The Whole Enchilada: Top to Bottom - Moab, Utah from Phil Shep on Vimeo.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Hungry for some Mexican Food.
Christopher loves Mexican food also so maybe we will both do this event this fall.....
Sunday, February 26, 2012
2012 CIRREM Report
This past weekend was the 4th Annual Central Iowa Rock Road Enduro Metric, otherwise known as CIRREM . A 100K gravel grinder in the hilly (about 4,500 feet of climbing) country just southwest of Des Moines, Iowa. This event is all about treating yourself to some pain and suffering on good ole hilly ass gravel roads. I enjoy all of those and riding with my IA/NE friends so CIRREM is a must do event for me.
Photo above from Dave Mable
Must have goals....Two years ago I finished well at CIRREM with a top 10 finish and a finish time of 4:20. I ran with the front group and got to the check point half way point in 2:08. Fitness was good back then and as you can see I only lost 12 minutes on the second half of the course. All that with a frozen drive train and getting stuck in a crazy big gear for the last 20 miles or so. Fast forward to this year. My goal was to finish in 4:30 or less and get into the top 25 overall. I know my current fitness would not allow a another top 10 and as I am getting older I am trying to make more realistic goals. Even with the icy conditions that were going to be present at the start and the frozen muddy conditions that I knew were going to materialize within a couple of hours of the start, I felt a 4:30 was doable. Especially considering that the worse the conditions are the better I seem to ride
Long ass drive....I made the trip up to Cumming, IA alone this year. John did not get in this year as the event sold out within hours. Usually driving 3 hours in nothing for me, but trying to get a decent night sleep with a very annoying cat that my wife decided to bring back into the family is very hard if not impossible. With no wife in town (party trip to New Orleans) to take care of her cat, I was left chasing this bastard cat around the house trying to get it to stop crying. I love cats, but this damn cat needs to just go away. With little sleep I filled that coffee maker up to the 8 cup mark and decided to let dehydration be damned. Best be alert and arrive alive than hydrated and dead I always say.
Time to learn how to ride ice again......With nearly 125 riders starting riding on snow packed and icy roads was going to be a challenge. We had an neutral rolling start with Kent (Single Speed winner) leading us out. Once we got past the dangerous bridge with "tire eating gaps" in its wooden surface it was race on. All looked well and I was positioned up towards the front in the top 10. As we approached the the bridge I slowly started getting passed by some very aggressive riders - I guess everyone was trying to stay up front and out of harms way. Before I knew it I was mid-pack and in with a bunch of riders that I knew I should not be in with. These guys needed to retake snow riding 101: 1. Ride relaxed and steer with your hips instead of your hands. 2. Ride with lower tire pressure. 3. Stay off the darn brakes, especially the front, and do any braking early. 4. Pedal hard through any deep snow sections and keep the weight back and let the front end "wonder" a little if she wants to. Sure enough, first section of snow that we hit a rider goes down and the field comes to a stand still. The first 50 or so riders are already gone. This is even before we actually started "racing" after the bridge. I make the quick decision to go ahead and bridge up to the lead pack. I really wanted to be protected from the wind for at least the first 1/2 of the race. Just as I make it up to the second group of riders (lead group was gone) there is another crash due to the ice. Time to do it again. I put in a really hard effort and bridge up to what is left of the second group on the road and guess what? Another rider goes down and we all come to a stop. At this point I did not have another hard effort in my legs. Time to settle down and just ride this thing solo. Most of the field was all strung out and I ended hooking up with a couple of guys and settled into a nice rhythm. I made it to the 1/2 point in 2:05 which put me 3 min ahead of my time two years ago. I felt good and my nutrition plan (Perpetuem and Hammer Bars) was going well.
