Monday, August 19, 2013


Time to Ride Cyclocross style!

Spencer, Kaylee, Michael, Ryan, Taylor, Richard, Julie, Deb
One of the most exciting aspects of racing bikes for me is racing Cross, I love riding bikes but when it comes racing Cross is the thing I look forward to every winter. Yes, I said winter! That’s because the majority of cross racing happens in the winter months, rain, snow, mud, and fun is the name of the game.


After taking a few (read 6 years) years off from racing bikes, and somewhat from riding, I am back and fit for this year. One of the best aspects this year is the Tensegrity team, we have a large contingent of people wanting to race cross and have fun. The practices have been super fun and keep getting bigger and more intense every week. I am really impressed with this group of cyclist, they love to have fun and ride their bikes fast and hard. I am looking forward to hanging out and racing with each one of them this year.
When I stopped racing the cross scene in Eugene was starting to grow, over the past few years it has really taken off and it is exciting to see something I worked hard at promoting getting better. There are two local race series, first starting in September on every Monday evening – The Twilight Cyclocross Series, and the weekend series -  Physco Cross. Both of these typically take place at Camp Harlow in North Eugene and are great courses for racing as well as spectating.

Hollis making the run up look easy
Speaking of spectating, cross is one of the best cycling sports for watching. The courses average 1 to 1 ½ miles in length and riders do multiple laps. With the obstacles such as barriers (riders have to jump off their bike, run and jump a wooden barrier and then jump back on their bike – all while at full speed!), run-ups, mud, turns, stairs, the list goes on and on…. Spectators get a chance to see racers challenging themselves while at the same time racing 100 of your closet friends. There are usually several different categories of racers on the course at the same time, which adds to the excitement of watching because there is always someone there. Did I mention you get to yell and scream them, and ring a cowbell! Can you tell, I almost like spectating as much as I like racing.

Deb doing some barries at Cross Crusade in Portland
The racing, oh! The racing – you talk about hard, this is quite possibly the hardest 60 minutes someone can spend racing a bike, and at the same time the funnest! Start with the spectators, they are hardcore, standing out there yelling and ringing the cowbell, you can’t stop or you get ridiculed beyond belief. Sometime the noise is so loud it is deafening. The other racers, did I say 100, well how about 1000+ at our biggest venue the Cross Crusade in Portland Oregon. They have grown the sport in the NW beyond what anyone ever expected. They can get over a 1000 people at the events, split them up into 5 or 6 races and you have 200 people at a time out on a 1 ½ mile race course. It is insane! You are bumping elbows, passing people with hairball moves and pushing yourself above any anaerobic level you thought possible.

The first Cross Race
Then there is yourself, or in this case myself, I’m sure we all have different reasons for wanting to ride our bikes, and for those of us who race cross there are numerous different reasons. For me, it is the pure fun of pushing myself beyond my limits. Every time I go out on the cx bike, for practice or for race, I can dig deeper into myself and push harder than I did last time. I also love seeing all my friends, racing against them and with them, and as I noted above this year is exciting with such a great group of teammates on the Tensegrity team.

It’s time to go ride my bike, Cyclocross bike that is.


Richard

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Seattle to Portland report



Somewhat surprisingly, I still have a hard time calling myself a cyclist. I suppose it's just difficult for me to believe I am one even after a little over a year of riding bikes. Still, I agreed to ride the Seattle to Portland event with a friend for her 40th birthday. There were four of us riders in our group with another good friend offering to be our chauffeur up to Seattle and then back from Portland. We opted for the two day ride leaving us with a little over 100 miles to ride each day.


