Boggs Race Report.....buckle up, it's a long one

To start off, I had been training specifically for this event since May. It is not usually in my pre-race training regimen to throw in a XC event just two days before a big 24hr event. However, that’s exactly what had fallen into my lap. The Summer Firefighter Olympics was going on and there was a XC event on Thursday. The past three years I have been successful enough to nab the Gold Medal in as many attempts. So this was going to be going for four in a row. The race was held in San Martin (just south of San Jose) and at 8:00, the weather was already in the high 80’s. The course was a short 14 miles with 1900’ of climbing. Thankfully, we were to do only one lap which normally doesn’t suit me as I have been training for the long stuff. Anyway, I was glad not to have to put in a long hard effort before Boggs.

So the race started with a two mile fire road climb….Perfect! I like to start out on the fast side and this was going to be a short race so why not. We hit the dirt and I hit the gas. I quickly made mincemeat of the field and looked back at the top and noticed a sizable gain. I turned off the gas and started the first single-track descent. Now I had no knowledge of the course which isn’t ideal when you’re hoping to win an event. I just had not put a lot of thought into this race. Anyway, my main competitor (Chris Masiguerra) put in a hard chase to catch me on the descent. I knew he had come with his A-game. I let him pass me and I latched on his wheel. We rode together as I tried to make small talk with him but he was not about talking. He was racing and obviously had come to this race to prove something. Normally, I would be the same way except that all I was thinking about was my big race in just two days. So mentally, I was a bit checked out. I had to check back in on the second big climb as the percent gain ramped up in earnest. Chris quickly downshifted to his granny gear (22:34) and I did the same except that my easiest gear was 34:34). Basically, I needed a granny gear for this climb. I used up a lot of fuel to stay with Chris on this climb and at the top I had to back off to recover. I kept him in sight as the race went on. Once you lose sight of the carrot it’s kind of hard to muster the energy to catch it. So I kept the carrot in view. Without knowing the course I was sure when we were going to hit the fire road descent to the finish. Unfortunately, my timing was off and he started the descent about 15 seconds ahead of me. Chris is a great bike handler and he clearly was taking risks on the gravely loose fire road descent. I, on the other hand, was not about to take an unnecessary risk in “trying” to catch him. I gave up the ghost and safely coasted to the finish. Silver medal this year.

So back to Boggs….I arrived at Boggs at 3:00 on Friday and was met by some severe heat. The temp gauge in my truck read 98 degrees F. I hastily off-loaded all of the pit equipment that included an easy up, tables, lights, generator, bikes, and other bike related items. I had originally planned on camping the night at Boggs but the weather made that decision easy. I retreated back home so I could secure a home cooked dinner and good nights sleep in my own bed. My wife and kids left for Folsom to spend the weekend with the grandparents so I had the house to myself. I got back home around 5:30 and made my “standard ops” pre-race dinner which consisted of a leafy green salad followed by pesto spaghetti with ground turkey. After chow I made my way to the couch to watch the TDF.

Saturday morning started early as I woke up at 6:00. Once again I made my usual pre-race breakfast of three scrambled eggs with blueberry and walnut pancakes chased down by my favorite blend of Flying Goat Coffee. I hit the road around 7ish to make the hour drive back up to Boggs. When I arrived at Boggs my pit team (Keith Flood and Kurt Pickle) was up and hanging around camp. Together were dialed in the pit area and went over the plans of the race. The time ticked out quickly and before I knew it, it was time to don the GBE kit and hit the start line.

My plan for the start of the race was to start off on the fast side and try to open up a lead. I really didn’t know too much about my competition other than my main competitor (Brad Cole) was not going to make this race as he was pretty sick. I was sincerely bummed out by that fact as he and I tend to push each other to our limits when racing. A good friend (Brian Sevall) was there ready to do battle and I was stoked to be able to race against him. He was at my first 24hr race and I have since learned a lot about 24hr racing from him. This was our first time racing since that race back in 2008.

We’re off! It was a mass start so being out front was important so I wouldn’t get stuck in any traffic on the singletrack descent. I lead out the field until we hit the singletrack and was passed by a couple of team racers. No big deal as I knew they were going to peg it the entire lap. I found a comfortable rhythm just below my threshold. I knew the course very well as I helped Jim (the race promoter) design it. Each lap was just less than 10 miles and climbed about 1000’ per lap.

