A few too many

Gerry had brought his new Redline 26" fully rigid SS with him yesterday. He wanted to take it out to Maybury and see what it was all about. He asked me if I wanted to ride with him and switch bikes after 2 loops. He said he had brought his Giant and that I could ride that the first two loops while he rode the SS. After racing the Giant at Bloomer I was quick to reply 'yes' as I fell in love with that bike instantly. So here's the recap by loop:

Loop 1 - Something felt different on the Giant than when I was on it last. Plus I had to get used to the rear shifter being opposite from mine. Don't know how many times I missed a shift because I went the wrong way. Not a great warm up loop but we did a decent time. I pulled a high 31 and Gerry did a low 32 on the rigid SS. Great lap for him altho he was already praying for gears.

Loop 2 - Since Gerry wasn't having any issues on the SS and I was feeling comfortable now on the Roll X Pro D2 tires I decided to see how fast I could take the XTC around for a loop before I had to switch bikes with Gerry. I was impressed at how well that Giant was doing and I was moving pretty quick. At my first check point I was running a pace to make it into the 28 minute range. Well right before the first 'fluid spot' (place to get a drink) I came across a rider who had some minor bike issues. She looked a little puzzled so I decided to stop and try to help. She had lost a frame cable clamp and her rear brake hose was flapping in the wind. We tried various things to tie it back up but no luck. She said she'd just take it easy. By then Gerry had caught up and we proceeded down the trail. I had lost my rhythm so I backed off the pace and decided to just play around on the rest of the loop. Our times were comparable to the first loop.

Loop 3 - This is where it gets good. I was not on the SS and Gerry was on the Giant. He took point and I stayed on his rear tire most of the time. It was weird not having larger gears to go down hills with but climbing was no issue in the 32 x 16 set up he had on it. The rigid front fork and Maxxis tires made for some uneasy turning but I was getting used to it .. .. that is until I lost the front end in a routine left turn and laid the bike down. Gerry looked back and said "Don't scratch my bike!" Well about a mile and a half later after the 'fluid spot' Gerry was putting his bottle back in the cage when all of a sudden the rear tire flipped up and his head went straight for the ground. It was a hard endo.......very hard. The front tire never left the ground he never came unclipped. At one point he was in the negative fetal position. I am surprised he stood up so fast. After a few minutes of checking for broken bones Gerry said he was good to go, even after I offered to ride with him back to the cars via the paved road. We finished the loop but took our time. Gerry was done, understandable after that crash, and asked me what my plans were.

loop 4 - I said I was going to do more loops but not on the SS. I really didn't want to go back for my bike so Gerry gave me his Giant and said just to give it back to him tomorrow at work. Good enough, I had at least 2 more loops in me. So he rode off on the SS back to the cars and I took off down the trail. Felt great to be back on the Giant. Gerry had raised the seat a bit and the bike felt solid. I was zooming along pretty good but no record pace. Trail traffic was starting to get thick but all the passes were pretty clean. The front tire felt like it was a little low on air but I flowed pretty well. No major incidents. Ran another high 31.

Loop 5 - This was my third day in a row riding and I was starting to feel it after the first mile of climbs on this loop. Traffic was still heavy on the trail and it seemed like I was rolling up on people more frequently. About half way thru I came across a woman on a bike that was most likely bought at a place that also has automotive, grocery and clothing sections. Good for her for being out there tho. The trail was pretty wide at that point and plenty of room to pass. She moved over and I went off the trail to the left so she'd feel comfortable with the space. Well she must have hit something because all of a sudden she gave out an 'oh my god' and her bike was heading toward mine. We clipped handle bars pretty good but both managed to stay on our bikes. I completed the pass but slowed down to make sure she was alright. Things were cool, we both apologized like 10 times and then off I went again. Lap time, a low 32.

Loop 6 - Any other day I would have been smart enough to hang it up and head for the parking lot. What's one more loop tho? After the first 2 miles I had realized this was a bad idea. It had been a long time since I rode a hardtail this far and my body was starting to hurt all over. I wasn't bonking, I was just feeling the effects of the constant pounding and remembering why I loved my full suspension so much. I had a couple opportunities to turn off and head back but I was tough and was going to stick it out. Well my pace was dropping and I spent most of the time out of the saddle because my lower back was killing me. But then it happened, I heard some bikes behind me. I had went close to 36 miles and had not been passed by anyone. Wasn't about to let it happen then. So I grabbed a drink, gathered up all I had left and went on the offense. My legs were killing me and all I wanted was to be off the trail. My attack lasted two miles but I felt I had put enough gap on those bikes by then so I backed off the pace and cruised to the finish. Don't remember what my lap time was but I'm sure it wasn't pretty. Probably a 34.

