DINO Mountain Bike Race - Versailles State Park - Race Report

12th overall (Pro / C1); 6th in wave (C1); 2nd 40-49 Age Group - Results
Strava Data

My 3rd weekend of mountain bike racing in 3 weeks was another in the DINO race series.  We love Versailles State Park and made a weekend of the race - it was great that many friends were able to join us and we made some new friends whilst we were there.
I just realized that I don't have any pictures from the weekend so this will be a boring text only write-up.

Lap 1
After two weeks of racing leading up to this, I was feeling more confident on my mountain bike and I have ridden the trails before.  The race starts with a long dash on grass and then heads up hill on single track - I was determined to make a good start and use my advantage of climbing speed early in the race.  This worked out for me, hitting the trail in 4th wheel, the front 3 riders quickly separated from me but I was opening up a real gap behind which I held for nearly all of the first lap despite being aware of riders in the woods behind me getting closer in the twisty technical sections that I always struggle with.  I was just starting to feel confident when a momentary lapse in concentration had me hit a tree with my right shoulder and I was on the ground with the bike on top of me.  I really had made a gap, it was some time before the next rider came past me as I tried to unclip from my pedals and find my glasses in the undergrowth!

Lap 2
I chased hard keeping the one rider who had passed me in sight as we grabbed fresh bottles, started the 2nd lap and climbed again.  I closed the gap down but couldn't pass so I took a bit of recovery - this is when I discovered I picked up the wrong bottle and had only water, not energy drink.  After the climb I lost ground and let another two riders pass me, then Denny, a team-mate from The Bicycle Station caught up to me and I let him pass but was determined to stick on his wheel.  Denny is an awesome trail rider and I found myself carrying speed through turns as I followed his lines.  We caught the group of 3 riders who had passed me since the race start just as we hit another rough, steep climb.  Denny went for the pass and I followed him, we really put the pressure on and sticking to his lines I was able to carry the same speed all the way to the end of the lap, pushing hard to try and open up an advantage over the 3 riders we now had behind us.  The lap ends with a split on a gravel road - left to start the last lap, right to the finish - as I hit the gravel I lost the front end of the bike & went down hard on my left side.  This time it really hurt and knocked the wind out of me for a moment.  Two of the three riders came though as I ran & jumped back on the bike (cyclocross coming to good use!).  Still a bit winded, hurting from the wreck I dumped my bottle but failed to grab the replacement as we started the climb on lap 3.

Lap 3
No water, I downed my energy gel which stuck to the roof of my mouth like glue.  I was able to catch up to the two riders ahead of me on the climb but Denny was long gone.  I managed to pass both the other riders before the top of the climb but knew that in the technical section which followed I stood no chance of closing on Denny so I had consolidation on my mind when I wrecked for a 3rd time - lost the front wheel on a root and hit my left side hard again.  By this time, the lack of water and repeated bashing had taken it's toll on my body and I was starting to feel really weak.  Two riders caught up to me & I let them passing, thinking that if I could stick with them I may be able to recover ground on the last climb section & hold position to the finish.  When the climb came, instead of picking up places, there was nothing left and I lost ground - I really did have to consolidate then, I could hear riders behind me in the woods, surely they would catch & pass me as well before the finish.  I found some strength and picked up the pace just enough to stay out of sight finishing the race in just over 2 hours.

As the Adrenalin subsided I realized just how much my arm & leg were hurting - my left glove was full of blood from a large gash in my arm caused by the gravel fall at the end of Lap 2.  After some painful scrubbing in the bathrooms to get the dirt out of it, one of my fellow racers who's a nurse patched me up with butterflies & a large dressing.  Bruised, bloodied and aching I headed back to the campground to pack up the trailer & head home.

This was definitely the most competitive I'd raced, and yet the most frustrating as well - following faster riders makes me painfully aware of how much trail skill I lack.

Things to do better next time:
Don't pick up the wrong water bottle
Carry a spare bottle in case the hand-off goes wrong
Don't fall off my bike

Catching up on Race Reports - Tri State 6 hour race - East Fork Country Park

4th place Men Solo category - 6 laps in 5:13:57
Strava Data

The Podium
Ceremonies moved into a shelter as a massive thunder storm hit the park!

I've fallen behind on race reports, I've had thoughts about this race for the past 3 weeks but haven't written them down.

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.

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:

The end of the pavement dash at the start of the race

Picking my way down the trail

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

DINO Muscatatuck Mountain Bike Race Report

10th place overall; 2nd place 40-49 age group - Results
Strava data

I missed the first couple of races in the DINO Mountain Bike series as I focused on my running objectives through Spring & early Summer.  They're great opportunities for me to build fitness and bike handling skills for cyclocross later in the year as well as representing The Bicycle Station in local races.
The events are very family friendly with kids and junior races being held at each event - so I was excited to have Angus planning on joining me for his first race in the Junior category which mean he would ride a full race lap starting just after I was expecting to complete my 4 lap race.
The race laps for DINO are typically 6-10 miles with the Category 1 & Elite / Pro race being either 3 or 4 laps.  The Muscatatuck course is one of the shorter laps, 6.5 miles through twisting single track with no sustained climbs, the lap took about 30 mins to complete.  I hadn't had the chance to pre-ride the whole course so my first lap was going to be a learning experience!
At the start, the small Elite / Pro racers set off 2 mins ahead of the larger age group Cat 1 field.  I got a bad start, losing places on the fast grass sprint to the first section of single track - I'm always anxious about my lack of trail riding skills and worry about jumping in front of people, then holding them up in the technical sections.  As we settled into the first lap I let a couple of riders pass as they were clearly faster on the initial downhill twisting singletrack but I also passed a few riders who slowed dramatically on the first short climb.  Things quickly spread out, by the start of the 2nd lap I was part of a small group which gapped me on the more technical sections, but I quickly caught up when things leveled out or went uphill.  People were tiring quickly and I was able to make more & more passes stick, still ending up with clear trail behind me even after the twisty sections.  In the final two laps, I progressively caught & passed several of the riders I had seen riding away from me earlier in the race - I was hoping to catch up with Bicycle Station team-mate, Denny Barber on the final lap, but it wasn't to be - he rode a great race to finish 9th overall, about 90 secs ahead of me taking 2nd in the very wide "50-99" age group!

Me looking worried on the technical downhills....
Photo - William Snyder

I finished in 2:00:08 and had just 14 mins before Angus' race was due to start - having seen the whole lap for the first time in my race, I'd decided that I would run behind him to help instead of trying to ride alongside him.  I dashed to the car, grabbed a fresh water bottle & energy gel, pulled on my running shorts, a dry top and trail shoes and ran back to the start!
Angus' race was an emotional affair - his first real experience of technical mountain bike trails - we had to get off & walk over a lot of the obstacles and he got bounced around on a few roots & rocks which shook his confidence.  It took 90 mins to complete his one lap, about 30 mins of that was stationary as we let other riders pass and took some time-outs to get confidence back - despite some tears part way round, he finished strong with an arm in the air over the finish line.

Angus - still smiling at this point on the lap!
Photo - William Snyder

For me, the additional 60 mins of running / pushing completely emptied me.  Only afterwards, I realized I hadn't managed to eat or drink enough during my 2 hour race - it's a very different problem to riding on the road - it's a challenge simply finding time to take hands off the bars to find a bottle or snack.  My next event is a 6 hour mountain bike endurance race - I will have to do a better job at managing my nutrition if I'm going to finish that with any success.