Whatsa' the Happenin' ??

Right now I’m in full training mode for quite possibly the two hardest races I’ve ever done, both a week apart from one another.  By training, I mean lying around as much as possible, eating food, and servicing my bikes.  This coming weekend is the Gunnison Growler, followed by the Mohican 100 in Ohio on June 1.  How can I afford to do this and still expect to do well at these races?  Well, the last couple of weeks’ trials and tribulations, and some good advice from people “in the know” have taught me some things.  Let’s just hope that it all works out.

The week before the Firebird 40, as I previously discussed, I was sick and tired.  Then, come race day, I felt like a million bucks (until, of course, I spent that million bucks fast and furious like an NBA rookie, and then was flat broke).  There was something about the sickness-induced rest that made me stronger, if only for a short period.  Then, after the race and some subsequent riding, I got sick again, for most of the next week.  Come last Thursday, the first day I felt like I had enough energy for a long training ride.  Low and behold, I felt like a caged ape on the bike; 6 ½ hours, ~70 miles, on my SS, and I felt like I could’ve kept going!  It was the best training ride of the year for me.  On Friday I was able to put in another solid effort with minimal fatigue.  Saturday was an off day, and then Sunday was one of the biggest rides I’ve ever done.  I wanted to hit all three trail systems in the Boulder area, by way of some pretty good mountain climbs.  The route took me up Sunshine to Gold Hill, back down Four Mile Canyon to Betasso Preserve; a couple of laps of the trails at Betasso; over to Chapman Drive and up to the top of Flagstaff; down to Walker Ranch for a loop; back up out of Walker to Gross Dam Road to Coal Creek Canyon; Coal Creek down to 93; 93 to Marshal Mesa for a quick trail stint (as the sun was going down) and back home.  My GPS died, but it was ~75 miles, over 10k climbing, and 7 hours.  This ride my body didn’t have the energy of the previous two, but it was good mental training for the upcoming 100-milers, when you’re tired and don’t want to go anymore.  The main piece of advice given to me from my friend Jeff, who is a National Champion and has raced and placed very highly at the Leadville 100 many times, is to do NO hard training rides within a week of a big race.  This is why I will be taking this week to just relax and let my body rebuild.  I’ve already seen first-hand how good I can feel after a period of rest, so I’m hoping to be at full strength come this weekend and the Gunnison Growler.

2012 Gunnison Growler Endurance Mountain Bike Race from chris miller on Vimeo.

Here’s my upcoming schedule.  So much unknown; so much to be excited about.

May 25 – Gunnison Growler (64-mile)

June 1 – Mohican 100

June 15 – Lumberjack 100

June 29 – RME Snake River, Keystone

July 14 – Breckenridge 100

Watch more video of Lumberjack 100 2012 on thom.cyclingdirt.org

Etc. etc. etc.

There are a bunch of races later in the summer, and maybe one or two thrown in between these as well, but that’s pretty much what the next month and a half looks like.  The best part?  I can’t wait to ride at all of these amazing venues.  Cheers.