Did I mention the weather yet? Yeah, it was hot, very hot. I had a feeling this race was going to be a race of attrition. The heat was going to be a factor in this race. I tend to do alright in the heat so I thought I would try to capitalize on that. I kept the fluid coming and started as soon as the race was on. Keith and Kurt did a superb job of keeping me full of fuel and fluid. At the start of each lap I would douse myself with a bottle of ice water and don a fresh Camelbak loaded with iced water.

In previous 24hr events I usually don’t try to keep track of my competition unless I am going backwards. I pretty much knew I was in front of the entire solo field so I just kept on the gas. I started passing other solo riders somewhere around lap 6. When I came in at the end of lap 9, I spotted my friend Brian Sevall. He was just about ready to head out on his lap. I shouted at him and made a quick pit stop to for food and fuel and chased hard to catch his wheel. I wanted to do a lap with him and talk to him. He led out for most up the lap and we were able to catch up on life. Unfortunately, when we were descending the semi-technical single-track at a high rate of speed, he crashed. I stopped and waited for him to get up and fix his chain and then we bombed down the trail. I must have put a small gap on him as I finished that lap without him in sight. I rolled through the pits and found out later that he had dropped out of the race.

So the hours and laps ticked away and it was time to put on the bike lights. After my successful finish at the Coolest 24hr race I secured a product sponsorship with AY UP Lights. The lights worked out perfectly and kept trails brightly luminated the entire night. It was at the early night laps that I decided to get a run down on my competition. I had two laps on the entire Pro/Expert geared field and three laps on the SS field. I felt comfortable in my lead but kept the pit times under five minutes and my laps consistently around an hour. I wanted to race as if I was being chased. Anything can happen in a 24hr race so I wasn’t about to count my lucky stars too early.

The night laps were made easy by the fact that the temperature hovered around the high 60’s. That was a first, being able to race all night with only a jersey and shorts. As the morning hours approached it was like waking up from a slumber. My lap times started to drop and I felt great. My Pit Team started to do the math to figure out how many more laps I “had” to do to secure the overall win as well as the win in the SS field. At 8:30ish I rolled through the start/finish and was met by Jim Northey (my team manager and race promoter). He left it up to me. I had enough time to do two more laps without any issues so the fitness was there. However, it would not have changed a thing about the overall standings. At that point in the race (21 hours into the race) I had enough laps to stop. I figured that there would be no “fitness gained” by doing one or two more laps and that it would only put me at risk of further physical damage or worse yet, crashing. I elected to shut it off and end the race.

I am super pleased with the race. I trained very long and hard for this event and I came to win. I only wish Brad was there to do battle with him. I ended up with the most laps overall (21 laps) and also put down the fastest solo lap (46 minutes). Now it’s time for some R&R and then train for the Tahoe Sierra 100 (Sept) followed by the 24hr Nationals in Moab Utah (Oct). Stay Tuned….


Special thanks to my wife for her undying love and support. I literally could not have does this without you.



I’d also like to thank the following:
Keith and Kurt – You guys stepped it up and ran that pit crew like a NAPSCAR pit
Jim Northey – what can I say? Oh maybe Niner!
Phil Fifer and the guys at Breakaway Bikes – you always come through at the 11th hour
Sponsors: Camelbak, AY UP Lights, and Rudy Project

New Rig - Niner Air 9

Boggs, here I come!

I just got back from riding 4+ hours of my favorite trails at Boggs Demonstration Forest.  It happens to be the very location of my next 24 hour race.  On July 17th I will once again be riding my singlespeed (that's one gear) mountain bike around a course covering roughly 10 miles per lap and 1300' of elevation gain.  The course is in great shape and with any luck there won't be any crazy July thunderstorms or cold fronts.  Either way I will be there ready to do battle.  Stay tuned for updates.

I finished the mini-movie....check it out!

Go to http://vimeo.com/user3630122/videos

A kind word...

I received this email from a fellow fighter (Garret Moore) who recently lost his sister to cancer. I'd like to share it with you.

Mike congratulations you are the best. I don’t know of any other thing a person could do to represent the victims and their families. My mom stopped by this morning and she was a little down about losing my sister. We talked about the race and what you did and it lifted her spirits quite a bit. Just a little note that what you have done works in many ways touching the lives of all the people who have been through this nightmare.

Thanks
Root

Cool Twenty Ten.....The Race Recap

 

Here we go; let's start with Friday. I left Santa Rosa around 9:30 and arrived at the venue just before noon. I met up with Team Manager and event Promoter Jim Northey to get the low down on our pit area. I was the first person on team Global Biorhythm Events (GBE) to get there, so I got to secure the best pit area on the course. I off -loaded my truck and discovered that my 10 X 10 EZ-up wasn't so easy by myself with the wind howling. Things were coming together slowly but surely. I started to stress out a little when the primo trailer spots were being snatched left and right, but that all changed when Mike and Kerri Self arrived with their 35' travel trailer just in time. The next hour was spent dialing in the trailer and the pit tent. I finally sat down just before 2pm and enjoyed my favorite lunch; garden green salad with all the fixings topped with two cans of tuna fish.

