast rocks I realized that I was riding with Chris and probably 3 other guys from his category- I went into teammate domestique mode. very climb I sat there and methodically tapped out tempo making sure Chris was in the group. The we'd take turns ripped down the single track. Panther run road was a roughly 3 mile section of -2 percent washed out logging road grade that was just miserable to try to ride down. Half way down I swear I went blind from trying to scan 4 different rideable lines for rocks or washout that would kill me. So I was happy here when Chris took over for a bit.
We rode together for the rest of the day, I kept the pace just high enough for him on the roads and kept him motivated - he was thankful for the help afterwards. Of course, when we looked at the results he ended up 4th in the stage, 32 seconds off of the podium. Whoops. Other than that we just had fun ripping down the trails. Enjoying being on our bikes, and savoring the last few dusty breathes of single track summer camp.
So to get back to the original question on the day of " so Greg are you racing or chilling today?" Somehow I managed to keep the answer "yes".
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Day 5 Recap- R. B. Winter Park
32 miles of primitive east coast style single track- that's what today's stage was hailed as. I wasn't really sure what 'primitive' meant heading into it. I was kind of expecting trails that were overgrown, poorly built, and that went straight up and down the mountains. After all, that's what east coast riding used to be. To everyone's pleasant surprise, the trails were actually in great condition and rideable. There was a mix of road, single track on old logging roads, and some actual rough rocky PA single track throughout the day.
After a neutral rollout to get us across the highway, we lined up at the bottom of a dirt road and on the whistle the field was in a dead sprint up the hill. We gradually made our way into the day's first single track descent, and I instantly found myself in similar company from yesterday's ride. Having rained overnight, and starting the stage in the mist and cool damp weather, one by one the riders in front of me started to stumble and fall away on the greasy rocks. Knowing the conditions, I knew I just needed to keep the bike loose underneath me, let it slide on the rocks, and ride a little conservatively. Keeping it upright has been the goal throughout the week, and today in particular I think that made the difference in keeping the bike working, staying healthy, and keeping a good attitude towards the stage.
Overall I had a good day on the bike. For the first time this week I actually felt like I was racing my bike. I was finally riding away from people I'd been with all week and was able to actually add some intensity. I wish I had been able to push the singletrack a little harder, but oh well, I'll save that for a day with better conditions.
Friday will already be day 6 of the Transylvania Epic. This, from what everyone is telling me, is the best stage of the event. It looks to have everything, great singletrack, long climbs, and some amazing views. It will also be the last long day of the event covering just over 40 miles and should be a heck of a way to start to wrap up singletrack summer camp.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Day 4 recap
Day 4 Coburn Stage Recap
Day 4 of the Transylvania Epic brought yet another completely different day of racing. First day a 1 hour time trial, day 2 was an endurance cross country grind, day 3 was the enduro, and day 4 ended up being the "road stage". While we did hit some trail, most of the day was spent primarily on the countless dirt roads that weave their way through the state forests.
I tried to be just a little more aggressive at the start, recognizing that this was not a day to be left riding alone on the road sections. I figured start closer to the front and drop back to groups behind as needed. By the time we jumped into the first single track section I was in the third major group in the race and ended up riding with that groups for most of the rest of the day. Chris Cyr put in a great ride during the stage and joined our group at the first checkpoint.
Our group road together until we started to approach the town of Coburn, where the Wilderness 101 mile race is based out of. I knew from that event that we'd be going on a section called the "fishermans trail". On a good day, if it's dry, and your fresh, maybe you can ride 80% of it. This was not one of those days. The rain from the night before left the rocks super slippery making it hard just to walk over them.
Regardless of trail conditions, I had a plan coming into this section. I didn't want to just sit in the same group all day long and wanted to challenge myself a little more. So it worked out perfect that I was second in line going over the foot bridge that brought us to the start of the single track. At that point I jumped the group to be the first into the trail. My plan thinking was to push hard through the technical sections, gap the group, and maybe bridge up to riders that got separated from a group up the road. It worked, except there weren't many people to catch. By the end of the railroad tunnel I caught single-speeder Matthew Ferrari on the road and pulled him through town to the base of the climb. Here I settled into my tempo for the 20 minute climb while he powered away (only one gear, he had no choice, and I wasn't about to go into the red zone just to stay with him).
So I didn't end up bridging up to anyone, but did regroup with three other riders from earlier and we worked together for the rest of the event. Once I got to the last downhill and knew we were turning into the start/finish venue I shut it down and cruised home.
Day 5 will be more trail out at R.B. winter park. It's going to be cool and drizzling all morning, so who knows just how the trails will ride. I'm sure the rock sections will make for another epic day.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Stage 3- Galbraith Enduro Recap
Day three at the Transylvania epic stage race was a completely new format to me. The entire stage was enduro format, which means that there were 5 timed downhill segments, all of which were very short (2-6 minutes each). We had to ride to the start of each segment under our own power, but we're able to do so at a our own relaxed pace.
