Jshort’s bike thread
- Thread starter jShort
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I have used this and yes, you do have to shake it kinda violently. Seems dumb they can’t just add an undo button on the keyboard.
Mayhem
Sorry for the book. I need to make up for lost time!
I was one of the few who raced Mayhem. I had signed up for this race way back in March and as we all know, the Rona said You Shall Not Race. So I forgot all about it. Then I saw something on Facebook where they said they were still going to have it in November. Sweet.
That gave me an event to train for. Training in October and November is not new for me , I’ve done enough seasons of cross racing that I was prepared for it. Once the clocks turn back, and it starts getting cold, it’s a little easier to get those early morning trainer sessions going and make them a habit. I saw this because I want to be clear I did train for tis event; apparently not as hard as I should have but I’ll save those thoughts for another day. Or Blog post if I ever get to it.
There were 10 or 11 pre registered, but most were pre-rona, so who knows how many would show. As it turns out, 6 people showed up to race the Cat 1 / 15-45 age group. As mentioned they had us lined up in groups for 3. And regardless if anyone else in your group showed, you were slated to start at a very specific time. So my race started at 1:30, but my exact start time was 1:31:30. In the staging area, there 1 guy went first, then 30 seconds later 2 other guys went, and then I went with 2 others at my time. So it was a little bit if a time trial, but I liked being in the last row. It meant I just needed to pass people and not worry about how much I passed them by. If I was in the first row, I think it would have sucked. You could finish first, but then you have to hope the other people don’t beat your time. I get why they had to do it like that, and I am not complaining. It’s just another element to the race.
I always like to take the hole shot. And so we start and I jump out front. But to my surprise I was immediately passed but a dude on an Orbea (this is how I will refer to him). I thought about jumping back in front of him, but 2 things went through my mind - 1, let him go and hold his wheel especially if he is keeping a slid pace. And 2, shit my legs hurt.
So off we go, and I am on his wheel through the first sections of single track. There is no tech to speak of, other than a few little dips in the trail from drainage, roots, and bridges. For anyone who has never raced here, it is by far the least technical venue in H2H. But that doesn’t make it easy. It actually makes it hard because there are no climbs or descents, no rocks, nothing sketchy at all really, so its wide f’ing open the entire race. No brakes needed, no breaks given. The soil was so grippy it was like velcro. You could really carry a ton of speed through most of them. And if you were familiar with he course (which only riding It during races, I was not) I can only imagine how much speed you could carry. On the last lap I started putting sections together, but it’s hard when you are in the red the entire time.
I followed the Orbea guy for the entire first lap. He was fast. He wasn’t holding as much speed through the turns, but he had the power to stand and mash out of them.
I think by this point we dropped the other guy who started with us. And we had also passed one of the guys in the row in front of us. This made me feel better about just riding this guys wheel. Although it was getting harder and harder to keep on him. He would put a few seconds into me, and I was catch back up eventually. But each time is leads got bigger and it got more difficult to pull him in.
We came up on another guy from our category, and he was from Orbea guy’s team. He didn’t make Orbea guys pass too easy which I noticed. But Orbea guy did eventually pass him right before the stairs and bridge. I was behind the other guy for a minute or so and I am not going to say he blocked me, he definitely did not. But I stayed behind him for too long and the Orbea guy built a lead.
Going into the 3rd lap I was starting to make a little bit up on Orbea guy. He had passed the last guy from our group and the guy was in between us as we headed into the singletrack. It took me a few minutes to get around this guy simply because it was too tight to pass. I think Orbea guy knew this and attacked a little. By the time I got around the last guy, OG was out of site.
I was starting to accept 2nd place, but I still wanted to try to catch up. I knew because we started last and passed everyone, I had a decent gap on the rest of the field. I kept constant power on the pedals and tried to be as efficient as possible in the turns. I was pretty freaking tired by this point, but I always assume everyone else is too. In a few of the sections I was able to see the OG and thought I was making up time, but once I got the section he was in when I saw him, I realized I was not. Kind of a mind fuck.
Once we got to the one hill at the back of the course, I stood and tried to mash up the hill. Both quads pinged like cramps were around the corner. I suddenly went from trying to catch up to worrying about getting caught.
