24hrs of Cumming Part 2

Lap 3....

Finish of Lap 2

I had noticed Mike Johnson in the pits getting ready to head out for lap 3 about the same time I was. In 100% honesty I was scared of Mike. He has accomplished some major things. I did have a small advantage over Mike on Loop 3. A small group of us had ridden this lap in training a couple of weeks before the race. I knew I could do well on this loop. 

Once we were away from the Cumming Tap and into the fog I road hard. I set myself a goal of riding hard for 1 hour. I bombed the downhills, road a good tempo up the hills and set a nice tempo on the flats. Eventually I couldn't see Mike's light any longer. It was a good feeling.

I came in from loop 3 and was very happy to be holding my second place in the mens race. My pit crew did a great job of getting me in and out. If I had too much time to think I might have sat down and not gotten back up. 

I went out for loop 4. I was extremely tired and was just kinda moving along looking over my shoulder. I couldn't see another light for along time. Eventfully I saw one. I tried to increase my pace but I didn't have anything. 

Finally the mystery light had caught up to me. It was Andy Zeiner on a damn single speed. We talked for about 15 minutes and then I watched as Andy slowly rolled away from me. There was simply nothing I could do.

So now I was the 3rd male out on course and had about 20 miles to go. I think I literally road 18.5 of those miles looking over my shoulder. 

The Finish...Thank God!!

Eventully I made it to the finish line. Got a high five from Steve Fuller just as I was coming across the finish. Kyle took my bike and got me food and something to drink. Sharing this accomplishment with some of my closest friends made it that much more rewarding.

mmmm....Burrito 

I had a great day. Everything went about as well as I could have wished. My friends/pit crew took great care of me.

3rd Place Men

Here is my Strava file from the race: https://www.strava.com/activities/178315328

24hrs Of Cumming

Its been a long time Cumming....

My rolling yardsale

So the big day was finally here. I loaded up the car early and headed to Hy Vee to meet up with Kyle Sedore and Steve Fuller for breakfast. Large amounts of gravy were consumed by all and some last minute supplies were acquired.

At the start ready to go

Made it down to Cumming around 9:30. Got our pit area setup (Kyle, Nate Hicks, Steve Robinson and I). Did some last minute house keeping and it was time for the pre race meeting. After the meeting I grabbed my bike and headed to the start line. Double checked my Garmin and I was ready to go. Steve Cannon (race director) counted us down and we were off. Steve Fuller was off the front followed by Steve Robinson and Sarah Copper.

I settled into a good tempo along with Kyle Sedore. We wanted to push the tempo until we hit the level B roads. We knew that the B roads wouldn't be rideable so our average speed would be hurt from the walking. We hit the first level B with Mike Johnson. I noticed Mike was riding 40 mm tires on his Salsa Warbird which didn't give him much mud clearance. We made it about 8 feet before the mud was to much to ride. Some hike-a-bike down the middle...then in the ditch. About half way through the first level B Kyle yells at me (as he rides by) "Get on your Ducking bike we are leaving!!". He goes bombing down the muddy hill. I jump on with out a second thought. About 5 seconds later I realized I unhooked my front brake (for mud clearance) and I was riding file tread tires. NOT the best mud setup! After the end of the level B road we got back up to speed. Sarah Cooper joins Kyle and I. The second level B involves more walking. The three of us make it to the end of that together and carry on towards the end of lap one. About ten miles out Kyle wants to push the hills a little and I let him and Sarah go.  I roll into the pits and restock my supplies and head out solo on lap two.

My lovely Pit/Pit Crew

Lap two is pretty easy to write about...didn't see a single human...NO one!

I roll back into the pits several hours later to see Kyle standing in street clothes. Get the full report while eating two cheese burgers and thinking about lap three. 

Chesseburger...X2

I load up my bike, down some coffee and head out for my first night lap...solo.

Iowa Games Mountain Bike Race

First off I am working on my 24hrs of Cumming race report.

With a lot of rain leading up to the race gear selection was important.  I decided to go with my Carver Gnarvester with normal 29er wheels. This would provide tons of mud clearence.  I also ran it as a single speed. Not much can go wrong there.

