Riding, Racing, and Life

Once again I find myself trying to figure out what happened to the last 4 weeks.  Got a few rides in.  manged a Sunday 42 miler a couple weeks ago.  Did the Pawpaw Double Nickle, 55 miles from Albany around Zaleski State Forest.  Have not even managed to ride a Worlds ride.  Oh well.

Soccer season continues with only 3 Saturdays worth of games left.  I do enjoy it, but it has been a challenge with Brock.  Two practices during the week and two games on Saturday is a lot of time that I am not helping out with him.  And yes, he needs constant attention or you may find him in the middle of the dining table.

I did manage to squeeze in another race, the WVMBA/OMBC Farmhand XC at Bob Evan's farm in Rio Grande, OH.  Got to the race about an hour and half early.  While standing in the registration line, bam, lightning and thunder, followed by a good hard rain for the next hour.  It finally stopped about 30 minutes before the start, but the damage was done.  I again registered for the SS Sport (OMBC) class which puts me in the massive Sport class start (and more specifically, the Sport Vet WVMBA class).  Not problem, the half mile long ride to the trailhead should let the field get way ahead of me.  I thought I was good until the first climb on the trail (about 10 yards in).  There was already a line of riders pushing their bikes.  This pattern repeated several times in the next two miles.  Tight climbs, off camber roots, lots of very slick trails.  It seemed to clear out a bit after the first long climb (in the grassy area).  Though, this too ended up a hike rather than bike.  Passed several riders in the next couple miles.  By mile 6 I was hurting with my stomach in knots.  Couldn't drink without an instant sick feeling.  Pushed it through the first lap of 10 miles just doing my best to not crash and not vomit.  By the end of my second lap I was in bad shape.  Stomach cramps had set in and I still couldn't get anything in my stomach.  Returned my number plate, changed clothes and grabbed my after race dinner plate (sponsored by Bob Evans).  I got most of that food down including a can of Coke. It wasn't long until I was ready to curl up in a ball.  Drove home, showered and spent the rest of the day either in the bathroom or on the couch.  Very little sleep overnight and much of the same otherwise.  It was Monday evening before I could eat and drink again.  And just when I though relief was in sight, I developed a strong pain in my middle back that circled around under my ribs.  It was suggested that I had strained my diaphragm.  Hard to breath and very painful to lay down meant more sleepless nights.  Or maybe I was just sick from being dizzy?

Anyway, I think I have fully recovered. I have to figure out what is going on though.  This is the third time I have had similar symptoms after a mountain bike race, with this being the worst yet.  Was hoping to ride the Wayne Ultra on Oct. 2, not sure I want to risk it though.

Why is this so hard?

I can't get out on the bike.  I have tried and tried.  Was hoping for a ride on Sunday but called in to help my brother throw up some trusses on his garage.  Even that got cut short with a serious thunderstorm.  Trees down and the driveway was really cut up.  For anyone that thinks the Grand Canyon took millions of years to cut, come to my house when we get a hard downpour for 15 minutes, 40 days of downpours seems about right when you scale things up.

Monday was beautiful weather wise.  But with work and school open house, no riding again.  I ended up on the tractor fixing the storm damage after everyone got home, finishing in the dark.  Tuesday I brought my bike to work thinking I would at least get a lunch ride, and again, just wishful thinking.  Work had me, well, working through lunch.  Today is Team Athens Wednesday and what do I do?  I have my bike, helmet but my shoes are at home.  I could blame my oldest son who thought it was a good idea to sit his mother's cup of coffee on the arm rest in the car rather than the cup holder.  Instead of loading my vehicle for the day, I was grabbing towels to help with the cleanup.  Or I could blame a friend who needs my truck today.  My shoes are actually in my car. Or I could blame work for keeping my stress levels high and now I can't think clearly.

I need a vacation.

