Notes from a Millennial
- Thread starter Cassinonorth
- Start date
A Potted Plant
Honorary Sod
I forgot about this, be happy I went with this iteration. Also are you even genx?
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
Yesterday was my first* MTB race. *Mountain Man 2020 where I got stitches doesn't count, it was a duathlon.
I've been waffling about which races to partake in with the advisement of all from the XC thread and threw my name into the Rattling Marathon waitlist in late January, well after the race sold out. Figured I wouldn't get in but trained away for the other races in my calendar. Lo and behold March 10th my credit card gets charged by BikeReg, off to TrainerRoad to add it to my calendar. Oh, and I have a Vermont ski trip planned the week before the race, convenient timing.
Training was going well enough so I wasn't too concerned, my primary goal was just finish after all. 32 miles is the furthest I've ridden a mountain bike in one ride and aside from a 70.3 triathlon, it would be my longest endurance event. Goal B was sub 4 hours, felt attainable. I definitely wasn't running out to pre-ride it in the next 2 weekends either so riding blind was another challenge. Course looks reasonable, 2800 ft over 32 miles...apparently everyone's GPS pegged it around 3,100-3,500 ft...who knows.
Did a little carb loading and packed up the night before, up at 5 am to make the 2.5-3hr drive. Left Essex County around 6 am, rolled into the lot at 8:40, checked in and threw on my first number plate and did a little 15 minute warmup. Nutrition was a bit of a mystery but I felt decent about. 1 packet of Beta Fuel in my bottle and 3 SIS gels.
My plan was to go out slow and attempt to save some juice. Which...didn't exactly work since that first climb was quite steep. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like I burnt a huge match. The course was gravel, flow and then the rockiest trails I've ever ridden. No in between. Miles 1-8, solid. Climb from 8-12 tough, but manageable. Miles 12-20 rocky singletrack but still feeling decent. Miles 20-30 is where it started to come unglued a bit. Had one more gel I stopped to take in around mile 28 which probably saved me from a meltdown. The final descent was beyond sketchy gravel road...interesting when you're that tired. Finished in 4:16, which I can accept in my first race. Plenty of training to do...I think I still need to drop a bit more weight, I got crushed on the climbs. Hopefully some more newb gains from structured training on top of that too. Onto the next!
I've been waffling about which races to partake in with the advisement of all from the XC thread and threw my name into the Rattling Marathon waitlist in late January, well after the race sold out. Figured I wouldn't get in but trained away for the other races in my calendar. Lo and behold March 10th my credit card gets charged by BikeReg, off to TrainerRoad to add it to my calendar. Oh, and I have a Vermont ski trip planned the week before the race, convenient timing.
Training was going well enough so I wasn't too concerned, my primary goal was just finish after all. 32 miles is the furthest I've ridden a mountain bike in one ride and aside from a 70.3 triathlon, it would be my longest endurance event. Goal B was sub 4 hours, felt attainable. I definitely wasn't running out to pre-ride it in the next 2 weekends either so riding blind was another challenge. Course looks reasonable, 2800 ft over 32 miles...apparently everyone's GPS pegged it around 3,100-3,500 ft...who knows.
Did a little carb loading and packed up the night before, up at 5 am to make the 2.5-3hr drive. Left Essex County around 6 am, rolled into the lot at 8:40, checked in and threw on my first number plate and did a little 15 minute warmup. Nutrition was a bit of a mystery but I felt decent about. 1 packet of Beta Fuel in my bottle and 3 SIS gels.
My plan was to go out slow and attempt to save some juice. Which...didn't exactly work since that first climb was quite steep. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like I burnt a huge match. The course was gravel, flow and then the rockiest trails I've ever ridden. No in between. Miles 1-8, solid. Climb from 8-12 tough, but manageable. Miles 12-20 rocky singletrack but still feeling decent. Miles 20-30 is where it started to come unglued a bit. Had one more gel I stopped to take in around mile 28 which probably saved me from a meltdown. The final descent was beyond sketchy gravel road...interesting when you're that tired. Finished in 4:16, which I can accept in my first race. Plenty of training to do...I think I still need to drop a bit more weight, I got crushed on the climbs. Hopefully some more newb gains from structured training on top of that too. Onto the next!
JDurk
Well-Known Member
Nice recap and good job finishing. Rattling Creek is pretty brutal overall. Very effective method of figuring out what you need to work on.
Nice job. No idea what the first 5 1/2 pages of this thread are about though...
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
Mostly nonsense about people talking about how old they are, disregard.
