Reminder to visit TripleDRace for information on the upcoming Triple D Winter Race (Bike or Ski or Run).
This years training schedule is based around just one race, while i'll be racing all the lower 48 snow races as before (see below), there will be no tapper for them, they will be "Training/Testing" events for me. The single goal for the 2010/2011 winter season is the Iditarod Trail Invitational.
This weekend’s race near Lake Superior (Tuscobia Ultra) at 150 miles will be a good test of my new equipment and bike. I finished 2nd last year in this race when it was only 75 miles.
Then Mid Jan is the Triple D Race in Dubuque, a short sprint event (65 miles) that is always a battle among some of the local speed demons.
Only two weeks after Triple D is the grand daddy of the lower 48 snow races the Arrowhead Ultra 135, a race that will routinely temps in the -20dF range and one year dropped to -40dF. This will be my 4th year for both the Arrowhead and Triple D races and can say that important lessons are still being learned.
Then we have the main event... its seems so far away yet, I'm thinking about it like it is tomorrow!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
New Triple D Race Site... link and Follow!
To help simplify coordination of the Triple D Winter Race (bike or ski or run), i've setup a blog site just for this race...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Colesburg 40 Results
Thanks again to all the volunteers who help make this race run as smooth as it does. Big thanks to Karl and Traci who spent 6 hours marking the course the day before. Our Sag drivers Karl and Keith, race photographers PaulE and Cassandra (photos to be posted in a day or two). Jody & David for timings. Our grill masters, all those who brought beer and food.
New this year was the addition of a rugged level “B” with exposed bedrock and a rutted river bottom access road. It received rave reviews for the racers as it was “different” “fun” and just plain challenging – especially for the cross riders to negotiate successfully without flatting.
The preem (top of first major climb) was taken by Radio Shack team member and 2008 USA Olympian Jason McCarney. He would go on to win the race beating Pro Jeff Barnes by 4 minutes and the entire field of top local pro talent. While not a course “time” record, he did average the fastest speed on the course in the 19 year history. We will be discussing how the course records are handled and if we decided to switch to speed (allowing us to alter the route slightly from year to year as we did this year) Jason will receive the bonus $ for setting a new course “speed” record.
We awarded over $800 in prize money (not bad for little race with no sponsors) and raised $400 for Chain Reaction Cycling.
Thanks to all who showed up for one of the most challenging short course gravel races anywhere!
If you'd like the results in an XLS including the last 6 years just drop me an email at Lance.Andre at Hotmail dot com.
New this year was the addition of a rugged level “B” with exposed bedrock and a rutted river bottom access road. It received rave reviews for the racers as it was “different” “fun” and just plain challenging – especially for the cross riders to negotiate successfully without flatting.
The preem (top of first major climb) was taken by Radio Shack team member and 2008 USA Olympian Jason McCarney. He would go on to win the race beating Pro Jeff Barnes by 4 minutes and the entire field of top local pro talent. While not a course “time” record, he did average the fastest speed on the course in the 19 year history. We will be discussing how the course records are handled and if we decided to switch to speed (allowing us to alter the route slightly from year to year as we did this year) Jason will receive the bonus $ for setting a new course “speed” record.
We awarded over $800 in prize money (not bad for little race with no sponsors) and raised $400 for Chain Reaction Cycling.
Thanks to all who showed up for one of the most challenging short course gravel races anywhere!
If you'd like the results in an XLS including the last 6 years just drop me an email at Lance.Andre at Hotmail dot com.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Gravel Worlds 2010 - Long Race Report
I tried to keep it short... First I’ll thank Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey for conducting a flawlessly executed event and all his sponsors who helped make it FREE! The Pirate Cycling League, Jay Thomas and the Trek Stores of Omaha, Kansas City, & St. Louis, Cycle Works, Moose's Tooth, Screen Ink, Icon Graphics, Scott Showen and TMCO, Chad Hawthorne and Budweiser/Monster, Oso Burrito, Yia Yia's, The Skateboard Mag, the Colesburg 40 Race, the Rinkordt Family, the Schmidt Family, the Stamper Family and all the many volunteers who spent their day in 97 degree heat helping make this event.
My trip up to the heartland was short and sweet spent the night at a little bed and breakfast about 2 miles from the start line (but still managed to get lost in the dark and spend 20 minutes trying to find the start line). Here’s a shout out to the fine folks at the Prairie Creek Inn B&B that put me up for the “short” night, fead me breakfast and provided me a place to wrench on my bike.
My only strategy for the race was to “no matter what” stay with the lead group until mile 40 when we turned south out of the Northwest headwind… that was it, I knew if I could stay with the lead pack until then I could manage a top 5 placement… we started at 6 am in the dark, just a couple minutes before first light. I had opted to go without a light so I went right to the front to stay out of the dust and trouble. The pace was brisk but manageable, the gravel well… was like concrete… I had showed with a knife, at a gun fight… while my bike is fast, its still a mountain bike with 2.1” tires… it was a good choose for Dirty Kansa 200 with its large brutal rock, but not for this race, maybe 10% of the racers were on mountain bikes (if that), most were on skinny tired cross bikes and about a ¼ were on road bikes.
At only 7.5 miles in that horrible sound of PIST PIST PIST PIST was heard, as I looked around to see who was flatting I spotted Stans sealant flying up behind me… I let out a string of explicates well deserved for a race put on by the “Pirate Cycling” club… I worked my way to the outside of the group and began to slow to see if it would seal up… I would have thought the main field would be down to about 10 or so at this point, but no, there were over 25 still in the group, not good if I was going to try to catch back up, that big of a group would keep the hammer down. As the tire neared flat about 10 psi (started at 40) it sealed up, I slammed on the breaks threw a CO2 in (started to leak again), then got back on in hopes of it sealing (maybe took me a total of 30 seconds… as it started to ride Dennis Grelk – who had a chain issue a mile back came up in a furry, I had about 2 seconds to make the decision – jump on his wheel or keep looking at my rear wheel to see if it seals up… too late Dennis was gone in a near superman effort (I take that back it WAS a superman effort, Dennis bridged the 1 minute gap in only a couple minutes, it took me another minute or so to decide that now was the time to start chasing to get back on… into a 10 mph headwind… it was not to be done. Mad as heck the main group kept putting time into me. I was only averaging 1 mph slower that with the group, but for a race that's 149 miles long it was enouph to cause me to loose over 30 min, by the last CP.
I had hooked up with the only other mountain biker in the lead group during the short time that I could still see the main field as we worked together for a couple of miles, I then took the lead to pick it up a bit more… pushed my effort level way high at this point thinking that that big of a group would have a hard time getting through the mandatory checkpoint (possibly letting me catch up if i could keep their lead to only 5 minutes)… the flat, wasn’t my fault, however turning West on West Ashland? (vs. Right on West Ashland was), figured this one out one mile down a rutted up B road, had to turn around and backtrack (this cost me about 10 minutes and about 6 places)… only navigation mistake of the race. It was on that bombing off course downhill B road that I broke my 5th Carbon Frame (spit the integrated seat post at the seam) – it gave the bike a nice ThudBuster suspension seat post feel.
I passed about 10 riders at the first check point by just going in getting my ticket and right back out… the rest of the race would be the same pass a couple “shelled riders” and worked with a couple of mechanicalled riders, pass about 5-10 at each checkpoint…
As the race whent on the wet fog of the morning was replaced by 97 degrees of intense cloudless skies… the heat index was most likely about 105-110. On the black B roads the sun would cook you from both sides… I was dropping electrolytes and fluids at an incredible rate, luckily stomach distress wasn’t an issue (and wouldn’t be until mile 120), so I kept downing Gatorade to somewhat offset the losses.