After lunch I donned my brand new GBE kit and went out to check out the course. As I rolled out, my friend and teammate Zol Whitman, was also planning on doing a pre-ride. We hit the course together and discussed race tactics as we committed the course to memory. This was going to be Zol's first 24hr solo race. The course was great; about a dozen or so muddy sections, but altogether a fast course. I got back to the trailer, finished dialing in the tent, and then finally got to relax. I had my standard ops pre-race dinner meal of spaghetti, salad, and bread. The night came on fast and before I knew it, it was dark. I got to bed early and although I was anxious about the race, I got a great night sleep.

Race day came and as I ate my breakfast I was able to finally embrace the moment. I had been training for this race since November. The goal of this race was first and foremost to raise as much money as I could in an effort to fight cancer the only way I knew how. Then I wanted to win the Pro Solo SS division. I felt relaxed and not stressed out at all. 24Hr mountain bike racing is so much more mental than physical. Don't get me wrong; there's a HUGE physical component, but never under estimate the mental side. I recall after my last 24hr race in July, I had a kind of aversion to night time. For a few weeks, whenever I went outside during the night I was reminded of the pain that I experienced in the race during the night. It's so lonely and your mind starts to really mess with you. I mean, why would anyone choose to ride their bike for 24 hrs straight? Let's not go there. Anyway, I knew all the pain and sleep deprivation was ahead of me, but I also knew I was going to get through it. I had a great pit crew and support system, and I was ready to battle.

The rest of the morning went by super fast as it always does and before I knew it, it was time to line up. 3-2-1 and we were off starting to ride our bikes for hours and hours and hours. Before we hit the dirt, Brad Cole, the one guy I had to keep a close eye on as he was and is a fierce competitor, rolled next to me. We encouraged each other on what was certainly going to be another epic battle. I say another because the last time we raced each other in a 24hr event we went neck and neck for the entire race. I sqeaked out the win, but only by a mere 20 minutes. I knew he was coming to this race ready to even things up.

The race started off fast as usual, but I was able to keep a tight reign on my excursion level, yet was still able to start putting minutes on Brad and the rest of the SS Solo Field. I felt great and just kept ticking out the laps. The weather was ideal, my pit crew was on point, my legs were fresh, and I was mentally unbeatable. My split times to Brad was hovering in the mid-teens so we kept the pits to under ½ a minute and waited for the night. The first 10 to 12 hours of a 24hr race can be misleading. The real race starts when it gets dark. You've got to race hard to get to the dark, but it's what you can do during the dark that counts. It was apparent early into the night hours that Brad was once again on his A-game.

The hours and laps started to all blend together and because I wasn't wearing a watch, I had no idea what time it was or what lap I was on. I just kept turning the cranks over. I recall during the cold night hours when I was approaching the end of a lap, I noticed that my rear tire felt low. I had so many things on my mind as to what I wanted to tell John and Mike to get ready for my next return that I completely forgot to check my tire in the pits. I rolled out quickly and got a ways down the trail before I was rudely reminded that my rear tire was indeed low. I stopped and confirmed that I had a leak but that the tire sealant might have done it's job in sealing the leak although my tire was still dangerously low. I had a choice to make, I could use my CO2 to inflate the tire and see if it held or keep riding and try to make it to the feed station at the halfway point and hope that they had a floor pump to use. If I used the CO2, I would run the risk of not being able to fix a possible secondary flat. I didn't want to stop, as my lead to Brad was only around 14 minutes. Every time I sat down on the saddle I felt the squishy rear tire splashing all over the place. Consequently, I spent the first part of this lap out of the saddle. It was hard on my legs but I actually gained some time. I got to the feed station and grabbed their floor pump and filled up my tire. It held and I was able to sit down and peddle away the rest of the lap. Crisis averted.

The following lap presented some other mechanical issues. On the final hill of this lap, I was caught by my friend and overall race leader in the Pro Class, Dezmin Wilder. We rode together and talked about the race. His pace was a bit stronger than mine, but I managed to stay with him. However, while doing so, I noticed my bike started to give me grief in a hurry. The chain needed replacement, the brake pads were also needing a change, and the bike was overall very muddy. I rolled into the pit and quickly jumped on a good friend of mine, Jay Bretz's bike. I couldn't get the saddle height dialed in and unfortunately turned a slow lap. I was able to give the GBE Team Wrench, Peter, time to give my bike some love. I was back on my bike for the remainder of the race.

