Saturday 7 September 2013

24hrs of Flathead



 

 

 
 



So......
After some deliberating (post 24 hours of adrenaline, drunkenness ) I figured what a great way to end the summer by doing another 24...

Fast forward to our 2 week vacation in Idaho, a fantastic holiday with the family, and some really great training rides and experiences. I think I'm ready for Montana.

A 5 hour drive got us into Kalispell,  MT early Friday evening, the plan was to arrive early enough to be able to put a prelap in on the  course. (Herron park). Here we meet the race organiser, her family and some very nice volunteers. I knew after meeting this bunch of people I was going to have a great time, and after putting a lap in on the course I felt even better about the event. The course itself was 8miles , and 1400'of gain per lap. Using Canmore's Nordic centre as a bench mark of 1700'vert gain in 12miles, it showed that this no nonsense course was a bit steeper per hour.

I like the course plain and simple, really not much tech, 2 full climbs, and 3 downhill sections and a tiny bit of flat after the start finish line. The soil was hard packed from rain and then dried to a cake  from the sun.  28C for Saturday with a 32C finish on Sunday makes for a hot dry dusty race.

With the preride behind me, I was ready for some dinner (pasta) and a good sleep. We had dinner at Mckenzie River  Restaurant and it was perfect, then off to Rosauer's for water and snacks for Zachary, Zoey, and Coralee.

We finally got to bed around 10pm Friday evening at the Motel 6 in Kalispell.  I consider myself a pretty sound sleeper, so when I was awaken at 2am in the morning to someone trying to come into our room, I was ready for battle. After the gentleman identified himself as the night manager and that he had thought the room was empty I got it  that he had made a mistake.  It makes sense, mistakes happen, try knocking first.

An hour goes by and I am  able to get back to sleep. Up at 7am my wonderful wife got up a few minutes earlier and made me a great cup of Rossland Mountain roasting coffee, freshly hand ground that morning.

Breakfast down and off to the race course to get our tent and gear setup for the event. Cor as usual would run my pit, and Zach was there with Zoey for bottle handups. 

With the pit setup, All I had left to do was get into my AST/Pedalhead/Marda loop Vet clinic race kit on and try and get some relax time in before the race.
With around 10 mins to go to the start of the race I head on down to the Leman start area , and wait for the gun to go off.

12pm the gun goes off and we start our run to our bikes, the good thing for me is that it's only about a 100' lemans run to the bike, perfect for a guy like me. As I head out on the first lap with the other racer's I start to notice how hot it has become, I would surmise that it was hotter than the 28C forecast, or at least it felt that way. I had my Jersey zipper wide open within the first few minutes of the race.

As we ride into the single track I end up riding alongside with a couple of Cat1/pro riders, (Craig, Chance,) as well as Jessie Mong, (Carmichael TS)and John Cadman (Deadgoat racing), 2 other open solo riders like myself. It was cool chatting and catching the cool vibe of the race for the first lap. It was funny because all 4 of us rode into the start finish at the same time causing the USAC referee, to ask if we were on a group ride, So fun.

All of us started to head out for the 2nd lap and as expected the pro guys with Jessie leading pulled out ahead at a decent riding pace. John C and myself kind of hung out riding for the best part of this lap, and probably around the start of the 3rd lap we got separated, and then the race became a true solo event for me.

The heat, it was hot, ( hot for me anyways) well into the low 30's with a ton of exposure on the some of the longer climbs, and especially at the start finish area. I was glad that Coralee took the extra time and installed sides on our custom AST event tent otherwise they would have been in trouble.
I like racing in the heat, I have an innate ability to change my pace and effort to suit this I was able to tolerate this condition, even though I wasn't a fan of it.

Somewhere around the 5th lap I was able to catch up to Jessie, he was starting on the last climb before the last downhill of the course. We shared a couple of words, then I was able to get ahead of him going into a tight single track and maintain my lead to the end of the lap.

At 6-10laps I was riding my race and feeling very good, my bike was working well except for the normal dry chain ( thanks to the dust) that I would re lube every 6 laps for the balance of the event. otherwise I was really setting my pace.

The night lap, at 6:30pm I was told to get my lights on by the USAC official, which I happily did.
You see I was fortunate enough to meet Tommy from Nite rider lighting systems, and he was able to set me up with a sweet system. He installed the LUMINA 700 cordless on my helmet, and the PRO 1800 RACE on my bars. I can tell you. this I have never used a lighting system as nice or as bright  as this. The 2 lights integrated themselves so well, it was like having one single beam, until you came to a corner and then you would get the full advantage of the twin beams. I won't be able to go back to my Majicshine/light and motion combination now.

Back to the race, the night laps are normally my favourite and this event was no different for me, however around the 3 am mark I was noticing some discomfort in my stomach and experiencing some chills while I was riding. I came in on one of my laps and sat down for 15 mins hoping to clear my stomach and get rid of my chills. The next lap when I came in I actually stopped for 30 min or so and had to go to my truck to warm up. 