The story of the day for all racers would be the heat and the near Genius route design that afforded zero recovery time, the course was a series of hills placed back to back to back to back in what was feat of sadistic and masochistic intension not witnessed too often in gravel racing… as you can see by the race profile there really wasn’t a single hill of substantial effort (although there were 4 hills/walls at 10% or greater) but the totality of all of them combined made this race extreme! Over 2/3’s the field would pull the plug from dehydration, cramps, and complete and utter exhaustion – remember these are guys (and gals) that eat gravel for breakfast with bacon and beer…
At the third and final checkpoint, I pulled in to find 5 guys getting ready to head out and only 3 riders ahead, I couldn’t believe it, I was getting back up there… oh wait, they had left 30+ minutes earlier you say… oh well… in and out at this checkpoint as quick as possible (after downing a half jar of pickle juice – had been fighting bad cramps since mile 70). Got out about a minute after two other strong riders (Dale Pinkelman and Kevin Burke), was able to catch up to them just as we turned on to stagecoach road (a 7 mile stretch of small hills strung together that would take us to the third highest point on the course), it took everything I had to hang on the wheel of these two riders during the climbs, but I knew if I didn’t I would suffer a long and painful death by myself… the one thing I’ve learned in endurance racing is that misery loves company.
About 20 miles out it was just Kevin and me, as we rolled threw a freshly rocked section I heard Kevin call out that he was done, it was his third flat of the day, he would get a tube for his road tire from Dale and finish only 10 minutes back.
I rolled the last 15 miles solo for a 4th place category and 4th place overall finish at 9 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed (including off the bike of 15.3 mph). While the flat at the beginning of the race changed everything, I’m not sure it would have changed the overall, I just would have been abit more fun for me to fight it out upfront than clawing my way back up for a 130 miles. I do regret not acting in that split second to jump onto Dennis’s wheel as I could have (maybe) gotten back on, also, possibly not showing up on a road bike, the course was hard and fast.
Had a fantastic time riding with lots of top athletes, gravel racing draws such a great group of individuals, Spent miles riding with Mark? (mtbiker), Troy Krause (sic individual – one of the route designers), Dale, Kevin, and many others (who I have forgot their names due to the heat and dehydration - lost 10 lbs during the race, but no $1200 hospital visit this time)… Congrats to Mike Marchand (who I KNEW would win this race, he is one fast gravel eating fool [and now has the “Gravel Worlds Jersey" to show for it], I’m sorry I didn’t get to draft that wheel). Thanks again for Cornbreads efforts in putting this event on and brining gravel racing to the “international stage”.
http://jedionabike.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html#comments
http://cornbreadblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/gravel-worlds_22.html
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/
http://piratecyclingleague.blogspot.com/
My trip up to the heartland was short and sweet spent the night at a little bed and breakfast about 2 miles from the start line (but still managed to get lost in the dark and spend 20 minutes trying to find the start line). Here’s a shout out to the fine folks at the Prairie Creek Inn B&B that put me up for the “short” night, fead me breakfast and provided me a place to wrench on my bike.
My only strategy for the race was to “no matter what” stay with the lead group until mile 40 when we turned south out of the Northwest headwind… that was it, I knew if I could stay with the lead pack until then I could manage a top 5 placement… we started at 6 am in the dark, just a couple minutes before first light. I had opted to go without a light so I went right to the front to stay out of the dust and trouble. The pace was brisk but manageable, the gravel well… was like concrete… I had showed with a knife, at a gun fight… while my bike is fast, its still a mountain bike with 2.1” tires… it was a good choose for Dirty Kansa 200 with its large brutal rock, but not for this race, maybe 10% of the racers were on mountain bikes (if that), most were on skinny tired cross bikes and about a ¼ were on road bikes.
At only 7.5 miles in that horrible sound of PIST PIST PIST PIST was heard, as I looked around to see who was flatting I spotted Stans sealant flying up behind me… I let out a string of explicates well deserved for a race put on by the “Pirate Cycling” club… I worked my way to the outside of the group and began to slow to see if it would seal up… I would have thought the main field would be down to about 10 or so at this point, but no, there were over 25 still in the group, not good if I was going to try to catch back up, that big of a group would keep the hammer down. As the tire neared flat about 10 psi (started at 40) it sealed up, I slammed on the breaks threw a CO2 in (started to leak again), then got back on in hopes of it sealing (maybe took me a total of 30 seconds… as it started to ride Dennis Grelk – who had a chain issue a mile back came up in a furry, I had about 2 seconds to make the decision – jump on his wheel or keep looking at my rear wheel to see if it seals up… too late Dennis was gone in a near superman effort (I take that back it WAS a superman effort, Dennis bridged the 1 minute gap in only a couple minutes, it took me another minute or so to decide that now was the time to start chasing to get back on… into a 10 mph headwind… it was not to be done. Mad as heck the main group kept putting time into me. I was only averaging 1 mph slower that with the group, but for a race that's 149 miles long it was enouph to cause me to loose over 30 min, by the last CP.
I had hooked up with the only other mountain biker in the lead group during the short time that I could still see the main field as we worked together for a couple of miles, I then took the lead to pick it up a bit more… pushed my effort level way high at this point thinking that that big of a group would have a hard time getting through the mandatory checkpoint (possibly letting me catch up if i could keep their lead to only 5 minutes)… the flat, wasn’t my fault, however turning West on West Ashland? (vs. Right on West Ashland was), figured this one out one mile down a rutted up B road, had to turn around and backtrack (this cost me about 10 minutes and about 6 places)… only navigation mistake of the race. It was on that bombing off course downhill B road that I broke my 5th Carbon Frame (spit the integrated seat post at the seam) – it gave the bike a nice ThudBuster suspension seat post feel.
I passed about 10 riders at the first check point by just going in getting my ticket and right back out… the rest of the race would be the same pass a couple “shelled riders” and worked with a couple of mechanicalled riders, pass about 5-10 at each checkpoint…
As the race whent on the wet fog of the morning was replaced by 97 degrees of intense cloudless skies… the heat index was most likely about 105-110. On the black B roads the sun would cook you from both sides… I was dropping electrolytes and fluids at an incredible rate, luckily stomach distress wasn’t an issue (and wouldn’t be until mile 120), so I kept downing Gatorade to somewhat offset the losses.
The story of the day for all racers would be the heat and the near Genius route design that afforded zero recovery time, the course was a series of hills placed back to back to back to back in what was feat of sadistic and masochistic intension not witnessed too often in gravel racing… as you can see by the race profile there really wasn’t a single hill of substantial effort (although there were 4 hills/walls at 10% or greater) but the totality of all of them combined made this race extreme! Over 2/3’s the field would pull the plug from dehydration, cramps, and complete and utter exhaustion – remember these are guys (and gals) that eat gravel for breakfast with bacon and beer…
At the third and final checkpoint, I pulled in to find 5 guys getting ready to head out and only 3 riders ahead, I couldn’t believe it, I was getting back up there… oh wait, they had left 30+ minutes earlier you say… oh well… in and out at this checkpoint as quick as possible (after downing a half jar of pickle juice – had been fighting bad cramps since mile 70). Got out about a minute after two other strong riders (Dale Pinkelman and Kevin Burke), was able to catch up to them just as we turned on to stagecoach road (a 7 mile stretch of small hills strung together that would take us to the third highest point on the course), it took everything I had to hang on the wheel of these two riders during the climbs, but I knew if I didn’t I would suffer a long and painful death by myself… the one thing I’ve learned in endurance racing is that misery loves company.
About 20 miles out it was just Kevin and me, as we rolled threw a freshly rocked section I heard Kevin call out that he was done, it was his third flat of the day, he would get a tube for his road tire from Dale and finish only 10 minutes back.
I rolled the last 15 miles solo for a 4th place category and 4th place overall finish at 9 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed (including off the bike of 15.3 mph). While the flat at the beginning of the race changed everything, I’m not sure it would have changed the overall, I just would have been abit more fun for me to fight it out upfront than clawing my way back up for a 130 miles. I do regret not acting in that split second to jump onto Dennis’s wheel as I could have (maybe) gotten back on, also, possibly not showing up on a road bike, the course was hard and fast.
