Cable Off Road Classic…

…just getting back from a hot May morning of MTB racing.  While there are WORS & MNSCS races on the backside of the weekend, most people I talk too will say it’s hard to pass up the Cable Off Road Classic.  It’s got a mix of everything and amazing terrain to work with.

Maybe a better race recap later, managed an 8th place overall finish today.   A few questionable race choices otherwise came in on respectable terms for the first race of the season. 

So great to see so many friends & familiar faces.  I remember 10 yrs ago going to these races and thinking… damn, I don’t know a soul here.  Now it’s the other way around, like who I don’t know to say Hi to or catch up.  It’s a great sport in that regard, many great friendships you get to build.  Today.. let’s see, saw…Nate (I’m-the-sucker-who-didn’t-race -today) Lille, Nate Klump, Tom Carpenter (& Marie), Chad Sova, Mike Bushey, Todd  & Di McFadden, Scottie & Sara Kylander Johnson, TG, Charlie Tri, Marcy Madson, Jamie Sajdak,  Brian Hammond, CJ Faulkner, Barry Tungseth, Tom Gaier, Mike Gregor, Steve Spangle, Cam Wilcox, Bob & Tony Ferrara, Matt Hudson, Bart Rodberg, Kevin(to-big-of-a-single-speed-gear-today)Roytek, Aaron Sturgis, Matt Dale, the Endersbe’s(thanks for the helmets!) and I know I’m still missing a bunch of others.

Interesting for some perhaps in that I had two power meters running on the bike today!  The Saris Cycle-ops SL+ MTB disc brake hub power meter & the Quarq Quatro crankset power meter, each running a separate cycling computer, the Cycle-Ops using the Joule, and the Quarq using a Garmin 500.  The Garmin & the Quarq are recent additions, so I wanted to see how they stack up against each other.  I’ll try to post more on it later but in short, they should have near identical readouts when it comes to distance, altitude, & most importantly power.  However I found the Quarq to be 3-5% higher in the numbers it recorded than the Cycle-ops.  In the 1:46 hr race I  had average power of 243watts & Normalized power of 279 watts with the Quarq -- but 237 & 272 respectively with the Cycle-Ops… next time I’m doing a 20min threshold test… I’m using the the Quarq…bigger numbers.  Only wish that was true & made a guy faster.  Better bragging numbers I guess.

A quick summary or assessment I have about the various Power meter tools/devices.  I like the Cycleops Joule 2.0 head unit quite a bit better than the Garmin 500.   Primarily because one screen carries ever bit of info you want, Garmin 500 doesn’t have the same amount.  A lot of times preference what you are used to.  Previously I didn’t like the Joule because the readout was smaller than the previous Cycleops Powertap computer head unit.  But again you adjust.  Also I like to use the Cycleops Power Agent Software for it’s simplicity, though WKO+ & TrainingPeaks.com are very good once you get around to figuring out how it works.

I like the fact the Quarq is a crankset application vs. wheel/hub application but until the reliability of it’s power numbers is better.  I gotta give the edge to the Cycleops. 

Question?  So is the powertap wheel/hub all the much heavier?  Why would I race it?  Well some would say first it’s not the overall wheel weight that matter most but the moment of inertia of the wheel,  (google or wikipedia it, if you want to know more).  Boils down more to rim weight & what’s rotating.  I’ve got some light Stan’s Crest rims & compared to stock Bontrager RXL’s so I didn’t feel on a course with more rolling hills than outright climbs it would matter that much.   Got the same place as last year… so couldn’t matter that much.  This year on a hard tail 29er (Gary Fisher Superfly), last year on a full suspension 29er (Gary Fisher Superfly 100).   Anyways I’m digressing.

More on the race later…. more on power meters & comparisons later… Gotta get out & enjoy the evening with family & friends, great to see so many of you racing today!!!

Strada Fango recap…

…more than a week later, I’ve finally recovered from all that was the 60 mile spring classic the Strada Fango.

