Jshort’s bike thread

[JDurk]

Great race recap and solid finish in a very stacked field. I considered hauling my camper up the night before, but the weather forecast and didn't feel like breaking down after the race. I too realized I was barely hanging on during the doubletrack climb. Rocks Ridge trail almost did me in, but caught another SSer, so had to push it a bit to hold him off. The gravel decent to the finish was pretty effin' scary, but welcomed.

 

[Cassinonorth]

Thursday CR hammer rides would be great, but I doubt anyone would show and Thursdays don't actually work for me. How about Wednesday hammer rides at Nassau?

I work in central ish Jersey so Thursday would be better for me tbh.

Either way I'd be down to come get dropped once a month in those rides.

 

[jShort]

Jungle Habitat

This was my third weekend in a row racing and I was hoping to feel a little more in the top end. I think that gets thrown around a lot so what I mean by top end: When I’m pushing at a “middle of the race pace effort”, and need to pass and drop someone, thats my top end. This seems like the toughest part of aerobic engine to train because however hard you try, it’s almost impossible to duplicate a race effort. So in my head, this is where racing into shape comes into play. This maybe more mental, and just a matter of me getting used to race pace efforts, but this is usually what’s missing in my first few races.
I also made some tire adjustments. I swapped from a Schwalbe Racing Ray / Ralph setup to Maxxis Aspen / Rekon Race, put the inserts back in, and dropped PSI to 15 in the front and 16 in the back. This sounds like such a low tire pressure, but it still feels petty hard. I had much more the last 2 weeks and it felt so harsh I decided to go with my gut and lower it. Definitely the right decision.
As I’m lined up at the start, I have no idea if the 2 previous weeks helped or hampered my fitness. I’m more excited than nervous and the caffeine is definitely flowing. The only thing in my head is to get into the single track with a decent position. From the start line, there’s probably about 75 yards until you hit a short but steep little hill, then a left all marked out by cones. Luckily this year, everything is dry. Once the whistle or siren went off I realized I was in too easy of a gear. Meh. I’m hoping my shifts go fast (AXS is kind of a luck of the draw in this scenario) and I don’t drop a chain. They do, and I’m able to keep pace.
I end up going into the single track around 5th which is good enough.
I can see the leader and everyone is staying together, but as we make our way up Warthog, the rocks are causing some slips and mistakes in front of me which lets the first few racers get a little lead. There’s at least 2 more mistakes made directly in front of me before we get to Otterslide, and passing is hard to do. As I’m climbing, I can see the leader is one switch back up already, and passing is impossible except in the turns, so the lead is growing. Once the climb is over, I make up a few spots which were Endurance racers that were getting in the mix now.
For the rest of the first lap and most of the second, I have no idea what place I’m in. I’m passing plenty of guys but I don’t know if they’re from the endurance, Cat 1 15+ category, or the 45+ group. I haven’t gotten passed so I’m assuming I’m still in top 5 or 6. All I can do is focus on clean riding, and keeping constant power down where I can. This is such a fun loop to race on and I feel good.
I eventually link up with Mancuso and ride his wheel for a while. I let him yell at people to get out of the way and then I nicely say thanks when I pass them. There’s a few racers spread out but still close enough and I’m pretty sure we’re all in the 45+ category. This is different because usually after 30 minutes, you’re in no man’s land and don’t see anyone. But here, we’re all pretty close together in the last lap. This keeps me from getting complacent. That and the fact my legs still feel good.
Once we get to the top of Otter Slide on the last lap, I pass Steve and make a push to get out of sight. I also pass a few more to get some racers between us. I come up on one more guy who I thought I could pass, but didn’t. You snooze you loose though, because it turns out that was 3rd place. I’m not positive I could have held that pass but I should have tried.
Climbing Animal Shute the last time, you can get a good view of where you stand. Your have a clear sight of people in front and in back. I didn’t have anyone immediately in front of me, but there was a guy sneaking up on me, but because I saw him, I was able to keep a safe distance between us.
On the pavement I was able to put my head down, go into Roadie mode, lock out, and spin up the climbs pretty fast. I finally passed Serena (@Matt_ ”s better and faster half. Seriously she was flying and I’m surprised I caught her). I could exhale a little because nobody as creeping up and I tempo’d to the finish in 4th.

Next up is Ringwood. Hopefully I can build on this race.

 

[UtahJoe]

nice work man!

 

[MadisonDan]

Great job. Conditions were perfect. Super fun course.

 

[jShort]

Great job. Conditions were perfect. Super fun course.