The name of the game for this stage was 'survive'. Looking at last year's times the total accumulated racing time was roughly 20 minutes- so not enough time to really make a big dent in the overall standings, but plenty of of opportunity to lose time if you crash or have a mechanical. I'm here to make it through the whole week, so gunning for the downhill segments isn't something I'm after. Plus this is a stage where a lot of riders will switch out their cross country race bikes for a beefier longer travel all mountain bike, I didn't have one so even more reason to preserve my equipment. The scalpel 29er has been awesome so far, but I didn't want to push my luck.
I was pretty nervous about the enduro stage, mainly worried about how technical the descents would be. But overall, the whole day was actually really fun. It gave me a chance to ride with Chris Cyr, John Burns, and Matt Williams throughout the day. We rode light endurance pace on the climbs since none of us really likes stopping and waiting all that much, and then we were able to regroup at the end of the segments and roll on.
There were no major mechanicals for us, although Matt had a couple of flats. Even though his second flat came towards the end of segment 5 which required a fair amount of pedaling, he still faired pretty well. The trails were awesome, not nearly as crazy as I expected, and a lot of me we're repeats of trail from wilderness 101 which I've done the past two years. The Wildcat trail on segment 4 was probably the most technical as we were dropping into a stream bed towards the bottom. It was also one of the few places on course were there was actually a crowd watching riders.
Next stage is a longer day in terms of mileage, 43 miles heading up to Coburn where we will hit more of the classic riding that is part of the wilderness 101 race- sand mountain, fishermans trail and the railroad tunnel. There is a lot of dirt road riding in this stage so it should be fairly fast. The key here will be to not get caught riding alone. Although, we have thunderstorms rolling through right now at 7:30 with start time only two hours away. Pace lining and drafting off of someone's wheel on dirt roads with mud getting thrown up for 3 hours I'm sure is going to be a good time. But maybe, just maybe, with wet conditions making the trails that much more technical will equal an advantage for me? I doubt ill make up my nearly 2 hour deficit in the GC but this could end up being an okay day. I'll send out another update once I get back and get all of the grit cleaned out of my face!
The name of the game for this stage was 'survive'. Looking at last year's times the total accumulated racing time was roughly 20 minutes- so not enough time to really make a big dent in the overall standings, but plenty of of opportunity to lose time if you crash or have a mechanical. I'm here to make it through the whole week, so gunning for the downhill segments isn't something I'm after. Plus this is a stage where a lot of riders will switch out their cross country race bikes for a beefier longer travel all mountain bike, I didn't have one so even more reason to preserve my equipment. The scalpel 29er has been awesome so far, but I didn't want to push my luck.
I was pretty nervous about the enduro stage, mainly worried about how technical the descents would be. But overall, the whole day was actually really fun. It gave me a chance to ride with Chris Cyr, John Burns, and Matt Williams throughout the day. We rode light endurance pace on the climbs since none of us really likes stopping and waiting all that much, and then we were able to regroup at the end of the segments and roll on.
There were no major mechanicals for us, although Matt had a couple of flats. Even though his second flat came towards the end of segment 5 which required a fair amount of pedaling, he still faired pretty well. The trails were awesome, not nearly as crazy as I expected, and a lot of me we're repeats of trail from wilderness 101 which I've done the past two years. The Wildcat trail on segment 4 was probably the most technical as we were dropping into a stream bed towards the bottom. It was also one of the few places on course were there was actually a crowd watching riders.
Next stage is a longer day in terms of mileage, 43 miles heading up to Coburn where we will hit more of the classic riding that is part of the wilderness 101 race- sand mountain, fishermans trail and the railroad tunnel. There is a lot of dirt road riding in this stage so it should be fairly fast. The key here will be to not get caught riding alone. Although, we have thunderstorms rolling through right now at 7:30 with start time only two hours away. Pace lining and drafting off of someone's wheel on dirt roads with mud getting thrown up for 3 hours I'm sure is going to be a good time. But maybe, just maybe, with wet conditions making the trails that much more technical will equal an advantage for me? I doubt ill make up my nearly 2 hour deficit in the GC but this could end up being an okay day. I'll send out another update once I get back and get all of the grit cleaned out of my face!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Day 2 recap- Coopers Gap
Well that didn't go as planned.
Day 2 at the Transylvania Epic was a 43 mile stage with close to 5800 ft of climbing and a smattering of some of the classic PA single track. If you've never ridden or been in the woods in Pennsylvania, 'Classic' means there are tons of rocks; and they are all at the most awkward orientation in the trail. It's technical. The word "flow" doesn't exist on these trails. It's hard- and that's exactly what I was hoping for.
