Michigan Mountain Bike Racing

Update on the End of the Season

2011-11-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

I did six cyclocross races this season and placed from the 10's-20's in the B category. Its a fun sport to keep me in shape, I must say!

I finished Iceman in under 2 hours which was pretty good considering I was in an unseeded wave and started all the way back in wave 19. That placed me in 19th place out of 99 for men 19-24.

I'm also down 17 pounds from the beginning of the season so that is very exciting. I have to watch my calorie intake so I can come out next season fighting strong.

Last season, I started off with my sciatic nerve being pinched and while I'm still recovering from that injury, I am ready to take the next step and bring my fitness to a higher level. My goal still remains to make it to the elite class in 2 years. I just have to stay focused.

I also applied to be in the Leadville 100 mtb race this year, once again. My fingers are crossed! Either way, my plans include the Lumberjack 100 and the Tailwind Michigan mtb series.

Iceman 2011

Pontiac Lake XC Race 2011

2011-06-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

-Dave Howard killing it

The Experts had 30 miles so that called for a good 2.5 hour race on the beautiful Sunday morning. The trail was tacky and I would say that the conditions were perfect! There were around 10 guys in my category and I knew this would be a fun and tough race but, this was my home trail and having this advantage was pretty crucial. There was one guy talking how he has never ridden there before which, as the whistle blew, he went in front of me. In my head, I thought "hell naw." I immediately had to pass him and a couple of people because there pace was not cutting it for me.

-Just before the pass is made

The first lap goes by and we are now broken into 2 groups. There were 2 guys in the front that were no where in sight and I was leading the second group in third place. As we neared the 1st checkpoint, I tried refueling my electrolyte shortage. THIS is where the trouble started. I use Hammer Nutrition Endurolyte pills which work excellent for prevention of cramps but not when you drop your whole stash on the ground while going 25 mph on the straight away. If I would have stopped and picked up these fallen pills which would have probably taken less than a minute, I would have had an easier race.
Anyways, I was leading the pack and as we entered the checkpoint I had a moment of dyslexia where I thought the arrows were reversed for the "laps" and the "finish" lanes. I jammed on my brakes and almost caused a crash. So now I was at the back of the pack with no salt tablets and 2 laps to go.
I got back into a rhythm where Jesse Gould and I started working together and stayed together for the remainder of the 2nd lap. Cramps were coming my way and I knew I was doomed. I told him to take off because I couldn't keep up at this point. We were on the final climb of the 2nd lap and I have to thank David Moore's wife, Kristhal for giving me her Vitamin Water! That held the cramps off for a good 10 minutes.

-As the cramps started to kick it

The 3rd lap came around and I was suffering big time. Cramps were coming in my Quads, Inner Thighs, and Calves. I had tears in my eyes as I screamed at the top of my lungs which only wasted more energy. The pain was excruciating and I felt like quitting every second of the last 10 miles. Thankfully, word got around that I was in severe hurt so Kristhal got Byron to bring 7 salt tabs to a road crossing. I slammed those down, like I was a pain med junkie! While the pills really didn't help too much because the cramps were already there, I was glad to have the support! Thanks guys!

I wound up taking a podium spot with a 5th in Expert Mens 19-29 with lap times of 42, 45, and a 53 minutes. Not bad for a rookie expert! Im definitely satisfied and ready for the Stony Creek Marathon in less than ONE week!

Garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95120806

-In third place climbing the final climb of the first lap

Brighton 2 Day Stage Race aka the day 2 mud fest

2011-05-17T06:26:00.001-07:00

We had 3 Races this past weekend and moving up to the Expert 19-29 class this year, I had a ton of work to do.
All Ages Results from the Race

1. The Torn Shirt Loop Time Trial
2. The Short Track XC
3. The Murray Lake XC (Really? why did we do this? So. Much. Mud. and Water.)

