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July 28, 2013July 28, 2013

Silver at the Lumberman Olympic Triathlon in Cadillac – Woot!

After spending all my racing season “on a bike” and doing some mountain bike and cyclocross/dirt road races, this weekend I completed my first of three triathlons for the season. Saturday was the Lumberman Olympic in Cadillac, MI and was the second year competing in this event. As with all 3 Disciplines run events, it was very well organized an early registrants even got a nice sleeveless 3D cycling jersey. It was also pretty cool that one of my college buddies from Alma came up from Hastings to join me. Rob has not been doing triathlons for more than a couple of years (at most) and was coming off the Half Ironman in Muncie, IN just a couple of weeks prior. Even though he said he’d never do another one that distance, like everyone that does a race that distance it takes a while to get over the initial “shock” and decide that it’s something you actually will want to do again. Doing the Olympic was a nice “cool down” for him and after the fact, we both agreed that running 13.1 miles was something neither of us would have wanted to do today.

As with last year, the night before there was a lot of rain in the area, making everyone wonder if the race would even take place. Mother Nature stopped the rain, but about fifteen minutes prior to the start fog rolled in across Lake Cadillac and standing on the shore you couldn’t even see the first marker in the water. Obviously the organizers were not about to let us in the water for safety reasons, so we waited for the fog to lift and started about 45 minutes later.

The temps were in the 60s at start, making the 74 degree water the warmest place on the course. After spending so much time on the bike, it was apparent about 15 minutes into my swim that I better spend a bit more time in the water before my “half” 70.3 mile race in September! I came out of the water in the last half of my group, but was confident that I’d be able to make up some time on the bike.

Transition went quickly and I was off and pedaling for the next 26 miles. It was an out and back route and most of the way to the turnaround it seemed like I was fighting a headwind most of the way. One of my friends, Shirley, passed me on the swim and I saw her leave just before me in transition, so my first goal was to catch her, which I did. However, she hung on (not drafting, of course, because that’s not legal) and stayed within sight of me exchanging “banter” along the way.

I hit the turnaround and was nice to feel the wind at my back for a change. There were a few hills at the mid-point, but I made quick work of them and passed several other riders, especially coming down the back side. With the tailwind I was carrying 27-28 mph on some of the flat sections, which I knew would help me with some extra “time buffer” when I got to the run.

Coming into the transition for the run I was able to quickly rack my bike, switch to my running shoes and toss on my hat before heading out for the last hour (or more) on the course. Typically an Olympic has a 10k for the run, which is 6.2 miles, but we were running around Lake Cadillac and that meant a 7 mile run was ahead. My legs didn’t feel too bad given that I had not done much ride-then-run work this year. I was expecting my legs to feel like I was running in cement shoes, but fortunately that was not the case.

The first three miles were uneventful and some of the faster runners (who I had passed on the bike) were getting their payback and passed me. I kept an eye on their “size” given that I registered for the Clydesdale category (racers 200 lbs. or greater) and fortunately all the runners were “skinny dudes” so I was comfortable that I was in the lead for my division. Right around mile four Shirley came by tailing a fellow Clydesdale. They both were carrying a bit faster pace than me, but I knew if I wanted to keep my position I had better jump on and follow for as long as I could. We ran together for the next mile or so and was at my max for most of the time. I can honestly say that had I not been following them my pace would have been slower, so the motivation was nice.

Just about around mile six I started to catch a second wind and picked up the pace. By now Shirley had gapped us, but I was hanging on and the two “big guys” were clip-clopping along together. When I made my move and tried to build a gap he didn’t have the steam to keep up and I pulled ahead. Then, just about a half mile later another fellow Clyde came around me carrying a pretty good pace and I couldn’t hang on and he ended up finishing just about a minute ahead of me, taking first and leaving me with second and a nice sliver medal to bring home to Alicia.

Looking back at my performance I was pleased overall with my results. Had I raced in my age group (40-45) I would have taken third and overall was in the top 20 males for the Olympic. I was proud that my bike split was the ninth fastest of the entire field, but it’s evident that I’ve got some work to do with my swim, and especially the run. Had I been able to carry a faster pace on the run I easily could have won my division. But in the end I’m just grateful that this “old body” is able to still get out there and complete an event like this in one piece (and still be able to walk the next day).

Next race is in August, where I’ll be headed to Ludington for the Lighthouse Olympic triathlon. That’s always a good weekend since my grandparents live in Pentwater and we make a weekend event out of it. It’s also a great course and I’ll be returning as the “defending Clydesdale champion” (if there is such a title). Then, it’s back to Cedar Point for the Rev3 half in September for my 70.3 of the year (plus, some roller coasters).

