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Long runs and home MTB race weekend

Highlights of this past week definitely include the two long runs I went on and an awesome weekend of mountain biking race right here in Blacksburg.

I took recovery days on MWF, and they were well needed. I came off of 12 straight days of hard training, and needed Monday off for sure. And not only that, had I wanted to train, I was SOL, because I was doing work alllll day long. Tuesday I went on my fastest long run yet, laying down some 7's early on and feeling strong enough to hold a 7:30 pace for the whole run. Tired from that awesome run, and planning long on Thursday I definitely needed Wednesday off. I was going to go to Baker's Dozen but my warm bed and the snooze button were too much. On Thursday I took off before swim practice on what ended up being my longest run yet, and my legs were tired from the effort on Tuesday for sure. I ran nice and slow, and was running for quite a long time. Definitely hurting towards the end, I managed to hang on. Then Friday I was lucky to walk, after 2:40 of running the way before, and had a hard MTB race weekend to be ready for. And, I was doing work for all of Friday until I went to bed at 10PM anyway. It was a sleep, class, HW, eat, HW, run, HW kinda week.

The mountain bike race weekend was a lot of fun, and the highlight is definitely my second place in the short track. The results from the uphill and downhill have yet to be posted, which sucks, but we'll see how those went soon hopefully. I went up Old Farm hard, but was so tired near the top that my technical skills began to falter and I didn't even have the legs to run so I had to walk a couple sections. So my time is probably so-so, something in the 16 minute range. The Short Track was just a boatload of fun, because it was an awesome course to ride, and to spectate. I had as much fun screaming for our riders in the other races as I did in my own. In our race, I got stuck behind a hole shot crash but stayed in the big ring the whole race, pulling in all but two people eventually. For the last four or so laps, I was staying about the same distance behind an ASU rider, but come the last lap, I gave it all and brought him in to 50 meters by the final uphill stretch. Digging deep for a sprint when all I wanted to do was coast, I managed to catch and pass him on the steep part of the finish, lapping Kelly in the process, and nabbing 2nd place. The only guy who I hadn't caught hadn't done the uphill race...so he's a wimp anyway.

On the downhill, I was very relieved to find that it was not mass-start (aka death) and went as fast as I ever have down Farm. I hit one tree, and came off my bike, but was fine although I lost quite some time to stop and put the chain back on. The Dual Slalom is not my event, and it was fun to watch people hit the jumps, but I kept my tires earthbound and quickly lost my first matchup.

Sunday was the day for the cross country at Mountain Lake, and with Ben Warren offering me a set of carbon handlebars for a first place, I was ready to crush the course that I knew like the back of my hand. And I did just that. UNTIL... I got attacked by bee's. Getting third into the trail, I passed Jacob and the other dude in front of me, and knowing my way had opened up a small lead. I had heard rumors of bee's attacking in this section, and being the first person coming through after the A-train was not the place to be. Everyone else got stung too, and it actually turned into quite a fiasco with 4 ambulances showing up and some severe allergic reactions, but everyone was okay. I felt three sharp stings on my left calf (maybe 4) and swatted at my calf to no avail, and kept going to avoid more stings. Instantly my calf was in bad shape, it stung like a mother to push down hard on the pedals and it may have been swelling, but I wasn't really looking. Hurting, I got passed gradually by what was most of the B field, and was seriously considering stopping after the first lap because I did NOT want to get hit again.

Feeling the stings in my leg as I approached that section again, I relaxed before it in preparation to sprint it. I got out of the saddle and went, but my rear tire slipped on a rock and I bashed my knee into my fork really hard, and that ended up being the lasting injury. It is still swollen (late Mon night) but was okay for a 5mi run this morning. I luckily didn't get stung again, and cruised to the finish, now the pain coming mostly from my bashed quad.

They stings hurt real real bad, I was getting waves of goosebumps, so I iced and put some stuff on them (not sure what it was) that helped a little, before driving home. All in all, another weekend without any major injury is a good weekend of mountain bike racing, and we had some pretty solid results as a team (recap on http://www.cycling.org.vt.edu will be posted soon hopefully).

Campbell MTB Race Weekend

Dear VT Cyclist,

I’m emailing you because there are serious, very serious, choices to be made, and made immediately. On the 3rd of October of 2010, Virginia Tech Cycling accomplished one of its greatest feats, Winning the ACCC MTB Conference Championships.

Today, on the 2^nd of September of 2011, I officially lay before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial ASU cycling team and its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its every vessel to destroy the VT Cycling Team and Claim the ACCC MTB Conference Title.

This announcement shows I am a concerned Alumnus. I fear for the well-being of the VT Cycling, as I see the lack of participate in the 1^st MTB race of the season. I fear many of you have lost the motivation, the feeling of what it is to be a Champion, and never quenchable thirst for victory.