Had a fantastic time riding with lots of top athletes, gravel racing draws such a great group of individuals, Spent miles riding with Mark? (mtbiker), Troy Krause (sic individual – one of the route designers), Dale, Kevin, and many others (who I have forgot their names due to the heat and dehydration - lost 10 lbs during the race, but no $1200 hospital visit this time)… Congrats to Mike Marchand (who I KNEW would win this race, he is one fast gravel eating fool [and now has the “Gravel Worlds Jersey" to show for it], I’m sorry I didn’t get to draft that wheel). Thanks again for Cornbreads efforts in putting this event on and brining gravel racing to the “international stage”.
http://jedionabike.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html#comments
http://cornbreadblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/gravel-worlds_22.html
http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/
http://piratecyclingleague.blogspot.com/
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Colesburg 40 Flyer
Save great race, same great extended weekend... same suffering... but 2 miles easy pavement replaced with 3 miles of gravel+level b! Yes, you heard it here first, the Colesburg 40 JUST GOT BETTER! Because of this were doubling the course record payout (now $100) and preams $40... See you there, Lance A.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Dirty Kanza 200 - Post Race
This will just be the ride stats, I'll follow up in a day or two with my ride recap (this race had everything!).
Place: 2nd overall (on 2.1" mountain bike tires)
Total Distance 201.77 miles
Average speed (on the bike): 17.3 mph
Average speed including CP, & Bonk stop: 13.8 mph
Total Time: 14 Hours, 36 Min, 27 Seconds
Total Climbing: 12,013 feet (holly shi# KANSAS sure isn't flat) – that’s correct 12 THOUSAND FEET!!! Nearly half of that was just in the last 60 miles!
Removed my rear rotor at mile 165 as i noticed it was dragging, my guess from my Garmin Stats is that it was dragging from about mile 140 (about 10 miles before I bonked hard).
Number of water bottles: 20
Number of IV's at the emergency room: 3
Flats: Zero
Place: 2nd overall (on 2.1" mountain bike tires)
Total Distance 201.77 miles
Average speed (on the bike): 17.3 mph
Average speed including CP, & Bonk stop: 13.8 mph
Total Time: 14 Hours, 36 Min, 27 Seconds
Total Climbing: 12,013 feet (holly shi# KANSAS sure isn't flat) – that’s correct 12 THOUSAND FEET!!! Nearly half of that was just in the last 60 miles!
Removed my rear rotor at mile 165 as i noticed it was dragging, my guess from my Garmin Stats is that it was dragging from about mile 140 (about 10 miles before I bonked hard).
Number of water bottles: 20
Number of IV's at the emergency room: 3
Flats: Zero
Friday, May 28, 2010
Triple D 2011 - Jan 16 (Sunday This Year)
This will be a three day weekend for some of you. More information will follow in comming months.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
TransIowa here we come, like it or not...
I know the route that Guitar Ted has selected will test the riders this year not to make it a challenge to win the race but to simply make the cutoff times to finish the race. The conditions wont be as bad as TI2 but it will be close. Here’s a video from my first attempt at this race:
(I'm wearing the yellow raincoat and riding the same bike as i will this year. Was 35 d with 30 mph headwinds)
You can follow this years race via the live race radio at the TransIowaBlog site. Mark does a cool job updating the site in years past with updates every couple of hours.
We'll see if my bike makes it to Iowa without damage?
(I'm wearing the yellow raincoat and riding the same bike as i will this year. Was 35 d with 30 mph headwinds)
You can follow this years race via the live race radio at the TransIowaBlog site. Mark does a cool job updating the site in years past with updates every couple of hours.
We'll see if my bike makes it to Iowa without damage?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
favorite reading
Killing some time tonight, I was reading other racers blogs on ITI and Sue100... a quote from my blog would go something like this "great scenery" or “incredible views from the course”, “good race”, etc... Guess I should have paid more attention in writing class... Here's a quote from Juneau Jill:
"The middle of the night is one of my favorite times to be riding during an endurance event. Before a ride, there is always the hope that conditions would be perfect, I would feel on top of my game and amazingly find the strength to pound all the miles out by midnight. But when that doesn't happen, I find the lonely hours of the morning to be the most revealing and memorable of the entire ride. In the clear night, the distant city lights of Anchorage burned deep orange streaks behind the horizon like remnants of a long-departed sunset. Craggy silhouettes of black spruce stabbed at the light and cast faint, far-stretching shadows over the purple snow. In the night, I think about a lot of things. I think about nothing. I habitually turn the pedals and believe I could do this forever, and never stop, even as my eyelids droop and shoulders burn. In the night, time makes quantum leaps forward, even as I move slower and slower. Entire hours will pass by. I will remember every moment, and it will feel like minutes."
"The middle of the night is one of my favorite times to be riding during an endurance event. Before a ride, there is always the hope that conditions would be perfect, I would feel on top of my game and amazingly find the strength to pound all the miles out by midnight. But when that doesn't happen, I find the lonely hours of the morning to be the most revealing and memorable of the entire ride. In the clear night, the distant city lights of Anchorage burned deep orange streaks behind the horizon like remnants of a long-departed sunset. Craggy silhouettes of black spruce stabbed at the light and cast faint, far-stretching shadows over the purple snow. In the night, I think about a lot of things. I think about nothing. I habitually turn the pedals and believe I could do this forever, and never stop, even as my eyelids droop and shoulders burn. In the night, time makes quantum leaps forward, even as I move slower and slower. Entire hours will pass by. I will remember every moment, and it will feel like minutes."
Monday, February 22, 2010
Pictures from Susitna 100
Sorry there aren't more but I didn't take my Camera along... won't make that mistake in Alaska again!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Susitna 100 – Ultramarathon in the Alaskan Wilderness – 3rd Overall, 2nd Bike
Back in Florida now and the temps are about the same (WTF). I usually talk about the race, how things worked themselves out, what went wrong, etc… so here goes, Got a good start took the lead about a mile into the race and with a hot pace to thin things out a bit. Pete, Joe, Erik and I were all that were left and were the lead group at about 10 miles in. From there Peter and I would trade spots often at the beginning and a couple miles from Flat Horn Lake it was just Pete, Joe and I. The three of us would battle it out Crit style with some shoulder checks, tire bumps and a couple crashes (literally would have been cool to have a helmet cam for the 10 miles on the river).
A while after Flat Horn Lake Joe slipped off the back after a monster pull left him little drained. Pete and I then rode together for the rest of the race with peter taking the lead a majority of the time. At each checkpoint we’d get a spit to Chet as we thought we could catch him before the finish. The conditions on Flat Horn Lake killed that goal as it was good skiing but very slow biking. We amp’d it up as we approached the finish testing each other on a couple of the courses only substantial climbs but we remained pretty much side by side… until about 2 miles from the finish when I bobbled a slick off camber section, Pete capitalized on this and unleashed a 2 mile sprint to the finish (or he started his sprint and I bobbled – can’t remember which happened first), try as I may I could not close the gap (I think it even got a little bigger by the finish). Kathi Merchant and I were talking at the last checkpoint about two hours earlier… I had commented on how fast Pete was after Luce’s when he was trying to catch Chet (the skier who had passed us near the halfway point), she said “ya, Pete always seems to have one more gear”… so I thought “well that’s cool, cause I got TWO more gears left in me”… I guess he had “three more left, Or, one more than me.”