Keep the rubber side down…
Eric

P.S. A special thanks to my good friend Donna, who luckily was at her cabin in Cadillac and had an extra race belt for me to use Saturday. She raced the Racine, WI half the weekend prior, so she was not racing this weekend. But that didn’t keep her from coming down at at 7 am to meet me. Thanks Donna, you rock!

July 15, 2013

Brighton Rec Repeat

Brighton Rec Repeat – July 13th, 2013 – Howell, Michigan – Brighton Recreation Area

After the Bloomer Park Daze race, I found out that I was leading the Tailwind Racing series in the Sport SS class. At the beginning of the race season, I was only planning on participating in the MMBA Championship Points Series, but the scheduling of the Tailwind races made it convenient to compete in that series as well. The only real scheduling conflict between them was on Saturday, when there were races at Boyne (MMBA) and Brighton. I was in 2nd in the MMBA series prior to Saturday, and Eric Wolting, who is leading that series, had a pretty big lead. So instead of trying to gain points in the MMBA CPS, I opted to defend my Tailwind points lead.

Having never ridden Brighton before, I did a bit of quick online recon which showed only about 200 feet of climbing per 6.5 mile race lap. Based on that, I decided to run 38 x 18, which is what I usually run at the Fort, which has a similar amount of elevation. At the park I ran into the usual east side crowd, but it was a relatively small field of just 6 participants. We lined up around 1 p.m. with temperatures in the mid-80’s, and hit the course.

I was first off the line and into the woods leading Tim Fargo and Nate Layle. Tim and I dropped Nate after a mile or so, and after passing a few other riders from other classes, I dropped Tim about 2.5 miles into the first lap. From this point in the race, I just kept my pace up to try to ensure I wouldn’t be caught. The Expert/Elite SS lap times were around 27-29 minutes, and I wanted to keep mine under 30. I completed my first lap in just about 29 minutes, and on my way back into the woods, I saw Tim and Nate coming out to finish their first lap – this meant that I had at least a minute on them. I tried to keep my pace consistent throughout my second and third laps, and apart from a brief moment of panic during my third lap when I thought Tim was close behind me, I managed to do so. I also made the choice to have a GU pack at the beginning of my third lap to try and prevent the fading I’d been experiencing, which I believe helped quite a bit. I finished in just over 1:30 for my second win on the season.

There are two more races in the Tailwind series, and four more in the MMBA CPS. My goal is to protect my Tailwind series lead, and to finish in the top 3 in the MMBA series. I’m going to keep my training intensity high, and possibly add in some running to increase my endurance. We’ll see how it shakes out! – Adam Cefai

July 1, 2013

Bloomer Park Daze

Bloomer Park Daze – June 30th, 2013 – Rochester Hills, Michigan – Bloomer Park

I’ll try to keep this one short. So: we’re on the east side visiting family again, and I decided to race. Based on basically nothing but my own hubris, I changed up my gearing to 36×17, which ended up being a slight mistake. Bloomer Park has a lot of technical switchbacks and tough, punchy climbs, along with a decent amount of roots. And not much flat. I would have been better off with 2:1, maybe a bit lighter. The east side had a lot of rain the week prior, so there were some pretty muddy sections as well. It’s a 6-mile loop, and the Sport SS class was doing 3 laps.

I hadn’t ridden Bloomer Park before, so my plan for the first lap was to stay on the leader’s wheel to get a handle on the course. And then I remembered I hate riding behind people in a race situation. I was 2nd into the woods and, as usual, we got caught up in traffic from the age groups starting before us. After about 3 miles of tight singletrack and some strategic passing of slower riders from other groups, the course opened up a bit and I passed the SS rider in front of me. For the remainder of the 1st lap and the entire 2nd lap, I led two other singlespeeders around the course. I tried to keep the pace quick in order to drop them, but they didn’t seem to have any trouble staying on my wheel. I tried not to think about that. During the 3rd lap the traffic cleared up a bit, and on one particularly long climb about 2 miles in, I decided to drop the hammer to see if I could put some distance between us. I believe it worked for a bit, but they caught me again shortly when we came into another section of switchbacks. With about 2 miles to go, we got to the water crossing/mud pit that was followed immediately by a 3′ steep root ledge and a long-ish gravel climb. On our previous trips through this section I was able to unclip one foot to kind of hop up the ledge (which was unrideable due to the mud), clip back in quickly, and start up the climb. On this occasion I messed that procedure up, and the gents behind me were able to make a pass. When I tried to go after them, I realized my legs were toast. I had made two mistakes: my gearing was just a bit too heavy, and I shouldn’t have tried to drop them on the long climb early in the 3rd lap. As I finished the last two miles, I glanced behind a few times to see if any other SS riders were around, but I was well clear. I cruised in for 3rd place in the Sport SS class with a time of 1:27:18, which was also 4th overall.

