Journey to the Gunnison Growler

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of travel, biking, work, racing, etc. and I'm finally back to the drawing board in numerous ways; trying to get caught back up chronicling my racing and experiences, i.e. this blog, figuring out where I'm at right now, where I want to be in the near future, and how to get there. 

This weekend was my 2^nd attempt at the Gunnison Growler, a grueling 64-mile race in the technical mountain biking playground that is Hartman Rocks outside of Gunnison, Colorado.  Before I get to my recap of the race, it would make sense to reminisce on the last couple of months.

On April 3^rd Rachael and I left Boulder for the west coast, in what would be a month-long road trip.  The goal of the road trip for me was simple: ride as much as possible during a month that can brutalize Colorado with winter storms, hone in my technical skills, and maintain or increase fitness while at it.  This was neatly mixed in with Rachael’s plans to see friends and family all along the way.  Most importantly was spending time together in some amazingly beautiful places, with no stress or worries.  Our journey started in the wet Cascades of central Oregon, and culminated in Prescott, AZ for the Whiskey 50.  During this month I was able to ride some of the best trails I could ever imagine, my favorite being the lush green rainforest around Oakridge, Oregon.    

 

 

All in all I mountain biked 18 out of 26 days on the road, all of which being trail rides of some sort.  Heading into Whiskey 50 at the end of this road trip was a huge uncertainty.  For many reasons I didn’t feel prepared to take on the best in the country (and world).  Let me put it this way: I had ridden my bike for 18 of 26 days, and trained 0.  Unfortunately training involves a little extra effort; a little more gusto when compared to fun rides in the woods.  Also, being on the road, on vacation, lends itself very nicely to alcohol consumption, odd eating routines, and other bad habits.  For these reasons I didn’t feel top notch heading into Whiskey, but was sure to make the most of it.  Having spent a few days in Prescott pre-riding the Whiskey 50 trails, I was more stoked than ever on this sport that I love.  The trails were all a blast to ride, and whatever happened on race day didn’t matter as much anymore.  My race went as well as it could for me at that time.  I realized right off the bat that my body lacked the intensity that I used to know, and simply couldn’t hang with much of the front groups.   Once I finally started to settle in I felt good, and finished the race strong.  I went deeper into my pain cave and well of reserves than I normally do, knowing that it was a short 50-mile race, and was happy with my performance, albeit rather subdued compared to where I want to be physically.   

Click on pic for short vid, courtesy of Ben Jones

 

A month on the road isn’t the ideal training environment, but its experiences like these that keep my fire burning and ever-growing, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.  The day after Whiskey we took the short cruise to Sedona so I could get a taste of the amazing riding there, stopped off in Durango for another day of riding, and then finally made our way back to Boulder.

Once back in Boulder after a month on the road it was difficult to get back up to speed with real life.  I continued to train right on through that week, putting in some pretty good efforts, and finally hit the wall in a big way.  After one of the most painful rides I can remember, in which my body wanted nothing of it, I spent the next 5 days in a worn-out tired stupor.  Apparently my body needed to rest and was telling me loudly.  The next weekend I had family and friends come into town to visit, which lent itself to zero riding, and more alcohol consumption.  After they left the weather in Boulder turned to crap and I wouldn’t ride until going to Eagle, Colorado for the Firebird XC race.  That’s two weeks of almost zero riding, coming off extreme fatigue, heading into an XC race with some of the best in Colorado.  Not ideal. With the Gunnison Growler a week after the Firebird I was only looking at this race as a training venture.  Low and behold, it seemed like my body finally caught back up, because I raced into a 10^th Place finish in a field of 90+.  Behind me were some really fast CO locals who I was stoked to get the better of that day.  The Firebird race gave me a lot of confidence heading into the Gunnison Growler.  I finally felt competitive and semi-fast again, and was riding my bike really well.  Now I just needed to work all week, get as much rest as possible, and prepare for 64 miles of technical onslaught.

Before I knew it Rachael and I were in Gunnison and ready for a fun race on Sunday.  The weather was forecasted to be dicey at the very least, and down-right nasty at the worst.   When we rolled into town Friday it was raining and looking ominous.  The clouds to the north, around Crested Butte, were black and bubbling.  This would be the nature of the weekend.   

