Rouge Roubaix

105 miles of dirt, mud, gravel, and pavement in various conditions. My second official road race. Advertised as an "extreme", "challenging" road race, I found it more appealing than typical road events. And it didn't disappoint.

We started off Sunday morning after a night of rain and a cold front. The first four miles were a neutral roll out. After that, we continued on at a fairly easy pace - it was a long way to go, and nobody wanted to burn themselves out in the first half. I found myself on the front a few times but did my best not to stay there long. We hit the first gravel section around mile twenty-five, and as I expected, the group split. This was my element, so I found myself in the fast group. I was having a lot of fun sliding in the mud, trying to pick the fastest lines.

When we hit pavement again, the pace started to ramp up. I was keeping up fairly well, but it was challenging. Racing in a big group is about like driving on the interstate in a medium sized city during rush hour. Just as motorists aren't really taught how to drive and only act in their own self-interest, so it goes with road bike racing. It's mentally exhausting to constantly watch everyone else to know when to accelerate and brake, while avoiding debris and always anticipating a crash.

Around mile fifty-five someone tried to coordinate a pee break. There seemed to be a general consensus within the group; however, only six of us stopped. It was so worth it, though, as we watched the rest of the group ride off. Block House Hill was coming up in ten miles, and I expected to catch up with at least part of the group there. Block House is a three-hundred foot, dirt road climb. It turned out not to be as bad as it sounds. I did catch several racers walking up the hill, but the main group was gone.

From then on, I was mostly riding solo. Other riders came and went. I worked with some of them for a few miles, but no team work lasted. I hit the third gravel section around mile eighty-five and finally realized how tired I was. This section contained several short steep hills - a few of them I walked. I started eating all the food I had left to counter-act my exhaustion. The last twenty-five miles were definitely the most challenging, but also the most enjoyable as I had the whole road to myself. Most roadies seem to hate riding solo. I guess it's slightly more work and/or slightly slower at times, but riding in a group takes too much concentration. Riding solo, I was free to admire the oak trees, Spanish moss, old houses, and rolling grassy fields.

I finished in just under six hours, decently tired but in a good mood. I would consider doing it again, especially if I had a more suitable bike. For the most part, my road bike handled fine in the dirt and gravel. It was the mud that gave me trouble. The very limited space between the tires and frame would get clogged producing significant drag on the wheels and hindering braking performance.

It was indeed a challenging road race, but it was still just a road race. It pales in comparison to endurance mountain bike races. I'm still unsure about road races in general. Riding in such a big group is nerve-racking and usually the least fun part of the weekend. Just as I don't care for night clubs or large crowds in general, I don't really care for pacelines or pack riding. Cycling is freedom, and riding in a big group takes away that freedom. Even club rides usually have someone telling you where/how to ride. Road racing just doesn't excite me like good singletrack does. It is good training though, and the first mountain bike race of the year is next weekend: Tuffburg!

Cross Winds Classic

Today, I competed in my first standard format road race in Little Rock, AR. I've previously done a couple of crits, which are short, circuit races, but today's race consisted of three laps of a thirteen mile course.

My biggest fear going into the race was crashing. Having crashed in my first crit, I had biased expectations of road racing, but this race wasn't nearly as intense or hectic as crit racing. It was fast, and several riders had no handling skills. But it didn't feel too dangerous.

I started at the back, stayed there the whole time, and finished at the back of the pack. I'm now nearly an expert at riding at the back. The first lap was more intense than the other two. Everyone was excited and full of energy. A terrible accordion effect developed and persisted through much of the race, where everyone would accelerate, brake, accelerate, brake, accelerate, brake.... It's exhausting to ride this way. To minimise this, I would watch three or four riders ahead to determine whether to pedal or coast, and trying to brake as little as possible. Clearly a lot of people only watched the rider directly in front of them; every few minutes I'd smell burning rubber either from brake pads on carbon rims or tires skidding.

I, also, quickly learned to watch for any gaps forming between the riders in front of me and the rest of the group. The first few times these gaps became large and I had to accelerate hard to catch back up to the pack. After that, I started to recognize the gap sooner and made sure to close it while it was still relatively easy.

Several riders had very poor form - swerving, rocking their bike back and forth excessively, making sudden movements and cutting across the lane. Some of them were dropped in the first lap, others I made sure to steer clear of. In the second half of the race, when the pace had smoothed out some, I let myself relax a little. I noticed what a nice day it was - sunny and a cool 55 degrees. It was a great day for a ride. It was amusing to watch roadies brake for grass clippings in the road or a gravel driveway or oncoming traffic when we were only in the right lane.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned from this race is that my fuel strategy worked! In my last post I mentioned I've been eating more fat and fewer carbs to train my body to run on fat. So, this morning's breakfast consisted of eggs and bacon early in the morning, with a few handfuls of peanuts before the race. No sugar, no carbs; only water during the race. There were plenty of carbs in the pizza last night, however, and in the rice and beans at the Mexican restaurant we stopped at for a late lunch afterwards. After nearly two hours of hard riding, I felt great - like I could've ridden for another two hours. I'm excited to see if the next couple of races confirm these results.