1.The Torn Shirt Loop is not really a favorite of mine. I'm not very fast through tight and technical sections, thats something I really need to work on.. The race started after a rainy morning and I knew that I was going to ride a conservative lap to try and not crash. That was not the case. It was very greasy and I took a corner a little too hot. I slid out and landed on my thigh and leg. I placed 5th this race but this was only the start of the weekend.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85639524

2. The Short Track XC

Wow...I've never raced cyclocross before in my life but, people are not kidding when they say it is 30 minutes of hell and your lungs burn the whole time. All in all this race was a test of how bad you wanted to win and how much pain and lactic acid you can handle. We started off the gate and I wanted to reclaim what I had lost during the TT so I knew I had to hoof it. We had 7 laps of a 1.5 mile course and I knew I had to attack whenever possible. When I felt like passing out, I would hammer it even harder and let the noise of the crowd carry me on. Shawn Schaffert from the Flying Rhinos really made me work hard (this guy is very strong! props man!). Each and every lap we went back and forth. In the end, I made some solid attacks and opened up a little gap. That was an awesome time trying to catch the purple jersey! Let me tell you that my heart rate during the whole race was above 200 BPM (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85639508). I felt like passing out, throwing up, and crying but we made it through. 3rd place in this stage!

Recap with Flying Rhinos in Front at the early stages of the race:

Relaxing After Day 1:

3. The Murray Lake XC

We are all dumb for riding on Sunday, let me just put that out there. At the starting gate in behind the Pros, Robert from Tailwind was asking the pros and the experts how many laps of the single track we wanted to do (the conditions were that bad so the experts wound up doing 3 laps). The whistle blew and we were off! Honestly I tried to keep up with lead pack until we got onto the single track. This was not happening. The top guys in my class are older, faster, and simply are amazing. I know I needed to stay out of trouble and not crash so they left Kyle Thatcher and I pretty early in the race. Kyle and I were keeping a good pace as the downpour continued and more water entered the already flooded trail. We caught back up to the lead pack because someone crashed (this might have lead to a guy DNFing I believe) but they regrouped and were gone. Kyle offered to pull me along the 2 track because I was going for the series points (thank you man!). That didn't work the way we planned because I was getting roosted by mud and dirt from his back wheel in my mouth and eyes, NOT good!
As we entered the second lap, I was miserable. Water and mud entered my shoe covers, my tights were soaked, and my bike was starting to lose its brakes altogether. During this lap, Kyle flatted and told me to keep going. 3rd lap came around and could hear the grinding of my drive train as I plowed through the several inches of water throughout the whole trail. It was very dangerous at that point..I just was trying to stay safe and just finish the damn thing. I was in such a daze by the end of the race with mud in my contacts, I didn't know where the finish line was and everyone was yelling at me that I was going the wrong way (at the split for finish or more laps). This Chaos lasted for a legit 3 or more minutes! haha oh man. I finished in 2 hrs and 6 minutes and took a 4th on the podium.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85953055

Video of: the start, 1st checkpoint with kyle in front, the finish

The weekend ended and I took a 3rd in the overall Expert Mens 19-29!

New Kit's Here!

2011-04-06T16:22:00.001-07:00

Here is our jersey for the Cycletherapy-Specialized Racing 2011 kit! Very excited!!

No Leadville 100 for us =(

2011-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

So it was February 28th; the day that we found out about the lottery decision. I woke up to finding out that we had to wait until 10pm until we got an answer. The whole day I was on edge wondering when the email would come. I kept checking on the yahoo group forum for the LT100 and people were finding out if they got in or not. I'm not gonna lie, I really started to worry what our fate was at that point...

10 o'clock came around and then 11 o'clock hit.. NO email.. around 11:30pm I got a rejection email from Lifetime Fitness.

Maybe next year but, I'm over it already. We don't have to ride over 100 miles of 2 track!!! Thank God! I just want to hit the trail and get off this trainer!

But with this extra free time in the summer I'm going to take Human Physio and Anatomy!

2010 Stony Creek XC Marathon AKA My First Race!

2011-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

I wrote this awhile back but I decided to post recapping a race last season.

That summer day had made itself present as my bladder had me at the bushes every 5 minutes before it began. The cowbells were ringing and waves of riders began their journey as this was my first attempt at this grueling adventure. 5 miles into the 30 mile mountain bike race had my bike and newly acquired overextended knee lying across a sandy turn. Due to my zealous nature, I quickly hopped back on the saddle with the unfortunate broken rear derailleur (mechanism for shifting the chain into an easier gear) now added to my debt. My bike quickly became unrideable. A quick assessment of the situation using critical thinking had me scavenging for thick sticks to use as a support for the mechanism to only run in one gear. I took several sticks in my back pocket to use as backups. Now that I bandaged my bike into a single speed, I had one gear…for the whole race. When everyone shifted into easier gears to ascend the hills, I had to stand up and hammer the pedals. My luck turned to the worst as my support stick fell off and as I stopped to fix my bike for a 2^nd and 3^rd time, many people passed me. This could have been a major deterrent of motivation for most people and quitting would certainly be an option. Not me, this race meant everything to me. The long nights of training and suffering would pay off if I focused. I went on and made it to the final 5 miles and surprising passing a large amount of people. At this point, my day was only beginning. After expending much more energy than I had anticipated, the most unimaginable debilitating leg cramps emerged from the muscles in my legs. My lack of training, lack of nutrition while riding, and the heat was the culprit. It felt as if someone had dumped sulfuric acid into my lower half and quitting seemed like the only option. As soon as this notion entered my mind, I came across the man who was heaving loads of fluid into the trail. I had it bad but, relative to the man, I was on a beach in Hawaii. I blocked everything out of my mind and knew that pain is just weakness leaving the body. My day inevitably came to a close and I wound up winning first place in my age group.