Thanks for the 📷

 

[Mitch]

Nice work J and nice recap. Good job!

 

[jShort]

Bear Creek -

I felt like shit a few weeks ago at French Creek. Some kind of stomach / flu thing where I just could not get going at all. My HR was super elevated all day, and lining up at the start had me at like 105 which kind of freaked me out because i’ve never seen it that high before the race even starts. Once we got going, I was almost instantly redlined at 185ish and hardly above a tempo pace, I lasted 1 1/12 laps, got passed but the entire Cat 1 field, and then just slow pedaled back to the finish lime and took the DNF. Since then, I‘ve done plenty of workouts and training sessions and felt fine, but I was still nervous It would come back at the next race.

So leading up to BC I was apprehensive about my fitness and it got in my head a bit. I only knew a 3 of the racers in the 18ish people lined up. I assume since this was a preview of nationals course, it would attract a stacked group. I had some nerves.

There was no gentleman‘s start on Sunday. It was fast and dusty AF. I held back a little on the sprint start and regretted it. I was in the back 3rd and lost the leaders pretty quick. I know @UtahJoe says you’ll end up where you should, but I like to try and keep up with the leaders as long as I can. It’s motivates me to keep up a super hard pace If I’m following the fast wheels. Eventually everyone levels out at a race pace they will hold until / unless they blow up. But If I can hold on at the beginning, at least I can see if I can hang with the leaders once things settle in.

I finally go through most of the slower traffic by the first woods section and into the feed zone. Then starting the climb in the back of the hotel, I was in a pack of 5 or 6 comparably fast racers and just stuck in the back up the switch backs. Once we got on the fire road I stood and sprinted to see if I could gap to the next group and it worked a little. I did bridge to the next few racers bit ended up bringing a few people with me.

From that point, we were close to the top and about to get into the fun, rocky tech sections on the way down. I was able to pick off a few people every few minutes, but they were in the younger age groups or SS which both started in front.

The only action was seeing @TripJ's stay about 10 seconds behind me the whole race. On the last lap I thought I dropped him up the climbs. I made 5 or 6 passes and thought he must have gotten caught up. When I crested the climb I didn’t see him behind me. But I got stuck behind someone leading down to the heckle pit. I had to talk them through with encouraging words. I was right on this person’s wheel and saying things like “good job, you got this, I’m in a different age group so don’t worry about it, just ride smooth”…. Trying to be a nice guy. But as soon as we cleared the woods, Jeff is right on my back wheel. He came up so fast it surprised me so much I almost waved him by., To his credit he said, “you don’t want to wave me by”, and he was right, lol. We came to the bottom of the climb that lead you to the A or B section and I stood and sprinted and was able to stay in front. After that’s, its a downhill slalom and pretty hard to pass so I as able to finish in front. He probably could have snuck by me if I didn’t look back when I did.


That’s him not far behind…..

Speaking of the A and B, it was dumb. The A line took you down a steep little roller, really not hard at all to ride fast. The B line kept you on the fire road and they made a little chicane with tape. I went though the A line the first 3 lap and thought it was faster because I thought I dropped everyone else’s taking the B line. They were just so far ahead of me I didn’t think it was possible it was them. Luckily It only took me 3 times to learn this. Because If I took the A line on that last lap, Jeff would have easily passed me and laughed at me all the way down to the finish.

I ended up in 6th which is ok. I’m more happy with how I felt during the race. I was able to get on the gas when I needed and motor up climbs and make passes the opportunity presented itself.

 

[Santapez]

It's been 8+ Years since you started this thread.

What's the biggest changes?

 

[jShort]

It's been 8+ Years since you started this thread.

What's the biggest changes?

Great question. Probably something I should be asking more often. Let me keep a note doc in my phone and ponder for a bit.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Bear Creek -

I felt like shit a few weeks ago at French Creek. Some kind of stomach / flu thing where I just could not get going at all. My HR was super elevated all day, and lining up at the start had me at like 105 which kind of freaked me out because i’ve never seen it that high before the race even starts. Once we got going, I was almost instantly redlined at 185ish and hardly above a tempo pace, I lasted 1 1/12 laps, got passed but the entire Cat 1 field, and then just slow pedaled back to the finish lime and took the DNF. Since then, I‘ve done plenty of workouts and training sessions and felt fine, but I was still nervous It would come back at the next race.

So leading up to BC I was apprehensive about my fitness and it got in my head a bit. I only knew a 3 of the racers in the 18ish people lined up. I assume since this was a preview of nationals course, it would attract a stacked group. I had some nerves.