June 30, 2013June 30, 2013

Lumberjack 2013 – Ten and a Half Hours of Fun

the-boys

Ok, so maybe not “all” of the 10 hours and 32 minutes that it took me to complete the 2013 Lumberjack 100 can be described as “fun.” But I can say my return to Michigan’s first 100 mile mountain bike race (there are others now) went even better than I expected. This update is a bit late, given that the race was June 15th, but at least I’m getting this posted before the calendar flips over to July!

Friday night I traveled to my teammate Jack’s cabin nearby the event just west of Cadillac, MI and met Charles (also on the team) and one of Jack’s good friends from Ann Arbor, Kyle. While the cabin has had some improvements since my last Lumberjack (several years ago), I was pleased to see the record player was still going strong. Nothing like classic KISS to get you in the mood for 100 miles of mountain biking!

Race day came early and we were up and around by 5 am. It was a bit chilly in the morning, but the temps were expected to get into the 70s by late morning. While I showed up at the line with a sleeveless base-layer and arm warmers, I’d shed them half way through my second (of three) 33.3 mile laps. The start rolled out with just under a mile of paved road to get the blood pumping. Hoots and hollers filled the crowd as we funneled into the parking lot and through the rows of onlookers cheering us on. Then, the trail got REAL narrow and we went from riding 6-10 riders across to single file, which slowed things down considerably. It was slow going for the first 5 -7 miles, with people over-reacting to braking ahed of them, sticks on the trail causing issues (one guy caught one in his back wheel right in front of me and I barely missed his crash) and a constant dust cloud that kept me coughing well after the pack spread out.

Jack and I rode together for most of the first lap, which was nice to have some company. The trail was in great shape with some new sections added since I raced this the last time. A few years ago they changed the format to three 33.3 mile loops. The last time I raced it was four 25 mile loops and I will admit I liked this format better. Much of what was added included gravel two-track and other sections that gave your body a bit of a break instead of constant singletrack. There still was a LOT of climbing, with some of the hills simply un-ridable, forcing racers to get off and push their bikes up the hill. By the time I was on my third lap, even some of the hills I rode on the first lap seemed easier to walk up (or at least that’s what my legs were telling me).

Coming in after my first lap I felt pretty good. I’m riding a new bike this year, switching to 29″ wheels and also front-only suspension. Prior years I was on a more traditional 26″ wheeled full-suspension, so I was anxious to see how a hardtail would treat me after 100 miles. My Trek Superfly SL Pro did a great job and I felt very comfortable on it, even finding after 100 miles that my back did NOT hurt (which was not the case with my last race). Heading out on lap #2, I was able to push it a bit and it was nice to ride the beginning part of the course at regular speed (unlike the first lap). At the mid-point I stopped at the aid station and this is where I made what would become a bad tactical decision. The volunteers cheered as you arrived and were very helpful, offering drinks and food to help keep you going. One of them said “How about a BP&J with Fritos? Everyone’s been raving about them and they give you a nice sweet and salty snack.” Why not, I thought. At the rate I was burning calories I figured it couldn’t hurt and who doesn’t like PB&Js and Fritos… About five miles later, I realized my gut didn’t care for my food options and started to revolt. The remaining miles of my second lap were pretty difficult, because in addition to my gastro-revolt, the leg cramps started and I was beginning to crave ice cold Gatorade (but didn’t have any in my cooler at the pit).

When I came in after lap #2, I was able to bum a bottle of Gatorade off another team (YUM!) and that really helped. My stomach issues started to feel better and I was ready to take off for my third and final lap. It was at that moment I looked back to find the three leaders coming across the finish line. After 100 miles of racing, I was amazed to see all three of them coming across the finish line within ONE second of each other! As impressive as that was, I had to get back to reality and accept the fact that I had another 33.3 miles to go. So off I went…

On my last lap I didn’t set any land speed records, as I had to stop several times to tend to my leg cramps. But when I was riding (and not huffing it up the hills) I felt pretty good. The bike was handling well, my back felt good and I knew that I’d be finishing the race. If you’ve ever rode the trail, you may recall coming in the final part of the loop you catch a glimpse of the parking lot, which is the sign that you’re just about done. As with years past, the sight of the cars off in the distance caused an instant smile to come across my face. I had done it, and after coming across the line, realized that I did it in “record time” (well, for me at least). It’s hard to compare “apples to apples” since this was 3 x 33.3 miles and prior races were 4 x 25 miles, but I’m going with it!