Wrong gear this time.....The course started falling apart before the 1/2 point, but got really bad in the afternoon as the temps got up to above freezing. As you can see by the photos above, if you had down-tube routed cables (which I do) you where going to have some serious shifting issues. The rear went out first and soon I was limited to 1 or 2 gears (25 and the 23). I was able to use the front chain rings for about 10 more miles, but soon the buildup of frozen mud prevented that. Soon I was down to a single speed just like two years ago. Only this time I was stuck in the wrong side of the cluster. A 38 x 25 is great for climbing, but on the downhills and flats you are really crawl along. I stopped twice to try and fix it, but with limited success I decided to just keep pedaling. Parts of the course were really bad. You know it is muddy when you not only have mud on the outside of your shorts, but also inside on he pad. I ended up rolling in to the Cumming Tap with a time of 4:54 for a 42nd overall finishing place. Not what I wanted, but at least I did have fun. Until next year....
Photo above from Dave MableMust have goals....Two years ago I finished well at CIRREM with a top 10 finish and a finish time of 4:20. I ran with the front group and got to the check point half way point in 2:08. Fitness was good back then and as you can see I only lost 12 minutes on the second half of the course. All that with a frozen drive train and getting stuck in a crazy big gear for the last 20 miles or so. Fast forward to this year. My goal was to finish in 4:30 or less and get into the top 25 overall. I know my current fitness would not allow a another top 10 and as I am getting older I am trying to make more realistic goals. Even with the icy conditions that were going to be present at the start and the frozen muddy conditions that I knew were going to materialize within a couple of hours of the start, I felt a 4:30 was doable. Especially considering that the worse the conditions are the better I seem to ride
Long ass drive....I made the trip up to Cumming, IA alone this year. John did not get in this year as the event sold out within hours. Usually driving 3 hours in nothing for me, but trying to get a decent night sleep with a very annoying cat that my wife decided to bring back into the family is very hard if not impossible. With no wife in town (party trip to New Orleans) to take care of her cat, I was left chasing this bastard cat around the house trying to get it to stop crying. I love cats, but this damn cat needs to just go away. With little sleep I filled that coffee maker up to the 8 cup mark and decided to let dehydration be damned. Best be alert and arrive alive than hydrated and dead I always say.
Time to learn how to ride ice again......With nearly 125 riders starting riding on snow packed and icy roads was going to be a challenge. We had an neutral rolling start with Kent (Single Speed winner) leading us out. Once we got past the dangerous bridge with "tire eating gaps" in its wooden surface it was race on. All looked well and I was positioned up towards the front in the top 10. As we approached the the bridge I slowly started getting passed by some very aggressive riders - I guess everyone was trying to stay up front and out of harms way. Before I knew it I was mid-pack and in with a bunch of riders that I knew I should not be in with. These guys needed to retake snow riding 101: 1. Ride relaxed and steer with your hips instead of your hands. 2. Ride with lower tire pressure. 3. Stay off the darn brakes, especially the front, and do any braking early. 4. Pedal hard through any deep snow sections and keep the weight back and let the front end "wonder" a little if she wants to. Sure enough, first section of snow that we hit a rider goes down and the field comes to a stand still. The first 50 or so riders are already gone. This is even before we actually started "racing" after the bridge. I make the quick decision to go ahead and bridge up to the lead pack. I really wanted to be protected from the wind for at least the first 1/2 of the race. Just as I make it up to the second group of riders (lead group was gone) there is another crash due to the ice. Time to do it again. I put in a really hard effort and bridge up to what is left of the second group on the road and guess what? Another rider goes down and we all come to a stop. At this point I did not have another hard effort in my legs. Time to settle down and just ride this thing solo. Most of the field was all strung out and I ended hooking up with a couple of guys and settled into a nice rhythm. I made it to the 1/2 point in 2:05 which put me 3 min ahead of my time two years ago. I felt good and my nutrition plan (Perpetuem and Hammer Bars) was going well.
