SWANK 65 2008

The race went "ok". I finished, and felt that I performed better than in the ORAMM. However, I did suffer badly from lack of preparation. I didn't train AT ALL for it, and in fact only registered 1 week before the race on a whim. I'm finding that my conditioning just hasn't been up to par this year and I need to work on intervals and leg strength for next season. The first 2 segments went pretty well. I went through the first aid station in the top 50, but got calf cramps at mile 17 on the second segment, and they didn't go away the entire race. I had to be careful not to push too hard because of it and had to stop repeatedly for that and for a saddle that was doing bad things to my man-parts. In fact, my calves were sore all this week I had damaged them so badly.

That said, the climb up to Farlow Gap was horrendously bad and is what cost me a decent performance. Partly because it's steep, and partly because I just didn't have the legs for it. After that segment I regained the remnants of my composure and put in a pretty quick final segment and picked up a few positions. It helped that I rode it with a guy who paced me real hard... I told him I wanted to finish by 4pm, and we did. We did the last 10 miles in about 1hr:5min, so we had some pretty good speed in that section.
All-in-all it was a good experience though... I will do that race again next year for sure, but with better training.

Here is the not so impressive GPS data... http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7127562

Registered for the SWANK 65

http://www.blueridgeadventures.net/3.html

Why, oh why? I'm not ready at all for this race.

ORAMM report

I thought I might as well post something useful... this race was the hardest most difficult painful strenuous thing ever. I will rest more prior to the race next time... I know I can do better.

The first 27mi went right on schedule. I got to aid station 2 in just a hair over 3 hours, but after that came the Curtis Creek climb... going from about 1,700ft up to about 4,500ft in 9 miles... most of the climbing coming in the second half of that road. I grunted through it without getting off and pushing, but paid the price for that. The remainder of the race got worse and worse for me. By the time I got to aid station #4 at the 44mi mark after another long climb I was exhausted. The remaining 20 miles was only completed due to willpower.

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This blog stuff is really boring. That is all.

ORAMM training ride

Rode 50 of the 65 mile "race course" of the Off-Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell with Mark P. Started from the picnic area in Old Fort > up old rt 70 > up and down Kitsuma > up Mill Creek Rd > up and down Jarrett Road > up Curtis Creek Road > up and down Blue Ridge Parkway > down Heartbreak Ridge. This was a relatively incident free ride other than both of us nearly collapsing on the 9mi Curtis Creek Rd climb, running out of water and begging for some on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mark nursing a flatting tire, Mark almost doing a face plant, and the Banjo Wagon.

Got the bike!

My new/used Trek Top Fuel 69er was delivered on Saturday. I came back from a ride on the Superlight and was happy to see the box sitting on the front porch.

I hurried up to put it together, but was unhappy to see that the frame suffered some bad abrasion where the wheel hub had rubbed against it during shipping. It looked like that area wasn't protected well by whoever packed it. While the abrasions go into the aluminum a little, I don't think it's deep enough to cause any problems. If I paint over it I'll probably forget it's there. However, I'm likely going to take it to a shop and get a second opinion. The seller is going to contact FedEx about making a claim in case this damage is more serious than I think.

I've already swapped some parts on the bike... rear wheel, crankset, pedals, and saddle. Next up will be a carbon handlebar and a lighter seat post. I'm considering what I can do to lighten the front wheel, but will go tubeless once I find a setup that's available and works.

The seller shipped it with a "rear" tire on the front... not sure if he prefers to ride it like that or if he just threw something on there to get it out the door... I'll roll with it for now, but not for long.

Still haven't had it out on the trail... hopefully, no CERTAINLY I will ride it today.

All for now.

First post on the first day of my first blog

Waiting for my new/used Trek Top Fuel 69er... can't wait!

As painful as it will be, I will likely sell one or both of my [now] spare bikes... the 2004 Haro XLS R7 or the 2007 Santa Cruz Superlight. The Haro was my first real mountain bike that I bought in 2004 when living in Arden NC... it is an underrated bike and rides really nice. Plus it has some sentimental value. The Superlight is a very nice bike. It looks really good, it's light weight, and has more actual cash value. Another option rather than selling the entire bike is to simply sell everything except the frame and fork. The only problem with this is that I will likely never really ride either of them again. I had the Haro set up as a spare for about 2 years and never touched it... never loaned it to anyone either. So the concept of having a spare sounds good, but isn't all that real.

I just won the Trek 69er on eBay on Sunday. I first rode one only a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by the big front wheel. It's so superior to a 26" front wheel I can't believe that anyone rides 26" in the front anymore. It rolls over everything faster and easier, it goes over rough stuff faster, handles great, climbs great, etc etc. I also tried some full 29er's, but I didn't like them any more than the 69er... so I made my decision and don't regret it for a second. The 69er will be my new ride until I decide I want something else.

One of the first things I'll do is replace the rear wheel with my light weight and tubeless Race X Lite, replace the drivetrain with my Race Face Deus cranks, and go tubeless on the front wheel. I will also weigh most of the other parts and decide if I should replace anything else. I'm wondering about that Bontrager saddle... it's comfy, but maybe heavy. Everything else on the bike seems pretty reasonable right now.

All for now... must do some work.