After a neutral roll out to get the field around a road gate, we ended up riding as a pack for the first 8-9 miles on gravel road. We quickly jumped into a single track climb and the field instantly started to get spread out since there were very few opportunities to pass. I fell into a group that wasn't exactly to my liking for single track speed, but decided to just settle in and not panic. After all, this was single track section number one of a long long day.
I was gradually able to pick my way through the riders as the trails opened up. Somehow, unfortunately, I completely missed the east coast rocks section of single track that I was gunning for. Well, I thought I did I it, but was wondering why it was all downhill. Turns out I clocked in for one of the enduro sections. Still fun, but quickly realized that I needed to slow down to not wreck myself.
I got to checkpoint one at 17.5 miles in, refueled and filled with water and rolled out with Matt Williams of mtbracenews.com. At this point we both realized how long and tough of a day it would be a rolled into the next section of single track at a more comfortable endurance pace. Of course, the second that I let up on the intensity and decided to 'take it easy' I heard the dreaded "hisssssssssssss". Rear tire down. I had a slash in the tread of the tire just large enough that the Stan's sealant wasn't holding. I repaired with a tube and was on my way. Or so I thought.
3 miles down the road I got into the second enduro downhill and, already riding gingerly and trying not to trash my rear wheel, my rear wheel kicked out. "Hisssssssssssssssss". Sweet. Flat again. Having already used my spare tube I thought how utterly inconvenient it was that I had two tubes and a tire sitting I my drop bag at the aid station a few miles back. At this point I was left hoofing it- not a good time to be running. Carbon soled mt bike shoes are terrible for running, and I was in the middle of an enduro downhill section with riders flying up on me.
I got to the bottom of the hill out of harms way, tried one last ditch Stan's repair with some sealant that some other riders left me to no avail. I began the lonely walk on the road wondering what would happen next. One rider offered me a tube " it's been in my seat pack for a ling time, I'm not sure how good it is" he said. Really? I tried and and sure enough there was a slash in it. Nice dude, I thought, I probably saved your butt from getting stranded. Check your equipment people. A second rider came by and was carrying two NEW tubes and handed one off. This got me up and running.
So now I was rolling again. I lost over an hour doing repairs but was able to keep riding. Everyone was talking about the 'notorious' Stillhouse Hollow climb at the end of the loop. This terrain was the same as wilderness 101 from last year so I knew what to expect. At this point this is where my power meter came in most beneficial. I knew how long the hill was and it was a constant grade, so I was able to work at an intensity just hard enough that I wasn't slacking off but wasn't going anaerobic. This late I. The day and this far down in the standings there was no sense in thrashing myself for no good reason.
So I finished the rest of the day without incident. A little disappointing, but I was able to finish. A new tire is on the bike for today's enduro stage. This day will definitely be about recovering on the climbs ( they are not timed or part of the race) and surviving the downhills (I don't have an all mountain long travel bike with me at the race). After the race , it's off to state college for laundry, a few groceries, and I'm sure after all of today's downhills, a brew at a pub will be in order. It is summer camp after all ;-)
Day 2 at the Transylvania Epic was a 43 mile stage with close to 5800 ft of climbing and a smattering of some of the classic PA single track. If you've never ridden or been in the woods in Pennsylvania, 'Classic' means there are tons of rocks; and they are all at the most awkward orientation in the trail. It's technical. The word "flow" doesn't exist on these trails. It's hard- and that's exactly what I was hoping for.
After a neutral roll out to get the field around a road gate, we ended up riding as a pack for the first 8-9 miles on gravel road. We quickly jumped into a single track climb and the field instantly started to get spread out since there were very few opportunities to pass. I fell into a group that wasn't exactly to my liking for single track speed, but decided to just settle in and not panic. After all, this was single track section number one of a long long day.
I was gradually able to pick my way through the riders as the trails opened up. Somehow, unfortunately, I completely missed the east coast rocks section of single track that I was gunning for. Well, I thought I did I it, but was wondering why it was all downhill. Turns out I clocked in for one of the enduro sections. Still fun, but quickly realized that I needed to slow down to not wreck myself.
I got to checkpoint one at 17.5 miles in, refueled and filled with water and rolled out with Matt Williams of mtbracenews.com. At this point we both realized how long and tough of a day it would be a rolled into the next section of single track at a more comfortable endurance pace. Of course, the second that I let up on the intensity and decided to 'take it easy' I heard the dreaded "hisssssssssssss". Rear tire down. I had a slash in the tread of the tire just large enough that the Stan's sealant wasn't holding. I repaired with a tube and was on my way. Or so I thought.
