Ready to Ride

I've had 3 great rides since CTS.  Kelso with a great crew wishing Alex Bowling farewell from the dirt as he embarks on his cycle tour of points local and abroad.  Hardwood to revisit the last hardcore ride of last year.  Puslinch Lake to discover some new terrain.  DVP trails to welcome myself home and test the bike on its first ride after CTS with fresh pads.  Here is what my front pads looked like after the 2nd day.

In the meantime the steel hardtail has been a great understudy for the carbon dw-link full squish bike.  See the previous post for some fairly dramatic before and after photos of the Ibis Mojo SL.

Before and After

Before

After

CTS - My results

After crossing the finish line I knew I was later than expected and didn't want to miss the food, beer and camaraderie.  I packed the bike in the car filthy dirty, donned my jeans, Hakkalugi shirt, sun hat and real glass rose coloured lenses (none of this polycarbonate business that I've been riding with over the last 3 days) and headed back to the food tent.

A great BBQ and awards ceremony later and I was on the road home giving a ride to one of the volunteers who lived very close.  Fun conversation on his post-doctorate work in a nanotechnology lab at UoT to keep me alert on the drive and a welcome reception at home with fantastic curry to help me re-supply those depleted micro nutrients.

Results (http://www.cranktheshield.com/results.html)
Day 1 28/45 in the 30-39 male (my time 6h10m – fastest was 3h32m – slowest was 8h46m)
Day 2 28/40 in the 30-39 male (my time 6h31m – fastest was 3h37m – slowest was 9h22m)
Day 3 38/41 in the 30-39 male (my time 5h11m – fastest was 2h41m – slowest was 6h18m)
I placed 29th of 40 finishers in my category with a total time in the saddle of 17h53m – 167th of 211 overall.

Can't wait until next year's single day event where I can drag along all my friends and also participate in the charitable Paul's Dirty Enduro.  2011 may even eclipse 2010 for MTB greatness.

Pictoral evidence of my experience can be found here:
http://racedayrush.zoomphoto.ca/v5/event_gallery_search.php?frmIndex=140&submit=Search&event=13355&photog=racedayrush

CTS Day 3 - Handicap

Day 3 I woke up, ate a quick small breakfast and prepped my pack and bike.  I was going to ride. 

Enjoyed a beautiful, if cold, 10K neutral ride to the start of the 3rd stage at a ski resort.  I started near the back again to avoid slowing anyone up and then proceeded to pass riders up the hill.  Hooked up with Tom, a dinner companion from the night before, who was riding at about the same pace (he had missed the start and was trying to get up in the pack to riders at his level).  I anxiously completed the relatively technical (read – slow) downhill section by staying way back over the rear tire to keep it from losing traction and locking up - it was my only resistance to the force of gravity.  Since I wasn’t loading the front tire with braking forces my steering was super accurate and everything worked out fine.  This new approach to riding was fun!  Tom, my new ad hoc riding partner, knew we had a long paved section ahead and suggested we start a draft.  This would be a first for me but I knew the theory and agreed with excitement.  We started out and encouraged anyone we passed to join in if they could keep up.  In the end there were four of us taking turns in the lead and pushing really hard.  We were a freight train pushing past other riders seemingly effortlessly.  It was very exhilarating.  At one point Tom, feeling responsible for keeping the group together, looked back over his shoulder after giving up the lead position.  When he looked back to front he had gained slightly on the lead rider and their tires were now overlapping (meaning they could not move side to side without contact).   Unfortunately, the adage ‘look where you want to go’ applies equally to looking at what you want to avoid and since he was fixated on the lead rider’s rear tire he inadvertently yet seemingly inevitably moved into it.  I heard the rub and reacted to create space around Tom who was right in front of me.  Luckily everyone else close did the same.  Tom tried to correct but going down at this point was basically unavoidable.  He crashed  and slid hard on the pavement but as we all stopped he jumped right back up, checked himself and his bike and kept right on riding.  He even lead a couple more pulls of the group draft before we turned off into the woods.  Unfortunately he was forced to stop for aid before the end of the race and was unable to finish.  Thankfully he greeted me at the end all smiles – whew!  Further excitement awaited as I completed a fantastic swooping gravel downhill section (again, the Mojo is perfect for this) and had to pull up with a flat in the rear.  My guess is that since I was loading the rear tire to keep traction while braking I applied too much force and punctured on something that otherwise I would have rolled over without incident.  I run tubeless so I tried my first CO2 cartridge after checking the bead was still seated to see if it would self-heal.  No luck with that so I pulled off the tire and inserted my first tube and then used my last CO2 cartridge to inflate the tire and rode on.  Unfortunately I flatted again about ten kilometers later which I believe was due to rushing the first fix and folding the tube.  I located the leak, carefully inspected the tire at that point for any foreign objects, inserted my last tube and started to pump.  A passing rider gave me one of his CO2 cartridges to speed this process along (thanks Mike!) and I was back in motion.  The remainder of the race passed without further mishap but it was fairly slow.  I was running low on energy at this point and the trail had become muddy again.  The weather was gorgeous though and my spirits picked up for the very fun section that the organizers had saved for the finale of the race.  Crossing the start finish line was a relief.

