Recovering From Injury

If you have been riding for a while, chances are you have been injured.  And of course you know, being injured sucks.  After breaking my hand at the Shenandoah 100, it took me eleven days to get back on the bike.  I might have tried sooner, but it was not happening with the temporary cast.  Once the removable brace came in, I was on the bike.  Good thing as I think I gained 4-5 lbs in the time I did not ride.  I hate to admit it, but I even took up...(pause for effect)...running.  Well, I would not call it running, more like walking fast enough to pass for a jog, though I am sure a fast walker would have smoked me.  So there is my newly acquired P90X collecting dust, can't do pushups, can't do pull ups, can't do curls...sure I don't really do those anyway, but now that I know I can't, I want to start!  Plus there are some other really important things I like to do with my right hand that I must now try to do with my left...just not the same. :(

In a lame cast for a couple weeks!

Finally a removable cast...it even looks cool!

I am supposed to wear this darn brace for 6-8 weeks (off just in time for the Scouts Honor 18 Hour), so until then, I see more jogging in my future, and more riding, just not single-track and just not single-speeds.  I am stuck riding my geared roadie to work and will also ride my geared FS bike on double track to try to keep the fitness up.  It is not easy as the darn brace is always in the way and puts all the pressure on the lower palm portion below my thumb, but a sore thumb and riding is better than no riding.  Like a famous person once said, "It is better to have ridden and wrecked, than to never have ridden at all."  --o.k., I said that, but it is true!
Hopefully in 6-8 weeks I will be healed up and good as new so I can start tearing up the single track on the new 29er I am building (with one hand).
More on that later. :)

2011 Shenandoah 100 -- A Tale of Survival

Triangle Folks carbo loading & conversing.

More pre-race carbo-loading.

Thank God it is over!

I really never know how I will truly feel for an event until after it begins…even 5-10 miles in.  I could tell shortly, I did not feel great.  Mistake—Wearing a thicker weight, sleeved jersey on a warm day, when all I have been wearing all summer were sleeveless summer-weights, left me feeling constricted and overheated.

The real Ho Chi Minh Trail

Still, though I felt sluggish with no pep to my step, I made it past the first aid station and through the Ho Chi Mihn trail, bombed down the first single-track, and hit the road in route to aide station #2.  Along the way I realized I was nearly 30 miles in and had gone through only one bottle.  Big Mistake!  I started to take in fluids and ate a good amount to try to catch up with my nutritional needs.  Big Mistake!  I started to then feel nauseous as my stomach tried to process all the junk I was tossing down.  And what was up with this cramping starting after mile 35?  Seriously???  Had not cramped in forever, and suddenly they were upon me (insert swear work of choice) %$&@!

Shenandoah's Ho Chi Minh trail

It became very apparent that any time goal I initially had set was to be tossed out and that survival became the motivator.  It was not my day, fine, I could live with that.  Still, I just needed to keep going and finish regardless of the result.  Then it happened.  On the bombing downhill single track between stations 2 and 3, I was hugging the ridge a bit too much and caught my shoulder on a tree.  The jarring impact tossed me off the bike and down the ravine ~20ft before I came to rest.  My first thought was, “Sweet mercy, It’s over.” But then after taking an account of my well being I realized that in spite of a sore, bruised shoulder, and some thorn tears on my leg, I could continue.  I checked over the bike and it was fine, so , no longer bombing, with fingers firmly placed on the brakes,  gingerly down the trail I went.

Refueling at #5, hand not yet broken.

 At some point, while hike-a-biking,  I ran into Jay and made a decision to just ride with him and finish together.  He also was struggling with cramps, so together we made a pathetic pair walking-riding-walking toward the finish.  Then it happened again.  Less than a mile down the bombing downhill single-track between checkpoints 5 & 6 (Wild Oak), I took a hard spill into the embankment and instantly felt fingers on my right hand bend backwards with sharp pain.  I ended up stuck, face first in the embankment with my body tangled into my bike.   Jay rolled up behind me and helped me up, but my ring and pinky finger were tweaked and I could not grip my handle bar.  We were 6-8 miles from the checkpoint 6, maybe 20 miles from finishing.  Jay was willing to walk the trail with me but I insisted he go on and finish.
I started the slow walk down.  I took a spill and dropped the bike falling on my butt to avoid putting my hand down.  This was ridiculous.  I tried several times to squeeze the grip, but there was no way, the pain shot through my arm and I knew I would lose control of the bar if I tried any steep descent.  I walked some more, constantly trying to open and close the fingers to get some movement.  Then, an Idea.  I could grip the bar-end with my thumb and forefinger and though I could place no weight on the left side of my palm (beneath the pinky and ring finger) I could place weight on the palm beneath the thumb and index finger.  I gave it a shot and it worked.  With my left hand I rode the front brake all the way down the trail balancing the bike by gripping the right bar-end with my thumb and index finger.  It was a long slow descent, and I had to bail off the bike once, but it sure beat walking.   Another rider that had passed (and offered aid) told the volunteers at checkpoint 6 about my dilemma. When I finally arrived at the aid station, I had to prove to them I could use my brake, so I pretended to squeeze the brake in their presence.  Luckily they were not looking at the grimace of pain on my face.  So off I went, toward the finish, battered, bruised, stinging, bleeding and broken...but not beaten—survival mode.  After some long, steep hike-a-bike sections, I rode on in to the finish, collected my pint glass and in spite of my poor result, I felt pretty darn proud to be one of the SM100 finishers.    