What  I was finding challenging was, the actual temp difference between the lower open section of the course were cold,  low single digit temps cold. ( through the start finish line and then around a kilometre into the course),  after that it  was into the woods and the climbs which were holding the heat from the day and siting around the low 20's ( in my estimation). I was consuming a good amount of fluids, and perspiring pretty good in the tree's but when I would pop out into the clearing I would catch a chill and the cold drinks I was drinking were playing havoc with my stomach.

I was able to figure this out while sitting in the truck with the engine running and my teeth chattering  I came up with the idea  of wearing my light wind vest, and consuming my drinks that I hadn't put in the cooler.

When I went back out after this break I was able to execute my plan, and I didn't have any physical issue's for the rest of the race. Coach Shaun  always told me that anything can happen in a 24hr race and usually does. I was fortunate enough to solve this before it became worse.

It was around this time I found out that I was leading my category, and challenging 1st place overall. At 7am I was sitting in first overall with a 2 lap buffer, on my closest competitor. The sun was just starting to come up and I was totally enjoying the money lap, it gave me chance to think about my good friends and family, and feeling pretty good about making it through the  night and my trials of the event so far. With 5hours left in the race I felt I had a pretty good chance at maintaining my lead.
It felt good to be here and I was feeling good overall, just ticking off the miles and enjoying the vibe and encouragement from the volunteers, and fellow racers.


 

At 10:30 am and with 21 laps securely in the bank I pulled the pin. It was starting to get  hot  and dry again.




Thankfully with the help from Jessie and Heather we were able to pack up fairly quickly. In fact just in time for some leisure time, free hot dogs and drinks prior to the award ceremony.



 
 
Some highlights from this experience:
 
  • Swimming with Zach post race.
  • sharing a beer with Cor on the tailgate of my truck at 2am Monday morning.
  • Meeting some great fun people.
  • Chatting with the fellow racers during the event.
 



PROPS:
My wife and son, I don't do this without them.
My Coach Shaun Taylor, we need to go riding soon, we need to clink some beer glasses soon.
Nite Rider Lights, for hooking me up, and letting me enjoy the goodness of your system, Thank you Tommy.
AST  I am grateful for your continued support. 2 years behind me. Thank you.
Pedalhead Bicycle works, you make my bike flawless, one less thing to worry about.
Heather Mong, for supporting Coralee with a winter jacket and hot coffee in that cold night.
Jessie Mong, for towing the line  a pure racer, much respect bro.

To all my friends and family checking in with Coralee via mobile electronic devices, it was awesome to hear about that afterwards.

To the organisers/volunteers of this great grassroots event, supporting  the cause for people with life altering disabilities I was glad to be a part of this.


See you next year
 








Tuesday 3 September 2013

Summer vacation!




Cor and I decided it was time to try a different place for our summer vacation this year. In previous summers we have opted for the B.C. holiday, packing up the family and heading west was the norm for us.
This summer we decided to take a trip out to Farragut  park in Idaho state. It was a different venue which is what we were all craving.

We drove out to  Cranbrook Saturday morning andhad planned to stay the balance of the weekend as, we weren't booked into Farragut until Monday morning. It was a nice stopover that had us going swimming at the local pool and afterwards myself getting some great riding in at the Community forest area. or better known as the trail system that sports the "six in the stix" race course.
It's a great trail system and very well groomed, the temps were in the high 20's and low 30's and I was enjoying myself.






Monday trailer hooked up and on the road to Farragut, which is surprisingly closer than you think. A 4hr drive from Crannie, (not counting the border delay) and we rolled into the park ready to have some summer fun.

Lot's of swimming and and a couple of trips to Silverwood park, I had the great fortune to find a bike shop in Hayden just outside Coer d alene, that was able to service me with some new cables,housing and a few water bottles. Even more importantly they were able to describe in great detail (which turned out to be my favorite training course) Bernard's peak.  Bernard's peak trail is a 8mile hill climb course that gives you somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500'vert gain by the time you reach the top/finish of the trail. Then it's back down the same trail to the bottom with some sweet flowy fast riding. A typical out and back lap (according to the local guide) was just under 3hours.


I was throwing down some multi lap day's with some other trails in the area for some fun.


  I figure I was getting close to being ready for my next event in Montana, 2weeks away from then.

I can't say enough about Farragut, lots of kids to for Zach to play with lot's of bike riding for him, including some night rides with my light kit. He was a pretty popular dude with the other kids when he would set the light on "strobe"and they would all ride laps at the campground.












Some highlights of this vaca, included :
great family time, great food, some great IPA's,  and met some really nice people.

Some lowlights from this vaca, included:
wasp's were nuts and aggressive, me sitting on a wasp, me riding in excess of 6okm/h and having a bee fly inside my open jersey and sting me just to the left of my right nipple, Even better having the  bee deciding to hide in the front of my jersey for later fun.
Me meeting one  not so nice person.
Otherwise all good, coming back next year.