I went into defensive mode and just held my pace. One of the 45+ guys passed me, so I grabbed his wheel and rode it to the end, sealing up 2nd place.
I was mixed about this. I wanted to win, but the guy who did win was definitely stronger and deserved it. I feel like I nailed my on bike nutrition, which was a focus going into this race. I also left it all out there; if I pushed much harder, I may have cramped up and lost more time. So while I am not going to say I ran a perfect race, I did what I could and my result is what it is. No regrets and never any excuses. (Just kidding - I put my dropper on because everyone told me it wouldn’t make a difference but those 400 grams cost me a WIN! lolz)
Hopefully there are more races next year. I love the competition, the in-race strategy, the prep, the training/building, etc. It was great to put a number on the bike and have the race induced tunnel vision for 90 minutes, where the rest of the world is the furthest thing from my mind. For me, this is one of the few escapes.
And PS, the photographer service was on point. They sent an email with the option to just buy all the pics of ME. 1 click. Done. A Plus photography I think... great service.
Sorry for the book. I need to make up for lost time!
I was one of the few who raced Mayhem. I had signed up for this race way back in March and as we all know, the Rona said You Shall Not Race. So I forgot all about it. Then I saw something on Facebook where they said they were still going to have it in November. Sweet.
That gave me an event to train for. Training in October and November is not new for me , I’ve done enough seasons of cross racing that I was prepared for it. Once the clocks turn back, and it starts getting cold, it’s a little easier to get those early morning trainer sessions going and make them a habit. I saw this because I want to be clear I did train for tis event; apparently not as hard as I should have but I’ll save those thoughts for another day. Or Blog post if I ever get to it.
There were 10 or 11 pre registered, but most were pre-rona, so who knows how many would show. As it turns out, 6 people showed up to race the Cat 1 / 15-45 age group. As mentioned they had us lined up in groups for 3. And regardless if anyone else in your group showed, you were slated to start at a very specific time. So my race started at 1:30, but my exact start time was 1:31:30. In the staging area, there 1 guy went first, then 30 seconds later 2 other guys went, and then I went with 2 others at my time. So it was a little bit if a time trial, but I liked being in the last row. It meant I just needed to pass people and not worry about how much I passed them by. If I was in the first row, I think it would have sucked. You could finish first, but then you have to hope the other people don’t beat your time. I get why they had to do it like that, and I am not complaining. It’s just another element to the race.
I always like to take the hole shot. And so we start and I jump out front. But to my surprise I was immediately passed but a dude on an Orbea (this is how I will refer to him). I thought about jumping back in front of him, but 2 things went through my mind - 1, let him go and hold his wheel especially if he is keeping a slid pace. And 2, shit my legs hurt.
So off we go, and I am on his wheel through the first sections of single track. There is no tech to speak of, other than a few little dips in the trail from drainage, roots, and bridges. For anyone who has never raced here, it is by far the least technical venue in H2H. But that doesn’t make it easy. It actually makes it hard because there are no climbs or descents, no rocks, nothing sketchy at all really, so its wide f’ing open the entire race. No brakes needed, no breaks given. The soil was so grippy it was like velcro. You could really carry a ton of speed through most of them. And if you were familiar with he course (which only riding It during races, I was not) I can only imagine how much speed you could carry. On the last lap I started putting sections together, but it’s hard when you are in the red the entire time.
I followed the Orbea guy for the entire first lap. He was fast. He wasn’t holding as much speed through the turns, but he had the power to stand and mash out of them.
I think by this point we dropped the other guy who started with us. And we had also passed one of the guys in the row in front of us. This made me feel better about just riding this guys wheel. Although it was getting harder and harder to keep on him. He would put a few seconds into me, and I was catch back up eventually. But each time is leads got bigger and it got more difficult to pull him in.
We came up on another guy from our category, and he was from Orbea guy’s team. He didn’t make Orbea guys pass too easy which I noticed. But Orbea guy did eventually pass him right before the stairs and bridge. I was behind the other guy for a minute or so and I am not going to say he blocked me, he definitely did not. But I stayed behind him for too long and the Orbea guy built a lead.