CTS Day 2 - Waking Up

Waking up for Day 2 was not as difficult as I anticipated and prepping for the 3.5K neutral ride to the start was going well until my cabin mate mentioned that he had needed to change his brake pads after yesterday’s bogs.  Panic - calm down - deal with it - split second over.  I had not checked the condition of my pads until this point and discovered that the rear had worn unevenly and one side was completely gone.  Worse, a further casualty of my gear reduction while packing was the very specifically sized torx bit required to change these pads out.  The Trek Store tech had bits too large and too small and the Norco techs also did not have the correct bit until the manager dug a little deeper into his chest and found the right size on a multi-tool.  Fresh pads on the rear I headed for the start and made it just in time to push the bike under the start timing gate to scan my chip before they started tearing it down.  Whew!

Those of you paying attention will notice that I only changed my rear pads.  I run Formula R1 hydraulic disc brakes on the Mojo SL and they are far and away the best brakes I have ever used.  However finding stock of pads at the end of the season for these relatively esoteric units turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated.  I had to resort to mail ordering a set of pads from MEC which worked out great except that I underestimated my needs and only brought one set.  This will matter in a moment…

Day 2 started with a good climb (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49743019) which the Mojo is very adept at and since I had done quite a bit of training for climbs so I passed all of the short course (non competitive category) folks quickly.  Got some encouragement from the previous night’s dinner table companions on the way up and was rocking the first section passing the back of the long course rider pack.  Trail conditions were good and since we were on solid Canadian Shield rock the puddles were not muddy and you could roll right through most and just get wet – not muddy.  This was much better for the brakes but, unfortunately, since I had not changed the front pads there was still enough grit to finish off the work of day 1 and shortly I was riding without front brakes.  I kept my speed in check for turns and downhills so even the reduced braking force of only my rear brakes would still be sufficient to keep me out of the weeds.  I continued to make good time as the terrain was fairly wide open for the second half of the day and my legs were strong.  At one point I was stopped by a man on a mountain bike heading the other direction on one of the road sections when he asked:
“Where do you get into the woods”
“I’m not sure but I’m following these ribbons so I know it we must be on the right track”
“We? Ribbons?  Is this some sort of event”
“Yes <laugh> I’ve already ridden 50K!”
“What’s it called”
“Crank the Shield”
“OK, good luck and I’ll join next year”
I continued but doubt had entered my mind and there were no ribbons for quite some time.  As I was considering the odds that I had gone wrong and was not looking forward to having to climb all these hills to get back to a known good location when I spotted a rider stopped at the top of a hill ahead.  He saw me as well likely coming to the same conclusion (blind leading the blind) started off again in order to not give up his spot easily.  I gradually reeled him in, spoke briefly as I passed to confirm that we were indeed on the right path and then continued pushing along.  I found the key on these stable road sections was to keep my heart rate very near 150BPM to ensure I wasn’t burning energy too quickly but while still pushing as hard as my training would allow.  Predictably, when I was next forced to dismount for water he caught up.  We rode together in the great section of single track – normally I’m very fast at this style of riding on this bike but without a front brake I was taking it easy.  This rest pace allowed me to sprint hard from the 1KM sign and finish well ahead my impromptu riding partner.

A great dinner on Day 2 followed by some time spent attempting to source a set of pads for my front brakes.  No luck with Trek and even though Norco had called the nearest store in Bracebridge to send their entire inventory up only the Shimano models had sufficient supply.  All the others, Avid, Hayes, Hope, Formula, etc – were out of luck.  I now had to decide whether or not to start day 3 with a known mechanical weakness.  Time for a massage and some sleep before making any decisions.

CTS Day 1 - The hardest day

Day 1 was the hardest day (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49742433 - note that the Garmin is about 10% low in estimating distance and time due to the tight nature of our path). 

We all started together (standard mass start) and spent most of the first half of our time in the field pushing bikes up muddy hills or through bog mud puddles in single file.  Everyone I was near was frustrated.  It opened up in the second half of the day which was much better but that’s when I started to chance riding through some of the easier mud traps.  A deep one stopped me dead and I was over the handle bars and into the mud.  This is where the spare set of gloves I was encouraged to pack came in super handy (pun intended) as my grip was suddenly compromised by all the goop 100% coating my hands past the wrist.   I also ended up falling on one knee in another puddle after a misstep and received my only big bruise of the event (luckily).  Without having done this before it was also very difficult to judge how I was managing energy levels on the first day.  However with so many dismounts fueling was easy so this did not turn out to be an issue other than a mental challenge (thanks Hammer!).

After Day 1 I cleaned the bike, lubed the chain and all was good.  The bike had performed admirably.  Great food at dinner and good conversation with other riders.  I got a couple more new trails recommended in south western Ontario in conversation with other cool participants and finished the day with a fantastic onsite massage before hitting the sack.