Wrong gear this time.....The course started falling apart before the 1/2 point, but got really bad in the afternoon as the temps got up to above freezing. As you can see by the photos above, if you had down-tube routed cables (which I do) you where going to have some serious shifting issues. The rear went out first and soon I was limited to 1 or 2 gears (25 and the 23). I was able to use the front chain rings for about 10 more miles, but soon the buildup of frozen mud prevented that. Soon I was down to a single speed just like two years ago. Only this time I was stuck in the wrong side of the cluster. A 38 x 25 is great for climbing, but on the downhills and flats you are really crawl along. I stopped twice to try and fix it, but with limited success I decided to just keep pedaling. Parts of the course were really bad. You know it is muddy when you not only have mud on the outside of your shorts, but also inside on he pad. I ended up rolling in to the Cumming Tap with a time of 4:54 for a 42nd overall finishing place. Not what I wanted, but at least I did have fun. Until next year....
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Free Entry Contest #1
I am always looking for new ways to promote our events, our sponsors and cycling/racing in general. I got this idea on today's ride to give away some free entries to the upcoming God's Country Fat Tire Festival and Bone Bender 3/6 Hour events. So here is our first little contest...
Free Entry Contest #1: Guess What Trail I am on.
First person to correctly guess what trail I am on receives a free entry into either the God's Country or Bone Bender events.
Good luck!
Free Entry Contest #1: Guess What Trail I am on.
First person to correctly guess what trail I am on receives a free entry into either the God's Country or Bone Bender events.
Good luck!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The "Mullet" Gravel Grinder
I headed down to Baldwin City for Gerard's annual Mullet Ride today. This was my last gravel grinder before the big CIRREM event next weekend.
Originally I had planned to complete 2 laps for 50 miles, put in a hard effort and test the legs. However things changed yesterday when Christopher came up to me out of the blue and said he wanted to go riding to start his training for the Ouachita Challenge. I took for an easy 22 miler and he enjoyed enough that he said he wanted to go ride the Mullet today. Come this morning with temperatures about 30 degrees colder than yesterday he mysteriously comes down with a sore throat after he discovers the ride temps. I guess Christopher is just one of the fair weather riders....
A fun ride and at time painful ride. The TRI2ride with us group were on hand and those guys just hammered it (and this was their second lap having already completed one lap with Tim Greene earlier). My form is not where I want to be so I will have to modify my planned race pace for CIRREM and see if I can get another top 10 finish like I did two years ago. Riding within my current limits will be very important
Pictures from the day:
Originally I had planned to complete 2 laps for 50 miles, put in a hard effort and test the legs. However things changed yesterday when Christopher came up to me out of the blue and said he wanted to go riding to start his training for the Ouachita Challenge. I took for an easy 22 miler and he enjoyed enough that he said he wanted to go ride the Mullet today. Come this morning with temperatures about 30 degrees colder than yesterday he mysteriously comes down with a sore throat after he discovers the ride temps. I guess Christopher is just one of the fair weather riders....
A fun ride and at time painful ride. The TRI2ride with us group were on hand and those guys just hammered it (and this was their second lap having already completed one lap with Tim Greene earlier). My form is not where I want to be so I will have to modify my planned race pace for CIRREM and see if I can get another top 10 finish like I did two years ago. Riding within my current limits will be very important
Pictures from the day:
Monday, February 13, 2012
New Cross Rig - Swiss Cross
I have the most awesome wife there is. She asked me what I wanted for Valentines day and I said Swiss Chocolate because I have really had a sweet tooth lately. But she really knows what I have been wanting as of late (besides that...) a nice new Ritchey Swiss Cross.
Guess I have no excuse for this years cyclocross season. Now I just need to decide how to build her up. I am really excited and have always wanted a Tom Ritchey Swiss Cross frame.
Guess I have no excuse for this years cyclocross season. Now I just need to decide how to build her up. I am really excited and have always wanted a Tom Ritchey Swiss Cross frame.
Friday, February 10, 2012
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