Whiting and Webster Mud

It was close to 50°F today and I rode at Whiting and Webster Park.  In the parking lot I was putting my CamelBak on and saw two horse riders enter Webster Park.  I didn't want to follow them in and have to pass so I rode at Whiting first.  The Blue trail is still quite wet and muddy from the spring.  Most other trails in Whiting were ok with only a few soft sections.  I rode through the Green trail and liked it.  This was my first time riding the final extension since I helped complete it.   There have been several nicely constructed bridges added as Boy Scout projects.  The last and steepest hill was a bit slick and I did not successfully climb it.  I don't feel my climbing skill is quite where I left it in the fall.

Webster Park was also muddy.   It was horribly worse than Whiting is many places, as would be expected in a trail system that doesn't have a dedicated trail crew.  Throughout my ride I saw signs of the two horses that had just entered: horse crap and hoof prints.  Later I saw them riding on an adjacent trail.  On my way out I noticed the horse crap was gone on the first trail.  Maybe the riders stop and clean up on the way out? 

I rode my geared 24.  I'm starting to wonder if my 29er would be better at these trails.  I might try it next time.

With the spring here and no race looming I am finding little motivation to spend time in my basement working out.  It looks like I'm back to my routine of one or two rides a week.  I do have several events penciled in on my calendar but no definite plans for May.  Perhaps I should commit to something for the sake of staying in shape.

West Bay - Open For Business

Finally several of the local trail parks have been reported as dry enough to ride: West Bay and Dryer.  So today I rode at West Bay.  It feels like my first real local muni ride this year, only because my Big Field and Hojack training rides weren't technical and hilly enough.

I probably would have eased into my spring muni riding at Webster and Whiting, but I've heard they're still quite muddy.  West Bay is tough and I confirmed that today.  Heart pounding, lungs burning, legs burning, borderline stomach queasy, and my mind yelling at me to stop, lay down trail-side and take a nap.  What is it that I like about this sport?  lol  I'm pretty sure it was easier to ride at the end of last year.  Maybe I'm just having an off day, but more likely I'm not quite back into shape, despite my winter training and Singlespeed-a-Palooza success.

West Bay definitely was in good riding condition.  There was no mud and I only saw a few tire ruts along the trail edge.  I also saw some mountain bikers out there enjoying their spring.

Typical with West Bay, my mileage was low but I got a good workout.

Singlespeed-a-Palooza Redemption

It's race day!  This morning things came together well and the family and I were at the race without any problems.  I registered and was given number 300.  Nice!  I wasted no time and suited up.  The weather was great.  It started out overcast in the mid-50's and worked up to the mid-60's by the end.  No question, shorts and short sleeves.

Roland, James, Liz, James, Perry, Tom, Buzz
Jason, Matt, Steveyo, Robi

After a group photo, 8:00 arrived and all 11 of us lined up.  George, the event coordinator, was really excited to have us there.  We started and it didn't take long for some groupings to form.  The race starts on a dirt road for over 2.5 miles so it's easy to see where people are.  James T. and James R. on their 36ers, and Roland on his 29er took no time to pull away.  Steveyo on his wide tire 26er, and Robi, Perry, and myself on 29ers grouped in the middle.  Somewhere along the way Perry fell back.  I don't know the order behind me, but at some point on the dirt road the leaders and the followers were more or less out of sight.  The three of us middle guys entered the singletrack climb together.  I managed the climb without a dismount and from that point on I didn't saw Steveyo or Robi for the remainder of the race.

I had my phone in my pack and used My Tracks to track my ride.  I have been riding recently with this app because I wanted audio announcements of my speed at each mile.  I wanted to keep a pace of 6mph or higher to finish within 4 hours, and I had studied the course and anticipated when the mountain bikers would start passing.  The unicycles started early at 8:00, so we'd finish in time, and the bikers started at 9:00.  Even after the first singletrack hill climb my average speed was high, over 7mph, because of the initial dirt road, but lowered to around 6mph by the end.