At my age, I disregard almost everything anyway...
Nice work, thats a hell of a first race.....sure beats my 6 mile cat 3 race at lewmo.
So as someone who has done quite a few recaps.....for your readers and even moreso for yourself....what do you remember? How shitty did it feel? You were saying you were coming unglued....Like a 4+ hour race...that is some mental torture...were you questioning your life choices? Were you passing people? being passed?
So as someone who has done quite a few recaps.....for your readers and even moreso for yourself....what do you remember? How shitty did it feel? You were saying you were coming unglued....Like a 4+ hour race...that is some mental torture...were you questioning your life choices? Were you passing people? being passed?
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
This is good stuff, thanks for the recap tips.
Not terrible, honestly. I don't know if I left it all out there, I guess. Some low points after 3 hours, but kept chugging along. My back was completely stiff by the end, changing in my car was interesting and my triceps were on fire through the rocks. Legs were cranky and sore but not awful. Hands were locked up pretty bad. Just about what I expected from a 4 hour ride.
Only for a brief moment I'd say. Comparing this race to my 5.5 hour 70.3 in 90° heat with awful nutrition it was a breeze mentally. Weather was pretty nice, course was a challenge and interesting. Driving home felt like no chance I was coming back next year, sitting on my couch today I'd say I'm 75% I'll try again. I want that 4 hours.
Starting in the first wave I was passed by 75% of the field (I think I ended up 130th of 164 riders that finished), especially with my pacing strategy. I think I passed a handful of people in the first half of the race and maybe 2 in the last half. I was just telling myself this was a pretty good field of riders so it was what it was.
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
For Brevets we call this Randonnesia. Almost immediately after stepping off the bike, regardless of how horrible it was, you sign up for the next one. Or maybe it's the start of Alzheimers? Either way you end up doing it again 🤣
I mean its your first race.....and a 4+ hour one at that....finishing....not getting lost.....not throwing your bike into the woods and calling an uber.....all major accomplishments. My first race was so bad I thought...OMG I should never do this again lol. Figuring out your pacing for something like that....I know very few people who have ever done it on a consistent basis. Its hard.
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
Career may be overselling it but I definitely am enjoying the spart of actually training for events again. I didn't have that drive the last 2 years...just kinda going out riding, no real goal in mind.
Dabbling in a few formats short of DH racing. Dipping the toes and see where it goes.
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
This morning was NYSMTB's season opener and since I have a soft spot for PJWST I registered this as my 2nd race with no knowledge of the difference between this race and Boxbaum Bash. This course was primarily on the trails I avoid when I go to Port Jervis....I hate 2 things in this life...wet roots and trails with a bunch of loose shale. Hooo boy did this course have enough of both. This being my first XCO, I was curious how I'd fare...my training plan is still in the base phase, not much high end power work yet. I didn't expect much, pretty much true this whole season. Don't get hurt, finish the races, learn and work for the future.
I had most of my stuff prepped for the race thankfully because I woke up at 7:30 am instead of the planned 6:15 because I used my normal work alarm in my phone. In their welcome email, they advised to register 30 minutes prior to my start time (9:00 am). Port Jervis is about...1:15-1:20 away. Well that isn't happening. I drive...err...fast....and I get to the Reservoir Rd lot at 8:47. Wrong lot, there were 2 other cars there. Not a huge deal, I climb up Skyline which proved to be a decent warmup because there was no chance I was getting any type of planned warmup. Grab my numberplate and as I'm putting it on as I see my class ride by. Oh well, jump on the Cat 2 40-49 and hope they use chip time and not gun to chip time.
Race started with a roll out up Skyline Dr (asphalt) and then ducked down into Hula Hubbard. The course was shorter than I expected, around 4.8 miles per lap and Cat 2 was doing 2 loops. Now, being my first season and the first time I've trained since 2019, I should absolutely be in Cat 3 to get my feet wet. But...I also don't want to drive 3-5 hours round trip to ride 35 minutes so it goes. I'm hoping by the end of the year I'm solidly midpack every race.
I get caught behind a couple riders and have to dab when they screw up one of the rock rolls on Hula. Oh well. I eventually pass a few slower riders and find myself in a decent groove by the time we reach Campsite, dodging wet roots and loose turns. Only had one or two moments of "oh shi-". Couple of the climbs were fire roads which was a nice chance to take in some water...something I was a bit concerned about without a hydration pack this race. At one point I noticed my HR being 178, with 180 being my normal max. I didn't have time to prep any nutrition this morning so straight water it was. I liked the course in terms of being able to spot potential riders to catch which I probably passed 10ish people along the race...got passed by 3ish people, a nice change from getting passed by basically the entire race in Rattling Creek.
