Chequameon Fat Tire

Race preparation: in the season leading up to the race I was only able to bike approximately 450 miles. In the month before the race I was traveling seemingly incessantly, moving across most of the length of Britain, and getting ready to fly an infant across the Atlantic (went better than expected). My training could be best summarized as 'haphazard verging on poor'. Onward!

My ride: my father in law took (at my request) my oldish Gary Fisher hardtail and stripped it of most of its gears, leaving the middle ring and the rear derailleur. Despite its age (someone yelled "let's go, old school!" at me during the race. Not wild about that) I like this bike. I liked the 1x9 setup- I think I'll convert the single speed I ride now to 1x9 when we move back the the US. I dropped the chain to the outside about 5 times during the race (we appropriated the front derailleur cage to keep things in place), so more care is needed for a permanent setup. With more fitness a slightly bigger chainring might be needed, but I was happy with the gearing range. For Wisconsin, anyway- Colorado would be different story I think.

The race: The Chequamegon Fat Tire race is a 40 mile race in Wisconsin, parts of it on the famous Birkebeiner ski trail. This was its 27th year. It starts out with three miles of high speed roll out on roads, hits the Birke trail for a while rolling over hills, cruises along a fire road for a bit, more Birke, more fire road, a huge hill, more hills, and then beer at the finish. We headed to the family compound on Friday and tested out the bike on the course, and Saturday was go-time.

This was my first mountain bike race, my previous racing on wheels had only been triathlons. I prefer mountain biking, so this was more fun. I had my eye on the family record (around 3:15) and was sort-of-on pace through the half way point, and then on a fire road I started feeling a bit ominous about things. I moved into a 'spin on the downhills' mode, grabbed a shot of rum from some guys dressed as pirates, and tried to maintain what I could of my pace. By the last few miles I was waiting for death and the smallest uphill would send me scrambling for my lowest gear, but I made it across in 3:26.

The verdict: not awesome, but given my lack of training I feel pretty ok about it. I was in better cardio shape than climbing-leg shape, if that makes any sense. I think if I'd been able to race last year after my much-more-intensive summer season I could make a run at 3:00, so that's my goal for the future. I didn't leave a whole lot out on the course, which was a nice feeling after not racing (not even a 5k run or something, lame) at all for over a year.

A couple pictures from the pros on the course:

stupid cars

I passed by exactly one parked car on my commute today, and was almost doored by it. Hopefully I at least startled the person with my shouted 'waaargh!'.

Biking has been tough recently. I threw my back out (this happens once every year or two) and wasn't able to bike for a week, and now the weather is questionable. I went mountain biking over the weekend and it was like clawing your way up a river. Really really muddy and slow going, and lots of sheep everywhere. My training for this race in a few weeks is not exactly optimal. My bike in the US is being converted to a 1x9, which would have made a lot of sense when I was in shape but now smacks of hubris. Oh well- the post-race beer and hot tub will feel that much better.

radical shift in bikestyle

My commute is about to change dramatically. We just got back from Cambridge, where we'll be moving in a few weeks, and the biking scene is noticeably different. There's not going to be much in the way of mountain biking, which is a little sad. It sounds like there are some nice country roads that are dirty and muddy and maybe a little scenic, but mostly it's flat flat flat. So time to get a taller gear for the bike.

Maybe more significant is the number of cyclists. So far I've encountered a grand total of zero other bikers on my commute, from the moment I cross the Tay bridge to when I get within a mile or so of St Andrews. Cambridge, by contrast, was a seething mass of people flying around on city bikes. I'm about to become an urban (well, sort of- it's still a small town) cyclist again.

getting lost on a new trail system

On Sunday I headed to a forest sort-of-near to where we live, Pitmedden forest park. I had found vague descriptions on the internet of good riding there, but no maps. I got lost on the way there and forgot my biking shirt at home, but I remained upbeat. Living at sea level means I don't have to worry quite so much about Alpine Death Fabric and its dangers, so while I may have looked a bit odd in my ragged cotton v-neck (from the Gap, no less) I wasn't too worried about hypothermia.