"Selfie" of the STP crew
We spent the night before the ride in dorm rooms at the University of Washington. While I was lying in my single bed I just kept repeating the phrase “I'm going to get a great night’s sleep” and thankfully it worked. We were off with the masses bright and early in the morning. And I do mean masses - this ride sells out at about 10,000 people. That's a lot of people and a lot of bikes. Don't let anyone tell you that it thins out, it doesn't. 
Just a quick ride with a few friends


Despite the tight pack of riders, the first day went smoothly as we quickly established our habit of stopping at every single port a potty offered.  There were after all three women in our group of four. Each food stop was well stocked and by about the halfway mark those peanut butter cheese crackers, the ones you would never normally eat due to that bright orange artificial color, became the best food in the entire world. We were wisely advised to camp in Chehalis just about 4 miles beyond the midpoint of the ride. Most folks don't want to pedal the extra 4 miles so luckily there were maybe 150 people at our camping spot versus the thousands at the real midpoint. Anyone who knows me knows I am much happier in a smaller, quieter, group.

Some yoga at the end of day one
We had the pleasure of naked group showers and of course after 100 miles in the sun any shower is the best thing that's ever happened to you. We then headed to a public house for dinner and unsurprisingly they were slammed. Luckily beer came fast, we won't mention how long the food took. We discovered a tap that said Odin and of course sent a picture of it to Taylor.  Another great night sleep after dinner (rumor has it I lay down, put on my eye mask, and was out instantly without a word).

 
We spotted this tap at the bar!

The second day started with a gorgeous morning and the only time I really felt like it was just the four of us. There were great country roads and despite still being in Washington I felt like I was home. The best rest stop of all was found on the second day. There was a handmade sign about snacks, drinks, and of course the most appealing part: a bathroom. It turned out to be a port a potty in a farmer’s front yard with homemade brownies, lemonade and one of the dirtiest dogs I've ever encountered. Clearly no one ever pet this dog and it is definitely not allowed in the house. But of course I pet the dog and it was instantly my best friend. I should also note that at this rest stop someone noticed my Tensegrity kit and said “oh are you a physical therapist?” I said “no but my teammate is!” That was the end of that conversation. (The still short but better kit story is that a random rider commented to Richard and I "sharp kits!" at some point along the way.  A testament to Julie's awesome design skills.)
 
Glad to be off the bike at one of the rest stops.
As we sat in the lawn chairs eating brownies, drinking lemonade, and watching the farmer’s son spastically flag down riders to stop and get treats, I thought I might just stay forever. Someone quickly noticed how comfortable we were getting and advised we had better get moving because we still had another 30 miles or so.

As we were finally rolling into Portland, only about half a mile from the finish line, we were in a pack of riders stopped at a red light. At this point just about everyone is hot, hammered, and just waiting to see the finish line. So there is pretty much silence. All of a sudden….pssshhhhh.  Someones tire just went flat. Of course it was one of us but luckily Richard can change a flat in about two minutes and we were quickly heading towards the finish line. We were greeted by cheering, smiling, friends and of course many strangers and thankfully ample food. We did it.

We're done!

People have asked “what route did you take?” My honest response is I have absolutely no idea. I'm pretty sure we were on a bike path at some point. The next question inevitably is “were you on I-5”? Thankfully never.
We cruised through the hometown of some of our own!

The coolest thing about riding the STP was seeing so many other people into riding their bikes. There were all shapes, sizes, shoes, and shorts out there. It was also a great reminder of the crazy fit cyclists that I compare myself to and ride with here in Eugene. The reality is they are an elite bunch and I am lucky to be part of such a great group. One day I may even really consider myself a cyclist.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Second Season: Build Up and Let Downs