Planning for 13ish miles I was riding a little slower first than I may have if I was thinking 9.7 miles. Probably not the worst pacing all things considered. I finished my first lap in 32:47 and my 2nd in 33:26. In theory that would've put me at 1:06:13 8th/13 in my class and 21st of 36 in Cat 2 but they did use gun time so I was officially in at 1:10:25, 9th.
A little post race excitement, a younger rider came across after me and started almost convulsing/shaking and unresponsive. Called for help and eventually she was okay thankfully. Scary stuff. Certainly a race to forget (remember?). Onto Iron Furnace.
I had most of my stuff prepped for the race thankfully because I woke up at 7:30 am instead of the planned 6:15 because I used my normal work alarm in my phone. In their welcome email, they advised to register 30 minutes prior to my start time (9:00 am). Port Jervis is about...1:15-1:20 away. Well that isn't happening. I drive...err...fast....and I get to the Reservoir Rd lot at 8:47. Wrong lot, there were 2 other cars there. Not a huge deal, I climb up Skyline which proved to be a decent warmup because there was no chance I was getting any type of planned warmup. Grab my numberplate and as I'm putting it on as I see my class ride by. Oh well, jump on the Cat 2 40-49 and hope they use chip time and not gun to chip time.
Race started with a roll out up Skyline Dr (asphalt) and then ducked down into Hula Hubbard. The course was shorter than I expected, around 4.8 miles per lap and Cat 2 was doing 2 loops. Now, being my first season and the first time I've trained since 2019, I should absolutely be in Cat 3 to get my feet wet. But...I also don't want to drive 3-5 hours round trip to ride 35 minutes so it goes. I'm hoping by the end of the year I'm solidly midpack every race.
I get caught behind a couple riders and have to dab when they screw up one of the rock rolls on Hula. Oh well. I eventually pass a few slower riders and find myself in a decent groove by the time we reach Campsite, dodging wet roots and loose turns. Only had one or two moments of "oh shi-". Couple of the climbs were fire roads which was a nice chance to take in some water...something I was a bit concerned about without a hydration pack this race. At one point I noticed my HR being 178, with 180 being my normal max. I didn't have time to prep any nutrition this morning so straight water it was. I liked the course in terms of being able to spot potential riders to catch which I probably passed 10ish people along the race...got passed by 3ish people, a nice change from getting passed by basically the entire race in Rattling Creek.
Planning for 13ish miles I was riding a little slower first than I may have if I was thinking 9.7 miles. Probably not the worst pacing all things considered. I finished my first lap in 32:47 and my 2nd in 33:26. In theory that would've put me at 1:06:13 8th/13 in my class and 21st of 36 in Cat 2 but they did use gun time so I was officially in at 1:10:25, 9th.
A little post race excitement, a younger rider came across after me and started almost convulsing/shaking and unresponsive. Called for help and eventually she was okay thankfully. Scary stuff. Certainly a race to forget (remember?). Onto Iron Furnace.
The Kalmyk
Well-Known Member
Good stuff. If you’re doing Williams Lake i will cya there. Cat 3 all day for me. For ole time sake for me nothing more...
Hey good job. Those were consistent lap times which says you paced well. Unless you finished with something left in the tank? Keep racing and you’ll see improvements. You’ll learn when you can push, and when you should ease up.
And anything over an hour and you should eat something before. It helps. Even if it’s just a crappy bag of instant oatmeal. And a gel 15 minutes before the start. It makes a difference.
And anything over an hour and you should eat something before. It helps. Even if it’s just a crappy bag of instant oatmeal. And a gel 15 minutes before the start. It makes a difference.
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
Back on the line for the first time since April 16 in Port Jervis. Small blessing was the Iron Furnace endurance getting cancelled, I was heading straight for burnout that week and racing the rocks in the rain would've surely ended in a DNF. I ended up moving from TrainerRoad's Sweet Spot plan to Polarized and it's been great since. 1-2 indoor rides a week for my intervals and the rest are outside. Some commuting, some MTB. Averaged 10+ hours/week on the bike in May...FTP is up 25 watts, weight is down 19 lbs. Possibly the fastest I've ever been on a MTB.
And with the name of the forum, we decided to start demo on our bathroom Saturday, spent 7 hours inhaling paster and swinging a hammer. But! We did get the bath area down to the studs so worth it in the end. Still a long ways to go but it'll be nice to have a functional bathroom at the end of the project.