 

On Saturday we went out and pre-rode some of the trails at Hartman Rocks, trying to hit some of the more technical spots for a little familiarity and practice.  Having just put a dropper seatpost on my hardtail, an idea that would’ve been laughed at by XC racers only a year or two ago, I was stoked to be riding some of the technical descents and drops with speed and comfort.  Bring on race day! 

Dropper post on a hardtail, what!? Ready to rock and roll with new Ergon SM3 Pro Carbon saddle.

Handlebar Mustache, Mosaic Cycles, 92Fifty, Ergon

Click on pic for short vid, courtesy of Jeff Kerkove.

Waking up at 4:30am for the 7am start I could hear loud raindrops on the roof of our motel room.  As I sat there eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and watching the World Cup XC race on my phone (broadcast live from Nove Mesto, Czech Republic!) the rain halted and all that was left were dark clouds.  Who knew what was going to happen?  Everyone toed the starting line with mixed decisions on what to wear; some going the full rain suit route, some with rain vests, and some with full-on summertime XC garb.  I chose to take off my rain jacket and stuff it underneath the back of my jersey with about 1 minute to start.  Initially I thought I had made a bad decision, because as soon as the neutral roll-out of 350 riders began I was being sprayed with water from the tires in front of me.  Fortunately it was warm enough to not be a problem, and I’d soon be happy to not have that rain jacket on.  As we began climbing up the initial ascent, known as Kill Hill, the field quickly evaporated behind me.  I rode comfortably to the top and crested somewhere around 10^th place.  As we hit the singletrack which we’d be on for the first couple of miles I was riding one rider back from Josh Tostado, and still feeling comfortable.  This is exactly where I wanted to be.  Before long I decided that trying to stay with him, especially on the descents, wasn’t my best option and so I found a fast Griggs Orthopedics (Gunny locals) rider to hang with for a bit.  We would end up passing a few other riders along the way.  Much of the first lap was spent going back and forth inside the top-10, and trying to deal with the extremely muddy conditions.  By the time I rolled into the Start/Finish after 32 miles, my shifting wasn’t working at all, but I was standing in 7^th place.  A quick cleanup procedure from some awesome volunteers, and fresh gloves and bottles from Rachael, and I was on my way.  As I started climbing out into lap 2, I quickly realized that something wasn’t right.  For a while I kept pushing forward strong, thinking my body just needed some time to regulate itself.  About 45 minutes into the 2^nd lap I realized that my wish wouldn’t be granted, as my stomach began to shut down and feel sick.  From that point on every small effort induced extreme nausea.  Eating or drinking wasn’t even an option.  I tried to ride it out, but it only got worse.  The next 3 hours were spent in slow baked misery.  By the time I finished I hadn’t sipped from my bottles or ingested anything for almost 3 hours, and dropped more places than I could count.  On top of that my drivetrain was so destroyed from all the mud that my chain would only stay on the largest cog, and nothing else.  My shifting was obsolete, and I was waiting for my derailleur to explode at any moment.  It was a frustrating day; such is the mystery of the Growler.  How can 64 miles feel like 100?  Many have come to this race and walked away in defeat on one level or another.  It is a race that can wear down even the strongest souls.  On Sunday it got the best of me.

Image courtesy of Mountain Flyer. Click on pic for Growler race photos.

Next up for me is the Fat Tire 40 in Crested Butte on June 28, followed by an onslaught of Colorado events in July.  The high country in Colorado is drying up fast and that makes me very happy.  Cheers.

2014 Competitive Schedule

It's that time of year again.  The beginning of a new season is upon us, and figuring out (or trying to) what I'll be doing (racing), where, and when is a cool feeling.  Planning adventures for the year is exciting and inspiring.  Especially as I sit here in Boulder, wind whipping and gusting at 50+ mph outside, after months of cold weather, wind-impaled, and generally uninspiring trail-less riding.  Things I considered when trying to put together my schedule for 2014: location, competition, and fun factor.  I have learned a lot in only 2 seasons of racing.  Last year I (unknowingly) got burnt out physically from so much travel while trying to balance work and life and fun.  For 2014 I will be trying to stay closer to home and take advantage of all the amazing racing that happens in the Rocky Mountain region.  I'm always wanting to push myself to new levels and be competitive with the best, so finding those events that tout high competition was also a consideration.  Last but most importantly, a kid's gotta have fun!  I'm not into racing my mountain bike just to say I did.  The best races are always the ones that are the most fun, whether you place 1st or 50th.  A few that I'm super excited about are the Firebird 40, High Cascades (hopefully), Breck Epic, and Winter Park 50.  This list is very tentative and will undoubtedly change and be added to.  I'm hoping to find one odd-ball "adventure" style race to throw in there as well.  Pisgah, Shenandoah, something in B.C.??  I can't wait for the fun to begin!