        Last cross season was my first season as a competitive racer. (Well, as a racer period.) I fell in love. Cyclocross was the most amazing sport I had encountered. I came in with no experience, zero race knowledge and little to no ability in handling and skills. But I caught on quickly and used some crazy motivation to fight thru some of the biggest packs even Oregon Cycling had ever seen.
            I started as a beginner and ended the season going strong into Cat B. You could certainly chalk that up into a phenomenal feat.
            So what to do with season 2? I joined up with Tensegrity’s team, and got myself outfitted in a kit. I took up mountain biking to improve handling skills, and begrudgingly spent time on the road to build up endurance and time in the saddle. All this was done to prep myself for cross. If I could do that well in season with no prep, what could I do with months of training?
            Unfortunately, at the very beginning of July I got sick. It hard and fast and I had no idea what it was. A trip to Urgent Care revealed Mono. The Dr’s orders: 6 weeks off the bike and to prepare for possibly months of fatigue…. WHAT!! I had just been diagnosed a cyclist nightmare!
            While laid up on the couch I went back and forth between kissing the upcoming cross season good bye (and hopefully giving it Mono, too), and mustering dogged determination to make the biggest come back anyone had ever seen. The mental tug of war ate up a lot of mental strength and I was slowly defeating myself before I had even gotten back out on a bike. It was dark times for me. I don’t do well if I can’t take out stress and anxiety on a good hard work out. I stayed off the bike for 3 weeks before getting too antsy to stay away. I started practicing with Richard who was heading up weekly work-outs for the team. It was mostly drills and handling and what not; refamiliarizing ourselves with our cross bikes, a very vital step in the strong bond that takes place between rider and bike through the course of the season.
            I was actually feeling good, and dare I say optimistic about the season… Until interval training started a couple weeks later. I saw just how far behind I had fallen. What was worse, I couldn’t build. My body fatigued and fell apart every time I pushed, and recovering during the work out meant fully getting off my bike to gather myself. Defeated was more than what was going on physically and mentally.
            Having to work so hard has totally changed my ideas of biking, racing and in the end, self-confidence. I’m pushing myself hard, harder than I had to in the past, and am having to keep pushing while seeing little result. The mental battle might be more grueling than the physical. All the while remembering to take rest days. Don’t push too hard during each work out because I don’t have the ability to physically recover like I used to. “Like I used to”…. None of this training has been the same as I used to do. Athletically most things come natural, I coach pretty easily (when my stubbornness doesn’t get in the way) and my best tool, was unlimited amounts of energy, to dig deep and push when most fall off the back.
            I went ahead and entered a mountain bike short track race that is hosted up in Salem. It’s only a 30 min race, so I knew I couldn’t get that crushed. And I didn’t, but it shined that ever glaring light on how dismal my stamina is. I still left with upset feelings, and a continuing loss of hope at the season ahead. Against what I wanted, I gave myself a rest day but decided to keep on going with work-outs. I shortened my intervals to keep from beating myself down, but to keep building the elusive fitness I know is somewhere.             
            No matter where I end up this season I know Mono has been a pivotal mark that will forever change my mind set and training strategies for future seasons. As many times as I have gotten upset about my digression, there continues to be small break-thrus to help me persevere, and to step back and see the glass as half full. Everyone knows racing is as much a mental game as it is physical endurance. I’ll take this year as “mental training” really hard mental training. And I am certain there will be more let downs. Perhaps a lot more let downs. But I also have full faith this is all continuing in a positive forward progression. Slowly but surely, it is progress. And besides, as the Blazers are famously known for saying, “Next Season.” 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

To Glue or… stay tubeless part 1


To Glue or… stay tubeless part 1

(Tires and wheels I glued in this story!)

A shade tree Bike Mechanics account of gluing tires.

            *Disclaimer I don’t really talk about tubeless tires in this 1st round, so don’t read the title and expect it.