Was a good race for me, no gear issues, no long stays at checkpoints, no physical issues (felt great all through the race and after). Finished the 100 miles in 15 hours and 12 minutes. 4850 calories burned; average cadence of 78; only 1770 ft of climbing (pretty flat course); max speed of 21.5 mph; average speed of (get this) 6.4 mph!!! Average HR was 73%. The best thing about my Garmin results is that none of my values (HR, cadence, etc) decreased at all during the race (arrowhead they did, but only because I was without a light for the last 5 hours). About 10 tire pressure changes, as the snow varied from hard and fast to soft and punchy. Bike was my Speedway Cycles FATBACK with a 100mm rear wheel and a new 70 mm front wheel. All my bags are from Epic Designs (especially like my new LARGE seat bag that fits my -20 Big Angus bag and -20 Big Angus foam pad and bivy sack). I didn’t use Eric’s pogies as the temps were too high, and the race was short enough I didn’t need the extra storage for food, used fingerless biking gloves for the first half of the race and some lightweight fleece gloves for the rest).
On a side note: It’s a small world; One of the 1049 mile award recipients “superAL” the man with the stash, is married to the engineer that I used to work for 20+ years ago in Des Moines, until they moved to Alaska. Who would have thunk… Meet a lot of great people at the race, the Burglunds, Brig Potnis, Ben LaVigueur, all the incredible checkpoint volunteers… The race was run with watch like precision (it’s like they’ve been doing it for years).
Being the first time in Alaska what I should spend my time writing about is the state… absolutely incredible; the view from the course was so astonishing I rode off the trail into waist deep snow looking at the mountains which completely surrounded the Susitna River… from Mt. Susitna to Mt. McKinley (Denali). After eating dinner with my dad at 2 am at Point Mackenzie General Store after the race, I took off on the Iditarod trail for an hour “cool down ride” and bivy’d under the stars on a hillside about 5 miles west of Knik. I can’t remember ever in my life seeing a sky so black and the stars so bright (was a new moon night). Saw a baby mouse (wasn’t all that small) on my way out, and a number of dog sleds. During the race we must have been passed by at least 200 snow machines… This area of Alaska must be to Snowmobilers what Moab is to Mountain Bikers… I’ll post some pictures soon.
A couple years back when I first caught the “snow biking bug” I found a blog by an Alaskan journalist who has the wonderful ability to put some spectacular vista in perspective with the human soul, and cycling to boot… also some pretty good photos too, It really inspired me to travel outside my Midwestern and now Floridian landscape to something bigger (MUCH BIGGER). If you get the opportunity, check out Jill's blog. I want to thank her for getting me that little taste of Alaska that I needed to make the trip (hopefully I’ll be back next year for something a little bigger).
If you want to experience Alaska in the winter (or summer) by bike; Bill and Kathi Merchant (the race directors for the Iditarod Trail Invitational) do bike camping excursions (they were out on the course with some fellow bikers the night of the race). Check out their blog, it's a great way to prep for the longer races like the new Tuscobia 200 mile and Arrowhead while getting a vacation in.
A while after Flat Horn Lake Joe slipped off the back after a monster pull left him little drained. Pete and I then rode together for the rest of the race with peter taking the lead a majority of the time. At each checkpoint we’d get a spit to Chet as we thought we could catch him before the finish. The conditions on Flat Horn Lake killed that goal as it was good skiing but very slow biking. We amp’d it up as we approached the finish testing each other on a couple of the courses only substantial climbs but we remained pretty much side by side… until about 2 miles from the finish when I bobbled a slick off camber section, Pete capitalized on this and unleashed a 2 mile sprint to the finish (or he started his sprint and I bobbled – can’t remember which happened first), try as I may I could not close the gap (I think it even got a little bigger by the finish). Kathi Merchant and I were talking at the last checkpoint about two hours earlier… I had commented on how fast Pete was after Luce’s when he was trying to catch Chet (the skier who had passed us near the halfway point), she said “ya, Pete always seems to have one more gear”… so I thought “well that’s cool, cause I got TWO more gears left in me”… I guess he had “three more left, Or, one more than me.”
Was a good race for me, no gear issues, no long stays at checkpoints, no physical issues (felt great all through the race and after). Finished the 100 miles in 15 hours and 12 minutes. 4850 calories burned; average cadence of 78; only 1770 ft of climbing (pretty flat course); max speed of 21.5 mph; average speed of (get this) 6.4 mph!!! Average HR was 73%. The best thing about my Garmin results is that none of my values (HR, cadence, etc) decreased at all during the race (arrowhead they did, but only because I was without a light for the last 5 hours). About 10 tire pressure changes, as the snow varied from hard and fast to soft and punchy. Bike was my Speedway Cycles FATBACK with a 100mm rear wheel and a new 70 mm front wheel. All my bags are from Epic Designs (especially like my new LARGE seat bag that fits my -20 Big Angus bag and -20 Big Angus foam pad and bivy sack). I didn’t use Eric’s pogies as the temps were too high, and the race was short enough I didn’t need the extra storage for food, used fingerless biking gloves for the first half of the race and some lightweight fleece gloves for the rest).
On a side note: It’s a small world; One of the 1049 mile award recipients “superAL” the man with the stash, is married to the engineer that I used to work for 20+ years ago in Des Moines, until they moved to Alaska. Who would have thunk… Meet a lot of great people at the race, the Burglunds, Brig Potnis, Ben LaVigueur, all the incredible checkpoint volunteers… The race was run with watch like precision (it’s like they’ve been doing it for years).
Being the first time in Alaska what I should spend my time writing about is the state… absolutely incredible; the view from the course was so astonishing I rode off the trail into waist deep snow looking at the mountains which completely surrounded the Susitna River… from Mt. Susitna to Mt. McKinley (Denali). After eating dinner with my dad at 2 am at Point Mackenzie General Store after the race, I took off on the Iditarod trail for an hour “cool down ride” and bivy’d under the stars on a hillside about 5 miles west of Knik. I can’t remember ever in my life seeing a sky so black and the stars so bright (was a new moon night). Saw a baby mouse (wasn’t all that small) on my way out, and a number of dog sleds. During the race we must have been passed by at least 200 snow machines… This area of Alaska must be to Snowmobilers what Moab is to Mountain Bikers… I’ll post some pictures soon.
A couple years back when I first caught the “snow biking bug” I found a blog by an Alaskan journalist who has the wonderful ability to put some spectacular vista in perspective with the human soul, and cycling to boot… also some pretty good photos too, It really inspired me to travel outside my Midwestern and now Floridian landscape to something bigger (MUCH BIGGER). If you get the opportunity, check out Jill's blog. I want to thank her for getting me that little taste of Alaska that I needed to make the trip (hopefully I’ll be back next year for something a little bigger).
If you want to experience Alaska in the winter (or summer) by bike; Bill and Kathi Merchant (the race directors for the Iditarod Trail Invitational) do bike camping excursions (they were out on the course with some fellow bikers the night of the race). Check out their blog, it's a great way to prep for the longer races like the new Tuscobia 200 mile and Arrowhead while getting a vacation in.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Arrowhead 135 Race Report
An incredible thanks to Pierre and Cheryl Oster who have grown the Arrowhead Ultra event to over a 100 racers in icebox of the US, and mostly of all organized it so well, they had volunteers helping volunteers. Joel Austin came along with me to take photos this year (Joel Finished 12th last year on a 26 inch “skinny bike” and will return next year on either a 29er skinny or a pugs). More photos of his can be found at: JOELSPHOTOS
My race reports are always a bit verbose (guess it’s difficult to condense 24 hour of racing into a paragraph).
The morning started off with -20d F and a minor 10 mph headwind for the first 8 miles. My first mistake was a classic rookie move of not getting my tire pressure dialed in before the race (at Tuscobia it took nearly 15 minutes to get the pressure just right). So for the first hour I stayed with the lead group of 10 but was working way too hard over 90% HR, so knowing that the trails wouldn’t change for at least another 5 hours and at that HR, I would only survive for another hour or two, I had to drop from the group and add about 3 psi to the front and about 5 psi to the back, made a couple clothing adjustments and back off I went (lost about 4 minutes on the group and the benefit of the pace line).