I think it was around 4 in the morning when I was just praying for the sun to come up. A while later, I rode up to another GBE teammate, Sean McDevitt. It was at the beginning of a lap that he said, “This is our last night lap.” I was elated. There's a point in 24hr racing when sun comes up and you just get a renewed boost of energy. You can see the trail again in the dawn light and it starts to feel normal again. At this point in the race, I started to try and do the math in an effort to figure out how many more laps I had to do. It didn't help that I had no idea what my laps times were as well as what time it actually was. On one hand I wanted exact inform so I could figure it out, but on the other hand, I didn't want to know for fear of what the math might going to conclude.

My lead over Brad was not getting bigger, it was actually narrowing. Brad was getting stronger and it appeared like I was fading. I broke down and asked a fellow racer what time it was. He said it was almost 9:00am. Immediately I did the math. I knew my laps were over in an hour, but by how much I just wasn't sure. The pre-ride I did the day before was 1 hour and 5 minutes. So I knew it was more than that. Anyway, I figured I had two more laps in addition to the one I was halfway through. I got pumped up and started to race again. Two laps! I can do that.

I rolled through the pits and John said I was 17 minutes up on Brad. Great! The next lap I came through John said I had 14 minutes. No big deal, he got three minutes on my last lap. I am now on what I think is my last lap and I start to put the hammer down. When you're on your last lap of a 24hr race you can dig pretty deep. Each hill you climb you mentally check it off. I got to the halfway point right before the feed station and I saw Mike Self on his bike riding up to me. I actually thought to myself, “Mike's going to tell me that Brad didn't go out on his last lap and I can just cruise to the finish and win the race.” That's NOT what Mike told me. He in fact said, “Mike, you're doing great. You've got one more lap after this one.” I'm thinking no way, there's not enough time based on the time I thought it was. Or better yet, based on what time that fellow racer told me it was. I quickly found out that time I was given was off by one hour. That meant Mike was giving me accurate intel. I had one more lap after this one if I wanted to contest the win.

I had to mentally get over the fact that if I wanted to win this race I had to do ONE more lap. That was hard to do. I had moved on and was ready for it to be over. I was tired and the fight to stay in it was diminishing rapidly. I also had a little bit of a physical problem brewing. The nerves in both hands were firing like crazy and I could barely hold on to the handle bar. My pace dropped off on the final hill as I started to think to myself that 2^nd place wasn't so bad. After all, my first priority of this race was to raise money to fight cancer. My mind was going a mile a minute which was mentally and physically draining. I just flat didn't want to go out again. I got to the pits and my brother John was there saying, “Let's go, get out there and do one more lap, you've got 13 minutes on Brad!” I said, “J, I'm done, I can't safely ride my bike. My wrists are on fire. The sharp pain is killing me.” I started to ride with my forearms on the grips. This was point in the race when my twin brother knew what I needed to hear and I was going to do whatever he said. He said, “Mike you've trained so hard for this WIN, do this for Dad!” With no more words said, I turned and left on my last lap.

The weather was getting warmer and warmer and now knowing that the faster I went, the faster the race would be over and the pain would go away. I dug really deep and buried myself on every hill. I turned myself inside out as I fought through the pain that was now radiating into my arms. I attacked every hill with a vengeance.

I got to the halfway point and saw John riding up to me. He gave me words of encouragement and told me that I had 13 minutes on Brad at the start of the lap. If I kept a solid tempo he wouldn't be able to catch me. On the last big hill climb at the end of the lap I began to start to talk to myself out loud. I knew that if I was to get to the top of the hill without him in sight, I'd have it. “Come on, keep going, don't stop, don't walk, you can ride up this hill.” I got to the top and turned back to see nothing but the open trail. I descended like a rock from the sky. I saw the finish line and eased off the pedals and coasted to my second straight 24 hr Solo SS Win.

It's over!

Well, it's day one after the big race.  The race was a HUGE success.  I will post a race report with all the details but I wanted to give you a quick update.  I won the Pro Solo SS category and was also the second fastest overall.  I completed 19 laps covering 11.5 miles and 1500' elevation gain per lap.  As a result of the generous donations I was able to collect over $3200 to help fight cancer.

When I get a moment to process all that took place, I will post again.  Right now I need to rest.