            A little back history on me, I have been biking a little bit here or there for most of my life.  But it wasn’t until Oct 2010 that I really started biking and racing.  In the past 3 years of biking I’ve amassed Two mountain bikes, (One basic race worthy, and one that I build up from scratch, super light), Two cross bikes (One basic race worthy, and one which is of the utmost quality, and custom made by a master builder and friend, Todd Gardner of Stoemper), and lastly a TT bike which I build up from scratch (mostly from my eBay sponsor).  Needless to say, I’m no expert, but I’ve done most things once or twice. I do all my riding in one way or another to be better for cross, and am of the guise that you shouldn’t have a road bike and a cross bike, when you can just spend twice as much on your cross bike and use it for road as well.
            Last year I wanted to know what everyone was gafawing about with there tubular cross tires, so about half way through the cross season I was able to acquired some bottom of the line box tubulars (off EBay for $45 buck including shipping).  I also bought a pair of Vitoria cross evo XMs for another $45 bucks, pre glued (base coated), never mounted.
            So I got my wheels, which had a nice thick layer of glue on them.  The glue was who know how old, or brand, and cracked and patchy… I spent the better part of a 4 hrs removing it with a combination of a butter knife, acetone, and steal wool…  luckily for me I can focus pretty well and just power through long projects like that.  Anyway the tires were pre stretched, and were easy to slip on and off the wheels already, so that was a step I was able to skip.  Now Vittorias are true sew ups, so they have a ridge running down the center of the base tape, which at the time I thought was just due to the channel you find in some tubular rims, like the only ones I had done before this.  I was wrong.
            I also have a set of Sl-k light tubulars, which I glued some basic Tufo tires to for TT racing.  Since this was my 1st time gluing, I had talked to a couple of bike shops, and watched some YouTube videos on the subject before I glued them.  Lets just say if you do it the way they say, it takes forever…  3 coats of glue on each tire with 12-24 hrs in-between to dry, and 3 coats of glue on the rims.  Yes I did all the steps, and painted the glue on like I was touching up a Picasso painting, making sure not to get any in the spoke holes or over the edge of the rim.  With all the other stuff going on in my life, it ended up taking just over a week start to finish, and about 5 hrs of mind numbing work, it took forever, and I didn’t even have to strip the wheels before hand.  They set up great, and I have raced on them 2 seasons now, which is all I will do without re-gluing them.
(SL-K tubulars I glued pluss the Stoemper awesome bike)