There was no gentleman‘s start on Sunday. It was fast and dusty AF. I held back a little on the sprint start and regretted it. I was in the back 3rd and lost the leaders pretty quick. I know @UtahJoe says you’ll end up where you should, but I like to try and keep up with the leaders as long as I can. It’s motivates me to keep up a super hard pace If I’m following the fast wheels. Eventually everyone levels out at a race pace they will hold until / unless they blow up. But If I can hold on at the beginning, at least I can see if I can hang with the leaders once things settle in.

I finally go through most of the slower traffic by the first woods section and into the feed zone. Then starting the climb in the back of the hotel, I was in a pack of 5 or 6 comparably fast racers and just stuck in the back up the switch backs. Once we got on the fire road I stood and sprinted to see if I could gap to the next group and it worked a little. I did bridge to the next few racers bit ended up bringing a few people with me.

From that point, we were close to the top and about to get into the fun, rocky tech sections on the way down. I was able to pick off a few people every few minutes, but they were in the younger age groups or SS which both started in front.

The only action was seeing @TripJ's stay about 10 seconds behind me the whole race. On the last lap I thought I dropped him up the climbs. I made 5 or 6 passes and thought he must have gotten caught up. When I crested the climb I didn’t see him behind me. But I got stuck behind someone leading down to the heckle pit. I had to talk them through with encouraging words. I was right on this person’s wheel and saying things like “good job, you got this, I’m in a different age group so don’t worry about it, just ride smooth”…. Trying to be a nice guy. But as soon as we cleared the woods, Jeff is right on my back wheel. He came up so fast it surprised me so much I almost waved him by., To his credit he said, “you don’t want to wave me by”, and he was right, lol. We came to the bottom of the climb that lead you to the A or B section and I stood and sprinted and was able to stay in front. After that’s, its a downhill slalom and pretty hard to pass so I as able to finish in front. He probably could have snuck by me if I didn’t look back when I did.


That’s him not far behind…..

View attachment 215227


Speaking of the A and B, it was dumb. The A line took you down a steep little roller, really not hard at all to ride fast. The B line kept you on the fire road and they made a little chicane with tape. I went though the A line the first 3 lap and thought it was faster because I thought I dropped everyone else’s taking the B line. They were just so far ahead of me I didn’t think it was possible it was them. Luckily It only took me 3 times to learn this. Because If I took the A line on that last lap, Jeff would have easily passed me and laughed at me all the way down to the finish.

I ended up in 6th which is ok. I’m more happy with how I felt during the race. I was able to get on the gas when I needed and motor up climbs and make passes the opportunity presented itself.


View attachment 215229

View attachment 215224


View attachment 215225View attachment 215228

Nice work with the comeback. I had covid on may 11th and it wasn’t u til this sunday that I started feeling decent again.

 

[jShort]

This was my rental in Park City. It was mind blowing how well it pedaled uphill. It seemed like it went up by itself. Downhill was a different story because Fox forks suck (IMO).

But I was ready to buy a 115 and sell my Epic EVO because this bike felt so much faster. But before I pulled the trigger, I decided to make some adjustments to my EVO.

I added about 20 psi to the shock and 10 to the fork. Took out my inserts and added went to about 20 psi rear and 19 front (coming from 14/15) , and put on a 60mm stem (had 80). EDIT: I also took off my 2.4 aspens and put on 2.35 racing Ralph and Ray.

The difference after 1 ride at Nassau was night and day. It rolled faster and climbed like the 115 did. Before it felt sluggish soft, but I didn’t realize it.
It saved me from making an unnecessary purchase for sure. It was very helpful to get a different perspective from the rental. I’m not sure I can go back to the 2.4s either. Maybe for races like jungle, but any hard pack place like lewmo or ksvp, I’ll stick with the slightly narrower tires.