Although I had to ride a bit quicker to make up the 4 minutes, my HR was 10% lower as having the proper pressure now dialed in. Mistake 1 behind me... From there things were going pretty well, good trail conditions, manageable pace. About every 30 minutes I’d pass riders that had dropped from the lead group or had to stop to make gear adjustments. About 3 hours in I saw Dave Pramann (multiple year AHU winner and course record holder) ahead who was fiddling with some clothing changes. The two of us then worked together to close the gap to the remaining 3 of the lead group (Terry Brannick – 2009 AHU winner, Peter Basinger – Iditarod record holder, and Jeff Oatley – RAAM Racer and Iditarod winner) to about 2 minutes by the Gateway store checkpoint. We then finished the deal about 10 miles beyond the checkpoint on a couple of the long climbs.
Dave in his usual style, doesn't like to follow and then took the lead for the next hour, I would move to the front on a couple of the sections where I would amp up the pace a bit, on one climb about 6 hours in a monster climb hit, I punched back kicking it up to a 195 HR (100%) – not bad for over 40 and about 6 hours in. Between Dave and me we had whittled the lead group to the two of us and Jeff Oatley. Terry was having severe issues with numbness of his entire right arm. The three of us worked together until the Melgeorges CP at the halfway checkpoint. Upon setting my bike down I noticed that my headlight had turned itself on!! What a wonderful feature that some imbecile engineer thought would be a good idea – If you plug the light in, it turns itself on, and on HIGH. Estimated run time about 6 hours, it had most likely been on for about 6 hours based on looking at race photos… I believe the plug must have come loose on a rough section and then made contact again or I had pushed it back in (either way this will affect me as night approaches).
Here comes Rookie mistake number two, I had planned for a quick 10 minute in and out, but for a couple of reasons ended up putzing around and chatting at the Melgeorges CP too long and left the checkpoint 20 minutes after Oatley and Basinger, and 10+ minutes behind Pramann. I knew Pramann would attempt to and would most likely catch the Alaskans although the outcome would be for up for grabs at the finish. I thought I might be able to close the distance by the finish as I had paced myself much better than last year, but knew it would be difficult (making up 20+ minutes on those three would put me into a major pain factory! But, I did have much better bivy gear this year if I wouldn’t make it).
Picture of the three leaders comming across the lake (note my light was on...)
Back out on the trail things were still rolling good, and I was pushing the hill sections hard and fast and bombing the downhill’s at an absolute maximum speed knowing that earlier that’s where I was able to gap the group, also I knew my light (even on low), might not make it through the night, so I figured: run hard while there’s still some daylight left. Once dusk was over and I could no longer safely navigate the trail, I turned on my light on low and kept turning out a moderately fast pace.
My sprits improved as I saw the tail lights of the lead group of three ahead, about 5-10 minutes at the most. But within minutes of seeing them, and about an hour of successful night racing, the light went into SOS mode indicating that about 30 seconds of light remained. There I was 40 miles still to go and the only light was the stars. I fashioned my small LED work lights to my aerobars with some duct tape (never leave home without it) and off I went at about half the speed as before and the downhill’s at about 1/4 the speed. The two LED’s were just sufficient to see the trees about 10 feet ahead and could barely make out the leaders tracks immediately in front of me. One advantage of the slower speed was that the rest of the ride was enjoyable and gave me time to “enjoy the stars”. The only exception to the enjoyable finial run in was that the trail had hundreds of small trees that were hanging over the trail due to a recent ice storm and without a light I had about a half second to close my eyes and duck before hitting them, a couple were big enough the nearly knocked my off the bike. I waited at the crescent / teepee check point for about 30 minutes as the moon was going to rise soon and I knew at the pace I was riding that 1st-3rd was no longer attainable.
Unfortunately the additional moonlight didn’t help at all, ether because it was right in front of the trail (like driving into a sunrise) or was shaded by the plethora of pine trees that line the trail. I did catch a glimpse of #70 Dan Dittmer who at the point when I saw his headlight was only about 5 minutes behind, that was enough to kick me in the A$$ to get me moving at a respectable pace again light or no light.
Finished the race at 16 hours, 57 minutes and 23 seconds (just before midnight) – beating my PR by about 6 hours and obtaining my second highly coveted Arrowhead Trophy. Average speed was a whooping 7.9 mph, max speed was a 30.5 mph (may have trouble getting life insurance after that), and a total of 7150 calories burned. Total climbing of 7,012 feet over a distance of 133.99 miles, and an average HR of 151.
My race reports are always a bit verbose (guess it’s difficult to condense 24 hour of racing into a paragraph).
The morning started off with -20d F and a minor 10 mph headwind for the first 8 miles. My first mistake was a classic rookie move of not getting my tire pressure dialed in before the race (at Tuscobia it took nearly 15 minutes to get the pressure just right). So for the first hour I stayed with the lead group of 10 but was working way too hard over 90% HR, so knowing that the trails wouldn’t change for at least another 5 hours and at that HR, I would only survive for another hour or two, I had to drop from the group and add about 3 psi to the front and about 5 psi to the back, made a couple clothing adjustments and back off I went (lost about 4 minutes on the group and the benefit of the pace line).
Although I had to ride a bit quicker to make up the 4 minutes, my HR was 10% lower as having the proper pressure now dialed in. Mistake 1 behind me... From there things were going pretty well, good trail conditions, manageable pace. About every 30 minutes I’d pass riders that had dropped from the lead group or had to stop to make gear adjustments. About 3 hours in I saw Dave Pramann (multiple year AHU winner and course record holder) ahead who was fiddling with some clothing changes. The two of us then worked together to close the gap to the remaining 3 of the lead group (Terry Brannick – 2009 AHU winner, Peter Basinger – Iditarod record holder, and Jeff Oatley – RAAM Racer and Iditarod winner) to about 2 minutes by the Gateway store checkpoint. We then finished the deal about 10 miles beyond the checkpoint on a couple of the long climbs.
Dave in his usual style, doesn't like to follow and then took the lead for the next hour, I would move to the front on a couple of the sections where I would amp up the pace a bit, on one climb about 6 hours in a monster climb hit, I punched back kicking it up to a 195 HR (100%) – not bad for over 40 and about 6 hours in. Between Dave and me we had whittled the lead group to the two of us and Jeff Oatley. Terry was having severe issues with numbness of his entire right arm. The three of us worked together until the Melgeorges CP at the halfway checkpoint. Upon setting my bike down I noticed that my headlight had turned itself on!! What a wonderful feature that some imbecile engineer thought would be a good idea – If you plug the light in, it turns itself on, and on HIGH. Estimated run time about 6 hours, it had most likely been on for about 6 hours based on looking at race photos… I believe the plug must have come loose on a rough section and then made contact again or I had pushed it back in (either way this will affect me as night approaches).
Here comes Rookie mistake number two, I had planned for a quick 10 minute in and out, but for a couple of reasons ended up putzing around and chatting at the Melgeorges CP too long and left the checkpoint 20 minutes after Oatley and Basinger, and 10+ minutes behind Pramann. I knew Pramann would attempt to and would most likely catch the Alaskans although the outcome would be for up for grabs at the finish. I thought I might be able to close the distance by the finish as I had paced myself much better than last year, but knew it would be difficult (making up 20+ minutes on those three would put me into a major pain factory! But, I did have much better bivy gear this year if I wouldn’t make it).
Picture of the three leaders comming across the lake (note my light was on...)
Back out on the trail things were still rolling good, and I was pushing the hill sections hard and fast and bombing the downhill’s at an absolute maximum speed knowing that earlier that’s where I was able to gap the group, also I knew my light (even on low), might not make it through the night, so I figured: run hard while there’s still some daylight left. Once dusk was over and I could no longer safely navigate the trail, I turned on my light on low and kept turning out a moderately fast pace.
