Monday, August 24, 2009

Dirt Training

The skies have cleared and I can see the light... and that light has told me to embrace the dirt beneath my feet by riding my mountain bike over it.

I have ran out of excuses not to try a mountain bike race, so have put the Sugar Bottom Scramble (Oct. 4th) on my calendar. Maybe I won't end up being able to compete, but I am going to train for it none the lesss, as I feel it is a refreshing change of pace and strategic to cyclocross preparations.

I went to SugarBottom on Sunday and tried to rehearse the route that the race uses. The race organizer (Thomas Sulentic) gave me the general idea,mentioning to go east from the shelter and then just basically follow the main trail including the secondary loop. I am a bit confused because that would mean we start with the 201 trails, but then not sure if we swing back and do the 101 trails. The loop I created took about 70 minutes. Based on the 2008 results, however, it seems that the faster competitors are doing the laps in around 50 to 60 minutes, so hopefully I did some extra sections.

I could never get up 'cyclocross hill' and completely understand why 'hell's trail' is named as such.

Mountain biking is intense. I am amused that my arms are sore today,not my legs, as much energy is used trying to keep the bike upright. I enjoyed this new challenge and felt like I have some measure of skill (we shall see).

I actually entered a 5k running race on Saturday. I figured pegging my heart rate for just under 20 minutes and reviving some of my dormant running-specific muscles would have a good training effect for the off-the bike portions of cyclocross races.

I am still thinking about going to Des Moines this weekend for the Big Creek Road Race and East Village Criteriums. I can admit that I have lost a bit of my road-racing focus, but that might actually become an advantage, as I will be relaxed and interested in merely enjoying the events. It is great to still have some road events to look forward to, as there is plenty of summer weather still left to enjoy.
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8 comments:

Bird said...

I heard your doing the harvest hammer. You should also do the the dixon crit its only 20 minutes further down the road and its on the same day

Tue Aug 25, 07:38:00 AM CDT
Chad Bishop said...

Hmmm, the dixon crit... A fine figure eight course not unlike the Quad Cities Criterium with just enough little hills to make things interesting. For an interesting little piece of trivia, Dixon is not only home to our 40th president, but Dixon is also home to pro cyclist John Devine...

I will probably be too tired from winning the harvest hammer to compete in the crit as well, but maybe.

Tue Aug 25, 10:12:00 AM CDT
Bird said...

That's cool bryce mead is from that area and he is doing both and plans to win both. Never said the word tired. He also said he was going for the hammer record.

Tue Aug 25, 08:21:00 PM CDT
Bird said...

Little piece of trivia. Were does Bryce Mead live

Tue Aug 25, 08:22:00 PM CDT
Chad Bishop said...

Bryce Mead residence... hopefully not Dixon, otherwise he got dissed:)...

Harvest Hammer Duathlon...I am planning on entering the individual event, though adding running workouts has been destroying my cycling, so I can still possibly 'win' in that category, with John Grice being one of the main threats.

I respect 'team' entrants, however feel the point of a duathlon is to take on the challenge of running and cycling in a single event.

'Bird' do you have any information on the splits for those team entrants? Is Bryce partnering with a female again (Lauf), or maybe a fast male runner (Johnson?)to try and finish in under an hour? Any idea how fast those guys run a 5k?

Wed Aug 26, 10:28:00 AM CDT
Bird said...

Bryce lives and owns a bike store in Sterling, Il. Which is in between Morrison, and Dixon. He's our local celebrity, and he is also a sponsor of both events. That is why he will be at both.
Word on the street, he was gonna do both on the duathlon till he heard the crit was on the same day. So now he has a fast runner, but he doesn't plan to go very hard. He wants to win Doxin Crit.
The Hammer has change locations. When he did it under an hour it was the short course. After that it was back to the long course. Meaning an extra 3 miles to the course. His last couple of years he rip tits on the course. And he might be back on his secret weapon.
You should really talk to him while your at Morrison. He started a club thru his store, and it's gotten pretty big. He's looking for good regional riders, and they have sweet looking blue skinsuits.

Wed Aug 26, 10:38:00 PM CDT
Chad Bishop said...

'Bird' thanks for the info. My form is pretty soft this time of year, but I am working on getting my schedule clear so I can try and get to morrison, nice to get a little more use out of my TT bike.

I have family obligations to get back to that day, otherwise that Dixon Crit sounds great.

Sweet Blue skinsuits...that is definately tempting.

Thu Aug 27, 09:57:00 AM CDT
Doug said...

Just win the duathlon on the bike and fake the runs... it is easy :)

You need a team, see if you can get on that team so you can get lead outs. How many races have you done this year with no one to work with?

...and the only color faster then blue is red... So, just get a red bike with red tires to go with that blue skinsuit, it should work...

Sat Aug 29, 10:36:00 AM CDT

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