 

[jShort]

Off season is in full effect. I’ve been sick all week with a little cold. It’s not bad but it’s been enough to keep me off the bike or fear just making it worse. I can probably use a week with no pedaling anyway. It’s always good to take some time off and make sure that fire is still burning. Here I am 4 days since my last pedal and I’m kind of jonesing to ride. Even to just get on the trainer. That probably makes me sound odd, but I am what I am. Safe to say the fire is still burning.
While I’ve been riding for fun the last 4 months, I still have that racer mentality and think of years in seasons. I’ve been thinking about last season and the upcoming season and what goals I want to create.
Last season was a total bust. Probably the worst race season I’ve had in a long long time. And ironically enough, I think It was the year where I was most complaint to my training plans, including sleep and nutrition. I really felt like I nailed all 3 consistently. So it makes me wonder if the poor race performances were due to me being tired and flat.
I used Trainerroad mid volume and did the Plan Builder with Nationals as the A race. I was not at my best and that’s the whole point of a training plan with an A race, isn’t it? To be at your best when that A race comes along.
Now that it’s time to start thinking about next season, I’m trying to pick a plan or tool to use to train with. I’d like to just hire a coach that’ll look at my files and data, be able to prescribe workouts that keep it fun. One thing I miss when I had a coach was seeing a day on the calendar and it was to find a 30 minute trail loop and do a sweet spot effort for 90-100 minutes. That’s way better than the monotony of intervals. The problem is I can’t stomach paying $200 a month for a reputable coach.

I’ve considered Trainerroad again. Apparently Ii’m not the only one who didn’t adapt to the work loads, so they added a “Masters” plan option which makes it 2 days of intensity instead of 3. It ’s appealing and may be what I need. But I’m kind of pissed about trusting their plan last year and having it not work out. There are a few more apps like Wahoo’s System thing. I don’t know much about that nor anyone who has used it for an extended period of time. There’s the new Fascat app which is interesting, it takes your sleep data (if you wear a wearable device) and takes your recovery into consideration. The app does not seem too fine tuned yet though, so I’m leaning towards not renewing when the free trial is up.
Another option is buying a training peaks training plan from @Pearl 's buddy Dylan Johnson. He has a bunch to pick from for Base, build, and speciality phases. That’s appealing because it would be a new way for me to train and let me pick how I want to do the workouts.

I’m leaning towards just doing it myself. I can take what I’ve learned the last few years of interval training, and just make my own plan. I’ve looked at and followed enough plans to be able to put one together myself. It’s an unfamiliar feeling because I’ve always followed someone else’s plan. But maybe being uncomfortable would be a good thing though.

 

[Pearl]

I’ve decided to do the FasCat plan. It’s $35 a month, full library of every plan they offer. You can also message the app and someone answers any question you want. For example, I asked them how to handle some days I was traveling and they guided me through what to do. Granted I could’ve figured it out myself but wanted to see how responsive they were.

I’m following this 30 week offseason/lifting/base plan for now and then can “switch from base to race” when that time comes. I’m happy with it at the moment for the volume I do. I’m really hoping the last 6-8 weeks of lifting I’ve done make some improvement down the road. I’ve already repped my max squat from 8 weeks ago 4-5 times, so I’m stoked on that… but I imagine it’s the same kinda gains we got out 1-3 years of cycling.

The app is only mobile which is kind of a drag, but you export your workouts to garmin/zwift/TR and boom you’re golden. I really feel like I have a solid foundation and no real fatigue right now, so hoping it’s a good building block.

 

[jShort]

Wow @Pearl paying 35 a month for a training app? That’s as crazy as @Steve Vai on a trainer.

Are you using a wearable to track your recovery? Do you listen to their podcast?
Is there a way to add time off in that app?

 

[Pearl]

Wow @Pearl paying 35 a month for a training app? That’s as crazy as @Steve Vai on a trainer.

Are you using a wearable to track your recovery? Do you listen to their podcast?
Is there a way to add time off in that app?

$35 is cheaper then EE was lol

I do, I wear my Fenix all day and I haven’t overdone it at all yet in terms of workouts since it’s not the season, so jury is still out.

I sometimes do, I did listen to the latest one this past week. Sometimes they don’t talk about stuff I’m into lol

Adding time, what you mean? When you upload your ride to Strava/Garmin it pulls it in?

 

[jShort]

Adding time, what you mean? When you upload your ride to Strava/Garmin it pulls it in?

Like if you get sick or go on vacation. Is there a way to add that to the calendar?

 

[Pearl]

Like if you get sick or go on vacation. Is there a way to add that to the calendar?

You can move workouts around, I don’t think it’s as good as trainer road with that m just because it’s a mobile only app at the moment

 

[stb222]

Wow @Pearl paying 35 a month for a training app? That’s as crazy as @Steve Vai on a trainer.

Are you using a wearable to track your recovery? Do you listen to their podcast?
Is there a way to add time off in that app?

And working out in a gym, even though i know that happened last year. Who knew this kid would be a fitness nut.

 

[Pearl]

Last year I went to planet fitness for a little bit