The End of Summer

I can't believe summer is over.  Shelly starts back to work Monday followed by the kids back in school on Tuesday.  My list for summer never got started, heck, the list from spring never got started.  No real summer vacation this year.  Money has been going to fix all the broken appliances and termites.  Time has been scarce with the way work has been.  Not sure how Brock would travel for a long time anyway.  Still, I know my wife is disappointed.

End of summer also ends the riding season for me.  Soccer has begun.  Ethan is playing with the U12 traveling team and I am assistant coach.  That means two practices a week plus two games on Saturday's.  I love the game and am glad to get to coach again, but I am going to miss the evening and Saturday morning rides.

I missed Wednesday World's this week.  Long story short, had to work late and missed the one hard ride I was going to do.  Brought the monocog to work on Thursday and ran around Strouds Run state park at lunch (OK, a slightly long lunch).  Was good to be on a trail, except for all the spider webs. Had them in my ears, up my nose, in my mouth, covering the bike.  It was crazy.

Friday started with a trip to Columbus with folks from NASA.  Shelly was going to be in Columbus anyway, so it was to be a great plan to meet up after meetings for a little shopping and dinner.  Things went kind of south when I got a phone call from her that she had a flat.  Lost air quick too.  Made it into a gas station where someone put air in the tire for her.  Got her from there to a Firestone (at Polaris).  They were very helpful to her, but would not repair the tire (due to liability) and since we have an AWD car, all four tires would need to be replaced.  Oh, did I mention that she had all three boys with her?  Pretty well ruined the day for her.  They were good enough to install the spare for her to get her back to Athens.  We hoped to try out a Greek restaurant for dinner, but had to change plans and go to UNO's.  Even that was a big wait because of the high chair for Brock and the "fire hazard".  Really?  We can't get a tire fixed and can't get a table. Too much liability.  Finally made it home and to bed at midnight.  Long day.

Saturday morning meant getting up early to get Michael to the school for drama rehearsal at 7am and on to Warehouse Tire.  They fixed the tire and I had it back on the car before 9am.  Shower, coffee, and out the door for soccer games.  Not sure what meals I have eaten today but 10pm sure is coming quickly.

A side note: saw some of the Pelatonia riders coming in to Athens.  Good job folks!  100 miles and lots of money for cancer research.  Special atta-boy to Chad and Jenn Sickles.

Where did summer go!?

Really?  My last post was over a month ago?  What happened? Sad part is, I can hardly remember.

First, the bike:
My history shows I logged 375 on the road and climbed over 24,000 feet.  I did get to ride with Team Athens several times on their Weds. Worlds ride.  They dropped me each time, but I am averaging 60 miles a week, a typical daily ride for those kids.

I was noticing trouble with shifting and drive-train noise on the Masi. Katsu did his best to adjust the shifting, but it was still there.  I also began to notice a snapping/creaking from the crankset.  Found the Jagwire in-line adjuster for the rear was broken.  Athens Cycle Path replaced them with metal ones and the shifting is like new.  Katsu could not find the noise in the crank so I pulled the crankset, cleaned it, and re-installed it per the manual. Noise is gone.  Of course, I had replaced my 18 year old pedals thinking that was the source of the noise first.  Feel like I have a brand new bike again.

The family:
I have taken a sabbatical from playing guitar at church.  This allowed me to visit some close friends when their daughter was baptized, in the Ohio River.  We took over the boat ramp in Belpre on a very nice Sunday afternoon.

Ethan's birthday really sneaked up on me.  We didn't want to just buy him more "stuff" so I took the day off from work and we went to Magic Mountain in Columbus to ride Go-Karts.  He had a blast (even Shelly enjoyed it).  Finished it off with some ribs from City BBQ.  Followed the next day with a mountain bike ride on the Athens Trails to Stroud's Run, a picnic lunch of Miller's chicken and fried perch, then a kayak paddle on the lake with his mom.

 Of course Brock requires much less for a good time, a pile of rocks would be fine...

Picture Monday

All photos copyright 2011 - Shelly Mansfield

Enjoy.

