Man, I just looked at my last post date, I can't freakin believe that it's been so long between posts. Then again, when I think about it, I guess "time in the saddle has been a bit slow" as well. I had great plans to spend ample time on the bike the weekend after Ididaride. That Saturday, I loaded my SS in the back of my dad's beater, old-school, Nissan pick up truck and headed for the trails at Alafia. The plan was to ride solo and to ride fast; especially since I arrived at the park at 4:00 p.m., only to be informed at the gate that the park would be closing at 5:30 p.m.
So I jumped on the trails and rolled through everything (except Gatorback) without stopping. Things felt great at first, but later in ride I experienced what I can only explain as... discomfort. There was no pain involved, I just didn't feel... right. After just over an hour of shreddin-it-up, I threw my bike back in the truck and headed home to prepare for the next day's self-planned self-supported 50.
6:00 a.m. seemed to arrive way to soon on Sunday morning. Nevertheless, I dragged my ass out of bed and get my act together. Kevin and Ryan arrived at 8:30 a.m., and the three of us hit the road (literally) at approximately 9:00 a.m. I had planned what proved to be a 33 mile route along back roads, from my place in Palmetto, to the Boyette trail head in Lithia. zfirst thing I noticed, almost immediately upon starting the ride, was that my legs felt like concrete. The other thing I noticed was that I couldn't quite seem to get the boyz comfortably situated on the saddle. Again, no pain involved... just discomfort.
We arrived at the Boyette trail head, hooked up with another fellow rider, refilled the camel backs, and hit the trail; the goal was to accumulate another 17 miles of dirt. So, we set out to ride the usual along with a healthy dose of the new Canyon and Ridgeline trails. Surprisingly, my legs seemed to "loosen up" as I hit SST; the discomfort disappeared and I was back to feeling like my old self again. The rest of the day at Boyette was fast and fun. The actual mileage count at the end of the ride was just over 46 miles, and I'm pleased to report that, for me, the day was incident, and best of all, cramp free. Pleased with my ride performance and results, I headed home to refuel with some good food and good company.
It was later that evening that the discomfort I experienced while riding would return; only this time with pain. I won't go into detail as to the exact location of my "issue", but let's just say that any male reading this post would cringe to know the coordinates of the exact location. Man, was I worried; especially when the pain continued well into the week. Later in the week I decided that the best thing to do was to take an entire weekend off the bike, and to try rehabbing with some good old-fashioned rest.
The following Saturday I had the privilege of helping out our local racing guru, Harvey Minton, as part of his pit crew for the 12 Hours of Santos race. For those of you that don't already know, Harvey rides for Independent Fab., as does his teammate, Harlan Price, a very cool guy and also the overall winner of the 12 Hours of Santos Race. Unfortunately, Harvey ended up pulling-the-plug on the race just before dark set in... things just weren't adding up for him; however, his lap-times were fast and consistent. In the end Harvey earned an 8th place overall finish. The entire race experience was a blast and also a real eye opener. I got to see first-hand just how hard a 12 hour solo racer has to push if he or she is to earn a spot amongst the top 10; not to mention dealing with any potential mechanical and barring a crash issue. Congratulations to Harlan Price for his overall win, and to Harvey Minton for his 8th place overall finish.
Now, to go make preparations for the upcoming.... shh, its a secret!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
2009 Tour De Felasco Ride Review
As expected, this year's Tour De Felasco was a blast. The trails were in primo condition and the weather was fantastic. As always, the volunteers did an excellent job of laying out the ride course and providing top-notch support for all participants. So, before continuing with this write up, I wish to send out a sincere "THANK YOU" to each and every individual who devoted time to make this year's TDF happen.
Let me begin by confessing that the TDF is the ride I look most forward to each year. And who would blame me? With miles of beautiful twisty single track, long sustained climbing, quick technical sections, and many outstanding vistas that leave you wondering when (exactly) you crossed the state line into parts of Northwest Georgia, the trails at San Felasco Hammock State Preserve offer a little something for everyone.
