Midland & Addison Oaks
Well, I paid the entry fee for the Midland race way back in February. $35 for a 7 hour race - quite a deal. The race creeped up on me mighty quick. Lots of travel and work overtime had me not riding my bike. Getting home late from work really sucks the motivation out of you to ride for 4-6 hours.
Lots of talk about the 12 hour Addison Oaks race and the 24 hour Boyne race spew across the internet. As the weather warms up, I start getting geeked about racing and send my money in for both. The dates didn't click in my head, but Addison is 7 days after Midland.
Anyhow, I prepare the night before Midland, make all my drinks, prep the bikes and eat pasta like a fiend the 2 nights before. I drive up, attempt to compete, realize how poorly my training has been, and opt to quit the race 90 minutes early. The course was beyond bumpy - my wrists and hands were suffering serious carpal tunnel and I decided to save some strength to drive the stick shift home. 5th place of 5 racers in my class. Expected, but I had fun for the most part. Good training. Money is a good motivator to train.
So, I drove home from Midland and it dawned on me - I paid $70 for Addison. No way am I racing that. The day after a long race, the last thing you want to do is ride your bike. I contemplated contacting the promoter and seeing if I could move my entry fee to another race in the series. Work got busy, I forgot about the race, and Friday rolled up really quick. It's been raining non-stop all week, but the weather forecast predicted a nice day for Saturday. What the heck, good weather, I already paid, hang out with friends, why not race?
So Thursday and Friday, I carbo load. I hydrate. I wrench on bikes. I choose my gearing. I'm prepared (or am I?)
The alarm wakes me up at 6:45. I shower, pack the cooler with the drinks I made the night before, pack the car and I'm on the road at 7:30. I arrived at Addison in record time (35 minutes) and find a spot to park on the grass field. People start assembling their tents around the finish chute, and the MMBA / Trails-Edge / Team Tree Farm connect all their tents together to make one big commune. I bribe my way into it with extra chairs and a 12 pack of Fat Tire ale bootlegged by coworkers from Colorado. I realize just how unprepared I was, in comparison.
It's sprinkling rain gently and the temps hover around 50F. I didn't pre-ride the course, but I know it fairly well from riding / racing it countless times over the past 4 years. I warm up, ride around a bit and make sure everything's fairly well laid out.
For the race, I chose the fixed gear. Reason being, the mud would eat the brakes alive and there's fewer parts to break. I geared down from 39x17 to 36x16 - a modest jump, but in hindsight at 36x17 would've been more appropriate. Reminder for next year - bring some mud-shedding tires. Ritchey Z-max? Uh, no.
The race? A death march. To quote Mike - a race of attrition. He who keeps riding could win the race. And that's exactly how it worked out. Several geared riders broke derailleurs, singlespeeders exploded freewheels. Brake pads gone. Washing your bike after every lap became the norm. Fellow singlespeeder Jay brought 3 bikes, and it paid off - he did 12 or 13 laps. He's a machine! Plan better.
How did I do? I did 8 laps, and I stopped about 2.5 hours early, because I wasted too much time in the pits and started to shiver. I used up my allotment of clean, dry clothes and decided to call it quits - I seriously underestimated the rain factor and underpacked. Tactical error, but the course got nearly unrideable after each additional lap. I was mentally drained, physically beat and ready to throw in the towel. Mike was right - race of attrition.
Yet I still managed 4th place of 8 or 9 racers, and on a fixed gear to boot. Will I do 24 hours of Boyne in 2 weeks? Right now, I think no. But I already foolishly paid the $120 entry fee. Ask me again in about a week or so. The pain should be forgotten by then.
Lots of talk about the 12 hour Addison Oaks race and the 24 hour Boyne race spew across the internet. As the weather warms up, I start getting geeked about racing and send my money in for both. The dates didn't click in my head, but Addison is 7 days after Midland.
Anyhow, I prepare the night before Midland, make all my drinks, prep the bikes and eat pasta like a fiend the 2 nights before. I drive up, attempt to compete, realize how poorly my training has been, and opt to quit the race 90 minutes early. The course was beyond bumpy - my wrists and hands were suffering serious carpal tunnel and I decided to save some strength to drive the stick shift home. 5th place of 5 racers in my class. Expected, but I had fun for the most part. Good training. Money is a good motivator to train.
So, I drove home from Midland and it dawned on me - I paid $70 for Addison. No way am I racing that. The day after a long race, the last thing you want to do is ride your bike. I contemplated contacting the promoter and seeing if I could move my entry fee to another race in the series. Work got busy, I forgot about the race, and Friday rolled up really quick. It's been raining non-stop all week, but the weather forecast predicted a nice day for Saturday. What the heck, good weather, I already paid, hang out with friends, why not race?
So Thursday and Friday, I carbo load. I hydrate. I wrench on bikes. I choose my gearing. I'm prepared (or am I?)
The alarm wakes me up at 6:45. I shower, pack the cooler with the drinks I made the night before, pack the car and I'm on the road at 7:30. I arrived at Addison in record time (35 minutes) and find a spot to park on the grass field. People start assembling their tents around the finish chute, and the MMBA / Trails-Edge / Team Tree Farm connect all their tents together to make one big commune. I bribe my way into it with extra chairs and a 12 pack of Fat Tire ale bootlegged by coworkers from Colorado. I realize just how unprepared I was, in comparison.
It's sprinkling rain gently and the temps hover around 50F. I didn't pre-ride the course, but I know it fairly well from riding / racing it countless times over the past 4 years. I warm up, ride around a bit and make sure everything's fairly well laid out.
For the race, I chose the fixed gear. Reason being, the mud would eat the brakes alive and there's fewer parts to break. I geared down from 39x17 to 36x16 - a modest jump, but in hindsight at 36x17 would've been more appropriate. Reminder for next year - bring some mud-shedding tires. Ritchey Z-max? Uh, no.
The race? A death march. To quote Mike - a race of attrition. He who keeps riding could win the race. And that's exactly how it worked out. Several geared riders broke derailleurs, singlespeeders exploded freewheels. Brake pads gone. Washing your bike after every lap became the norm. Fellow singlespeeder Jay brought 3 bikes, and it paid off - he did 12 or 13 laps. He's a machine! Plan better.
How did I do? I did 8 laps, and I stopped about 2.5 hours early, because I wasted too much time in the pits and started to shiver. I used up my allotment of clean, dry clothes and decided to call it quits - I seriously underestimated the rain factor and underpacked. Tactical error, but the course got nearly unrideable after each additional lap. I was mentally drained, physically beat and ready to throw in the towel. Mike was right - race of attrition.
Yet I still managed 4th place of 8 or 9 racers, and on a fixed gear to boot. Will I do 24 hours of Boyne in 2 weeks? Right now, I think no. But I already foolishly paid the $120 entry fee. Ask me again in about a week or so. The pain should be forgotten by then.
posted by Circus Freak at 9:46 PM
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