Singletrack Weekend!

On Friday morning I dropped off my new Bontrager wheels at the shop so they could be replaced. My reserviced RP3, and 100 X was to arrive at the shop. I get off at 4pm, so I could get to Markham and get to ripping some singletrack.

I could barely contain my excitement at work because I knew I was going to be riding singletrack today. It has been 6 weeks since I rode and singletrack, and I'm anxiety to find out if my body can handle the suffering. I have been enjoying road biking, indoor spinning, and table tennis. Now I'm back to overgrown trees, red ants, washed out turns, and jagged climbs.

I get off work, hurry to the shop, and my bike has not been touched. My new wheels are not on, my Reba fork is still on my bike, and no shock. I look around and can't find my order from PUSH, so I give them a call. At the time I'm on the phone with PUSH, I realize that it was delivered. I quickly open the box, and see the serviced hardware. I got a call from Jimmy last week that my steering tube had the most corrosion that they have ever seen in a fork that is 1 year old or less. He said the all the guys in the office came to look at the fork like it was a freak of nature. See, I even got mechanics across the country knowing I "Brian Paced" compenents. So I ended up having to buy another steering tube, and because they didn't have the white one I had to settle for the silver.

The Rp3 was set up for the Racer X and I am really looking forward to seeing how it will perform.

So I went back, and started doing as much as I could because I didn't want to waste Friday and not ride. I started with putting on the RP3 shock, which was a breeze. Then I took off the front wheel and put the small block 8 on the new Bontrager wheel. I then took off the handle bars. By this time cool Nick was finish working with a customer and relagated me back to putting the other tire on the rear wheel. He told me that if I didn't work good enough, he was going to put up the " Do no enter " sign, which would keep me out of repair area. I put the tire on the new wheel, and my job is done.

I look over Nick, because I truly am trying to understand the art of repairing bikes. I'm notorious for not knowing what is wrong, beside the fact that it is not working properly. He hammers out the fork, and he stops and laughs at me. I say, " Hey man, I haven't even been riding. David says, "You still Brian Paced it". We laugh, and Nick continues to hammer it out. He gets it out, then puts a device on the Reba to pop off the bottle washer for the headset. He puts the fork on, and has to tend to another customer. I then take the opportunity to put my polar speed sensor on. I cut the zip ties just as Nick gets back, and he takes the disc off of both wheels, and puts it on the new ones. David is having a tough time with a bike and they switch places, and David takes the cassette off my old rear wheel, and puts it on the new. I also put on my new Gobi saddle to train on, before I get the Bontrager Race Lite X saddle from Oscar when he gets back from riding in Colorado. It's a little narrow for a 180lbs ass like mine, but it'll have to do for now

Nick finishes with the customers bike and jumps back on my mine only to find out that the shifting if messed up because the wires are rusted and broken. It is after 6pm, and that is when I realized that I'm not going to ride today. I tell Nick to take it off the stand and finish it up tomorrow when he can give it perfect attention. I kinda rushed him because I wanted to ride. I left the shop a little disappointed just because I wanted to ride so bad, plus the daylight was gone and I didn't have time to hit the road bike. I did, but I had my mind set on singletrack. So I called Mrs P, and asked her if I could take her out to dinner. We jump in the Jetta , go to Olive Garden for some pasta, and quality time. She has cleaned me up well since we have been married, and it's almost to the point that the women at my job find me somewhat of a catch.


I have to work Saturday morning at my job for the next month, which is just in time for the State Series. It's nice to get to preride the courses on Saturday and mingle with the other riders. I have all my riding clothes with me at work, 5 water bottles with Powerbar fruit punch powder(Taste like bubblegum), 1 gallon of water, 4 Clif shot gels, and 2 Clif Shot blocks, and a couple of granola bars. I get off work, head straight to the shop, and my bike is good to G.O. I tip Nike $35.00, yes I do hook up my mechanics because I can do a number on a freaking bike.

I'm off to Markhum, and my plan is to do 3 laps, because I have a conference with some of my classmates on my project for class, so I don't want to miss that. I get to the course, and it's hot. But I'm so excited that I could care less. I'm sure I'm so slow that it doesn't really matter, I'm just happy to be ripping up singletrack again. I get loaded, put on the ipod and go into the trail with the new 50 cent and Justin Timberlake song blasting.
My impressions of the ride:
The new wheels make the bike roll faster
Why did I wait 2 years to get new wheels?
The fork and shock are really performing better, or is it the excitement
It's "Africa" out here
My hand are raw already
My ass does not like the new Gobi Saddle, it is to narrow for me
My laptimes are slower, but the bike is definitely faster.
I'm not tired after 2 laps at a good clip, the body has remembered.

I do 2 laps, and additional 5 miles of riding around the park, which take my mileage to around 18miles. The time is ten after 5pm. Enough time for me clean the bike, get home, take a shower, grab a bite to eat, and meet my team on msn messenger to discuss our project. During the conference I'm studying my heartrate charts. I'm definitely out of form based on how fast I was riding. In May I could do a 31min lap at a HR avg of 161bpm. I did a 38min lap at 160bpm. I did ride at the hottest part of the day at 3pm, and it's impossible to put out those kind effort in this heat. Plus, the course is so jagged, washed out, and sandy in most turns that it is impossible to really attack each corner to do a really fast lap. No worries, I'm going back out tomorrow to hit it again.