CTS: Packing

This took forever even though I’ve been planning for weeks. I had to dump some less likely to be used gear from the list in order to make everything fit in the slightly smaller test bag that I had at home.  The official CTS bag had more than enough room for everything I needed.  The biggest casualty here was my backup Camelback which would have come in really handy once I arrived at the start to discover that I had left my primary water bladder drying at home…  I had to make do with my fuel bottle (Hammer Perpetuem 2h bottle) and add my 500mL Kleen Kanteen for water in the pack.  This was sufficient to make it the roughly 20K between aid stations but really slowed me down as I had to dismount if I wanted to take water.  The let everyone I had just passed (yes, I was predominantly passing people as I purposefully started near the back every day) overtake me and meant that I found it difficult to find my own rhythm and establish a pace with the riders around me.  A side benefit was the break this gave me – my legs were always strong after a moment of rest while drinking.

My packing list based on the listed supplied by a CTS email update:

Riding Clothes:
3 regular jerseys
3 long sleeve jerseys
3 cycling shorts
4 socks (wool preferably - 1 wrapped in plastic bag for pak)
2 pairs cycling gloves (1 wrapped in plastic bag for pak)
Sun glasses + spare set + lenses
2x Shoes (1 or 3 would have been better - my second pair is lace up and pulled off in the mud on the 3rd day)
Helmet
Long pants for the neutral rides to the start of day 2 and 3.
Vaseline for the knees on cold starts
Cycling raincoat

Off Bike Clothing:
2x Comfortable long pants
Bathing suit that can double as shorts if warm
2x long sleeved shirt
Down vest
2x short sleeved shirt
3x underwear
2x comfy wool socks
Sun hat
sleep wear (long cotton pants and a soft t-shirt)
Shoes –can double with shower shoes- but will want them to be very comfortable and loose fitting
waterproof gloves (overkill it turns out)

Camp Gear:
Sleeping bag
pillow (actually I skipped this and used one of the long sleeved t-shirt stuffed with my down vest - much better!)
Towel
Shower shoes (see above, my water running shoes were perfect with wool socks for after the shower scene)
3x Plastic bags for wet clothes
Camera (I skipped this as well - see Race Day Rush for some captured moments)
Headlamp (very good!)
Garmin + charger (heart rate monitor made pacing much easier)
 
Toiletries:
Chamois cream
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Contact lense stuff (including spares)
Shampoo, Conditioner and soap
Sunscreen (very important for us redheads
Bug spray
Ibuprofen and methocarbamol flavours (Robaxacet - I assume no liability for this recommendation)
Lip balm

Spares bag:
spare brake pads (ouch - read more about this later and take multiple sets in the future)
2 tubes (whew! just enough)
patch kit
lube
chain in grease
pedals
shift cable
2x tires
spare spokes (a good idea that I didn't implement this time around)

Nutrition:
Hydration Pack (including bladder! argh!)
Hammer Perpetuem - put 2 hour servings in ziploc bags for mixing in bottle with water supplied at aid stations
Hammer Recoverite: drink immediately after finishing race before cleaning bike and possibly again at the end of the night to load and avoid cramps)
Clif Bars just in case - Chico does provide them at the aid stations.
Some sort of gel for when you feel a bonk coming on since you haven't been drinking enough Perpetuem
Trail mix before bed (Chico fed us so well that I didn't actually break into mine and am still working my way through it at home)
Electrolyte tabs (very important - with these I FULLY avoided cramps - whoot!)

On Bike Gear (some of this pulled from the above and some dedicated allocation):
camelback /w 1.5L water (more can be supplied at aid stations if needed)
water bottle /w 600mL solution mounted on bike (Hammer Perpeteum)
Electrolytes 12 per day (36 in total - but I forgot to take them regularly and it was OK)
Carb/protien powder (3x2x70cc scoop bags of Perpetuem) x3 = 18 in total
1 clif bar @ start of race + more at aid stations
Duct tape- bring a small amount to fix anything
Multi-tool
Derailler hanger
Quick link
Shift cable
2x spare tubes
CO2 kit (big cartidges if you can find them)
Pump
Patch kit /wTire levers
Phone
ID and health card
$20
Spare socks and gloves in a plastic bag
Rain jacket - if this won't fit use a small vest - if this won't fit adapt a plastic bag :)

Crank The Sheild event report: Not as difficult as working for a living and much more unique.

I've just completed a most challenging event that I've been prepping for since either August 2009, March, or July of this year depending on how extensive you need to evaluate 'training'.  Many thanks to first Sandy for riding with me while I re-kindled the MTB flame, my cousin John for encouraging me into the full CTS experience, Alex for polishing my training in hardcore style, Luke @ FITS for kicking my hamstrings into high gear, Claire for supporting my distraction, and myself for reinforcing that hobbies like this are especially worthwhile due to being both enjoyable and healthy.

Overall this has been a fantastic experience.  For details on the 230KM mountain bike race and how it stacks up in terms of commitment refer to the offical site here: http://www.cranktheshield.com/  In subsequent posts I will details the phases of the event.