Going into the 3rd lap I was starting to make a little bit up on Orbea guy. He had passed the last guy from our group and the guy was in between us as we headed into the singletrack. It took me a few minutes to get around this guy simply because it was too tight to pass. I think Orbea guy knew this and attacked a little. By the time I got around the last guy, OG was out of site.
I was starting to accept 2nd place, but I still wanted to try to catch up. I knew because we started last and passed everyone, I had a decent gap on the rest of the field. I kept constant power on the pedals and tried to be as efficient as possible in the turns. I was pretty freaking tired by this point, but I always assume everyone else is too. In a few of the sections I was able to see the OG and thought I was making up time, but once I got the section he was in when I saw him, I realized I was not. Kind of a mind fuck.
Once we got to the one hill at the back of the course, I stood and tried to mash up the hill. Both quads pinged like cramps were around the corner. I suddenly went from trying to catch up to worrying about getting caught.
I went into defensive mode and just held my pace. One of the 45+ guys passed me, so I grabbed his wheel and rode it to the end, sealing up 2nd place.
I was mixed about this. I wanted to win, but the guy who did win was definitely stronger and deserved it. I feel like I nailed my on bike nutrition, which was a focus going into this race. I also left it all out there; if I pushed much harder, I may have cramped up and lost more time. So while I am not going to say I ran a perfect race, I did what I could and my result is what it is. No regrets and never any excuses. (Just kidding - I put my dropper on because everyone told me it wouldn’t make a difference but those 400 grams cost me a WIN! lolz)
Hopefully there are more races next year. I love the competition, the in-race strategy, the prep, the training/building, etc. It was great to put a number on the bike and have the race induced tunnel vision for 90 minutes, where the rest of the world is the furthest thing from my mind. For me, this is one of the few escapes.
And PS, the photographer service was on point. They sent an email with the option to just buy all the pics of ME. 1 click. Done. A Plus photography I think... great service.
Nice job J. Plz order those "endurance" bibs I mentioned, they'll make you faster and look betterer.
Has it been that long?
This is where I’m at today. I think I’m sandbagging my FTP a little cause this should’ve been a little harder. Or maybe the lack of booze and focus on recovery is paying off.
I think my weight is right where is should be for this time of year.
Once I start to get out and do some longer endurance rides I think I’ll drop 5-7 lbs and be at racing weight.
This is where I’m at today. I think I’m sandbagging my FTP a little cause this should’ve been a little harder. Or maybe the lack of booze and focus on recovery is paying off.
I think my weight is right where is should be for this time of year.
Once I start to get out and do some longer endurance rides I think I’ll drop 5-7 lbs and be at racing weight.
Even though I put the studded tires on, I didn’t end up riding them. I went to Stephens instead and it was awesome conditions. I think I started out at 18 degrees but it may have warmers up a bit. I didn’t feel the cold except for when I stopped.
I would have stayed a little longer but I got stick in my spokes in the maze and otb pretty hard. I rolled with it as much as I could with my feet still clipped in. The only thing sore is my right ankle, and it’s already feeling better.
The more I ride my hardtail, the more I get ides of racing it. It handles so nice and with a carbon arch and rekon 2.4 on the front its got loads of grip. But when the snow is gone and the rocks are exposed I’ll probably change my mind.
And the PNW dropper continues to work perfectly even in the cold.
These beta fuel gels are pretty great. 40 grams of carbs, which plus the 20 or so in my Skratch, works well for an hour of anything not race place or interval-ey.
I guess it was cold. I didn’t really feel it though.
My drink of choice nowadays.
I would have stayed a little longer but I got stick in my spokes in the maze and otb pretty hard. I rolled with it as much as I could with my feet still clipped in. The only thing sore is my right ankle, and it’s already feeling better.
The more I ride my hardtail, the more I get ides of racing it. It handles so nice and with a carbon arch and rekon 2.4 on the front its got loads of grip. But when the snow is gone and the rocks are exposed I’ll probably change my mind.
And the PNW dropper continues to work perfectly even in the cold.
These beta fuel gels are pretty great. 40 grams of carbs, which plus the 20 or so in my Skratch, works well for an hour of anything not race place or interval-ey.
I guess it was cold. I didn’t really feel it though.
My drink of choice nowadays.
