b_radbiker's blog: 2015 Chequamegon 40

2015 Chequamegon 40

Prologue

I have focused on the 40 mile Chequamegon point to point race through the rolling hills of northern Wisconsin since 2001. I have been racing either the 16 mile race or the 40 mile race since 1994. I arrived in Cable, WI on Friday in time for the customary pre-ride of the final 4 miles of the 40 mile race course. It has not changed in over 20 years, but this is the section I always pre-ride. I found the course in good shape, not too wet, but wet enough to knock down the dust.

Anticipating a wetter than normal course, I lubed my chain with a wet conditions lube after the pre-ride. I aired up my new tires before going to bed so I could tell if they were holding air. I had been working with them the past week because they were new and not yet holding air well. They are tubeless and require a bit of tinkering to get them dialed in.

Upon waking on Saturday I learned it had rained lightly in the night. This does not normally cause an issue because the soil contains a large amount of sand and drains well. The forecast was for clear, sunny skies with a high temperature of 68. It was cool early (mid 40’s), but predicted to warm up to the mid 50’s by the 10:00 AM start. Nearly perfect temperature conditions for a mountain bike race through the beautiful Northwoods of cheese-head land.

I placed my bike in corral number 3 (earned by my finish time on previous races) at 8:00. We spent the next hour and a half topping off nutrition and hydration stores and in nervous conversation. There were several trips to the bathroom as the caffeine and nerves worked their magic on our bladders. We were with our bikes by 9:45 as required by the race director.

Race

At 10:00 the race started with a neutral roll-out behind several quads. The pace for the first mile is “controlled” at 20 mph, but once the leaders have made the corner onto highway 77, the quads hit the gas and the racing starts. At this point the pace cranks up to speeds in excess of 25 mph while riding in a tight pack. This is the part of the course which makes everyone on edge to avoid a crash. Just when we were starting to thin the pack, I noticed everyone ahead was gesturing about something in the road. I was able to move left to the center and came upon a rider in the middle of the right lane adjusting his rear quick release. This seemed like a very poor decision regarding where and when to make this adjustment. If this rider is reading this post, please note, it would have been much safer for everyone if you had gotten off the road before stopping. There, it will never happen again!

At about the three mile point the race course takes a hard left off the only paved road into a hay field called Rosie’s Field. I quickly learned the rain in the night had left the grass wet and dirt soft. I was able to successfully navigate the few soft wet patches through Rosie’s Field and enter the Birkie trail.

The Birkie trail (named after the famous Birkebeiner cross country ski race which takes place on the trail) is normally a wide grassy path through the woods with an 8 inch wide track worn bare from bike traffic. This year the grass was wet, the dirt under the grass was soft and the dirt path was greasy and slick. The dirt path is normally the best place to ride because it provides the least resistance. After several two wheel slides I decided the grass may be safer. I was sliding much less in the grass, but expending much more effort because of the soft earth. I continued to pick my line carefully to find a balance between easier hard packed bare earth and grass, where I could pass and not slide in the greasy mud.

In the first few miles of the Birkie trail I heard someone hit the ground hard and the telltale sounds of other riders getting involved in the issue. I was concerned my friend Jeff would be involved because I knew he was close behind me. I was happy to be ahead of the tangle and pushed on. At some point someone buzzed my left calf with their front tire. This was a close call, but in racing you can’t worry about the things you can’t control.

I had created a handlebar card containing goal split times for each 10 miles. At the 10 mile point I was roughly 5 minutes behind my goal for the split. I could tell it was not going to be a fast year and told myself to relax and ride as fast as I safely could.

In about an hour I arrived at the crossing of the OO blacktop. There is a ski hut (normally used for the Birkie) and the only official mid-race time check. I normally meet my wife (Jenni) once we turn onto the gravel road about ½ mile after we cross the highway. I was able to get another bottle (filled with Hammer Perpetuem – 135 calories) and she poked one of my home made granola hockey pucks (roughly 100 calories) into my cake hole. I was off in about 15 seconds.

I was able to get onto the back of 20 rider pace lines through most of the race. This allows me to conserve energy while maintaining a good pace. As usual, the group would always pull away from me on the downhill sections, but I was normally able to catch back on once the course turned uphill.

The Chequamegon course is famous for wide water puddles. The puddles are normally not more than six inches deep, but there is the potential for all sorts of bad things if you don’t ride the dryer route around the side. There were a couple puddles I was unable to avoid because I was either going too fast to navigate around the side or there were riders beside me so I could not pick the dry line. My chain took a bath of sandy water with each puddle. I was happy I put on extra wet conditions lube so it would continue to shift.

I decided to try something new this year (totally out of character for me) and sucked in a caffeinated gel at mile 26. I was having no stomach issues and figured the caffeine could not hurt me over the last hour of racing.

I have perfected a strategy for how to ride the Sealy Fire Tower climb after 12 years of racing the 40. My strategy is to pick someone to follow who is steady and has a low chance of doing something stupid (i.e. spinning out) on the climb. I will follow them at about 20 feet to give myself time to react if they did have an issue. I executed this strategy to perfection and was able to ride all three tiers of the climb. The Fire Tower climb comes at about mile 30. After cresting the climb I quickly took stock of my situation. My legs were tired, but showing no signs of cramping. I decided it was time to leave nothing on the racecourse and ratchet my exertion up a notch for the last 10 miles.

I was pushing hard and passing some fatigued riders in the last 10 miles. About one mile from the finish there are a couple short steep hills where there is not much of an opportunity to gain speed as you approach. On the second climb I spun on a rock and had to clip out and run up the final 10 feet of the climb. How embarrassing! I continued to push hard and somehow found myself all alone for the final ½ mile. This section contains two long rough grassy descents followed by off-camber turns. Being alone I felt comfortable and let it roll (meaning I was not cautiously riding the brakes). The last 100 yards contain a grassy uphill which seems to suck all your speed. I gave it all I had and powered through this section to finish in 2:40, 10 minutes off my goal finish time.

Epilogue

I talked to several of my friends and everyone reported slower finish times than their norm. I attribute this to the rain Friday night which made the Birkie trail greasy for the first 5 miles, made the earth soft and expanded the water puddles. I was off the pace for each 10 mile section (however I was off pace by 7+ minutes in the first half of the race indicating the greasy mud was drying through the race). My average power and heart rate were nearly identical to the numbers from last year, however my average speed was slower indicating I was working at the same rate but going slower because the bike was not rolling in the soft earth.

I have finished analyzing my numbers (a process which takes quite a bit of time, much to the dismay of my wife). I am working to improve my weaknesses so I can go faster next year. If I can’t go faster I sure don’t want to be slower. I will also age into a new age group next year. This is a bittersweet event. I will be at the youngest age in my group, but the age group advancement will also mean I will naturally be losing top end capacity. No one has found a way to stop aging (short of death). The best I can do is be the best I can be. This is true in life as well.

Ride on friends