A couple broken metacarpals...meh.

Thank God it is over! 

Note: I learned a valuable lesson during this race.  I am not a chamois butter guy, but knew for long races I might need some.  Somewhere between checkpoints 5 and 6, I was feeling a little chaffing and decided to apply some cream.

EEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWW!!! 

Apparently you do not wait until you are already chaffed to apply chamois cream.  I screamed some very choice words, and put them in such an order that defies explanation…might even have made up some new words.  I really could have done without that experience.  As they say here in the south, “That’ll learn ya!”

Note #2.  Upon finishing, I was stoked to learn that my buddy Kelly K. took 7th in a stacked SS division and several Triangle area riders finished between 10 and 12 hours.  Nice showing by the local folks.

Here is an elevation profile of this beast of an event.  It hurt!

Riding Skinny Tires

My roadie/commuter is ~20lbs of steely goodness.

So, a few weeks ago, my buddy Jeremy mentions a road ride out of a church here in Fuquay Varina on Monday nights.  Even though I had a big ride that Saturday (62 miles), I thought it might make for a nice recovery ride (and I have heard how road miles are good for endurance racing), so I joined in.  Naturally I was the only rider on a SS, and only Jeremy and I were were riding steel framed bikes.  I was thinking, "Man, these riders need to HTFU!" (o.k., not really, they were all very nice...and they were roadies, go figure!).  I was told by the organizer I should start with the 'C' group because of some of the big hills.  Surely this is because I am on a single-speed, I mentioned I don't really road ride, and honestly, I do not look that impressive.  I did my best to act like I was hurt by scrunching up my face like a just stubbed my toe.  I said, ooh, 'C' group?  Uh, I think I will at least start with 'B' group.  The B group was broken into two, so I took off with the first group for what was to be a ~24 mile ride.
I must admit, being that this was my first real road ride (other than commuting to work and back), the ride was pretty tough.  I was able to maintain a good cadence that kept me between 19-23 mph and I ended up leading for most of the ride.  Because it would hurt to slow on the hills, I powered up each one with everything I had, only to find that I had left everyone behind and then had to wait for them.  A couple of riders were having a tough time keeping up, causing us to slow and wait.  Eventually, we could see the 2nd 'B' group coming up behind us.  I hope I did not sound like too much of a jerk when the two started to fall behind again and I was told we should wait for them...I replied, that they should just fall back to the 2nd group so we can ride on.  Eventually we powered our way back to the church and finished the ride at an average of ~17.9.  Definitely could have pushed harder, but then I also had plenty of rest time, so who knows.  Maybe next time I try 'A' group, but I have a feeling that (as usual), I have no group, and will hopelessly by lost in some void between 'B' and 'A'.  Maybe I can make a B+/A- group for others like me.  Well, next time I will likely try the 'A' group, but they did average over 20mph.  Oh well, you don't know until you try.  At least I would be able to start the 'A' group ride with my steel framed brotha Jeremy. (until they drop me like a bad habit).
Lookin' forward to it. 

HTFU! Last SM100 Training Ride

So lately I have been calling my weekly endurance ride the HTFU Ride.  If you don't know what it means, well, it means Harden The "Freak" Up!  Sure, not everyone uses the word "Freak", but hey, my mom might read this.

26", 29" and 36" oh-my!

Today was the last of the Shenandoah Mountain 100 (SM100) prep rides.  We had the biggest turnout (12 riders) and I rode the most mile (71) ever for a training ride.  Sure it was hot (mid 90's) but hey, if you can't handle it, then you, sir or ma'am, need to HTFU!

The route consisted of 11 miles of some of the Piedmont's best single-track, followed by 20 miles of quadruple track (Umstead fire roads (~1000ft+ climbing every ten miles)).  This was done twice, with some hilly green-way miles thrown in the mix (in full sun) to get over 70 miles).


Highlight from today's ride:

• Mass confusion during the first Umstead lap.  I guess I should have told everyone we were crossing the river for an out-and-back on Cedar Ridge.  As the kids say, "My Bad"

•  A lot of Umstead eye-candy.

• A Black Sheep 36er that rolled through the first half of the ride.  Pretty impressive considering it was his first "real" ride on that beast.

• Me realizing that I had a plenty of small slimy chunks of mold floating around in my half-empty water bottle.

• 12 people started the ride.  Four names beginning with the letter "M" and four with the letter "J" (honorable mention to the letter "B" with two names)

An example of the joggers throughout Umstead.

• Eight, yes eight single-speeders. 

• Did I mention all the Umstead eye-candy.

• Three riders (all on single speeds) finished the ride...my odometer showed 71 miles. 

• In spite of the heat 90+, there was very little complaining.

Good Times.