2014 Competitive Schedule:

January 19:  El Paso Puzzler 50

March 15: True Grit Epic 100

April 27: Whiskey 50 (tentative)

May 17: Firebird 40

May 25: Gunnison Growler

June 14: Bailey Hundo

July 4: Firecracker 50

July 12: Breck 68

July 19: High Cascades 100 (tentative)

August 10-15: Breck Epic

September 13: Winter Park Epic 50

It’s Not Always Better to Be Pissed Off than Pissed On

The Gunnison Growler. 

First things first.  The Gunnison Growler is so far the best event I have been to.  Dave Weins and the Original Growler Crew (OGC) do an amazing job.

Second things first.  I broke through new barriers during this race.  One of which was literally breaking my bladder, thru the barriers of my chamois.  I pissed myself.

The Growler is famous for being a grueling 64-mile race that feels more like 100 because of the constantly undulating and technical nature of the trails.  Having not ridden here before, one can expect to be punched in the face around every turn.  It has a reputation for breaking people down, both mentally and physically.

Elevation profile.  Up-and-down.  Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Sunday morning started dark and early.  I was out of my tent before sunrise at 5:15 am.  I quickly got dressed, grabbed my drop bag and gear, and headed towards downtown Gunnison and The Bean coffee shop.  It was 34°.  I don’t do well in the cold.  By the time I made the 2 mile voyage to downtown my hands were numb and body in a state of shock.  At least I still had an hour to drink coffee, warm up and think about things before the 7 am start. Out the door of the coffee shop I went at 6:45 back into the cold morning with ¼ of a cup of coffee in my hands, which I promptly spilled all over my frontal crotch region.  Great.  Not only am I out of my last dose of caffeine, but my junk is wet.  It wouldn’t be the last time.  As I stood there in the group of 350 riders awaiting the start I started to shiver badly.  Luckily the sun was coming up and before long we were off; a neutral motor-paced roll-out the 3 or so miles to the trail.   

The singlespeed field for this race was bigger than any I have previously seen.  My main competition (or so I thought) was Dan Durland, who beat me by a good margin at last year’s Breckenridge 68.  There were also a bunch of other very strong and capable singlespeeders, one being Gunnison local Dave Ochs.