My sprits improved as I saw the tail lights of the lead group of three ahead, about 5-10 minutes at the most. But within minutes of seeing them, and about an hour of successful night racing, the light went into SOS mode indicating that about 30 seconds of light remained. There I was 40 miles still to go and the only light was the stars. I fashioned my small LED work lights to my aerobars with some duct tape (never leave home without it) and off I went at about half the speed as before and the downhill’s at about 1/4 the speed. The two LED’s were just sufficient to see the trees about 10 feet ahead and could barely make out the leaders tracks immediately in front of me. One advantage of the slower speed was that the rest of the ride was enjoyable and gave me time to “enjoy the stars”. The only exception to the enjoyable finial run in was that the trail had hundreds of small trees that were hanging over the trail due to a recent ice storm and without a light I had about a half second to close my eyes and duck before hitting them, a couple were big enough the nearly knocked my off the bike. I waited at the crescent / teepee check point for about 30 minutes as the moon was going to rise soon and I knew at the pace I was riding that 1st-3rd was no longer attainable.
Unfortunately the additional moonlight didn’t help at all, ether because it was right in front of the trail (like driving into a sunrise) or was shaded by the plethora of pine trees that line the trail. I did catch a glimpse of #70 Dan Dittmer who at the point when I saw his headlight was only about 5 minutes behind, that was enough to kick me in the A$$ to get me moving at a respectable pace again light or no light.
Finished the race at 16 hours, 57 minutes and 23 seconds (just before midnight) – beating my PR by about 6 hours and obtaining my second highly coveted Arrowhead Trophy. Average speed was a whooping 7.9 mph, max speed was a 30.5 mph (may have trouble getting life insurance after that), and a total of 7150 calories burned. Total climbing of 7,012 feet over a distance of 133.99 miles, and an average HR of 151.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thanks
Huge thanks to those who helped at the Triple D race this year...
Traci Andre - Race Day Coordinator/Photographer
Bill Stoffel Jr. - Category Awards
Duff Stewart - Registration
Annie Potter - Run/Ski Finish
Patsi Green - Run/Ski Finish
Alaine Jamison - Bike Finish
Dena Donatsch LMT – Post Race Massages
Karl Steichen - Photographer / Sag Driver
Frank Flack - Course Safety / Sag Driver
Gary Bramel - Course Safety / Sag Driver
Bette Kuboushek – Dyersville Race Coordinator
Martha O'Conner Leigh - Route Photographer
Traci Andre - Race Day Coordinator/Photographer
Bill Stoffel Jr. - Category Awards
Duff Stewart - Registration
Annie Potter - Run/Ski Finish
Patsi Green - Run/Ski Finish
Alaine Jamison - Bike Finish
Dena Donatsch LMT – Post Race Massages
Karl Steichen - Photographer / Sag Driver
Frank Flack - Course Safety / Sag Driver
Gary Bramel - Course Safety / Sag Driver
Bette Kuboushek – Dyersville Race Coordinator
Martha O'Conner Leigh - Route Photographer
Sunday, January 10, 2010
2010 Triple D Race Results
If you have any of the following please forward them to me:
1. Bike mileage and time
2. Blog write up link
3. Photos (race photos by Traci and a couple others)
Below are the unoffical results, i say that only because of the sagged bikers (please review results, if they are not correct please let me know and i'll verify the corrections and get them updated).
We had 9 bikers, 4 skiers and 8 runners finish one of the most difficult winter day races in North America out of the 50 participants entered in the 2010 Triple D Winter Race.
I'll post some more updates & photos here as I have time (sorry).
Run and Ski Finishers Only:
BIB,First Last,Finished(Placement),Miles,Race Time,26.2mor50K Time
32,Tim Roe,Yes(1stMaleSki,1stMaleSkiMarathon),22.3,3:18,4:29Marathon
Race Director http://www.tuscobiaultra.com/
121,Joseph Richey,Yes (1st Male Run),22.3,3:31
2009 1st Male BLOG
31,Brad Williams,Yes (2nd Male Run),22.3,3:40
123,Seth Dudgeon,Yes (3rd Male Run),22.3,3:55
2009 5th Male
122,Lisa Paulos,Yes (1st Female Run),22.3,4:18
2008 & 2009 1st Female
11,Angela Hill,Yes (2nd Female Run, 1st Female Run Marathon),22.3,4:27,5:35Marathon
10,Willy Goodale,Yes (4th Male Run),22.3,4:28
9,Rich Holmes (50+),Yes (1st Male Run Marathon, 5th Male Run),22.3,4:48,5:51
33,Matt Maxwell,Yes (2nd Male Ski, 1st Male Ultra 50k Ski),22.3,5:12,7:33ULTRA
2008 & 2009 Ski Veteran
8,Mark Rocarek,Yes (5th Male Run),22.3,5:38
NA,Vita Veita,Yes (1st Female Ski),22.3,6:21
Start Late (actual time is less than shown, 15 min?)
12,Todd Erickson,Yes (3rd Male Ski),22.3,8:33
PHOTOS 2008 & 2009 Bike Veteran
All bikers who started are shown below:
BIB,First Last,Finished,Miles,Race Time,Notes
91,Lance Andre,Yes (First Bike),62.7,6:48,9.2 mph Average, 17th 2008, 2nd 2009
BLOG
110,Dennis Grelk,Yes (Second Bike),62.7,6:59,4th 2008 & Frozen Saddle, 2nd 2009
BLOG
115,Corey Kronser,Yes (Third Bike),62.7,8:22,8th 2008, 2009 Winner
111,Nicholos Wethington,Yes (4th Bike),62.7,8:32,9th 2009
116,Adam Blake,Yes (5th Bike),62.7,8:34,28th 2008, 11th 2009
GPS
95,Ben Shockey,Yes (6th Bike),62.7,9:27,2008 Winner, 16th 2009
BLOG
112,Scott Marx,Yes (7th Bike),62.7,9:41,13th 2008, 18th 2009
100,Joel Austin,Yes (8th Bike),62.7,12:07,2009 Frozen Saddle
98,Tyler Graham,No (9th Bike, Frozen Saddle Award?),62.0,12:28,Dyersville CP>Durango>FinishedByMeansOfHwy52
113,Colin Stiemke,No (10th Bike, Frozen Saddle Award?),56,12:??,Dyersville CP>Sageville>then off route (XMilesNotCredited-would have been really close to 62)
BLOG
104,Joe Nolan,No,38,4:45,Dyersville CP>Farley>Sagged
94,Sean Mullins,No,50,5:26,Farley or Graf?>?
92,Frank Hassler,No,45,7:26,Dyersville CP>Graf>Sagged
BLOG PHOTOS
93,Trevor Rockwell,No,45,7:55,Dyersville CP>Graf>Sagged
101,James R Zimmerman,No,31.4,4:56,Dyersville CP>Sagged
102,James "Z" Zimmerman,No,31.4,4:56,Dyersville CP>Sagged
117,Jesse Reyerson,No,31.4,5:35,Dyersville CP in Shorts>Sagged
106,Michael Lemberger,No,31.4,4:40,Dyersville CP>Sagged
BLOG BLOG2 PHOTOS
109,Rob McKillip,No,29,5:58,Prier Road(NearDyersville)>Sagged
119,Drew Wilson,No,25,3:16,Farley>Sagged
BLOG
103,Jeremy Riniker,No,25,5:27,Farley>Sagged
120,Devon Dyreson,No (First Tandem),25,5:47,Farley>Sagged
120,Justin Meyer,No (First Tandem),25,5:47,Farley>Sagged
Tandem BLOG
105,Dave Giegerich,No,25,6:18,Farley>Sagged
BLOG BLOG2
96,Scott Sundby,No,25,6:36,Farley>Sagged
97,Derek Chinn,No,25,6:36,Farley>Sagged
114,Steve McGuire,No,21,2:57,Gun Club Road>Sagged
BLOG
108,Troy McDermott,No,21,4:45,Gun Club Road>Sagged
BLOG
118,Jerome Full,No,19,3:16,Past Graf>Sagged @ Tri
90,Grace Shirley-Couch,No (First Female Bike),17,4:59,Graf>Sagged
99,John Nelson,No,17,4:59,Graf>Sagged
107,Coleman Retzlaff,No,14,3:36,Past Budd Road>Sagged
Triple D 2010 - Lance's Race Log
It’s amazing things always conspire to make Triple D so difficult, in 2008 we had -25df wind-chill, in 2009 we had 9” of fresh powder over a inch of ice the night before the race, and this year we had 6-8” of fresh snow two days before and -20 wind-chill at the start, but the day would peak at 12 dF and drop back to -25 dF wind-chill by the time the Frozen Satel checked in. Optimistically the route was modified at the last minute to make use of more heavily traveled snowmobile trails in hopes of someone finishing the event this year…
The race started it its normal fashion on scenic Dubuque brick streets of the warehouse district, then up Washington street with a winter version of the tour as bikers split around the many traffic circle (some over), then onto the City of Dubuque paved heritage trail. The paced roll-out ends as we cross Peru road entering the virgin snow that sent everyone surging their heart rate to the attic as speeds approached 5 mph in a barley rideable 1.5 mile section of the route. This section would prove to be just as challenging on the way back as it was potholed and just as difficult to keep the bike on the thin line of prior tires.