Anyway onto the race...left Essex County around 7:45 and arrived at the base lodge around 9:15. Quick check in process, grabbed my number plate and went to get my warmup in. There's a decent road with a climb to warm up on and a field so I was pretty content with what I got in beforehand. I was one of 7 men in 30-30 Cat 3 (yes, I dropped down from Cat 2). Trying to size up my competition, I saw 1 maybe 2 threats on the line in my very inexperienced opinion. I didn't force my way to the front for the start (mistake), so I started in the 2nd row. Gun goes off and I didn't really hammer the climb up into the woods either (possible mistake?), so I went into the new berm section in 5th place. I'm a better descender than climber at this point so I was up the other rider's wheel the entire section without a great place to pass. I also didn't get a chance to pre-ride (mistake) so I was riding this course blind. We get out of the berm section and I make a left, wrong, didn't give up any time there and kept my 3rd place position. Eventually pass the 2nd rider but then made another wrong turn...this time near the start area onto gravel. Bam. Laid the bike down grabbing too much brake. Lost a position there and the eventual winner was effectively gone. I caught 2nd again and kept him away the rest of the climb. I was working hard but not in the red...I knew the leader had a sizeable lead and catching him was almost nil after my crash. First lap ended up 25:49, 1:26 back. Getting to the climb again I barely could see him and barely spotted 3rd when I was on the climb so I figured as long as I stayed upright, I was finishing 2nd.
2nd lap was pretty uneventful. I ended up in no man's land...there was a junior just ahead of me but no one else really around. Course was pretty dusty but not nearly as bad as some of the bigger fields had to deal with. I definitely wasn't pushing myself super hard all things considered. My shoulder felt like I threw 9 innings the day before, my hand was cut up from a missed hammer swing and I had a bruise on my palm from my crash. Getting to the finish line in one piece was my goal. 2nd lap was 26:53, good for 2nd place. 2:42 behind the winner....if I hadn't crashed and taken 2 wrong turns would I have won? Probably not. Fun to ponder...but I doubt it. As @UtahJoe says, you'll end up where you belong.
Onto Lewis Morris in 3 weeks.
And with the name of the forum, we decided to start demo on our bathroom Saturday, spent 7 hours inhaling paster and swinging a hammer. But! We did get the bath area down to the studs so worth it in the end. Still a long ways to go but it'll be nice to have a functional bathroom at the end of the project.
Anyway onto the race...left Essex County around 7:45 and arrived at the base lodge around 9:15. Quick check in process, grabbed my number plate and went to get my warmup in. There's a decent road with a climb to warm up on and a field so I was pretty content with what I got in beforehand. I was one of 7 men in 30-30 Cat 3 (yes, I dropped down from Cat 2). Trying to size up my competition, I saw 1 maybe 2 threats on the line in my very inexperienced opinion. I didn't force my way to the front for the start (mistake), so I started in the 2nd row. Gun goes off and I didn't really hammer the climb up into the woods either (possible mistake?), so I went into the new berm section in 5th place. I'm a better descender than climber at this point so I was up the other rider's wheel the entire section without a great place to pass. I also didn't get a chance to pre-ride (mistake) so I was riding this course blind. We get out of the berm section and I make a left, wrong, didn't give up any time there and kept my 3rd place position. Eventually pass the 2nd rider but then made another wrong turn...this time near the start area onto gravel. Bam. Laid the bike down grabbing too much brake. Lost a position there and the eventual winner was effectively gone. I caught 2nd again and kept him away the rest of the climb. I was working hard but not in the red...I knew the leader had a sizeable lead and catching him was almost nil after my crash. First lap ended up 25:49, 1:26 back. Getting to the climb again I barely could see him and barely spotted 3rd when I was on the climb so I figured as long as I stayed upright, I was finishing 2nd.
2nd lap was pretty uneventful. I ended up in no man's land...there was a junior just ahead of me but no one else really around. Course was pretty dusty but not nearly as bad as some of the bigger fields had to deal with. I definitely wasn't pushing myself super hard all things considered. My shoulder felt like I threw 9 innings the day before, my hand was cut up from a missed hammer swing and I had a bruise on my palm from my crash. Getting to the finish line in one piece was my goal. 2nd lap was 26:53, good for 2nd place. 2:42 behind the winner....if I hadn't crashed and taken 2 wrong turns would I have won? Probably not. Fun to ponder...but I doubt it. As @UtahJoe says, you'll end up where you belong.
Onto Lewis Morris in 3 weeks.