I finished at the back of the pack, which is all I had hoped for. I had no illusions of placing in this race; I just wanted to keep it rubber side down and not get dropped. Given my success with mountain biking, I don't mind being pack fodder for some roadies.

The Second Cup of Coffee

is better when you've worked for it. Recently, I've been trying to train my body to run on fat instead of sugar by doing callisthenics and running 3-4 miles in the mornings (after one cup of coffee but before breakfast) and consuming a high fat/protein, semi-low-carb diet. Not because I have much fat to burn, but because, from what I've read, fat is a much better fuel. Someone my size with 10% body fat has 55,000 Calories stored as fat! Versus maybe 2000 Calories in the form of glycogen. Being able to efficiently burn fat could potentially eliminate the dreaded bonk at the ~2 hour mark as well as alleviate the blood sugar/energy level swings associated with a high carb intake.

I don't have the desire or discipline to follow a strict diet (what would be a ketogenic diet); I like pizza too much. But, I can cut out rice, pasta, and high sugar foods, and replace them with meat, veggies, and high fat snacks like nuts and yogurt*. It's a somewhat controversial diet** - consuming fatty meats, oils, butter, etc. - but I haven't come across any negative results. It seems to be gaining popularity with endurance athletes like Tour Divide racers as well as people trying to lose weight. In any case it'll be an interesting experiment.

*I recently bought some high protein, full fat, Greek yogurt, not realizing that it would basically taste like sour cream - so much so, that I wouldn't hesitate to put it on a taco. It's good with some honey and nuts mixed in though.

**Side rant: It seems most diets are controversial. It drives me crazy that nutrition is debated like politics or religion. Nutrition is a hard science (I could argue the other two should be as well, but another day). It should be nailed down by now, but I suppose recent agricultural advancements keep things stirred up. And, I'm sure long-term effects are difficult to study, but still. It also drives me crazy when people use vague, almost meaningless terms like 'all-natural', 'organic', or 'non-GMO'. There are many things that are natural and extremely poisionous. Unless you're eating rocks, all food is organic. 'Natural/organic' pesticides are no less harmful than synthesised ones, not that there are significant amounts of either in grocery store foods. And, to imply that genetic modification is inherently harmful is ridiculous; whether it's done through selective breeding or in a lab makes no difference.

For what it's worth, I've also tried a semi-vegetarian diet, but after a few weeks, the protein deficiency was quite noticeable. It's too early to draw any conclusions about a semi-keto diet, but so far so good. My blood sugar/energy level seems to stay consistent throughout the day.

In other news, the Mississippi Off-Road Cycling Series has been disbanded, and from the ashes, has risen the Gulf South Regional Mountain Bike Series which includes races from Mobile, Al to Jackson, MS to Baton Rouge, LA. What this means for the Clear Creek Challenge in Oxford, I still don't know. Perhaps it'll survive as a part of the Mid-South Mountain Bike Race Series (as it was last year). Currently the MMBRS Facebook page is down, so maybe another reformation is in the works. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I've also started another blog as a portfolio for various engineering projects. If you're into that sort of thing, you can find a link in the sidebar and here: B.R.Lee Designs

A Year with Strava

Stats for 2016:

5239 Miles
461 Hours
226-ish Rides

Last year I tracked everything with Strava - commuting miles, leisure rides, everything. This year it'll be more of a training tool as I cut back on social media usage. There are several things I like about it - seeing what friends and the competition are up to, racing segments, tracking my own progress. My only complaint is when I got an email entitled 'How to get more Kudos!'... Seriously. Proof that social media is designed to be addictive.

Last year I raced fairly competitively but not as well as I would've liked, especially in the fall. Recovering from the TNGA and a busy football/work season made it difficult to train. This year, however, I'll be stepping it up a few notches, adding intervals and running into my training. Running should help keep my cardio up when my cycling muscles are tired from pedalling the rickshaw.

Early season races:

Tuff Guy Ride - Late February; 60 miles in Oxford including the Whirlpool Trails, Clear Creek Trails, and the road inbetween. I don't recall my time last year, but I remember running out of water. This time I'll have my frame bag and 3L hydration bladder. It's not technically a race, but I'm shooting for under 4 hours.