Lake Hope Continued

Though it has been dry for several days, I am still finding water. After moving the Monocog last night and finding the cranks nearly frozen, I removed the bottom bracket. Water ran out! Pulled the front fork and more water ran out. Going to strip the frame this weekend, take it outside and fog the inside of the tubes with a can of WD40.  Not sure of how many parts will need replaced.

Ran across a couple of photos.  Looks like I was having fun.

OMBC #4 "Race to the Hills" at Lake Hope State Park

Woke up Sunday morning looking forward to hitting Lake Hope State Park for OMBC series race #4.  While I have not been on the trails a lot this year due to schedule and weather, I was feeling really good about the race.  Unfortunately, my body wasn't feeling as excited.  I did not sleep well with a lot of pain in my middle back and got up with an upset stomach.  Excusing it as pain from working at the house the day before and nervousness, I prepared for the day.  Turned on the local radar to see a giant yellow blob rolling onto us.  So much for an 80 degree with clouds race.  I was now having second thoughts to be honest, but Ethan was still ready to ride, so we ate breakfast, loaded the truck, dropped Michael at church, Brock at my brothers and off to the lake we drove.... in the rain.

By now it is raining pretty good, plus it is only about 61 degrees.  Cool and wet we registered and got the bikes out.  The kids race, much to the race organizers surprise, had 8 kids.  The course is a bit of gravel road and a section of Copperhead trail to the same finish as the adults.  Ethan looked miserable at the start, though he says afterwards it was more fun in the mud (just like a kid).  He placed 2nd in his age group, not too bad.

I get geared up for my race.  My stomach is hurting quite a bit by now, but still excusing it as nerves, it should go away.  The sport race is a mass start.  I quickly fall towards the back as most the guys crank it out the road.  I pedal out around 14mph, so I coast a couple of the hills on the road.  The rain is really pouring now, but despite my tires (hard pack tires: WTB Nano Raptor in the rear and an Exiwolf in the front) the bike is handling well and pedaling is easy.  I slowly started picking off riders, several of whom either were hitting the ground or having drive train problems. One problem with racing is managing my momentum, especially on a SS.  I try to carry as much into a climb as I can and then really crank it up the hill to maintain some cadence.  All these geared guys just drop to granny, sit and spin.  While this did affect me more than once, I was able to pass a lot of riders on the climbs. In fact, a polite request to pass was given each time this day.  I was having a difficult time drinking.  My stomach was just not cooperating, excusing it now for hard effort.  I was having fun though.  A side note, the front Crud Catcher worked perfectly.  My bike and back was plastered with mud, but my face was clean.

The race went down Copperhead, onto Bobcat, cross the road to Wildcat, to Copperhead at Grouse Point, back across the road and on to the campground connector.  Sometime around the second road crossing the rain had all but quit.  The trails changed drastically.  Traction was much harder to come by and effort level was much higher.  I ended up losing the front end and slamming a tree with my left shoulder.  With enough distance to the rider behind me though, I did not lose a position.  Ended up catching about three more riders in the last couple miles.  I was glad to see the finish line.  My Garmin said 1 hour, 44 minutes.

Jumped in the bike wash line and then cleaned myself up.  Two hours after my finish, they finally announced the class placings.  They ended up combining single speed with sport vet.  I was disappointed, not in how I rode, but that classes got combined.  I really am not there for the prize money, but I cannot compete with some of these sport vet racers.  Anyway, it is what it is.  I finished 9th in the combined field of 25 riders, and second in my class, just three minuets back from the leader.  My official time: 1:42:32.

Oh, and my stomach still hurt.  Turns out I had a bit of a virus that was shared around the family, finishing the day fighting chills followed by hot sweats.  Not sure what kind of damage the bike took.  It is all cleaned up now, but the bottom bracket turns rough.  Need to inspect the fork seals and brake pads, and clean and lube the chain too.

Thanks to the Athens Bicycle Club for clearing the trails and marshaling the race.  You all did a fantastic job.

Epic race.