            Back to how not to do it.  So I had talked to a couple of bike shops, and I was told by a reputable source that all you need to do is put a pretty heavy glue layer on both wheel and tire, press together and go.  Sooo after last time taking forever to do it, I jumped at the chance to do a quick fix.  While this method may work for some people it did not work for me.  It seemed just fine at first. I glued, put it together and set it to dry.  Well that pre glued hardened ridge I was talking about was pretty well set, instead of conforming to the u shape of the rim, the tire wanted to stay in a v shape… so the edges of the base tape kept pulling away from the rim.  I was frustrated, and didn’t trust the gluing, but didn’t want to take the time to re glue…  so I just got pissed, and never really road on them on anything more than a gravel path, let alone raced them.
            Now to present day, my frustration gone, and a new excitement in its place, over new tires I got for race season. I was ready to try again.  I bought a Tufo Prestige, mid size knobbies, known for its great anti flat capabilities, for the front, and in the back, a Grifo xs file tread (both on eBay for less than %50 of msrp) for my dry early season cross races.  The Tufo because it was really cheep, and will get the job done, and the Grifo, because the reviews say its one of the best dry season tires.
I too easily, pulled the Vittorias of my rims, and preceded to remove the glue, I read on line that a hair dryer can heat the glue, making it easier to remove, so I spent a good hr on the 1st rim getting the big chunks off, I would say that the heat made it about %5 easier… It sucks cleaning a rim… I tried poring acetone on it to sped up the process, but that only sped it up a little bit, maybe another %5. So I got pissed and looked around the house for a steal brush or something to make the process go faster, and came up empty.  Annoyed and frustrated I just left the rim out in the sun a quarter of the way completed.  I came to the conclusion that gluing tubulars may not be the thing for me.  I had an epiphany.  Goo Gone.  A simple little product I had used to get baked on tuck tape off my car when I had a patched window.  I thought maybe the Goo Gone might get inside the spoke holes, and melt the new glue after I put on the new tires, but if I couldn’t find a quicker way to get the old glue off these rims, they were just going to go on EBay anyways…  so on went the Goo Gone.  Nothing really seemed to happen at first, but after a few minutes, where the remover was pooled up the glue was getting really soft.  So I coated the rim in it, and waited a couple minutes.  I pretty much just took a dry cloth, and rubbed a spot on the rim until it stuck, at which point I would douse a corner of the cloth, and rub some more.  I would say that it took me about 30-40 minutes to finish the rim using my butter knife for a sec here or there to scrape off a big piece.  I then scrubbed the rim with dish soap, and water, for oil removing abilities.
Now I had the Tufo, but the Grifo was on back order, so I didn’t strip the back wheel yet.  It was hard to get the Tufo on the rim, so I spent a couple days with it on the rim at a very high psi 100 to be exact, it says don’t go above 60, but I figured that my weight on a 60 psi tire wouldn’t be any worse than the tire at 100 psi and no weight.  Anyways, the tire stretched, a little… but enough I guess.  I was chomping at the bit to start the process of gluing, and I had read that you can continue to stretch a tire with “dry” glue on it on a rim that is clean, sooo I cleaned the rear wheel maybe 40 min including the soap and water wash.  If a have a great race season on these, and decide that tubulars are the only way to go for me, I will get an old beater tubular rim with no hub to have tires stretching on.  Anyway, I put a coat of glue on both rim and tire, waited for them to dry, then put the tire on the clean rear wheel to continue to stretch.  As you might have ascertained, I decided to go with the old school, 3 coats, with dry time in between.  A couple more coats a couple more days, and I was ready to mount.  It was relatively easy, just like they show in the instructional videos.  Even with a stretch of about 90hrs, the Tufo was pretty tight, and evening out the base tape was harder than I wanted it to be, but not too bad.  I rolled it deflated on a broom handle a few times to make sure the middle was sticking, then I pumped it to 20 psi, and it has been drying eve since.
The Grifo finally came in, and I was amazed at how nice it felt.  I have seen and heard the word supple thrown around in pretty much every sentence that tubular tires and riding have been in.  This was the 1st time I really understood what they meant.  They really feel like exactly what they are, a medium weight tube surrounded by a couple layers of cotton.  Not to throw a curve ball in the write up, but you could pretty much fall asleep on a pile of these with there base tape up, and be quite comfortable.  I did notice that these too had the ridge in the middle that I now know it where the casing is sewn together.  I was worried about getting the same affect that I got with the Vittorias, and the v shaped peg in the u shaped hole, but after I pumped the tire up and the base tape pulled to one side, the ridge was no longer visible.  In case you haven’t pumped up a tubular tire without the rim, they look like a snake that’s trying to play dead, the belly, base tape pulls from the middle to one side ore the other, which make for easy glue application.  Anyways, the Grifo was tight on the rim as well, but supple, and easy to stretch on, so I only stretched it on the rim for about 48 hrs before I started the gluing.  Same steps as I did with the Tufo, but after the 1st round of glue, I read the instructions in the Conti glue box, and found that they only recommend 3 hrs drying time between the layers, so I was able to knock this one out in a day, which I had off of work.
I’m excited for my 1st race on these tires, although I am afraid of flatting one of these, especially the Grifo, I really loved my Ghetto tubeless set up I ran the last two years, and how they are bomb proof, so it will take something pretty big to make me switch for good.  If I love them I will probably strip my Sl-k’s and put mudd tires on them for the later part of the season, if I don’t I’ll be riding my PDX’s ghetto tubeless.  So hears to the local twilight races, a place to figure out the right equipment pairings for when you go into the crusades.  I don’t know if it was just that I had already done it before or that I was setting these up way before I needed them, but I felt much better about my 3rd attempt at gluing, than I did at either of the 1st two.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