I wake up the next morning, and the body feels very good. I have some granola cereal only to look outside and it is sprinkling rain. Fudge!! I'm still going out though. I have my thing all ready, and when I walk on the patio I'm hit by a gust of hot wind. I then realized that the rain is not going to stick because it just way too hot. By the time I get outside almost all the water is dried up in the parking lot.

I get to Markhum and it's a load of cars out. My plan is 4 laps, no questions at all. I see some familiar faces in Matt Hammond, and Luis Cabrera. We catch up a little and they are off in the trails. The are both Experts and I want someone to ride with, so I got ready and cut in at Outback to catch them. Luis C. had crashed and cracked his helmet but was still riding. He said that Matt and Luiz M. were up the trail so I hammered up to them. Luis was riding a good clip, a little fast for me just getting out there but I could maintain. We go into Rattle Snake Canyon and Matt has to unclip to get up a climb, and he lets me by.

It takes me about 1 minute to get bridge up to Luis M. and he is very close to riding race speed. I'm breathing heavy, but I can finish the lap with him at this pace. Out of the gun range I look back and Matt is gone, so we keep it going. I look down and my heartrate is 176bpm, Damn! My HR has not been that high on any mtn bike training ride this year. We do Outback Extension(Big, Jagged Climbs), Crime Scene & Jet Ski Hill(More Big Jagged Climbs), and Ted's Twisted Trail(More Big Jagged Climbs), and look down and my HR is 184bpm. OK, I'm going to die! I'm breathing like I'm racing at this point, and I'm hurting but I'm determined to stay on his wheel.

We are in Alligator Ally when I tap his wheel and have to put a food down. He gaps me and I'm actually happy because I have no intention of drilling it catch him before I finish the lap. When I finish the lap, Danny is walking out with Luis M. beside him. He was running a no tubeless Fast Track Pro, and he flatted twice and called it a day. I went back to the car to top off the water bottle, and drink a little bit of maple sryup and water in my other bottle. Matt comes out and explains that he had trained yesterday at Reddick with John Lowe. That explains why he couldn't keep up. He got his legs rocked the day before.

We go back in and I'm happy Matt is leading the laps because he can't ride fast right now which means the pace will be more moderate. Luis C is immediately gone and we haven't even been riding 10 minutes. We are going at a nice training speed, and I look down and my HR is 158bpm, PERFECT!! Matt is keeping it steady, and I'm keeping my distance for a reason. Last week Matt was leading a lap with Bob Mc, Bound, Oscar, and T-Wis, and Matt crashed and Bob blew out his knee when he had to jump off his bike and over Matt. I don't think his knee is blown because he got up, dropped everyone, road for another mile before stopping. If your knee is blown out, you will not, I repeat, WILL NOT be able to stand up, let alone ride a mtn bike at race speed. I haven't talked to him in about 5 days, but I think he will be all better by the time the season starts. He needs a break, because I think he overtrains.

We are halfway through the gun range and Matt pulls over and lets me lead the lap. Was he sloppy, tired, bonked? It is not like Matt to give up the lead when he is training, because he loves to be the one drilling it. I upped the pace to get my HR up about 8 more beats, and Luis is in tow. I keep it going at the pace, and look down and my HR is back to 174bpm. Shit man! What is going on with the HR, I'm not even drilling it. I know the heat is rough today, but 170's for HR is not acceptable, but I keep it going. By the time I get out of the gun range the HR is at 184bpm. I have 6 of the biggest climbs back to back to back over the next 5 mins, and I'm already WAY over my limit. I back off to get my HR in the 160's and I'm sure Luis knows what I'm doing. Outback Extension and it's up to 172bpm, Crime Scene and it's at 176, Jet Ski Hill and it's at 182, in Ted Twisted Trail it's 186bpm, and that is when I officially stopped looking down. By the end of the lap I was semi-crawling the climbs, and Luis hit my tire twice so I know I slowed down.

The laptime was 37mins at avg of 169bpm, OUCH! When you get in the 180's for HR, that usually spells disaster for the rest of the ride. I am determined to do 4 laps even if I have to crawl. Luis M is finished so I go back to the car to get some food and fluids. I'm at 1369 calories burned, and I have only taken in 2 bars and a gel. I got to the picnic table were Matt is already changed and conversing with the other mtn bikers. Luis C. comes over and ask if I'm going back in, and I say "2 more". I tell don't try to impress me with speed, let's just get through the lap without going into the red. We get going I don't even bother to look at my HR because I don't feel the burn, nor am I breathing heavy. But after 25 minutes I look down and my HR is 177bpm. See, that is the bullshit I'm talking about, he is drilling it. For what? Coming up a climb I hear him say "OUCH", and says his inner thigh is cramping up, and he lets me by. I keep going at the same pace to finish the lap off.

I really did want to do the last 2 laps back to back, but I'm out of water and I don't want to cramp up today. I quickly top off and get back in the trail. Finally, I can do a lap at my own leisure without anyone influencing the speed. I cut out all the big climbs because I didn't want to ramp my HR. My HR peaked out 2 times at 167 & 170bpm. See, that is why you should train by yourself, you can keep things under control better. I finished the lap, and had enough to take a 4 mile cooldown around the park. That was 2 hrs,53mins of riding, with a total of 3069 calories burned. That is smash mouth mtn bike

I'm actually feeling quite good after 49 miles of Markhum in 2 days. I think good things are to follow.


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