I got to the race with plenty of time to warm up and check out the conditions. They weren't as bad as I was expecting. 

I ended up racing Expert 30-39. We lined up with the single speeders and we were all off. I hit the first section of single track first, but when we were back on gravel several single speeders and Oakley Rob came around me.

The rest of my race is kinda borning. Ride as hard as possible. ..blow up...recover...repeat for 1.5hrs.

I ended up second overall in expert and first in my class ( I think I would have been fourth single speed).

Check back soon for the 24hrs of Cumming report.

I am Back!!

Well its been a long time since I updated. There have been some ups and downs as far as cycling is concerned. 

Photo from Seven Oaks Cat 1 Race (Single Speed)

Almanzo Royal: Didn't happen for me. I got the flu a week before the race. Thought I was good to go the Wednesday before the race and then went backwards for the next two and a half days. This one really hurt. I was excited about this race. Lots of my friends went up and had great results. 

Kyle Sedore riding in my honor. 

After Almanzo came and went I started to focus on the 24hrs of Cumming gravel race. You have 24hrs to complete four 60 miles loops. I found the distance scary but the format intriguing. Basically this focus involved everything from route recon to freaking out over equipment. 

One of the many 100 mile rides I did with friends this summer.

More miles in the bank.

After loging several 100 mile rides throughout June and July; the family and I took off for Breckenridge. Spent a week out there doing a lot of great activities. Hiking, fun park, and bike rides. 

Vail Pass. Trying to stay dry

Found a new friend on a hike.

Found time to play in the snow. 

After returning from Breckenridge I did a couple of shorter shake down type rides leading up to the 24hrs of Cumming. Legs felt pretty good. Equipment was locked down. Weather looked good. Only question was: How would my body handle a race like this?

Gents Race Report

Here is a little background on the race: 5 person team has to stay together over the course of 66 miles. Staggered start times (slower teams start at 8 with the fastest team starting around 10:20).

I was lucky enough to find 4 friends who were willing to ride single speed mountain bikes with me. My teams starting time was decided to be at 9:30. 

We decided to meet at Kyle's Bikes at 8:30. We all got signed in. We put some extra water bottles/food into our drop bag (bag was taken to the half way point by some great volunteers). After a few small last second adjustments we road over to the start line.

GO TIME! The first 4 miles of the course are on pavement so it's a good time to warm up. We hit the gravel and we are all working well together. I am personally not feeling the best but the team is rolling along. 

We hit the halfway point in Slater and we check in and grab our drop bag supplies. We hit the road again in a relatively quick fashion. 

The second half of the race was pretty much more of the same. We worked well as a team but we also had our issues. The race finished by heading 12 miles straight south into a 15mph head wind. 

We hit the finish line around 4 hours which was good enough for 8th overall. All in all it was a good team effort and a great day!  

Finally...My Big News

So I will start with a little back story. Last year I purchased a Surly Krampus, and I road it a lot. Gravel, XC races and even bikepacking on the Colorado trail.

I had a lot of fun on it and really enjoyed the way the bike handled. After Carver Bikes released the Gnarvester (Titanium version of the Krampus platform) I knew 100% that I needed one!

After a couple months of selling stuff off and collecting parts it's finally DONE!

Bike Nerd warring...Parts break down:

-Carver Bikes Gnarvester Ti frame

-Carver Bikes 470 carbon fork

-SRAM XX brakes and X0 crankset

-Crank Brothers Quarto Ti pedals

-Thomson Ti handlebar, stem and Masterpiece seatpost

-Chris King Headset, Bottom Bracket and Hubset

-Salsa cycles quick releases and seat clamp

-ESI grips

-Specialized Toupe seat and bottle cage

Famous...or...Infamous

I was lucky enough to be featured in DM Juice this last week. Spoke a little bit about gravel racing/riding and pushing personal limits.

See story here: http://dmjuice.com/driven-taylor-webb-32/

I should have some exciting news in the next couple of days so please check back!