2013 High Cascades 100: Suffering through the dust, heat and rocks with Doug


            Last winter, I decided that High Cascades 100 would be the big goal of my 2013 racing season.  I had done the race once before, in 2011, and it had absolutely dominated me.  Back then, the course was altered due to a major snow year and featured even more singletrack than normal for HC 100.  It was also 108 miles long, extremely hot, and I was relying solely on bottles for hydration.  This combination led to me taking around 2 hours longer than expected to complete the race and I was an absolute shell of a man once I finally crossed the finish line.  Once I recovered, I vowed to return and try to make a better showing in the race.
            Based on my previous dehydrating experience at HC 100, I decided to do this race with a hydration pack in addition to bottles.  For me at least, it is impossible to drink enough from bottles to stay hydrated while riding singletrack for 9 + hours.  I also decided to use an electrolyte drink instead of plain water for my hydration needs.  Lisa recently turned me on to Osmo hydration products, which are different in that they have more salt and less sugar than most other options out there.  Everything else I have tried, from Heed to water, has made me feel sick by the end of a 100 miler, so I thought I would give something new a shot.  The night before the race, I prepared 2 full 100 oz Platypus reservoirs of Osmo mix.  I would carry one from the start of the race, and the other went in to a cooler full of ice packs for the aid station at mile 50.  I stuffed both Platy packs full of assorted bars and other calories and got a few hours of sleep prior to the 5:30 A.M. start.
            We had no issues getting to the start on time, and I rolled out with a few hundred others once the clock reached 5:30 on the road from Bend.  I had ample time to chat with Dax as the MTB peloton rolled away from Bend on the pavement.  He has been crushing the races this season and seemed confident.  I was fairly certain he would do well that day.  I hadn’t been training super well leading up to the race due to work and lack of motivation.  My main goal for this race was to pace myself correctly and not utterly crack like I did in 2011.  Even if I wasn’t feeling quite as strong as in previous 100 milers, I felt like I had prepared better as far as nutrition/hydration are concerned than ever before.  Every race of this sort is as much an effort to survive to the finish as it is a competitive endeavor.  I was motivated to make it across the line alive, even if I wasn’t completely confident in my ability to slay the competition on the way there.
            Once we turned off the pavement on to the doubletrack climb, it became obvious that it hadn’t rained in Bend in quite some time.  There were several inches of “moon dust”, and the numerous riders in front of me were doing a fantastic job of kicking it up in to the atmosphere.  It quickly became very hard to see, let alone breathe.  In spite of this, I did a decent job of riding a solid pace, without pushing myself in to the red zone, up the climb that placed me in good company when we finally reached singletrack.  Riding down this singletrack was quite sketchy, however, due to the combination of low early morning sunlight and super thick dust in the air.  It was almost impossible to see where you were going.  The main thing I dislike about Bend riding is the fact that you can never trust a bermed corner.  What appears to be a berm may just be a dust pile, which will certainly not support your weight if you hit it at speed.  With the poor visibility, the berm/dustpile distinction was even harder to make, and several riders crashed hard.  Even last year’s winner, Barry Wicks, went down and broke his collarbone on this first segment of singletrack.  I stayed cautious and fortunately kept the rubber side down until things strung out enough for the dust to settle.
            Throughout the first few hours of the race, I worked hard to eat and drink in order to sustain me later in the race.  My goal was to have finished my 3-liter reservoir by the time I made it to the aid station at the halfway point.  The Osmo mix I was drinking was treating me well.  It didn’t tweak my stomach in any way, and the slight saltiness of it made it easier to drink a ton of it somehow.  I actually had to stop and relieve myself twice before the halfway point, which was a huge departure from the other 100 milers I have done.  I felt good that my hydration scheme was working as well as I was hoping it would.
            The climb to the halfway point of the race at Dutchman Flat seemed to go on forever.  I had climbed the Mrazek trail before, but there is apparently a ton of (steep) climbing above the top of Mrazek that I had never done before.  By the time I saw the “Aid ahead” sign, I was pretty tired and was losing focus.  I spaced out and managed to clip my handlebar on a tree, sending me face-first in to the dust.  Fortunately, the pinky finger that collided with the tree was the only thing that seemed significantly injured, although my knee didn’t feel quite right, and I was able to get rolling again shortly after gathering all of the items that had yard-saled across the landscape during my tumble.
            It had heated up quite a bit by the time I got to that aid, and the ice-cold Platypus pack that Lisa pulled out of the cooler for me felt amazing when I put it on my back.  There was still quite a bit of ice in the reservoir, and this was a godsend since the temperatures were already in the mid 80’s and were still climbing.  Having resupplied, I set off in to the heat and rocky trails around the backside of Mt. Bachelor.