Though it is hard to fathom such a fear when VT Cycling is under such great leadership and carries such great potential.

How can VT Cycling not succeed with:

Lil Jake Anderson traveling at light speed on his 29in wheels.

Andy Reagan providing his bearded man wisdom and enthusiasm about every course.

Kay Comer making even the fastest men cry as she leaves them behind.

Jan G speaking in a language no one can understand while speeding by.

Cecil “The Legend” McAllister(enough said)

Brian Luster who’s so fast he had to take a year off school so everyone else could catch up.

Andrew Roberson who does tailwhips over people in order to pass.

Andy Wentzel the greatest keep secret of VT cycling.

Christian Probst who is fast as **** and should be racing this weekend.

And Of course World Class Coach JUSTIN MORRISON, a legend in his own right.

I can only hope the preceding greats can win the ACCC title for us, while the rest of you act like scared freshmen, or indulge in binge “road soda” drinking, or attempt to talk to the opposite sex but then realize you can’t, or all of the above.

The presence of the ASU Cycling Team is a warfare against mankind. It is a war against the Hokie nation. The ASU Cycling team has the strength, the numbers, the potential, and the willingness to defeat the VT cycling team and claim the ACCC MTB title.

Each VT cyclist must decide for themselves how it will meet this presence. The choice you make for yourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a cyclist. Our motive will be revenge and the victorious assertion of the physical might.

There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making: we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our team to be ignored or violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life.

Made the right choice!

Email Andy Wetzel(Arwentz@vt.edu) and State the following:

I (Your Name) will not allow my team, my pride, or my country be subject to the evils of the ASU Cycling Team. I will defend the honor of my team, myself and my country. I will be attending the race this coming weekend at Campbell and I will take whatever actions are necessary to make this happen including pay my dues and fill out the release waiver / driver release form found at the Rec Sports website.

MAKE US PROUD!

GO HOKIES!

Sincerely, 

Ben Warren

Called into action by none other than Ben Warren, the VT Cycling MTB Team headed to Campbell this weekend for an awesome weekend of racing and fun.  The racing was good, some delicious road sodas were consumed, and some people in particular laid it on the line for the team.

Short Track

Typically my favorite event, as it is the most friendly to strong legs and less technical, I was still a little nervous for my first race in Men's B. It's a lap race, with this one having about 3min laps and my race was 30min long.  I started near the back, and there is a seriously steep section for half of it, with one crazy steep kicker, and then a flowy downhill, then up the hill all over again.  As I got to the crazy steep part, someone had put a foot down and the whole group was falling over and a mess. So what usually happens, the first few people to get to it and clean it got a decent head start. I slowed up and passed some people who were walking it by riding up, but still had to wait at the top for people to get back on their bikes. On the downhill, the dude in front of me slid out and rather than let me by, took up the whole trail and I had to stop and wait while he got back on... so it wasn't a great start, to say the least. On the uphill, since I could ride it, I passed people for pretty much the whole rest of the race.  No idea what place I was in with like 3 laps to go, I asked the guys on our team watching and I had actually picked people off up to 4th place.  Unable to catch the guys who had a huge head start most likely, I finished in fourth and was really happy with that for my first B race.

Other than myself, Jake A finished 3rd in Men's A, Andy W took 3rd in my race, Kay took 2nd in Women's A, and Bill Lucy got 3rd in the Men's C race. Bill was winning the race by a good but, until he caught a hanging vine with his neck, and it clotheslined him straight off the bike. He somehow continued to ride and hang on for 3rd, pretty intense.

Downhill

The "downhill" race was a few hours later, and is a timed race down, well, the side of a hill. There were some pretty decent jumps and some huge burns, as well as a real gnarly rock garden.  I went pretty fast down for a normal person, but rolled most of the jumps and tried to generally keep my wheels on the ground. Definitely got air a few times, but I need to get more comfortable before flying airborne down the side of hill. Brian Lusher and Jake put in some really fast times, Brian with full gear and Jake just beasting it on his 29er.

Super D

Perhaps the most interesting style of race that I'm not sure why the ACCC is so fond of, the "Super D" is a mass-start downhill race that is mostly downhill but also includes some flat sections.  To make the situation slightly better, it is usually started Le Mans style which means that the riders pile up their bikes, and the race begins with a run to the bike.  The advantage is that we're more spread out before hitting the hole shot onto the single track (trail only wide enough for one bike).  The start pretty much determines the outcome of the race, so with a few properly executed swim moves through the sprint, I was the second guy on my bike. The first guy was in front of me, and even took a few seconds to get as I yelled at him to ride haha, but per usual, someone really messed up and the rest of the group was stuck behind. So it was pretty much me, an ASU guy, and a WVU guy on a downhill bike heading into the downhill. I let the WVU guy go first on the downhill because he had a full suspension downhill bike, but I kept up with him the whole time. The ASU guy flew down the hill, gapping even the WVU guy I was behind. Problem with the "downhill" guys is that they don't really have any fitness, so they can't pedal hard on the flats. Regardless, I finished in 3rd at the bottom, since there isn't a chance to pass.

