Dennis B Murphy
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Blog: Thoughts and Commentary
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September 2008 9.24.08 Mid-week now. We had the Addison Oaks race last Sunday. I decided to race the event, though I am not overly competitive in those short fast events. The race was 28-30 miles. There were 12 of us in the category. I was NOT in last place for the first few miles- at least one other competitor was behind me as some of the faster 50-plus racers passed us... we then rounded a curve and there's one of them fiddling with his bike in the trail. But instead of getting out of the way of seven riders bearing down on him, he wanted to say ahead of HIS competition on this tight single track so he starts to run with his bike just as I get alongside him and he tries to re-mount the bike and catches my handlebars- sending me crashing off the trail. No damage and minor scrapes and bruises, but now I am totally out of the race. I can hang with the lower third of my category as long as there are no issues, but I don't have the speed or power to catch up to any of them. By lap four my leg was tightening up a bit, so I just rode easier- Brenden finished tenth of thirteen to add points to his series total. I am not doing a lot of riding, kinda tapering off for right now. Pando is up next on Sunday and I am doing that only because it's close to home and a fun course. After that? - I plan to just do some fun riding in October, then investigate coaches and training plans for 2009. 9.14.08 My last BIG race of the season! The 24 Hours of Hanson Hills. I arrived at Hanson Friday night at about 10pm after a stop in Kalkaska at G's for pasta dinner. I set up my pop-up tent and backpack tent, settled in with a beer and the Atlantic Monthly and got some sleep. The race started at 10am. The course was eleven miles with 870 feet of climbing each lap. It was fast and hard packed. the weather was overcast and expected to rain at some point. I did the first lap in an hour/seven minutes- and repeated this the second lap. I didn't ride too hard, babying my leg on the climbs and rolling on the foam roller in the tent after each lap. Lap two became a wet one as it started to drizzle, then eased up. Lap three however became a downpour with NO sign of letting up. I rolled through the chute at nearly 2pm to complete three laps in four hours. I decided to sit out the rain and changed into regular clothes, drove into Gaylord to find coffee and a plate of hot pasta. After a three hour gap, the rain let up so I dressed for the bike and went out on the trail again. I rode laps 4-5-6-7 in the same manner as the first three, not hard with breaks in the tent. I had four opponents - one was Brent, the promoter, but another of them was right up there with me on laps- always seeming to be one lap ahead of me. Lap eight was a tough lap as about 1/3 of the way through it, the sky opened up into a deluge and my pace slowed drastically. I rolled into the chute at just before 2am and decided to again wait out the weather. It looked like it was going to rain for some time so I took a hot shower, dressed in regular clothes again. I read a bit more of my magazine and went to bed for a while in my tent. I could hear other racers continuing to try to ride in the storm, even complaining that the high winds were sending branches and limbs to the ground out in the woods. I later found out that it indeed did continue to rain nearly all night. I got up before 7am and saw that the weather had eased up, with nearly no rain, so I dressed to go out again. My primary opponent and I both had eight laps and I had no idea if he was out on the course or not. I determined, regardless, to do two laps in the next three hours of the event and call it a day. I did just that, getting to the chute after lap ten (110 miles of riding) with 13 minutes left in the race. I then went to look at the lap postings and my competitor still had eight laps and my ninth was counted. I then figured since I had ten I would take first place- which I did. Other than, I think, four single speed racers that were duking it out all night for the season title, I had more laps than any other solo racer. I didn't ride all 24 hours, taking about 7 hours out and riding fairly easy the rest of the event, but I had no issues with my IT band hurting. All in all, a successful race. On a different note, my new Blackburn batteries have a definite lifespan. A fully charged battery lasts just about 4-1/2 hours then shuts off instantly! This occurred on my eighth lap as I rode the trail- the light simply shutting off. I had my other battery and so was able to change over in the dark and resume riding. However, it's clear that if I do other 24 hour events I need a third battery if no recharging options are available. I will have to look into this. 9.03.08 It's been a hectic few weeks since getting back from Chihuahua. I have gotten quite a bit of riding in. I did a 50 mile round trip from home to CGSA and back last week. Then on Labor Day weekend, Joni and I met Steve at Ft Custer where I ended up riding about 30 miles (two green and two red loops). We had a good day visiting friends Kim and Jon at their annual Labor Day grill-out. We also spent some time in Muskegon at Joni's brother's house visiting this past weekend. Upcoming events- my crucible! The 24 Hours of Hanson Hills... We will see how my iliotibial band holds up- I've been doing therapy regimen quite steadily but only a hard trail ride will tell. I mailed the registration form to FunPromotions and will send the check separately from online banking. Brenden has the Addison CPS
race coming up on the 21st and Pando on the 28th. He's guaranteed at least
third place in the series but is battling to get a second place. |
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