I knew coming into the race that it would be a good idea to latch onto someone with similar ability, and also who may know the trail.  Having knowledge of this trail system and how to ride it, which lines to choose, what’s coming up, etc. is a huge advantage.  I knew Dan had done well here before, so I decided I would try to keep pace with him.  This turned out to be a good idea, as he kept the pace moderately fast without going too hard; always keeping in mind how long of a day we had ahead of us.  I rode with him most of the first lap, just sitting behind and conserving energy.  When the trail wasn’t beating the shit out of us we had small conversations, which was nice to take the mind off of a long hard day.  He told me that Dave Ochs was up in the pack leading, but he wasn’t worried because he had caught him during the second lap last year, and was hoping to do the same again.  At one point we passed Josh Tostado on the side of the trail fixing his chain.  I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before he was passing us again.  About 30 minutes later he was quickly approaching.  Both I and Dan let Josh pass, and it wasn’t 15 seconds later that he was out of sight.  This dude absolutely slays trail!  At about 25 miles into the first of two 32 mile laps Dan took a wrong line down a slickrock section and I was forced to pass.  Although I hadn’t wanted to pass earlier, it actually felt good to have some clear air.  I think I was descending a bit quicker than him and once ahead I decided to put just a little bit more juice into the climbs.  After a couple of minutes I had put a decent gap on him.  I rolled into the start/finish feeling really good about things, other than a full bladder that I had been holding since the start.  It took me a few minutes to fumble with water bottles and grab more food before I was off for another 32 miles.  The second lap was pretty much a daze.  The old “cramp monster” kept peeking its head out, but I was cautious to push too hard, trying to keep it in check.  The most eventful thing that happened was coming down a long ATV road descent; I finally made the decision that I was going to have to let my bladder free.  I was chasing first place and didn’t want to lose valuable time pulling over, so right then and there I let things “flow”. I didn’t realize that I was descending into a checkpoint, at which point things were flowing at max capacity.  I hope I gave everyone a good laugh.  There was one girl who was walking up the road towards me, and as I passed, piss rushing out of my leg, I said to her, “Ohhhh that’s warm!!”  All in all, it wasn’t that bad.  Would I do it again?  Sure, why not?  It was dried up in minutes and I was back at it.  About halfway through the second lap I took a Coca-cola and bacon-wrapped pickle handoff from a volunteer.  Just the energy I needed to keep going.  I was still making my way through the field this whole time, and was looking at a top 20 finish.  The last guy I would pass was wearing an Avery Brewing kit.  He told me that he thought Dave Ochs was only a couple riders ahead, that I was closing the gap, and that he would give me a free 6-pack if I caught him.  Inspiration.  I hammered all of the climbs as hard as I could, but still struggled on the technical sections.  In the end it turned out I couldn’t catch Dave, but was more than ecstatic to finish 2^nd in singlespeed, and 20^th overall.  Just finishing this monster of a race felt like a huge accomplishment. Being able to race hard, feel good, and have fun was a big confidence boost going into my first 100-mile races.  Next up, Mohican 100, Saturday June 1.

I can't say enough good things about my equipment for this race.  The Ergon GS2 grips and SM3 saddle were money.  Riding a hardtail for 5 hours 45 minutes on this terrain with absolutely NO soreness in the ass or hands is hard to believe.  My Maxxis Ikon EXO tires worked beautifully.  I saw a lot of flats on the course, but none for me.  The White Brothers Loop 100 fork worked perfectly all day!  This was my first time putting the fork to test, and it handled everything I threw at it with ease.  It is the perfect "set-it-and-forget-it" singlespeed fork.  It will be my fork of choice for any rugged race courses.

Thank God I'm empty handed.

The post-race party wasn’t too bad either.  I ate chicken-on-a-stick, filled (and drank) my complimentary growler with New Belgium, ate countless cookies, and even won some pretty nice swag.  I’ll definitely be back for the Original Growler again next year.  Cheers.

Ready to Drink a Growler

Things are a-changin’; again, and always it seems.  Getting ready for the Gunnison Growler this weekend meant changing my bike setup a bit.  I have been running my Niner Air 9 with a Cannondale Lefty 80mm fork.  I love the Lefty fork for being super light, stiff, and extremely plush.  That being said, 80mm of travel, and the resulting sketchy handling, was not a preferable setup for the super rocky, technical, tight, and steep trails in Hartman Rocks.  So I put on my new and unused White Brothers Loop 100mm fork.  First things first; I had to get the front end dropped back down to a more “XC” stance.  A quick trip to Boulder Cycle Sport fixed that, and I was all set up with a sweet stem that can provide either 20° or 28° drop.  This is more “negative rise” than I’ve ever run, but corrected my positioning on the bike.  During my first ride on some local trails I was instantly impressed and happy with the “new” handling of the bike.  The extra 20mm of travel seemed to have slackened the geometry just a hair, and I was throwing the bike around corners faster and more comfortably than I ever could with the Lefty.  And OH MAN was I having fun blasting through rock gardens, pummeling roots and hitting every jump I could find with the increased travel of the Loop fork.  It is so plush when you get into some rough stuff, but then stays nice and stiff when climbing.  Needless to say, but after one short spin on the new setup I’m extremely excited to really put it to test at the Growler.

Niner Air 9, White Brothers Loop, Ergon SM3, Maxxis Ikon, Crank Brothers, Formula R1

Here’s a short interview with multiple-times Leadville 100 Champion Dave Weins, about HIS race, the Growler.  The nature of the course is all up-and-down, all the time.  I hope this suits me well.  It should make for perfect singlespeed riding, provided I selected the right gear. Hopefully I have enough energy left to post after the race.  Cheers.