Brian Lusher and Bill took 1-2 in the Men's C which was sweet, but Jake had an encounter with a tree (not bad) on his run and Kay came through with 2nd, not losing much ground to Ashley on this one.

Course Run

Still in marathon-training mindset, I felt like I needed to get some miles in, and Kay is looking to get back into running form so we went out for an easy fun of the BURN course, the course that we were to race the next day. It was a fun run, and tired my legs out a little for the next day, but was good.  Kay had ridden the BURN 24-hour race on the course earlier in the year, so it was cool for her to recount some of the experiences she had during that race.

Sunday, Cross country race

With slightly tired legs, it was time for the long race.  We were to do two of the 7-mile laps, and I was ready to go hard, but my legs werern't there for the whole race.  The beginning was a sprint to the trails, and I definitely took down some of the markers to get into fourth going into the trails. I particularly didn't want to get stuck behind on a part that it was possible to clip out on at the trailhead.  Going along we were just flying, these are fast trails with burmed courners that are built to MTB. I got a little high on one burm, and slid out. A few guys passed me, and as we got the big uphill I was starting to fade. I fell back a little more, getting passed at the top by Jan, and just crusied and enjoyed the trails for a while. I'd lost quite a bit of time with my slide out since it took a few minutes to get my chain back on. Nearing the end of the first lap, a dude was catching up to me and said that Ashley was gaining on us too. She's a women's pro rider, who rides for ASU and is fast as shit.  I told him "damn, getting chicked on the first lap," not realizing that she was actually right behind him. But he let her around, and so did I, but I decided to see how long I could keep up with her. So I just stuck her wheel for awhile, and we actually caught and passed a whole bunch of the other Men's B's together. I hopped in front for the downhill, then let her take the lead again as we started lap 2. I hung on for awhile, but she was flying on the uphills and eventually she rode away from me.  That was fun, and then I just rode along until I was actually catching two NCSU guys near the end. I starting going hard to reel them in, and caught one of them before the final downhill. I passed him on the fire road since I knew he was a faster downhiller and he couldn't pass on the downhill. He was right on my wheel on the downhill, so I was nice and let him by, and came out for the final half mile on the feild about 20m behind him. I was looking forward to sprinting it out, and so was he. But when i went to pedal, it turned out that on the downhill my chain had come off the big ring and wrapped all the way around the crank. So damn, couldn't sprint by him (which I'm pretty sure I had), but I had time to get it fixed before anyone else had come through.

It was a hot day, and my clothes were soaked to it felt great to hose off and get cleaned up. We didn't take much time packing up, I had left my tent out to dry and it had, so that was good.  The drive back felt short, and then I set to work on my Abstract Algebra till 2AM, taking a break to Skype with Mom and Dad, and to go to Mass.

That's all for now, this weekend is the home race!

Draper Mile

As the summer drew to an end, one of the events that I was getting pretty excited for was the Draper Mile. Ever since I signed up for Richmond Maration, I'd been running more than ever before and was feeling pretty strong.

This annual one-mile race put on by the Blacksburg Striders and Runabout Sports is a part of giant, two-day celebration known as Steppin Out. It's basically a huge festival in downtown BBurg, with three stages and hundreds of local artisans and businesses covering downtown in their tents.

At the start line, I found Ignacio Moore who is a prof at VT that I know from cycling, and he said he was planning to run 4:45 pace so my plan was to stick with him for the race. At the starting line, there were tons of us skinny guys in short shorts crowded onto the line and it was pretty intense.

The gun went off and the fast guys whom I had lined up behind took off.  Without thinking, I took off with them. We were flying, and in very little time crossed the (slightly uphill) quarter mile mark with a timer reading off 61...62...63. Hearing these numbers, I knew that I had went out to hard, but kept going. Before long, my legs were just big loaves of lactic acid, and moving them became laborious. I dropped off that very front group, trying to hold some pace on the downhill, but going only as fast as my exploded legs would let me. A long line of runners passed me all the way through the finish line. It wasn't much after the initial explosion that Ig flew by me, embarrasing. And two girls passed me, but there was nothing I could do about it.  Needless to say, I didn't hit the 5-min mark, but still finished in 5:20...my fastest mile ever! Link to results: http://civic.bev.net/striders/DM2011_agegroups.html