Finishing Line Video Link

Now, my training focus is shifting to triathlons for the remainder of the year and I’ve strapped on the running shoes again and hitting the pavement. I’ve got two Olympic triathlons coming up (one in Cadillac and another in Ludington) before my 70.3 distance triathlon at Cedar Point in September. I’ll still find time to get in some mountain biking, however, as I’ve found that to be a great cross training workout and should help me with my biking and overall power. I’m also looking forward to getting back on the track with my good friend (and RAAM stud) Kathy.

June 25, 2013June 25, 2013

State Games of Michigan MTB Time Trial

State Games Time Trial – June 22nd, 2013 – Belmont, Michigan – Cannonsburg Ski Area

I hate climbing. Climbing on a single speed is pure torture. However, it’s also your chance to blow the doors off of everyone else on the trail. Cannonsburg Ski Area, home of the 2013 State Games of Michigan MTB time trial, has roughly 600 feet of climbing over a 6 mile circuit. That doesn’t seem like much on paper, but the way the course is set up, you’re either climbing or rapidly descending – there’s very little opportunity to spin your legs out and recover. So, in preparation, I rode the course on 3 occasions prior to the race (for a total of 5 laps) to figure out which gear I’d be able to push for 18 miles. I started with 34×16, dropped to 36×18, and settled on 36×19 following my final prep ride.

Speaking of that…

The Friday before the race, I decided to head to Cannonsburg for a nice easy spin to loosen up my legs and make a final decision on my gearing. I wasn’t entirely sure how the race course was going to be set up, so I opted to ride the entire loop, including the complete skills section. The skills section is divided up into two parts – the first part has drops and jumps that you basically just avoid if you’re riding XC, and the second part has a steep climb and then some fast descents (and more avoidable stunts). One section that isn’t avoidable has a quick descent that ends in a roller which pops you up in the air before immediately dropping into a downhill turn. You can probably guess where this is going. I hit that roller, popped up, landed on the decline, carried way too much speed into the turn, lost my line, and ended up slamming the left side of my body (including my jaw) onto the trail. I sat up and took stock of myself to make sure I wasn’t severely injured: my ear was full of dirt, my right wrist was somehow jammed, my knee was swollen, and my jaw had some road rash. I had also twisted my bars around on my steerer tube. Fortunately I was ok to ride, so I muscled my bars back into position and gingerly finished the circuit. Not exactly what I had in mind for the day.

Anyway, on to the race. It looked like we were going to have a pretty full field of sport SS riders competing, with Eric Wolting, Byrne Johnson, and about 7 other riders registered. As it turns out, only 6 of us showed up. With this being Eric’s home trail, I wasn’t really fostering any ideas of winning – I was going to go out, ride hard, and see where I ended up. I was definitely sore from my crash, but I knew I’d loosen up as I rode. The organizers had arranged the course so that we were starting right up the longest climb, and they had excluded the section where I had crashed the day before (which I was grateful for). My start time was 12:03, and with just a handful of other riders in front of me, I was on course.

The first climb was rough. I had warmed up, but I still felt a bit like wet garbage. My goal had been to catch as many of the riders that had started in front of me as I could during the initial climb in order to have less trail traffic during my first lap, but I believe I only caught two of them. I then spent about a mile on the wheel of a 50+ rider in the singletrack before I could safely get by him on a two-track climb. I passed a few other riders during my first lap, and checking my time as I started my second lap, it looked like I was doing pretty well – and I hadn’t been passed by anyone who had started behind me. As I started my second lap, I ran into some heavy trail traffic from the riders who had just started their first lap, but it wasn’t anything unmanageable. I passed a significant number of people on the climbs, and was passed myself by a few riders who had fresh first-lap legs. Oh, I should also mention that it was nearly 90 degrees out, so that didn’t help anyone. Other than increasing fatigue and dealing with traffic, my 2nd lap was uneventful. Coming around to start my third lap, I heard someone yell something along the lines of “GO WOLTING!”, which meant that he wasn’t far behind me. This was not good news, as he had started 3 minutes back. My legs weren’t feeling great, but I kept my pace up as much as I could. About halfway through my third lap, he caught and passed me prior to the creekside section. There was no way I was going to be able to make up 3 minutes on him during that last lap, so I made no effort to try to catch him. I focused on maintaining my pace, staying conscious on my bike, and finishing strong. I ended up with a time of 1:22:14, which was good for 2nd place in my category and 13th out of about 120 overall. Eric had absolutely crushed the course with a time of 1:17:58, which was first overall for the sport class.

I enjoyed this race quite a bit, and I was definitely happy with my 2nd place finish. And although I love riding at the Fort, these hilly races are convincing me that I need to do more of my training on trails with greater elevation. – Adam Cefai