So in the end my 6 loop time was around 2:25:00 and that included all the stops to switch bikes, work on bikes and evaluate crash victims. I had done that ride non stop a few weeks back and pulled a 2:10:00 and have done a 5 loop at 2:32:00 so this was way off pace for me. But it was a test day and I am glad I followed thru with the 6th loop no matter how bad it hurt. Good mental victory. Gerry is doing better and still plans to race this weekend.

So check back early next week for race results.

The Wheels go round and round....and around...will they ever stop?

The list of events you are about to read were all done on purpose. No accidential pain. No getting lost and doing more miles than we should of. No stunt doubles. This was all self inflicted and meant to be done.

The 6-12 Hours of Addison has come and gone. Tank, U-Dog, myself and two of our Macomb Bike and Fitness friends all partook in the event. Jeff, Tim and I all did the 6 Hour solo event. Dawn and Mike (Macomb Mike) did the 12 Hour solo event.

There's not much to talk about in one of these races. No epic high speed crashes. No sweet passing moves. No fighting off the start for a good position. No sprints to the finish. Everyone racing Saturday was going to be out there for a while so it was all about pacing. The course was 6.8 miles in length and reminded me of Maybury. No huge climbs just a bunch of smaller ones that seem to get bigger as your laps pile on. Roots, rock piles and some good flowing downhills. They did have some good bridge work. One in particular that took you over a long stretch of water.

So let us start with the person who covered the least amount of miles: Me. Weapon of choice, my only bike of course. But she got a few upgrades right before the race. XT shadow rear, Hayes carbon brakes and an new XTR shifter to mate the 1X9.

Along with Jeff I signed up for the 6 hour male solo 30-39. No classifications like Sport, Expert or Elite. We were all grouped together for the day. As it turns out this race attracted the biggest men's 6 hour solo 30-39 year old category to date, 17 riders total. Doesn't sound like alot but we all signed up so we all were missing a marble or two. My strategy was to do 4 loops, pit, do 4 more, pit and then finish it out. Things went well and I was able to stick to my plan. In the end I had only spent a total of 5 minutes off my bike for the entire 6 hours and some odd minutes and was able to rack up 11 loops for a total of 74.8 miles. That was far enough to net me 5th overall out of the 17. For my first endurance race I am more than pleased with that result.

Next up Jeff, who I am debating on re-nicknaming Enduro. His weapon of choice, his classic GT set up as a single speed. He raced the geared class tho thinking he may switch to his fully geared Giant. The Giant never left the bike rack though.

Enduro here lapped. My whole goal was to make sure that didn't happen and you can imagine how upset I was when I had 3 miles to go and I heard, "Mr. Pongratz!" shouted out from behind me. And the sick part was he dropped me on the next hill. But it was good for him and for the team. Jeff had completed 12 laps for a total of 81.6 miles and that was far enough to net him 3rd place. It's possible that Jeff actually took second place but the scoring wasn't that accurate and it was hard to argue so he let it go. The guy in question disputed the results before the award ceremony so we were surprised to hear Jeff get called up at third. He was still happy with what he accomplished for his first shot at endurace racing. And if he would have signed up for thre Single Speed division he would have won.

Next up, Wonder Woman. Her tool of the trade: Her new RM Team Element.

Dawn showed up us boys by entering the 12 Hour Women Solo. Talk about grinding it out. She went around so many times I thought the Earth's rotation was going to change. Dawn sat on her bike for a total of 16 loops....do that math and you'll find the sum to be 108.8 miles! C-R-A-Z-Y! She took first in her class, almost doing double of the girl that finished behind her. So why do I call her Wonder Woman? Well for a couple reasons. One because of what she did Saturday and two because of this video. Watch it to the end and you'll see Dawn and her black cape tearing up the trail. http://highgearracing.com/matt_upload/Video/AddisonXC.wmv

Other honorable mentions is of our friends at Macomb Bike and Fitness, Tim Storm and Mike Belanger:

Tim raced the Men's 6 Hour Solo Single Speed. He racked up 10 loops for a 68.8 Mile tour on his Specialized and that got him 4th overall out of 9 in his class. Heck of a long way to go with only one gear. Mike took his Titus around for the 12 Hour Men's solo 40+. They had him listed as only doing 15 loops but he had recorded 17. The 15 loops were good enough for a 4th place finish but the 17 would have bumped him up to 3rd. I guess next year we need to find a better way to argue our results.

In the end I took no pictures of myself and we all had a good time with what we accomplished out there. Congrats to the riders I mentioned here and also to all the others who took to the trail in the event. I could go on and on about the teams I saw out there, young and old, and also the guy who did 14 loops for the men's solo 6 hours (95.2 miles!) but you'd be here all day reading this. All I can say is this race is worth putting on your calendar for next year.