The race organized just a month or more out out from the Apr 29th start went off seemingly without a hitch.  Headed up by Noah Michaelsen & crew of volunteers, through & around the New Auburn forests, countryside.  Rolling hills, rocky 4 wheeler trails, single track, gravel roads & a climb up “Mt Flambeau”?

A late start from home, after our dogs had a run in with a porcupine carcass, a had me making the 130mile drive in record time.  (More on the porcupine carcass story later…)

After a phone call & some txt messages, the host was gracious enough to hold things up an extra 5-10minutes, enough for me to unpack the bike, strap on the camel back & get to the start line.   What appeared to be over 50 riders on Mt bikes and ‘cross bikes rolled off the start for what would be a 4+hr effort.

Being a somewhat informal event, course markings where of ribbon  tapings at critical junctions (& a backup map).   While this made the event manageable in setup, it was effective enough in getting riders navigated through unfamiliar terrain & surroundings.

The initial miles with Noah taking the lead was a moderate, which having no warmup I really appreciated.   It wasn’t until Todd Mcfadden, who we left at the start had caught up and went to the front did things pick up and the parts of the group started to break apart like a meteor entering the earth’s atmosphere.  With myself, Nate Lillie adding in some pulls, it was soon it was down to 8, then ultimately five, with Kevin Roytek and Trevor Koss making the cut. 

It continued that way for the first half hour of the race.  Todd continued to push things especially when the rocky terrain of the 4 wheeler trails gave the advantage to his full suspension 26” Trek Top Fuel.  Trevor would stay pretty close, with Nate & I following.  Kevin would drop just a bit off the pace after a few climbs. 

An hour into the race, Nate had dropped back to Kevin and it was just Trevor, myself & Todd with a minute or more lead.  My day was quickly set to change… after a sandy downhill, I shifted on a rocky section and somehow my chain dropped.  Ugh!  In disbelief initially I see Trevor & Todd roll away, thinking “Man!  I do not want to expend the energy necessary right now to catch those guys.”   The chain didn’t hook up as I was rolling up the hill, so I came to a dead stop, had to dismount and put it on. 

So the chase was on to the two rabbits that had disappear into the forests, around each corner & turn I kept hoping I start to see them.  After 5 or 10 minutes of this I finally caught sight of them & pushed it over a large rocky section and being less than  30yds back, I heard the unmistakable “psssssst”, my rear tire had taken a hit & it was losing air. 

It was then I was lamenting not getting around to putting a followup cup of Stan’s sealant.   Generally I like to do the initial tubeless sealing of tires with CaffeLatex sealant (I like better how it takes care of the small air leaks), but then followup with Stans which does a better job of sealing puncture. 

Within a 100 yards I knew the sealant wasn’t taking.  I’d caught up to Trevor & Todd by then & told them I’d flatted.  That pretty much “sealed” my fate for the day.  I got off the bike started to use the hand pump, in hopes the hole would eventually seal.  (I really dislike putting in tubes if there’s anyway I can without doing it I will)  So 20minutes & a lot of racers go buy, Brian Kelley, Noah, and many other each offer up some help, before I finally decide to pull out the tube and get going again.  Thanks to two guys in particular as I needed an extra patch and a better working pump to finish the job (thanks again, good trail karma out to you).

After that I was on a mission to make it a good hard training effort and see if I could catch anyone as I think every last person had passed me by then.

Though I did catch a few guys from time time to time, there wasn’t going to be a chance of seeing Trevor, Todd, Nate or Kevin again.

The hours and scenery went by not without challenges or frustration that comes from a race that doesn’t go your way and I rolled into the finish about 4 1/2hrs after starting.

After the race, was probably the best part of it to catch up with a lot of guys I’d not seen in several months & get to meet some new faces.  Not to mention hearing other stories of how the race played out for  some of the other racers. 

Definitely a good time had, sure appreciate Noah & all the parties involved in putting it together.  Looking forward to give it a go again next year.