Preparations for this year's tour officially started back in October of 2008. I began pushing a bit harder during each weekend ride, I started logging more dirt and road miles to get the ole legs ready for a 5 - 6 hour ordeal, and I modified my diet to help drop about 10 lb before the ride. Finally, as a precursor to the TDF, On January 3, 2009 I participated in the NK ride during which I (comfortably) logged 61.9 miles; I felt that I was ready, "Bring on the Tour!"
I had originally planned to do this year's ride alongside my friends Kevin (Q Factor) and Wayne (YaMon). Unfortunately, fate would simply not have it this year, and so the night before the tour Q Factor fell victim to major mechanical issues with both his bicycles. With the clock ticking away until the ride start, Q had no choice but to pull-the-plug on his ride, and just like that our group of three had been whittled down... and then there were two.
YaMon and I arrived at San Felasco at approximately 8:20 a.m. After quickly saying saying hello to a few new pals, Luis (Mucaro), Marcel (Sandpine), and Mike (MkSandoz), we rushed over to registration and then got suited up for the ride. I'm pretty sure that the temperature was in the high 30's to low 40's at the ride start. To put in plainly, it was a bit nippley out. Fortunately, it didn't take long to warm up, as I tried (for a while) to keep pace with Karlos (Naked Indian) and his Shaolin Fixie of Fury. My attempt, although worthy, would eventually prove unsuccessful, as I was dropped immediately upon exiting the first section of single track. In my effort to stay on NI's wheel, I had gotten way out in front of YaMon; once he caught up we began the climb across / up a section of open prairie which took us through sections of Tung Nut and eventually to the first SAG.
After topping-off my camel back and munching on a few peanut M&Ms, we rolled out and mashed our way through the remainder of Tung Nut, Odd Buck, and Ravine Trail. If memory serves me correctly, the next SAG was about 5 - 6 miles away and I was determined to ride hard through these fun technical sections (whilst) keeping YaMon in sight). My steed of choice for this year's tour was my new, full rigid (and first 29er) Karate Monkey. Gearing selection was 32x19, a bit conservative I must admit; however, this was my first long ride on a 29er SS and I wanted to be able to handle everything that Felasco might throw at me (without having to hike-a-bike).
I was thoroughly enjoying the ride on 29" wheels; let's face it, nothing beats the feel of a full rigid SS through fast single track (IMHO). Shortly after rolling away from SAG #2, I hooked up with a group of familiar looking guys on gearies who were plugging along at a good fast pace. Both YaMon and I were easily able to hang with this group. In fact, at some point, the dude in front of me moved over to the right to let me by. My chest swelled-up with pride when he said, "Holy Sh*t, you're on a SS! What gear are you turning?" Well, as they say, pride is a sin. It wasn't too long after passing this rider (shortly before the lunch SAG) that I began to feel that slight twinge in my left hamstring. With 25 miles down and 25 miles remaining, it quickly became apparent that cramping was inevitable. WTF? How could this be? I had hydrated plenty before the ride, I had logged plenty of miles in the saddle, and I was consuming the proper amount of electrolytes. My best guess is the slightly different position on my 29er vs. my geared 26er.
In an effort to fight-off the cramping, I decided to make good use of the lunch SAG. I avoided the spicy Vegetarian Chili. I ate only natural food in small manageable amounts. Finally, I made it a point to stretch each leg before jumping back on the bike. For the final 25 miles, YaMon and I decided to tag along with Anthem 1 (Scott), FACTORe (Jonathon), and Dan - o (Dan). Anthem 1 only hung around for the first few miles; eventually he got bored with our sluggish pace and decided to drop it into high gear. Somewhere along the line he grabbed on to NI's wheel, and it was the last we would see of either of them for the remainder of the ride.
The rest of the ride was fairly non-climactic; no crashes, no bonks... no major acceleration. I was able to complete the ride without suffering from major cramps, and only had to get off the bike once to hike up a climb. All in all, I must say that I was happy with my performance, although it did take longer to complete the ride than I had originally hoped.
Here's a list of things I plan to do differently next year:
Let me begin by confessing that the TDF is the ride I look most forward to each year. And who would blame me? With miles of beautiful twisty single track, long sustained climbing, quick technical sections, and many outstanding vistas that leave you wondering when (exactly) you crossed the state line into parts of Northwest Georgia, the trails at San Felasco Hammock State Preserve offer a little something for everyone.
