Strava Data
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| The Podium Ceremonies moved into a shelter as a massive thunder storm hit the park! |
As part of my plan to build some good bike miles and gain experience / confidence in bike handling ahead of the cyclocross season, I entered a round of the Tri-State 6 hour series. My schedule with family & other racing prevented me from making a consistent attempt at this series but the format was really appealing to me and the East Fork race fell on a free weekend between DINO races. The race was superbly organized and the whole crowd of racers & supporters had a real community feel about it - people helping each other out, no egos, just a lot of fun - this is definitely a race series I'll consider next year. Kent Baumgardt was there taking pictures as well which means everyone in the race gets great photos to share on facebook and in blogs, kudos to Kent for his relentless support of cycling events in the region.
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| Nutrition Plan for 6 hours - SkratchLabs, UGo Bars and Quaff ON! |
After my nutrition failure at the Muscatatuck race the previous weekend, I was determined to drink a bottle on every lap and to eat during the race. This might sound basic, but most of my endurance riding experience is on the road when it's easy to sit up for a moment, drink, reach round to your jersey pockets and get food. On a mountain bike in the forest, it's a completely different story, finding time to grab anything is a challenge. I was also determined to use real food as much as possible because 6 hours worth of gels and blocks was something I simply couldn't face. I'm a big fan of SkratchLabs and the Feedzone Portables principles of making real food for exercise, but gels are really easy to access and I took a leaf from my triathlon racing by taping 6 gels to my top tube which meant no reaching behind to find food on the trail.
At the end of each lap we passed through the "pit" area to pick up a fresh bottle and more food. After this there was a section on paved roads to connect back up with the trail system in the park, making it the perfect opportunity to eat. I had a mixture of PB&J sandwiches cut into bit sizes with no crust and bananas cut in half, as well as some UGo salty bars to help stave off cramps. All this was willingly passed up to me as I rode through by Joanna Matuszak who was there supporting the eventual winner, Tomas Golas.
The lap followed twisty single track around the park. There were lots of roots, some challenging obstacles and beautiful scenery - however the start was about a 3/4 mile dash uphill on pavement. Determined to be more aggressive on the start, I went into the first section of single track 4th wheel. It was immediately apparent there were plenty of people with better trail skills behind me, there were also a lot of people in the team relay race who were on a one lap mission instead of a steady 6 hour effort. I gradually let the faster riders pass and the pack quickly thinned out over the first lap. It then became a question of mentally staying on top of the level of effort (not trying too hard); finding time to eat and trying to remember where I was on the lap & what came next.
For most of the race, I was riding solo occasionally either passing or being passed by riders in the team relay race. It was only on the last lap that I started to see some of the solo race plates ahead of me and I was excited to push on in an attempt to pass a few people & make up places in the race - I was pretty tired at this point and it didn't dawn on me until after the finish that these were actually people a lap down, so it wasn't for position anyway! In the moment, though, it gave me something to aim for and push through the final lap fatigue.
The race is organized to finish at exactly 6 hours, any distance completed after that time isn't counted, so results are based on the time each rider completed their last full lap. On my 6th lap, I crossed the line after 5 hours 14 minutes - my lap times had consistently been in the 50-53 minute range so there was no way that I could complete a 7th lap in the remaining time - I rolled to a halt and opened a beer!
I was happy to finish 4th overall in the Male Solo race - looking at the results afterwards, it's amazing how small differences add up - I could have made that 7th lap if I'd averaged 1 minute less per lap, on a 50 minute lap, that is a pretty small margin and I could have likely made that difference by just pushing harder on the pavement section at the start of each lap, but then I wouldn't have eaten as effectively which would have influenced my performance later in the race. All the analysis in the world can't change what happened and in the end it comes down to going as hard as you feel you can over the time - I did that, I was pleased with my preparation and nutrition through the race so there's no regrets.
Here are some of Kent's great pictures from the race:
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| The end of the pavement dash at the start of the race |
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| Picking my way down the trail |
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| Dodging the trees |
Here is the preparation notes I made before the race:
Kit
- Spare wheels
- 3 x spare tubes 29er
- CO2
- Track pump
- Chain lube
- Spare chain
- Spare brake pads
- Tool box
- Check saddle bag tool kit - chain tool, wrenches etc
- Duct tape
- Insulation tape
- Chamois cream
- Umbrella shade & pegs
- Cooler
- Sun screen
Clothing
- Bibs & jersey (2014 strip)
- Spare bibs & jersey (2013 strip)
- Helmet - Bontrager
- Spare helmet - Giro
- Full finger gloves
- Spare full finger gloves
- Spare short finger gloves
- Spare socks
- Under helmet hat (light weight)
- 2 x clear glasses
- Sun glasses
- Towel
Nutrition
> Assume 1 x 20oz bottle per hour plus 1 on drive to event plus 1 pre race plus 1 spare = 9 total
- Water - 2 x gallons spring water
- Skratch Labs powder - make up all bottles pre-race - need to get 4 additional Bicycle Station bottles
- Small (16 oz) bottle on 2nd cage tied in as back-up in case I lose the main bottle
- 4 x back-up Gatorade 20oz bottles
- Smoothie for pre-start
- PB&J - Assume 1 per lap (5) half sandwiches
- Trail mix (salty)
- Salty chips - 2 packets
- Gels - 6 taped to top tube (3 caffine, 3 not caffine)
- Shot bloks - two packets (carry in jersey pocket)
- Bananas x 4 - cut in half for easy access
- Beer - 2 x Quaff ON! growler with Hare Trigger
- Ice for cooler
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