I don’t recall ever having so many memorable rides in one year. Maybe I’ve been too caught up in training rather than just riding. Maybe I just haven’t been as adventurous riding around town. Maybe it’s because I’m older.
No matter what the reason, I had a wealth of memorable rides last year. Rides that have stuck with me, changed me. Rides that give me a little flush of adrenalin just replaying them in my head. Rides that make me feel fortunate. (more…)
We don’t need no doctor, at least a doctor telling us what most winter cyclists already know. It can be done. But for the doubters out there, here’s a recent article from the New York Times:
Extreme cold can be safe for exercisers — that runs contrary to conventional wisdom. But in fact, said John W. Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, it turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold.
Dr. Castellani was lead author of a 2006 position paper from the American College of Sports Medicine on exercising in the cold.
The big question was, “Is it ever too cold?” Dr. Castellani said. “The answer is no. People go to the poles, people are out there when it’s minus-50 degrees, people do incredible things, and safely. There really isn’t a point where you can tell people it is not safe anymore.”
Yes, it’s long overdue: www.AllYearGear.com version 4.0. The original version launched around 1997 or 1998 and was not much more than a basic Microsoft Publisher web site wrapped around some race reports. 2.0 in 2000 was a very simple Dreamweaver site. 2002 saw was a major overhaul which added photo gallery and a fancy Java applet main menu (which the search engines apparently didn’t like.)
This new version is based on a custom WordPress theme and (soon) Gallery 2.0. Over the next few weeks I hope to get all the old race reports and photos moved over to this site.
My 2006 race season is paralleling the Michigan economy: sluggish with plans to retool and and return to profitability in 2007.The epiphany came at midnight during the 24 Hours of Boyne. I had a decent lead, but felt my motor skills slipping from exhaustion. Riding a handful of laps at Boyne is pure fun. Beyond that it transitions to a struggle. Riding for 24 hours is no longer a challenge and doing the same ol’loop gets old real fast. I need more spice. I’ve been doing this Boyne race year after year. I need try some new races.
24 Hours of Boyne (Boyne Mountain Ski Resort, Michigan)
Did the singlespeed thing again, but basically stopped around midnight when the fun dropped out. Somehow, I only dropped to second place.
Hanson Hills (Grayling, Michigan)
I really enjoyed this race. I’d never ridden at Hanson before and it was just a great Michigan trail, but especially for singlespeeders. The pace was blistering at the start with Niel Scharphorn just laying it down. As he disappeared off the front, I hung on to second place. Third place eventually caught me and we traded spots back and forth. At the massive sand pit before the finish, he totally outsprinted me. Conclusion: he was faster at sprinting and his 29’r tires did better in that sand. Hmmm.
Leadville 100 (Leadville, Colorado)
This was my third time doing Leadville on a singlespeed. Unfortunately I couldn’t reproduce the results from last year’s victory. Still I can’t complain about finishing in 9.5 hours under worse conditions. The Boulevard was a muddy mess and painfully slow. Gear: 32×18
Trans-Iowa Race (The northern third of Iowa!)
How nuts is this? A 315-mile race across Iowa on dirt roads with only one aid station. It was an absolute blast. A strong wind was our face for most of the race and the temperatures dropped below freezing at night. For the most part, we rode together in groups and shared the workload. But, for the last 100 miles or so, I was on my own. I was in a mental funk from 4am until daybreak, when my body totally picked up the pace automagically. I finished fourth overall and won the singlespeed category running a 38×16 gear. Yeehaw!
24 Hours of Boyne (Boyne Mountain Ski Resort, Michigan)
I came back again for more pain and ran a slightly larger gear (38×18) than what I should have. I won the singlespeed class, but my buddy Dale Plant from Kona beat me on a singlespeed. Fortunately he raced the 40 and up class.
Lumberjack 100 (Manistee, Michigan)
This was the innaugural race and the first 100-miler in Michigan. The singlespeed class was stuffed with studs, including Mike Curiak and Dan Jansen. I raced well but not great, largely due to some questionable nutritional plans. (Hey, I thought since it was a ‘lumberjack’ race I should race with maple syrup.) Still, I can’t complain about a fifth place finish just a short ways behind Mike. Gear: 38×18
Infiterra Triathlon (Shelby Township, Michigan)
I didn’t have the best XTERRA race at Brighton a couple weeks earlier, so this was the chance to produce a little better result. For not having swam much lately, I came out of the water near the front. I picked off others on the bike and kept with a small elite group into transition. I was the first in the group to get into my running gear and hit the trail. I had a small gap and held them off, though I was unable to chase down Jim James who won the event. Still, I can’t complain about being the race runner-up.
Leadville 100 (Leadville, Colorado)
Last year’s singlespeed race at Leadville was to be a one-time thing. Well, the promoter added a singlespeed race category this year, so I had to try it again. I’m glad I did. This was one of my best races ever. I won the class in a tight back-and-forth race. And, after a furious final sprin, I barely beat the nine-hour big gold buckle by six seconds. It was a crazy, crazy finish that I won’t soon forget. Gear: 32×18