Preparations for this year's tour officially started back in October of 2008. I began pushing a bit harder during each weekend ride, I started logging more dirt and road miles to get the ole legs ready for a 5 - 6 hour ordeal, and I modified my diet to help drop about 10 lb before the ride. Finally, as a precursor to the TDF, On January 3, 2009 I participated in the NK ride during which I (comfortably) logged 61.9 miles; I felt that I was ready, "Bring on the Tour!"
I had originally planned to do this year's ride alongside my friends Kevin (Q Factor) and Wayne (YaMon). Unfortunately, fate would simply not have it this year, and so the night before the tour Q Factor fell victim to major mechanical issues with both his bicycles. With the clock ticking away until the ride start, Q had no choice but to pull-the-plug on his ride, and just like that our group of three had been whittled down... and then there were two.
YaMon and I arrived at San Felasco at approximately 8:20 a.m. After quickly saying saying hello to a few new pals, Luis (Mucaro), Marcel (Sandpine), and Mike (MkSandoz), we rushed over to registration and then got suited up for the ride. I'm pretty sure that the temperature was in the high 30's to low 40's at the ride start. To put in plainly, it was a bit nippley out. Fortunately, it didn't take long to warm up, as I tried (for a while) to keep pace with Karlos (Naked Indian) and his Shaolin Fixie of Fury. My attempt, although worthy, would eventually prove unsuccessful, as I was dropped immediately upon exiting the first section of single track. In my effort to stay on NI's wheel, I had gotten way out in front of YaMon; once he caught up we began the climb across / up a section of open prairie which took us through sections of Tung Nut and eventually to the first SAG.
After topping-off my camel back and munching on a few peanut M&Ms, we rolled out and mashed our way through the remainder of Tung Nut, Odd Buck, and Ravine Trail. If memory serves me correctly, the next SAG was about 5 - 6 miles away and I was determined to ride hard through these fun technical sections (whilst) keeping YaMon in sight). My steed of choice for this year's tour was my new, full rigid (and first 29er) Karate Monkey. Gearing selection was 32x19, a bit conservative I must admit; however, this was my first long ride on a 29er SS and I wanted to be able to handle everything that Felasco might throw at me (without having to hike-a-bike).
I was thoroughly enjoying the ride on 29" wheels; let's face it, nothing beats the feel of a full rigid SS through fast single track (IMHO). Shortly after rolling away from SAG #2, I hooked up with a group of familiar looking guys on gearies who were plugging along at a good fast pace. Both YaMon and I were easily able to hang with this group. In fact, at some point, the dude in front of me moved over to the right to let me by. My chest swelled-up with pride when he said, "Holy Sh*t, you're on a SS! What gear are you turning?" Well, as they say, pride is a sin. It wasn't too long after passing this rider (shortly before the lunch SAG) that I began to feel that slight twinge in my left hamstring. With 25 miles down and 25 miles remaining, it quickly became apparent that cramping was inevitable. WTF? How could this be? I had hydrated plenty before the ride, I had logged plenty of miles in the saddle, and I was consuming the proper amount of electrolytes. My best guess is the slightly different position on my 29er vs. my geared 26er.
In an effort to fight-off the cramping, I decided to make good use of the lunch SAG. I avoided the spicy Vegetarian Chili. I ate only natural food in small manageable amounts. Finally, I made it a point to stretch each leg before jumping back on the bike. For the final 25 miles, YaMon and I decided to tag along with Anthem 1 (Scott), FACTORe (Jonathon), and Dan - o (Dan). Anthem 1 only hung around for the first few miles; eventually he got bored with our sluggish pace and decided to drop it into high gear. Somewhere along the line he grabbed on to NI's wheel, and it was the last we would see of either of them for the remainder of the ride.
The rest of the ride was fairly non-climactic; no crashes, no bonks... no major acceleration. I was able to complete the ride without suffering from major cramps, and only had to get off the bike once to hike up a climb. All in all, I must say that I was happy with my performance, although it did take longer to complete the ride than I had originally hoped.
Here's a list of things I plan to do differently next year:
- Be a bit more assertive about passing slower riders.
- Spend less time at each SAG; perhaps skip the first SAG altogether.