After a short but fun section of trail that parallels Highway 52 we entered the main part of the Dubuque County Heritage trail, and to everyone’s surprise were fast and easily ridable even by the crazies (Devon and Justin) that showed up on a tandem. As the next couple of miles clicked away I’m sure nearly everyone was thinking “I’m going to finish this year as average speeds for all were between 7-12 mph. but the Pugs where not going to take top placement as the 29’ers were dominating the race (I was riding next to Ben Shockey who was clipping along easily on his SS 29 at I would guess 10-20% less effort) with the exception of Dennis Grelk who rode away from me with ease with Corey Kronser in tow. Dennis would lead nearly 2/3’rds of the race.
GROOOOOMER! That and a couple explicates were heard about an hour 45 into the event, you see a groomed trail is nice if has had time to setup; about an hour for skiers, 2 hours for pugs and runners and about 3 for standard bikes, but freshly groomed snow is VERY difficult to ride and makes it very difficult to read the most efficient line on the trail, making the front runners to resort to moving from side to side searching for the lowest rolling resistance… but we degrees, a lot, this point in the race the dynamics changed, I went from thinking I’m going to finish Triple D to I might have a chance to take 1st or 2nd and I knew the race would come down to Dennis and myself who were the two fastest pugs riders… It took me about another hour until I relied in the last remaining 29’er from the front group leaving Just Dennis in the front.
Trails were very difficult to ride, snow was soft and large amount of effort went to maintaining a straight line and avoiding any bounce on the very low pressure that I running (about 4-6 at that time). At the Farley tunnel I got a time check of 15 Minutes back from Dennis, I had decided that I had to close this gap by Dyersville so that he wouldn’t have the sociological advantage of the large lead at the one place we would see each other. This section of the course would suit me as it was into a 10-15 mph head wind and I could get down on my aerobars and crank it out, my average speed increased from 7 mph to about 14. I was able to get within about 2 at the check point at Dyersville and left only about 20 seconds back.
Dennis again cranked a supper human effort… even though I was again turning out a 12-14 mph pace my heart rate alarm was continually going off, so I had to resort to staying about 2-3 minutes back. It wasn’t until inside the Farley tunnel that I was able to overtake Dennis… we would hold this placement for about the next hour, the trail conditions weren’t improving as most of us had hoped they would, Dennis and I had stopped a couple of times to drop tire pressure even more, I ended up dumping about half down to about 2-3 (I would ride this pressure to the finish). As I neared Graf (hour 4:40) about the 2/3rd’s mark in the race) I saw a surrealistic sight… “is that the groomer again?” please tell me it isn’t… but it was, this time the trails were even softer than before, I had to ride with “kid gloves” turning a big gear very carefully riding a harder section of the surface 1-3 inches from the edge of the trail. The race continued like this until Sundown mountain ski resort where the snowmobiles had packed the trail and riding returned to a somewhat normal base.
After a quick minute at the optional Handel Bar Bike Checkpoint (restaurant and bar in Durango) I hastily headed back out as I knew Dennis was close behind and would not stay but a second as well. The section of trail from Durango to the Sageville/Dubuque Trailhead was worse than expected and speeds were some of the slowest of the day for me… but the entering the outskirts of Dubuque while still daylight was a relief, and sprits were high until I had to deal with the rutted and potholed 1.5 miles of virgin trail (the city of Dubuque doesn’t plow it but doesn’t allow snowmobiles on it either). All in all, I had a good day without any mechanical issues (thanks to Bill Stoffel – my personal machinist for some custom parts and the mechanics a Free flight). I finished first in the ultra bike category at 6 Hours and 48 minutes; Dennis stepped in just minutes back.
It was nice to finally finish my own race after three years and to win it was just great. The winter weather in the Midwest can be so unpredictable, then add to that 63 miles of off-road trails, clothing issues, hydration issues, stolen and moved route markers, a race director who lives in Florida, footwear, then a bicycle with numerous failure points, just starting a race like Triple D is a huge undertaking, I’d like to thank all of you that attended the Triple D and raced with me, I truly appreciate all of you, why else would I torture you like this?
The race started it its normal fashion on scenic Dubuque brick streets of the warehouse district, then up Washington street with a winter version of the tour as bikers split around the many traffic circle (some over), then onto the City of Dubuque paved heritage trail. The paced roll-out ends as we cross Peru road entering the virgin snow that sent everyone surging their heart rate to the attic as speeds approached 5 mph in a barley rideable 1.5 mile section of the route. This section would prove to be just as challenging on the way back as it was potholed and just as difficult to keep the bike on the thin line of prior tires.
After a short but fun section of trail that parallels Highway 52 we entered the main part of the Dubuque County Heritage trail, and to everyone’s surprise were fast and easily ridable even by the crazies (Devon and Justin) that showed up on a tandem. As the next couple of miles clicked away I’m sure nearly everyone was thinking “I’m going to finish this year as average speeds for all were between 7-12 mph. but the Pugs where not going to take top placement as the 29’ers were dominating the race (I was riding next to Ben Shockey who was clipping along easily on his SS 29 at I would guess 10-20% less effort) with the exception of Dennis Grelk who rode away from me with ease with Corey Kronser in tow. Dennis would lead nearly 2/3’rds of the race.
GROOOOOMER! That and a couple explicates were heard about an hour 45 into the event, you see a groomed trail is nice if has had time to setup; about an hour for skiers, 2 hours for pugs and runners and about 3 for standard bikes, but freshly groomed snow is VERY difficult to ride and makes it very difficult to read the most efficient line on the trail, making the front runners to resort to moving from side to side searching for the lowest rolling resistance… but we degrees, a lot, this point in the race the dynamics changed, I went from thinking I’m going to finish Triple D to I might have a chance to take 1st or 2nd and I knew the race would come down to Dennis and myself who were the two fastest pugs riders… It took me about another hour until I relied in the last remaining 29’er from the front group leaving Just Dennis in the front.
Trails were very difficult to ride, snow was soft and large amount of effort went to maintaining a straight line and avoiding any bounce on the very low pressure that I running (about 4-6 at that time). At the Farley tunnel I got a time check of 15 Minutes back from Dennis, I had decided that I had to close this gap by Dyersville so that he wouldn’t have the sociological advantage of the large lead at the one place we would see each other. This section of the course would suit me as it was into a 10-15 mph head wind and I could get down on my aerobars and crank it out, my average speed increased from 7 mph to about 14. I was able to get within about 2 at the check point at Dyersville and left only about 20 seconds back.