My lower back was probably my biggest crutch, as it got fatigued early into the singletrack.  I stopped and took a few Advil for that.  I was worried I'd get saddle sore, and while I did start to get uncomfortable on the dirt road, the race brought me out of the saddle enough and I never felt saddle sore again.  My quads cramped somewhat a few times in the second third of the race, but that too was short lived.  I drank a lot of water and ate a lot of energy gel.  My breakfast of two English muffins with grape jelly was a good choice.  It sat well even with butterflies and didn't weigh on me.  I also had a Stinger Waffle in the 13.5 mile refueling station, a few electrolyte pills, and another Advil.  A funny staff guy manning the station was intrigued by my Stinger Waffle and asked to try some.  I let him a piece and joked, "Sure eat my food!".  I mean, this is a 24 mile race, I'm on a unicycle, and you want to take my food?  Haha... it was fine, but a little silly.  My knees never gave me problems, so that's awesome!  Otherwise I just experience overall fatigue later in the race and was feeling kind of sick of energy gel.

The passing mountain bikers issue wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  I probably dismounted and stepped off the trail for about half of them because the trail was too narrow.  Otherwise I was able to give them room.  I got tons of compliments, and I think most of them thought I was in first.  I corrected some.  I figured the leaders were miles away.

My only real complaint for the course was some long stretches of deep muddy and swamp.  The trails are in way better condition than my local trails, but dismounting and walking because of the mud was a bummer.

So the results...  woohoo I finished!!  That was my goal and I did it!  I really feel like I redeemed myself from last year's DNF.  Roland got 1st, James T. 2nd, and James R third!  I got 4th, Steveyo 5th and Robi 6th.  All others did not finish.  Roland told me James T. went off course for a bit and had to backtrack and he felt bad about claiming first. 

Here are the timing results:

Roland	3h09:47.35
James T.	3h24:38.53
James R.	3h35:57.03
Buzz	3h42:55.48
Steveyo	4h10:47.31
Robi	4h20:26.88
Matt	DNF
Tom	DNF
Jason	DNF
Liz	DNF
Perry	DNF

What else.  Oh, I got two ticks on my legs.  Apparently other riders found some too. 

Race coordinator, George, really wanted the uni riders to be able to finish on time so we could eat, drink, and be merry with the other racers.  I think it worked out well, and the food really hit the spot.  Thanks Dark Horse Cycles!  It was a great event!

Oh, so on my way out I picked up my little cooler that was taken to and from the refueling station.  Inside I found a this:

HEY MAN -

  I PUT THAT HONEY STINGER IN MY MOUTH THE FIRST TIME & COULDN'T RESIST THE SECOND ONE IN YOUR LUNCH/FEED/RACE/AWESOME BOX.  IT WAS LIKE CRACK.  MAGIC TO MY TASTE BUDS... SO HERE'S A COUPLE BUCKS & A DOPE-ASS BEER (C)KOOZIE.  GET ANOTHER BEER & A HONEY STINGER ON ME!

    THANKS DAWG,
    - BEER TENT GUY

Hahaha!  Very cool of him!

Final SSAP Training Ride

My knees have been achy since my last ride three days ago.  Today they felt better and the weather was warm, in the 60's.  Expecting the trails to still be messy, I rode again at the Big Field but this time ventured out to the Hojack.  This will be my last ride before my race on Sunday.

the offending thorn

Yesterday I fixed the slow leak in my tire I got on Monday.  The hole was very hard to find and I resorted to holding the tube under water.  Then I checked the inside of my tire for any offending objects and just when I was about to assume nothing was there I found a thorn.  I had bought a new tube, but the bad tube generally looked perfect and the hole was so tiny I just patched it and rode with it today without any problem.

The sections of the Hojack that don't handle water well were muddy as expected.  Some parts were thick crazy mud.  It's a workout, but I like the challenge of making it through without a dismount.  Some parts still have a good amount of hard-packed ice-snow.  It was actually a relief to get out of the mud and ride these because they're smooth and take less effort.  Today there was a strong wind blowing from the south, but it was only annoying on a few sections of the Hojack where there were few trees and on the west side of the Big Field.

Coming back to the Big Field from the Hojack, there's a good hill climb which I was happy to have made.  It's the only significant climb I've ridden since last year, and there will be plenty of these at the race this Sunday.