- Plan a solo ride; riding in a group is fun, but it's time to start focusing on my own ride.
- Lose more weight / get lean.
To sum it all up, "I had a blast... can't wait until next year!"
Thursday, January 8, 2009
NK Ride Report
61.9 Miles of asphalt, pavement, dirt, sand, loose gravel... you name it, that's what my man Karlos (The Naked Indian) cooked up and threw my way this past Saturday, and I loved every minute of it.
First, I gotta send a shout-out to Karlos for hosting this event. It's not often that we come across a person such as NI who is gracious enough to organize a ride like this; free of charge! Beyond this, in an effort to ensure that each participant had the opportunity to "rest up" (and party a bit) after a long hard ride, the man opened up his home to old friends and new friends alike. Although you wouldn't know it buy speaking with Karlos, or by reading his blog, it was apparent that a great deal of time and effort went into planning and bringing this thing to life. I haven't known Karlos very long, but I consider myself a good judge of character, and its clear to me that the Naked Indian is not one to complain. "Thank you for being such a gracious host my man!"
Although the actual start time for the ride wasn't until after 9:00 a.m., for me the journey began at 5:00 a.m., as I awoke early to make final preparations for the long drive over to Deltona. Shortly after 6:00 a.m. my man Ryan (Tread29) arrived at my place, and we hit the highway; we arrived at the rendezvous point with a few minutes to spare before the riders meeting at 8:30 a.m.
The ride began at a more brisk pace than I had originally expected. Ryan and I had planned to set an easy 10 m.p.h. pace and to not follow the lead group; however, it didn't take long for us to realize that the group had other ideas for the ride pace, and so, in an effort to not spend the entire day trying to find our way back to the starting point, we abandoned our original plan and did our best to stay with the group.
The first 8 miles or so were a bit... misleading, as they were plotted mostly along asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks. I specifically remember thinking to myself, "Man, I can do this shizit all day!" well, that nonsense faded away as soon as we hit the first off-road sandy section of the ride. It was as if I had blinked and two (2) riders had fallen off the back. A new friend, Jonathon (FACTORe) had been off the saddle for a while as the result of a nasty crash (with multiple injuries), and the sandy somewhat uphill section had taken it's toll on him. The other rider was Morrison (Treadlight) who made the decision to drop back and ride alongside his friend to the end; and he did!
15 miles in (or so) and I was feeling great. My ass had just settled into that "sweet" spot in the saddle and I was still with the pack and riding strong. I should mention that one of my favorite parts of this event was riding alongside and conversing with a few like-minded riders; individuals I've come to admire. And what can I say about riding with the Harvster; what a cool guy! If memory serves me correctly, at this point we were back on asphalt and trying our best to negotiate an intersection currently under construction, whilst trying to avoid traffic. "Big Ups" to my amigo Marcel (SandPine) for taking it upon himself to get the middle group organized, and for offering up sound advice, "try to resist the urge to go fast, there's a lot of ride left." Once we cleared the intersection the group re-formed and soon Karlos rode by me and said, "Luis, this is a good time to eat, we're about to hit a tuff section that will surprise a few people." Man am I glad he reminded me to eat because the next challenge was a sandy uphill section which served up a hot plate of pain; my legs went from feeling good to fatigue almost immediately. I dug deep, though, and kept a quick cadence. Before I knew it the pain was over, and I had made it through, but I had fallen further back than I felt comfortable with... or so I thought.
That deep sand section had owned me for a while there, and as a result my spirit had been somewhat broken, as I feared that I'd been dropped and that it was not likely I would not ride with the pack again. But wait... just as I hit a dirt road section of the ride, I saw the group (way) up ahead. My legs had recovered a bit, so right then and there I made a decision to drop my own personal hammer and to make every attempt to reel-in a few of those lead riders; my efforts paid-off. By the end of that dirt road I had caught up with the front again. A right-hand turn followed by a short section of single track later, and we were alongside a railroad track where it quickly became clear that we would soon be pedaling through boulder-sized often loose gravel. Just before following the group along the railroad track I turned to look for Ryan, but he wasn't there. Apparently, I had become so self-absorbed in my effort to catch the pack that I had dropped my riding buddy. So, I told Karlos and Marcel that I was going to wait for Ryan and then work with him to catch up again. Ryan was not very far behind, as I caught sight of him at the end of that dirt road sooner than I had expected. I waived him down, and by the time I turned back to look down the railroad the pack was out of sight... damn!