Here’s the workout from yesterday. 5 x 10s. This was similar to the workout in that it was easier than it probably was meant to be. I did work on lowering my cadence because I think its unavoidable that I'll need to chug along at 70 rpms pretty often.
I didn’t do my normal carb heavy drink. Just a gel and Skratch which really should be enough for an hour. The sweet spot workouts take a lot of energy though so after I raise the ftp I’ll probably feel them a lot more and have to fuel accordingly.
TR has progression levels for each workout and this was 6.7 which is up there. I have one more workout, than a recovery week followed by another FTP test. I may skip the test and just raise the FTP manually. I hate taking the tests and I also miss a days workout.
Here’s my RHR from the last 7 days. Can you tell which one was from my Wife’s birthday dinner with some drinks? 2 actually, one old fashioned and one 7ish % IPA. It came back down in a day but still. I’m so sensitive to a raised hr and feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack. This is why I’m having an easy time abstaining. I still occasionally partake in other activities so I’m not crystal clean, but only a few drinks in the last month and it’s definitely having a positive impact on my fitness.
Here’s my trail side fix advice. Carry CO2s, and tape them together with electrical tape. Wrap that around like 10 times. So when your match maker shifter mount loses a tiny little screw, detaching the shifter from the mount 5 minutes into the ride, you can just tape that together and not miss a beat.
Its hard to tell from this view, but that electirall tape was all that was holding the shifter. Luckily the match maker has a little ridge in it, so the tape just had to keep it tight, and the ridge kept it in place.
And a random picture of me cleaning a valve stem with a pipe cleaner.
I didn’t do my normal carb heavy drink. Just a gel and Skratch which really should be enough for an hour. The sweet spot workouts take a lot of energy though so after I raise the ftp I’ll probably feel them a lot more and have to fuel accordingly.
TR has progression levels for each workout and this was 6.7 which is up there. I have one more workout, than a recovery week followed by another FTP test. I may skip the test and just raise the FTP manually. I hate taking the tests and I also miss a days workout.
Here’s my RHR from the last 7 days. Can you tell which one was from my Wife’s birthday dinner with some drinks? 2 actually, one old fashioned and one 7ish % IPA. It came back down in a day but still. I’m so sensitive to a raised hr and feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack. This is why I’m having an easy time abstaining. I still occasionally partake in other activities so I’m not crystal clean, but only a few drinks in the last month and it’s definitely having a positive impact on my fitness.
Here’s my trail side fix advice. Carry CO2s, and tape them together with electrical tape. Wrap that around like 10 times. So when your match maker shifter mount loses a tiny little screw, detaching the shifter from the mount 5 minutes into the ride, you can just tape that together and not miss a beat.
Its hard to tell from this view, but that electirall tape was all that was holding the shifter. Luckily the match maker has a little ridge in it, so the tape just had to keep it tight, and the ridge kept it in place.
And a random picture of me cleaning a valve stem with a pipe cleaner.
Can't you just use the FTP estimator button now on TR?
I don’t think that’s out yet, is it?
So I obviously don't know shit about training or nutrition, but do you normally need carbs/calories for a one hour ride? Is it just because it was a really hard effort?
Actually I'm not sure, but have heard them talking about it the last 2 podcasts. It may still be in beta for some users
The ramp test would be nice if it had the option of going into a rest period and then short workout. It is annoying that you go all out and then you're done.
I've been doing Train Now as I have no interest in being on a plan right now and haven't done a ramp test as I just want to get a workout in each time.
I've been doing Train Now as I have no interest in being on a plan right now and haven't done a ramp test as I just want to get a workout in each time.
Nope, not at all. But I usually do these on an empty stomach just because I don’t havre time to eat before. So having that high carb drink will help finish strong and get a jump start on recovery. It definitely doesn’t hurt.
I have the beta and the option isnt there yet. They said it was super close to being released. If its not out by the time i ramp test i’ll just estmate.
This is definitely something I’ll do in between “seasons”. Seems like a great way to keep the fitness from falling off completely. I read that 2 moderate interval sessions per week is all it really takes to keep most of your fitness.
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I will try this and report back
This shit is out of control. If this is the alternative, get on the AXS train now. And maybe buy a hammerhead while you’re at it.