3 miles down the road I got into the second enduro downhill and, already riding gingerly and trying not to trash my rear wheel, my rear wheel kicked out. "Hisssssssssssssssss". Sweet. Flat again. Having already used my spare tube I thought how utterly inconvenient it was that I had two tubes and a tire sitting I my drop bag at the aid station a few miles back. At this point I was left hoofing it- not a good time to be running. Carbon soled mt bike shoes are terrible for running, and I was in the middle of an enduro downhill section with riders flying up on me.
I got to the bottom of the hill out of harms way, tried one last ditch Stan's repair with some sealant that some other riders left me to no avail. I began the lonely walk on the road wondering what would happen next. One rider offered me a tube " it's been in my seat pack for a ling time, I'm not sure how good it is" he said. Really? I tried and and sure enough there was a slash in it. Nice dude, I thought, I probably saved your butt from getting stranded. Check your equipment people. A second rider came by and was carrying two NEW tubes and handed one off. This got me up and running.
So now I was rolling again. I lost over an hour doing repairs but was able to keep riding. Everyone was talking about the 'notorious' Stillhouse Hollow climb at the end of the loop. This terrain was the same as wilderness 101 from last year so I knew what to expect. At this point this is where my power meter came in most beneficial. I knew how long the hill was and it was a constant grade, so I was able to work at an intensity just hard enough that I wasn't slacking off but wasn't going anaerobic. This late I. The day and this far down in the standings there was no sense in thrashing myself for no good reason.
So I finished the rest of the day without incident. A little disappointing, but I was able to finish. A new tire is on the bike for today's enduro stage. This day will definitely be about recovering on the climbs ( they are not timed or part of the race) and surviving the downhills (I don't have an all mountain long travel bike with me at the race). After the race , it's off to state college for laundry, a few groceries, and I'm sure after all of today's downhills, a brew at a pub will be in order. It is summer camp after all ;-)
Monday, May 26, 2014
Transylvania Stage Race- post prologue
A quick note before a full day of racing. Yesterday I started the 2014 Transylvania Epic 7 day mountain bike stage race. Staying here at seven springs campground, well, can't really call it a campground since we are in a cabin with SATELLITE TV, so we've termed in an RV "resort". We are settled into a great spot with room for bike wash and a great covered porch to chill out on. Best of all we are about 3/4 mile uphill from the race venue, so it's easy to get to the start of the races every day.
Yesterday we rode the prologue. Unlike any prologue in the Tour de France where they are on the bike for a whopping 6 minutes, this was a 15 mile sampler of exactly what PA trail riding will be like. Needless to say, it was no cake walk. We hit some amazing trail right off the bat, and we're out in the woods for over an hour.
Coming into the race I had no idea what to expect with a stage race. It's early in The season and I haven't done a ton of long rides, so being competitive in the overall classification wasn't high on my expectations. The big goal for this week really is survival. Given all of that, they are doing an 'east coast rocks' competition within the race where riders compete on timed sections of single track that consist of technical trail riding that is t necessarily a downhill competition.
Overall yesterday's prologue went as I had expected. I finished about 10 minutes back of Jeremiah bishop who is in the race lead. Unfortunately there were 18 guys in between us, so I'm currently pretty far down in the general classification. But that is after just one day of racing 15 miles- the hour long events are definitely not my strong suit. I am, however, currently sitting in 5th in the east coast rocks competition, so that might be something to continue to shoot for throughout the week.
Today's stage is a long one. We will do 43 miles with close to 6000 feet of climbing. I'll just have to see how I recovered from the prologue effort yesterday and try to keep in mind at I've still got 5 days of racing to go.
More to come this afternoon...
Yesterday we rode the prologue. Unlike any prologue in the Tour de France where they are on the bike for a whopping 6 minutes, this was a 15 mile sampler of exactly what PA trail riding will be like. Needless to say, it was no cake walk. We hit some amazing trail right off the bat, and we're out in the woods for over an hour.
Coming into the race I had no idea what to expect with a stage race. It's early in The season and I haven't done a ton of long rides, so being competitive in the overall classification wasn't high on my expectations. The big goal for this week really is survival. Given all of that, they are doing an 'east coast rocks' competition within the race where riders compete on timed sections of single track that consist of technical trail riding that is t necessarily a downhill competition.
Overall yesterday's prologue went as I had expected. I finished about 10 minutes back of Jeremiah bishop who is in the race lead. Unfortunately there were 18 guys in between us, so I'm currently pretty far down in the general classification. But that is after just one day of racing 15 miles- the hour long events are definitely not my strong suit. I am, however, currently sitting in 5th in the east coast rocks competition, so that might be something to continue to shoot for throughout the week.
Today's stage is a long one. We will do 43 miles with close to 6000 feet of climbing. I'll just have to see how I recovered from the prologue effort yesterday and try to keep in mind at I've still got 5 days of racing to go.
More to come this afternoon...
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