Dennis again cranked a supper human effort… even though I was again turning out a 12-14 mph pace my heart rate alarm was continually going off, so I had to resort to staying about 2-3 minutes back. It wasn’t until inside the Farley tunnel that I was able to overtake Dennis… we would hold this placement for about the next hour, the trail conditions weren’t improving as most of us had hoped they would, Dennis and I had stopped a couple of times to drop tire pressure even more, I ended up dumping about half down to about 2-3 (I would ride this pressure to the finish). As I neared Graf (hour 4:40) about the 2/3rd’s mark in the race) I saw a surrealistic sight… “is that the groomer again?” please tell me it isn’t… but it was, this time the trails were even softer than before, I had to ride with “kid gloves” turning a big gear very carefully riding a harder section of the surface 1-3 inches from the edge of the trail. The race continued like this until Sundown mountain ski resort where the snowmobiles had packed the trail and riding returned to a somewhat normal base.
After a quick minute at the optional Handel Bar Bike Checkpoint (restaurant and bar in Durango) I hastily headed back out as I knew Dennis was close behind and would not stay but a second as well. The section of trail from Durango to the Sageville/Dubuque Trailhead was worse than expected and speeds were some of the slowest of the day for me… but the entering the outskirts of Dubuque while still daylight was a relief, and sprits were high until I had to deal with the rutted and potholed 1.5 miles of virgin trail (the city of Dubuque doesn’t plow it but doesn’t allow snowmobiles on it either). All in all, I had a good day without any mechanical issues (thanks to Bill Stoffel – my personal machinist for some custom parts and the mechanics a Free flight). I finished first in the ultra bike category at 6 Hours and 48 minutes; Dennis stepped in just minutes back.
It was nice to finally finish my own race after three years and to win it was just great. The winter weather in the Midwest can be so unpredictable, then add to that 63 miles of off-road trails, clothing issues, hydration issues, stolen and moved route markers, a race director who lives in Florida, footwear, then a bicycle with numerous failure points, just starting a race like Triple D is a huge undertaking, I’d like to thank all of you that attended the Triple D and raced with me, I truly appreciate all of you, why else would I torture you like this?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Last minute Triple D items
1. There will be an area set aside for a "Swap" Put a post it on the item you want to sell with your asking price. If the item is free, just state free to good home on the tag.
2. Trails are looking good... there's been a lot of snow machine traffic on them last night and today, so the race for the bikers will be doable.
3. 26.2 mile and 50 sections are marked. Trails look good for the runners and skiers too.
See everyone at 8-9 am for final registration, prerace meeting for the runners will start at 9:10 AM SHARP, Limo Bus leaves at 9:20 SHARP.
RACING STARTS AT 10 AM.
2. Trails are looking good... there's been a lot of snow machine traffic on them last night and today, so the race for the bikers will be doable.
3. 26.2 mile and 50 sections are marked. Trails look good for the runners and skiers too.
See everyone at 8-9 am for final registration, prerace meeting for the runners will start at 9:10 AM SHARP, Limo Bus leaves at 9:20 SHARP.
RACING STARTS AT 10 AM.
Maps for Bike
Green will be used if Speeds are sufficent for some riders to finish within 9-10 hours.
NEW BIKE ROUTE
Due to the soft trail conditions, the bikers will have a new Route this year. I'll be publishing it soon (couple hours). It will consist of ONLY high traffic snow machine trails (Heritage Trial) supplemented by low volume county gravel roads. Distance will still be 62 miles (100 km).
This will also put the bikers on the sheltered roadways and trail where there will be little effect of the wind-chill. Will be a good race... with the new route I’d expect over half to be able to finish.
- Lance
This will also put the bikers on the sheltered roadways and trail where there will be little effect of the wind-chill. Will be a good race... with the new route I’d expect over half to be able to finish.
- Lance
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Race is profitable $ at awards
We are offically up on our budget by $600, so there will be prize money this year. 2009 we gave out only $200, 2008 was a wopping $1,100.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Triple D 2010 Prelim Roster (updated 1/7 10 pm)
Values are First Name, Last Name, and Paid as of Jan 4th
There are still some entries in the mail, if yours is but you're not on the list below please send me an email at Lance.Andre @ hotmail.com
Note: racers are allowed to switch category the morning of the race.
Bikes
Laurie Woodbury YES
Grace Shirley-Couch YES
Lance Andre YES
Frank Hassler YES
Trevor Rockwell YES
Sean Mullins YES
Ben Shockey YES
Scott Sundby YES
Derek Chinn YES
Joe Nolan YES
Tyler Graham YES
John Nelson YES
Joel Austin YES
James R Zimmerman YES
James "Z" Zimmerman YES
Jeremy Riniker YES
Dave Giegerich YES
Michael Lemberger YES
Coleman Retzlaff YES
Troy McDermott YES
Richard Woodbury YES
Rob Mckillip YES
Dennis Grelk YES
Nicholos Wethington YES
Scott Marx YES
Colin Stiemke YES
Steve McGuire YES
Corey Kronser YES
Adam Blake YES
Jesse Reyerson YES
Jerome Full YES
Devon Dyreson YES (Tandem)
Justin Meyer NA (Tandem)
20 Spots total avalible for Run and Ski
Run:
1. Angela Hill YES
2. Sheila Wilson NO
3. Tim Roe YES (TBADOR)
4. Joseph Richey YES
5. Bradley Schmidt NO
6. Rich Holmes YES
7. Seth Dudgeon YES
8. Mark Rocarek YES
9. Brad Williams NO
10. Willy Goodale YES
11. Lisa Paulos YES
12.
13.
Ski:
14. Vita Veita YES
15. Matt Maxwell YES
16. Jim Osterwell NO
17. Tim Roe YES (TBADOR)
18. Todd Erickson YES
19.
20.
There are still some entries in the mail, if yours is but you're not on the list below please send me an email at Lance.Andre @ hotmail.com
Note: racers are allowed to switch category the morning of the race.
Bikes
Laurie Woodbury YES
Grace Shirley-Couch YES
Lance Andre YES
Frank Hassler YES
Trevor Rockwell YES
Sean Mullins YES
Ben Shockey YES
Scott Sundby YES
Derek Chinn YES
Joe Nolan YES
Tyler Graham YES
John Nelson YES
Joel Austin YES
James R Zimmerman YES
James "Z" Zimmerman YES
Jeremy Riniker YES
Dave Giegerich YES
Michael Lemberger YES
Coleman Retzlaff YES
Troy McDermott YES
Richard Woodbury YES
Rob Mckillip YES
Dennis Grelk YES
Nicholos Wethington YES
Scott Marx YES
Colin Stiemke YES
Steve McGuire YES
Corey Kronser YES
Adam Blake YES
Jesse Reyerson YES
Jerome Full YES
Devon Dyreson YES (Tandem)
Justin Meyer NA (Tandem)
20 Spots total avalible for Run and Ski
Run:
1. Angela Hill YES
2. Sheila Wilson NO
3. Tim Roe YES (TBADOR)
4. Joseph Richey YES
5. Bradley Schmidt NO
6. Rich Holmes YES
7. Seth Dudgeon YES
8. Mark Rocarek YES
9. Brad Williams NO
10. Willy Goodale YES
11. Lisa Paulos YES
12.
13.
Ski:
14. Vita Veita YES
15. Matt Maxwell YES
16. Jim Osterwell NO
17. Tim Roe YES (TBADOR)
18. Todd Erickson YES
19.
20.
Triple D GPS Data
Two time DDD veteran Adam Blake pre rode the 100K (62 mile) bike route for the 2010 Triple D race with his GPS system. You can view his 6 hour ride at the GarminOnlineSite
Thanks Adam.
PS, for the runners you can use the highpoint near farley as your start (dyersville is only about 50' in elevation lower.
Thanks Adam.
PS, for the runners you can use the highpoint near farley as your start (dyersville is only about 50' in elevation lower.
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