Hot and miserable, but not cracked (note dust beard from faceplant). Photo by Oregon Velo

            These trails were quite a bit rougher that I was expecting, and my back and arms got pretty wrecked riding on them.  It got hotter and hotter, and I was really suffering when I reached the brutally long rocky singletrack climb away from Lava lake.  I had to hike-a-bike quite a bit of this, and even at my snail-like pace, I passed several riders who were worse off than I.  The heat was intense, and tons of dudes were cramping up.  After what seemed like an eternity, I made it to the top of the climb and began the descent to the aid at mile 80.
            This descent would normally have been pretty fun, but my back and arms were so tired that supporting my weight over the rocks and drops became even harder than pedaling.  My knee was also hurting after my wreck, and pedaling out of the saddle got pretty painful.  Ignoring annoyances like these is one of the biggest challenges of 100 mile MTB racing in my experience.  I usually deal with this by visualizing how good it will feel to cross the finish line and stop riding.  The faster I get there, the sooner the suffering will be over.  I was doing a lot of this kind of thinking for the last 20 miles of the race.
            I got to the final aid station and took two full bottles since the temperature had climbed above 90 degrees.  I was pretty sure that my Platy pack was running low and I didn’t want to run dry.  There were several riders sitting under the tents who had apparently been cracked by the heat and had abandoned the race.  I was tired, but not cracked, and felt reasonably hydrated and not sick.  This was a first for me at this point in a 100 miler.  I left the aid telling myself that it was mostly downhill for the remainder of the race.
            Shortly after leaving the final aid, I heard a hissing noise, stopped, and sure enough noticed a jet of Stan’s sealant shooting out of my rear tire.  I was NOT in the mood to fix a flat, so I rotated the tire so the hole was facing down, bounced it up and down, and hoped for the best.  Thankfully, Stan came through for me and the tire held air for the rest of the race.  What joy I felt for my tire sealing success was soon erased by the course, which went uphill quite a bit before going down on the tidilywinks trail.  Tidilywinks, which is normally one of the best downhill trails out there, was is pretty bad shape.  There were tons of braking bumps and blown out corners.  Combined with my fatigue these factors made tidilywinks no fun at all.  I was glad that I would be able to pop out and cruise down to the finish line on pavement once it was over, however.
            To my horror, at the end of tidilywinks, there was a sign directing us to the Storm King trail, not the road.  Storm King is also normally a blast, but not in 90 degree heat after 90 miles of racing.  I gritted my teeth and made it through, and finally emerged on to pavement for the final few miles of racing.  I locked out my fork, put my head down, and emptied the last few drops from my gas tank on the way back in to Bend.  I ran out of water with a couple of miles to go.  I drank roughly 10 liters of liquid of during the race, which was quite a bit more than I ever have before.  I finally found a hydration product that agrees with me.  Osmo is good stuff.
            It felt awesome to finally cross the finish line and put an ice-water soaked towel around my neck after around 10 hours in the heat.  The best part of every 100 mile MTB race is always the finish.  Everyone there is stoked to have survived the experience, and there is frequently cold beer flowing.  Once my body realized I wasn’t trying to destroy it any more, I got hungry and secured my free burger, which was fantastic.  Lisa and I hung out with Dax and his entourage for a while, enjoyed the atmosphere (in the shade) and had a couple of beers.  Dax did great in this event.  This was not a surprise to me coming off of his SS win at 6 hours of Mt. Hood.  He has definitely become a force in endurance MTB racing and is no slouch in the shorter events as well.  It has been awesome to watch him turn in to such a beast on the bike.
            High Cascades 100 this year was definitely not my fastest 100 miler.  I wasn’t super motivated going in to it, and even considered not signing up despite my winter plan to revisit it.  I’m definitely glad I did it in the end, however.  These ultra endurance races are awesome goals for a season of riding.  They never fail to motivate me to train, and finishing them never fails to give me an extremely satisfying sense of accomplishment, even if I have to endure a lot of agony on the way there.