I wore a new pair of padded shorts which consist of a baggy outside short and a padded liner short.  Under that I wore the "padded" chamois cycling shorts I already have.   It seemed to help for a while, but I still started to get sore.  I worked on positioning my weight back when I could.  Dismounting for a minute helps a lot, along with steep hill climbing that gets me out of the saddle.  Maybe any extra dismounting I anticipate from the passing mountain bikers will be a blessing.

I finished my ride by doing laps around the Big Field.  My left knee started to bother me a bit in the last mile which is why I stopped.  I don't want it to get too sore before the race.  During and after the race may be inevitable.

The weather looks good for race day.  Low of 55 and high of 69.  So I'd guess it will be about 60 at the start time.

At this point I'm feeling ok about the race.  I'm not a muni powerhouse like I hope to be later in the season, but at this point I don't think I can do much more other than eat, sleep, and light exercise and stretching.  I guess I'll do my best and forget the rest.

Some Hope for SSAP

My ride last Thursday left me feeling unready for my race, which is now only 6 days away.
 
On Friday I saw Dr. Luckey to try to fix my left calf and get adjusted before the race.  In addition to the adjustments, Dr. Luckey used a muscle stimulation machine on my calf.  It hurt quite a bit and I can't be sure it really did anything.  My leg felt about the same and maybe worse for the next day, but has since felt better and better.  I'm not sure it's 100%, but I'm no longer thinking about it.

Last night I built up my singlespeed 29er like I had last year.  This afternoon I rode and gave it a try, again at the Big Field.  It hit the 50's today and was to be high 40's by the time I got out.  It wasn't supposed to rain until possibly toward the end of my ride.  Unfortunately Mother Nature clearly hates me this year and it was raining as soon as I left work.  It started light and didn't bother me too much.

At one point I checked the Meadow Trail off the Big Field, but found ice on one of the first downhills, and decided I didn't want to break anything this early in the season.  I turned back.

I stopped several times to adjust my seat post and I think I have it at a good spot.  I tend to have it too low and have now raised it.  After one adjustment I felt like I could hardly ride.  I was surprised but I soon noticed my tire was very low, and that was the real problem.  It must have a slow leak.  I pumped it up with my hand pump and will have to get a new tube in before my next ride.

I didn't get nearly as saddle sore this time.  The seat from my 24 probably helped.  I'm also expecting some new padded shorts in the mail that I hope will help.

My ride wasn't too long at just over 8 miles.  I started feeling cold and water logged and didn't want to stop again to pump up my tire.


I hope to get one more ride in before the race.  I don't plan to go for distance, but maybe some bigger hills.

The SSAP race coordinator sent out a report yesterday.  The trails are 90% dry and the weather looks warm and generally dry all week.  I just looked at the high on race day is 70!

SSAP Training Concerns

Last weekend it snowed something like 6".  Unbelievable.  Thankfully, temperatures have been reaching the 40's so most of it is gone now. But shaded areas remain snowy and this includes many trails.  I still see lots of snow when I drive past the Hojack Trail.

So today I rode once again at the Big Field.  It was way better than last time, with only a handful of snowy parts.  I could ride on the edge of some and through others.  I did 11 laps and only dismounted once for a small dog that I was afraid I'd crush.  I rode my 29er with my geared hub, but never shifted to high speed.

First the good news:

• My average speed was about 8 mph.  To finish the 24 miles of SSAP in 4 hours I need to move at 6 mph.

And the bad news:

• I rode just over half the distance of the race.
• I was in the saddle for less than half the expected race time.
• Fatigue and being saddle sore would have prevented me from riding much more than another mile or two even in a race scenario.
• This is a trail I'd consider easier, so the good news isn't that good, and the bad news is worse.

I've also been feeling pain in my left calf for about a week and a half.  There wasn't any event that triggered it and it's never been a sharp pain.  It's just enough to know something is wrong.  I have an appointment tomorrow to have it looked at, but I suspect it's just a muscle strain of sorts and will go away with more time.  It didn't really affect today's ride, though there aren't any steep hills on the Big Field loop.  Pain from fatigue in my quads, lower back, and shoulders covered up any pain I may have had in my calf.

So with all that, I'm not feeling very confident about the race.  The only hope I have is to use my the saddle from my KH 24 and hope it's better, get shorts with more padding, my single-speed setup will be lighter weight, and there's still a chance to ride a few more times.