Preparing for the 2011 Shenandoah Mountain 100

So last week a group of us set out on a 55 mile fire road ride.  It was hot, most bailed by 30ish miles and as usual, I finished the ride on my own.
This week the ride was going for a metric century (sounds better than 62 miles).  A group of around nine riders set out to ride 22 miles of single track and 40 miles of double track to mimic similar terrain conditions for Shenandoah 100 (SM100). 
So who shows up for this ride?  Besides dome of the usual suspects, two newcomers (for my rides) JD, who snaked a $300 titanium frame away from me, and he shows up riding it (some nerve); and get this, he rode from Wake Forest (cukoo, cukoo).  And an old pal Bret shows up.  Here is a guy I was crushing in the beginner XC series two years ago.  Now he has buffed out (P90X) and kicking my but in XC this year.  Still, this is an endurance ride, so he is in my territory now!
As usual the guys who were planning to  bail after ~30 miles set a pace faster than I wanted, but whatchagonado?  So we all kept pace for the first 11 miles of single track with the only notable events were watching one of the trail builders (let's call him Ennis), falling sideways into the water during a stream crossing (doh, rookie move).  We also ran into Mack and Brent on the tandem as they prepare for Shenandoah it is always a hoot seing those guys.  As usual, Dale was with them, riding his SS with pink streamers off the bars.  Not sure if that take a real man, or the opposite, but hey, it was entertaining.
Back to the ride:
When we hit the double track, I suddenly had a tough time keeping up with my geared brethren.  It became clear that my planned 32:19 gear choice for Shenandoah was going to leave me spinning on many sections of the trail.  It was pointed out that I am going to wish for a taller gear on the flat sections as guys will form pace lines and I won't be able to keep up.  I reminded them that flat sections (and downhills) are where I spin away and rest my legs for the climbs.  Going taller means suffering (more) on the climbs and eventually cramping.  My goal here is survival, so I will stick with 32:19 for this one.
Wow, we lucked out with the weather.  Instead of getting hotter closer to noon, it actually cooled and started to rain.  When we ducked into the single-track for our 2nd loop, things were slick, but not messy and we were able to make decent time.  At one point I slid off a skinny and luckily caught my chain-stay right where my derailleur would have been.  I grinded across the board without falling into the ditch and made a nice recovery as I kept on riding.
The last 20 miles of the ride were a grind (now with Kelly, Bret, JD and me).  Kelly kept reminding me that nothing we had ridden was as difficult as Shenandoah, and after the 60 mile mark, that is when the real climbing begins.  My legs did not feel great so I told him to STFU!  My confidence going into this event is not at an all-time high, and he was not helping.  To make matter worse, Bret, who once could not hang with me in XC, shows up to this ride just to see what he could do, and he is kicking my butt!  He and Kelly are constantly pulling ahead of me and then are slowing to wait up or I have to work extra hard to keep up.  Good for Bret, not so good for me.  How dare he show up to my ride, never having ridden that distance before, and the only thing that hurts is his butt from being in the saddle for that time-length.  Really, who does he think he is!  Clearly he did not once think of my fragile self-esteem and how I was affected by getting embarrassed by a newb.
Still, when the ride ended, I felt so much better than the previous week.  Even though the ride was longer and tougher, the weather/temp. made it that much easier.  My legs felt better and no headache.  Next week the goal is 70+.  Ouch! My legs hurt just typing that.

Mountain Biking in the Heat....Meh.

So it is hot out there; 90+ degrees with a 100% chance of sweat!  What are you going to do about it?  Sit in your air-conditioned home and complain about it (maybe watch Jerry Springer or Court tv) or are you going to go out and ride?  You already know my vote.  After all, I have always felt it is fine to ride in the heat as long as I don't over do it.  I found a decent article about just this topic.  Still, last weekend, after a 55 mile ride (that started at 7am, in order to miss the most intense heat) I had a headache for the remainder of the day. Could the heat have caused the headache?  Maybe grinding my teeth during the ride?  Maybe from the beer I chugged immediately after the ride?  Or maybe (my vote) it was not the heat (or teeth, or beer) but the lack of sunglasses.  I recall reading somewhere that being in the sun, squinting all day, can lead to headaches.  Another big ride the weekend (60+ miles), so maybe I try wearing some shades (and maybe some preemptive Advil) to see if I can fend off headaches.  If it doesn't work, I will try switching brands of beer (and drinking more of it).   

29er Online Specialized Bike Reviews

Thanks to Alex who runs the 29eronline website, I have had the opportunity to ride a few bikes in return for providing an honest review from a regular Joe.   The first bike I rode was the Specialized Camber Elite, the 2nd was the Specialized Epic Carbon.  I had fun on the Elite...it dispelled any worries I had about my new 29er build (coming August/September to a trail near you).  The next bike I reviewed was a Specialized Epic Carbon.  Ooh, daddy like!  I could go on, but why don't you just watch the darn videos?!?

Specialized Camber Elite

 

Specialized Epic Carbon

 

I hate the way I sound on video (o.k., audio), but hey, it is for a good cause.  Thanks to my thought provoking, insightful review thousand of people...o.k., dozens of people...o.k., 'you' are now more informed.