That blessed section of railroad seemed to go on forever; too long, in fact! Soon Ryan and I decided that we must have missed a marker somewhere, and failed to turn off the loose gravel. Continuing along the railroad just did not seem like a viable option, so after looking around for a better path, we decided to cross a dry ditch and climb over a high embankment so as to reach a nice paved section of trail running through some sort of park. A machete would have come in handy as there was some super-dense brush and vines growing between the embankment and the pavement. It took us a few minutes, but we finally pushed our way through this jungle. Once we hit the bike path we set a fast pace and set out to catch up. Fortunately, the group had stopped just ahead for a non-planned sag, and so we were reunited with the pack again. Nice!
Once again we hit the trail as a full group, and this time through a nice twisty single track before reaching another section of asphalt which would lead us to the planned lunch sag destination. Somewhere along Orange Camp road several of us missed a marker (again). This little mistake added (approximately) 7 - 8 miles to my ride. So, we make a U-turn and head back to the intersection we had blown through; finally, we reached the lunch sag. Angelina's turned out to be a cool little place with a good atmosphere and some really cool people. I took full advantage of the sag; drank a mandatory brewski, rested my legs, and refilled my water bottle and camel back. Soon we were back on the road.
With nearly 1/2 the distance to cover remaining, we set out as a group again and stayed that way until Mike and Rob put the hammer down and road out of site; no one would see them again until the end of the ride. The rest of the ride took us through some really cool back country roads, and also some leg-punishing sandy dirt roads. Through it all I was able to maintain a good pace and also avoid cramping. I won't lie, I was TIRED, and the last few miles took all I had left to complete. Thanks to Marcel, I was able to overcome the (mental and physical) fatigue, as he sat back and road in the last few miles with me.
The NK was both great experience and a real challenge for me. This was my first 55+ mile ride, and it gave me a great opportunity to experiment with many things I will need to fine tune if I am ever to achieve any success in endurance mountain biking events. It was a real pleasure to ride with so many cool people, and I look forward to mixing it up with these guys in the future.
First, I gotta send a shout-out to Karlos for hosting this event. It's not often that we come across a person such as NI who is gracious enough to organize a ride like this; free of charge! Beyond this, in an effort to ensure that each participant had the opportunity to "rest up" (and party a bit) after a long hard ride, the man opened up his home to old friends and new friends alike. Although you wouldn't know it buy speaking with Karlos, or by reading his blog, it was apparent that a great deal of time and effort went into planning and bringing this thing to life. I haven't known Karlos very long, but I consider myself a good judge of character, and its clear to me that the Naked Indian is not one to complain. "Thank you for being such a gracious host my man!"
Although the actual start time for the ride wasn't until after 9:00 a.m., for me the journey began at 5:00 a.m., as I awoke early to make final preparations for the long drive over to Deltona. Shortly after 6:00 a.m. my man Ryan (Tread29) arrived at my place, and we hit the highway; we arrived at the rendezvous point with a few minutes to spare before the riders meeting at 8:30 a.m.
The ride began at a more brisk pace than I had originally expected. Ryan and I had planned to set an easy 10 m.p.h. pace and to not follow the lead group; however, it didn't take long for us to realize that the group had other ideas for the ride pace, and so, in an effort to not spend the entire day trying to find our way back to the starting point, we abandoned our original plan and did our best to stay with the group.
The first 8 miles or so were a bit... misleading, as they were plotted mostly along asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks. I specifically remember thinking to myself, "Man, I can do this shizit all day!" well, that nonsense faded away as soon as we hit the first off-road sandy section of the ride. It was as if I had blinked and two (2) riders had fallen off the back. A new friend, Jonathon (FACTORe) had been off the saddle for a while as the result of a nasty crash (with multiple injuries), and the sandy somewhat uphill section had taken it's toll on him. The other rider was Morrison (Treadlight) who made the decision to drop back and ride alongside his friend to the end; and he did!