Rouge Roubaix - Early March; 100 miles of crappy pavement, dirt, and gravel. It's a road bike event, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect.

After that, the Mississippi Off Road Cycling Series begins in late March/early April. With training season in full swing now, I'm looking forward to seeing if this hard work pays off.

Early Resolutions

Sometimes I miss my days in Colorado with no TV and little to no Internet. It forced me to live a more productive and more interesting life. But, now that I'm not living in the Boondocks anymore, I've fallen back into old habits. It's easier to be forced than to summon the will power to step away from the TV. Fortunately some shows are just aweful enough to make me think about doing something else. For instance, the other day I turned on the TV and found a video game competition (I think) on TBS. Who wants to watch other people play video games? What.....the.....Fuck? Surely TV stations must be dying if their scraping that low in the barrel. One of my new year's resolutions is to read a book whenever I get the urge to watch TV. I usually feel guilty reading for fun instead of studying, but I think I can maintain a good balance (It's better than TV anyways).

The other part of this resolution is the Internet. Crappy TV shows are easy to avoid, but the Internet has genuinely interesting things. I can spend hours exploring the rabbit holes from article to article. But while a lot of articles are interesting, they add no value to my life. Some of them can actually be mentally draining. Facebook has become an infinite source of rabbit holes and is a complete mental minefield. Thanks to the recent assault of political posts, I've realised what a huge time-suck Facebook really is. It's nauseating to see post after post spewing lies and hate. Sometimes even from close friends and family. So, to avoid starting a lot of unproductive arguments, I went through and unfollowed everyone except for close current friends and select family members. Still, I'd rather abstain from it altogether. I'll keep an active account for now, but it may be deleted before too long. Cutting out Facebook should increase my online productivity by quite a large margin. My second resolution: waste less time.

I also have a goal of riding more miles than I drive. This year I'll break 5000 miles on the bike, but will have driven around 8000. It would be difficult to ride more, so my plan is simply to drive less. Right now, I really only drive to get groceries every couple of weeks and on long distance trips. I probably won't keep track of my biking miles as religiously as I have this year, so I'll focus on getting my driving miles down to around 5000 or so.

Another goal is to get the cycling club more active. The core group of four racers are really the only ones that ride regularly. Next semester we'll come up with a better schedule for more social-paced rides. My mission is to get people riding without the core group so that the club will survive when we're gone.

Lastly, my final goal is to spend less money. That number is already pretty low, but I can certainly spend less on bikes. A four bike fleet is more than enough to keep me occupied, and the occasional maintenance is fairly inexpensive. Also, driving less will save money, and the cycling club is now allocated enough money to cover travel expenses, entry fees, and race licenses. So there you have it: my resolutions for 2017 - most have already been put into practice.

Speed Theory

Rule Number 1: Always ride for fun first.

When you ride for fun, riding is it's own motivation. It's not a workout. It's not exercise. There is only the intrinsic joy of being in the woods, conquering climbs and technical sections, and ripping the descents. In general, I find it's more fun to ride fast, and good endurance means you can have fun longer. So, here's my take on how to do that.

Speed on a mountain bike can be broken down into two major categories: fitness and technique. Most people put too little emphasis on technique. It's evident in races when they slow up in the tight sections, but hammer the straight-a-ways. It's also evident when I go on road rides and eat the dust of people I could beat on the trails. I think most of my competition on the trail could destroy me on the road.

Technique
Acceleration takes a lot of energy, so the more speed one can carry, the easier and faster one can ride. This is why technique is important, specifically cornering. To maintain speed through a corner, one also needs to maintain traction or at least slide predictably and as little as possible. At high speeds, traction depends less on tread pattern and more on line choice. The most traction is generally found along the outside edge of the turn. Traction also depends on suspension setup and weight distribution. Experimentation is key here. Loose corners need to be taken with very little weight on the handlebars to keep the front wheel from washing out. Bumpy corners need a lot of weight on the handlebars to keep the tire planted (assuming you have good suspension set up properly).

Another good technique is to look several seconds ahead rather than at what you're immediately about to run over. Make a mental note of obstacles and anticipate when you'll hit them. By looking ahead, you'll be able to brake less and maintain more speed. It takes a little practice, but I noticed an immediate speed increase when I figured this out. A word of caution: this technique can get you in trouble quick when riding on a layer of pinestraw or in tight trees.

Good posture is also important and trumps being aero - applies to both road and trail. Shoulders down, arms slightly bent, spine elongated; expect to use lots of core strength. Correct handlebar height and width is important; I'm fairly short and still ride 720mm bars level with the seat. Rarely is a slammed stem a good idea. Good posture will let you take advantage of your full lung capacity and help you maintain control.