I started riding up an uninspiring fire road* which continued for half a mile or so. Then I started noticing little trails shooting off the side. Eventually I just picked one and went for it, and what followed was some of the most enjoyable singletrack I've ever ridden. Really twisty sections led to smooth flowy sections, all of it narrow (like 6 inches or so), there were roots and rocks and even some ledges I didn't feel comfortable going down with my current mindset**. At one point there were some Pacific Northwest-style manmade features (they think of them as North Coast features here I think), bermed corners and at one point a huge drop that I walked down and then the trail ended. Apparently not a popular feature***.

This was really high quality trail, and the woods was just crisscrossed with offshoots. I have no idea where I went, how much of the system I covered, or what. When I came to an intersection I just picked the direction that looked best. I only ended up in a scary Blair-Witch woods once and got worried about finding my way back twice, so all in all this was a pretty awesome excursion.

I need to remember to bring my camelback with me when we return from our visit to the US in September. While I was thinking about that I came upon this, describing new Osprey hydration packs for biking. I love backpacks****. Researching them, buying them, using them... Osprey makes great stuff, and if I could rationalize buying something that I already have a functional version of I would snap one of these up.



* too many mountain bike rides start off with ascents up uninspiring fire roads. No warm up, just start climbing up ugliness. When I rule the world...
** my current mindset is probably best summarized by 'don't break your neck and saddle your wife with a newborn and a paraplegic husband'. I'm thinking about getting a road ID or something similar. Things I would have sailed over a year ago give me much greater pause now, and I think the expanded family has something to do with it.
*** every time I try a new trail in Scotland I end up thrashing through heather/woods/thorns and swearing.
**** my love of buying backpacks is matched only by jackets. The more technical the better.

some biking, some sad

The biking- biking has been going pretty well- still haven't gotten into a twice-a-week commute yet, but I've been getting out in the hills once a week to keep up appearances of training. I've given up tracking my times since I've started adding bits and pieces of trail to the ride depending on how much of a hurry I'm in, how nice the weather is, how good I'm feeling...

Last time I went mountain biking I decided to do some exploring and took a left instead of a right. I cruised down a fun singletrack/fireroad descent for a long time, starting to think that maybe I should have thought this out a little better. I saw what I thought was a return trail off to my right, and when I hit a fence I thrashed through some spiky plants and thistles to get over to it, only to find a stream with no trail on the other side. I crossed over and poked around a little, but nothing. All I ended up with was wet feet. Since I had to go back the same way I came down, I was a little down, but it turned out to be great. It's a mile and a half of steady uphill with some steeper sections, and it's at the right gradient that I can sit and spin/grind up it for most of the way. This is great- most of the hills on my usual loop require standing, swearing, and finally stopping and walking on a singlespeed. This one I can get in a groove, and it should be really good training for the race in September.

The sad- I read today that Susan, the fat cyclist's wife, died last night. It's a testament to the writing on that blog that I'm so crushed about this. Reading about his journey over the last year or so since I discovered his blog has been inspirational, and I hope he and his family find some peace in a tragic time.

lame catch-up post

Last weeks commute: 1:20 in each direction. This is about the limit of my gearing I think- much faster and it gets annoying spinning that fast.

Today I went on what's become my usual mountain bike circuit. It was really muddy, really windy, and really hot which was kind of a strange combination. The views of the highlands from up there are spectacular, and I'm a little bummed that I haven't been able to get out hiking more of those hills. That's life with a new baby though, so no real complaints. Different stages in life and all that.

I ended up cutting my ride a bit short since I was feeling pretty dead-legged and I wanted to see how the Tour stage shook out. Of all the days to not watch live, I chose today... oh well.

putting the hammer down

the title is self deprecating. I've been keeping an eye on the tour, which is on at a normal time now that I'm living only one time zone away, and so I've started biking faster on my commute with visions of dominating a field sprint in the back of my mind. Also I only have two months to train for the race in September. Since I have one gear and the same route, the only thing that can change is the weather and me. Now that I think about it I have two routes... damn. Whatever, time recording starts now.

Way in today: 1h 17m. Way home: 1h 20m.

This is a lot faster than the first few times I biked in, so that's good. And not surprising, since I was in zero shape at that point. If I start biking in twice a week and sneak in a few midweek after-work rides, I could be in decent shape for the race. I'd start running again to supplement the biking, but life is short and I'm in an 'I hate running' phase. The delicate balance between tourism, training, and a newly expanded family continues.