15 miles in (or so) and I was feeling great. My ass had just settled into that "sweet" spot in the saddle and I was still with the pack and riding strong. I should mention that one of my favorite parts of this event was riding alongside and conversing with a few like-minded riders; individuals I've come to admire. And what can I say about riding with the Harvster; what a cool guy! If memory serves me correctly, at this point we were back on asphalt and trying our best to negotiate an intersection currently under construction, whilst trying to avoid traffic. "Big Ups" to my amigo Marcel (SandPine) for taking it upon himself to get the middle group organized, and for offering up sound advice, "try to resist the urge to go fast, there's a lot of ride left." Once we cleared the intersection the group re-formed and soon Karlos rode by me and said, "Luis, this is a good time to eat, we're about to hit a tuff section that will surprise a few people." Man am I glad he reminded me to eat because the next challenge was a sandy uphill section which served up a hot plate of pain; my legs went from feeling good to fatigue almost immediately. I dug deep, though, and kept a quick cadence. Before I knew it the pain was over, and I had made it through, but I had fallen further back than I felt comfortable with... or so I thought.
That deep sand section had owned me for a while there, and as a result my spirit had been somewhat broken, as I feared that I'd been dropped and that it was not likely I would not ride with the pack again. But wait... just as I hit a dirt road section of the ride, I saw the group (way) up ahead. My legs had recovered a bit, so right then and there I made a decision to drop my own personal hammer and to make every attempt to reel-in a few of those lead riders; my efforts paid-off. By the end of that dirt road I had caught up with the front again. A right-hand turn followed by a short section of single track later, and we were alongside a railroad track where it quickly became clear that we would soon be pedaling through boulder-sized often loose gravel. Just before following the group along the railroad track I turned to look for Ryan, but he wasn't there. Apparently, I had become so self-absorbed in my effort to catch the pack that I had dropped my riding buddy. So, I told Karlos and Marcel that I was going to wait for Ryan and then work with him to catch up again. Ryan was not very far behind, as I caught sight of him at the end of that dirt road sooner than I had expected. I waived him down, and by the time I turned back to look down the railroad the pack was out of sight... damn!
That blessed section of railroad seemed to go on forever; too long, in fact! Soon Ryan and I decided that we must have missed a marker somewhere, and failed to turn off the loose gravel. Continuing along the railroad just did not seem like a viable option, so after looking around for a better path, we decided to cross a dry ditch and climb over a high embankment so as to reach a nice paved section of trail running through some sort of park. A machete would have come in handy as there was some super-dense brush and vines growing between the embankment and the pavement. It took us a few minutes, but we finally pushed our way through this jungle. Once we hit the bike path we set a fast pace and set out to catch up. Fortunately, the group had stopped just ahead for a non-planned sag, and so we were reunited with the pack again. Nice!
Once again we hit the trail as a full group, and this time through a nice twisty single track before reaching another section of asphalt which would lead us to the planned lunch sag destination. Somewhere along Orange Camp road several of us missed a marker (again). This little mistake added (approximately) 7 - 8 miles to my ride. So, we make a U-turn and head back to the intersection we had blown through; finally, we reached the lunch sag. Angelina's turned out to be a cool little place with a good atmosphere and some really cool people. I took full advantage of the sag; drank a mandatory brewski, rested my legs, and refilled my water bottle and camel back. Soon we were back on the road.
With nearly 1/2 the distance to cover remaining, we set out as a group again and stayed that way until Mike and Rob put the hammer down and road out of site; no one would see them again until the end of the ride. The rest of the ride took us through some really cool back country roads, and also some leg-punishing sandy dirt roads. Through it all I was able to maintain a good pace and also avoid cramping. I won't lie, I was TIRED, and the last few miles took all I had left to complete. Thanks to Marcel, I was able to overcome the (mental and physical) fatigue, as he sat back and road in the last few miles with me.
The NK was both great experience and a real challenge for me. This was my first 55+ mile ride, and it gave me a great opportunity to experiment with many things I will need to fine tune if I am ever to achieve any success in endurance mountain biking events. It was a real pleasure to ride with so many cool people, and I look forward to mixing it up with these guys in the future.
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