Fitness
Fitness gets covered a lot, and there are lots of theories on how to improve. It basically boils down to strength and lactate threshold. Strength can be built with intervals (not fun), single speeds (lots of fun), and driving rickshaws (fun and profitable). Lactate threshold determines what power output one can sustain. For a newer rider, ten minute intervals are good, otherwise, racing and race-paced rides are good ways to bump up this speed limit. I find that LT training is best done on solo road rides.

I like to find that race-pace sweet spot and hover around that level of power output. I may go above threshold when riding uphill but not so much that I blow up. Then dip slightly below threshold on the downhills but only enough to recover. Learning to recover while maintaining speed (or even accelerating) is another key point. I find it's best to shift positions and focus on engaging different muscle groups. For instance I'll sit forward and engage my quads on the climbs, then shift back and focus on pulling up on the pedals on the descents.

Efficiency
When you put technique and fitness together, you get efficiency. A constant power output is much more efficient than on and off hard pedalling. Unfortunately, XC racing is largely on/off, but maintaining speed through the corners and momentum up and over the hills can increase efficiency. This is a major concern even in a two hour race and more so for longer races. Maintaining flow is usually faster than cycles of hard pedalling and hard braking.

Structure (or lack of)
I understand that some people are motivated by numerical improvements and thrive in a structured routine with scheduled intensity levels, but I've never been one of those people. Sure it's cool to see mileage and average speed, but beyond that I get bored. Power meters, heart rate monitors, cadence sensors, and even cycling computers are all unnecessary. I have one simple computer on my road bike for keeping up with mileage and time, but that's it. I prefer to ride by feel. Even in the TNGA I didn't track mileage. I have more fun just riding.

Structure may be unnecessary, but variation is good: short fast rides, long slow rides, short slow rides, long fast rides... Ride how you feel. Ride for as long as you want. There are days when you'll need to apply Rule #5: HTFU. And then there are days when knowing your limit is key. Rest days are good. Sometimes rest weeks are even necessary after a hard month of riding.

In conclusion, ride a lot, ride fast, ride slow, experiment with weight distribution and bike setup, practice the technical sections, and if you find yourself crashing too much, you're not riding fast enough.

Hard Nox 50

If there's one thing a state park should do before an event, it's restock the toilet paper in the bathroom. I used to always keep a roll in my truck, and I guess I need to keep one in the hatchback. Fortunately one of the racers found a handful for a few of us to share.

The Hard Nox 50 started off on foot with a short jog to the bike. I'm not much of a runner anymore, especially in bike shoes, but I figured I had plenty of time to catch up on the bike. The first twelve miles or so were spent doing just that - rubbing tires in the singletrack and passing when it opened up. Halfway through the first lap, I'd made it to fourth. A few miles later, I was in second with third on fourth on my tail. Up until this point, I was riding extremely well. I was hauling ass and felt great. I could hear the guys behind me breathing much harder than I was. I felt sure that I could outlast them. I'm going to be optimistic and say that at that pace I could've gotten first.

But after about an hour and a half, I hit a wall. It started with a big-ass snake lying in the middle of a switchback, which broke my concentration and forced me to step off the bike. Not the best time to be putting a foot down. As I watched third and fourth pass me and suffer up the hill in misery, I thought to myself, "That doesn't look fun." I didn't really feel like chasing after them again. A series of demoralizing climbs - where the trail builders forgot what switchbacks were - further dampened my mood. I switched from race-pace to endurance-pace to finish the first lap.

I crossed the line, started the second lap, and came to realize that eating a Clif Bar when your mouth is dry is nearly impossible. I used almost half a water bottle to flush it down. A few miles into lap two, I would've sworn that this entire course was uphill. Big climbs followed by short descents; where it evens out, I still don't know. Now in seventh, I stopped at the sag halfway through to refill my water bottle and speed up my rebound for the upcoming roots - hard to say if it really helped.

I kept on cruising even though it wasn't really fun anymore. I was tired of racing and started thinking about the off season when I can focus more on fun and less on speed. It was hot when I hit the steep climbs again. I even walked one of them and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to push a light bike up a hill. I stopped again a few miles from the finish to refill at a water fountain. I could've made it, but I was already pretty dehydrated at that point.

I crossed the finish in seventh overall and fifth in my age group. There was a fast old guy and a really fast barely-old guy. Eventhough I did pretty well, I'm still disappointed for not riding as well as I could've. My time was even a few minutes slower than last year, but I've accepted it as the price I pay during recovery from the TNGA. Staying fuelled up for an endurance ride is easy; I can eat just about anything. But staying fuelled up to maintain race-pace is something that eludes me. You can bet I'll figure it out before next year though.