If you look close you can see the stick in the derailleur

Hey, I wound up winning my class!

Time to step it up this year riding in the Expert category.

This race will be 60 miles now...LMFAO

9 More Days, Huge Life Plans, Sponsored? Awesome!

2011-02-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

We find out if we get into Leadville in 9 days, very excited!

Life Decision: I am no longer pursuing an MD degree for a vast number of reasons. I am 100% positive of my decision. The one selfish decision you have to make in your life.

In my experience, I am sick of doctor's just prescribing a medication for people who do not take care of their bodies and the patients expect a miracle cure. I am really becoming a fan of Holistic medicine to an extent
I want a family that I can actually put time into
I want a career that is rewarding with minimal stress
I'm not staying in school until I'm 30
I don't want to be in debt for a couple of 100K's
With the way healthcare is going, less money and you have to see more patients so your care is very rushed
I dont want to go through med school only to find out I did not score high enough on an exam to get into the residency I want
I don't want my career to be my life
I really couldn't care about the money. Mo money, Mo Problems
I want to be happy (going on fancy vacations and owning expensive cars and houses is not high on my list for what will make me happy)
Finally, I want to devote a lot of time to my other passion in life. That is Cycling. Period.

I have decided to take a stab at getting a Doctorate of Physical Therapy Degree (DPT) and taking extra courses in OMPT (Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy). With these extra courses I am able to perform manual manipulation of the patient which is similar to chiropractic care without the rotation but, by only using thrust. I feel that this type of work can most relate to my lifestyle and passions. You have great job security, can work in many different type of settings. Stress is minimal, you dont have to be on call, and I can be around like-minded people. A doctor diagnoses whats wrong but, a physical therapist actually works with the patient and is an optimistic coach for them to succeed. You will be able to see if a patient is doing what you told them to do because there is no easy way to rehab, just plain hard work. You even get to spend way more time to help your patients progress as opposed to a doctor!

No more MCAT, hello GRE!

I have also joined the mountain bike team Cycletherapy Racing (special thanks to our sponsors Cycletherapy, Specialized, SRAM, and Allard Mold Engineering) so I am looking forward to the next 2 seasons where i'll be racing in the Expert (yikes!) category for cross country mountain bike and Cyclocross!

Entering the lottery for the Leadville 100

2010-11-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

After seeing the movie Race Across the Sky 2010, my buds (Byron, Daphne, Todd, and Kyle) and I decided what the hell, lets do the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. The most grueling and intense race in the US. Hell 100 miles is doable right? Yeah! but, then add 12,000 ft. of total climbing all above 10,000 feet. So basically, you cant breathe because at higher elevations, your body has a tough time distributing the oxygen present in the atmosphere due to the lack thereof. We will have to get to Colorado early-ish (~1week) so the 2, 3 BPG in our body can rise and hemoglobins affinity for oxygen is lower to get the oxygen to your muscles better (thank you biochemistry, for once you come in handy =) ). Its gonna hurt really bad, and your body is gonna hate you..wonderful! A recipe for an awesome time right?
So its all set, we're gonna enter the lottery during Thanksgiving and hope we get picked to race. If we do get picked, we have to pay $300 to inflict so much pain to ourselves in hopefully under 12 hours. If we finish in this amount of time we will get the coveted Leadville belt buckle. If we finish in under 9 hours, we get the big mama gold buckle. I'll save that for another year lol.

This race is going to involve a great amount of endurance training, but in the end it is going to be one of our greatest accomplishments and the hardest thing that we will ever do physically. Our bodies will be pushed to their limits and as the race director for Leadville; Ken Chlouber says "You're better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can!"

Take a look at the Trailer for the movie released this year:
Race Across the Sky 2010 Trailer