Hammer Brothers Ride!

It was far worse than it sounds. I haven't been trashed like that for as long as I can remember.

It was good to see some friends and get a ride in. It was killer, hard from begging to end.

24 Hours of racing = 7 days in the Hospital

Well to say that August was a boring month would be an understatement. Not paying attention to the warning signs I continued to ride and train during the entire month. I also competed in 2 races, Ole bull Midnight Madness, which is a 12 hour Mounting Bike Race of which I completed approximately 6 hours of due to outlandishly poor conditions, bike malfuntions and feeling poorly.
The second was the Seven Springs / Subaru 24 Hour Challenge. This is the one that did me in. Again I was already sick and had been for almost a month. This weekend adventure started for me at about 0700 am. On Saturday Laborday weekend and ending ending around 1700 on Sunday. Despite my physical condition I was very excited about the race. Even though the weather was not good. Conditions didn't matter though, This race is always a blast and I couldn't wait to get started.
The race itself was really a lot of fun even thought the conditions got worse as the day progressed. As told by the previous Blog by Brian.
Now this is where the 7 days in the Hospital come into play and is probably due to several reasons. Already being sick, continuing to train while I was sick, Racing while I was sick and staying up for 34 hours all lead to the depletion of my immune system.
During the 24 hour race I developed a slight abrasion on the inside of my leg and a slight saddle sore, neither of which through up red flags to me. The next day,Monday, I started running a high fever which by Tuesday reached the High of 104 which landed me in the local Emergency room. They're diagnosis was the common flu, take 2 aspirin and take it easy for a few days. Still the abrasion and saddle sore weren't of any concern.
Wednesday was a different story though, the abrasion started looking funny and redness started creeping down my leg and by Thursday I had swelling the size aof a baseball on the inside of my thigh and the redness continued down my leg. This fever was also persistent. By Friday I could not take it anymore my condition was deteriorating and I went to se my family Physician who imediatly started me on antibiotics, with the instructions to keep a close watch on things. By Sunday the infection had consumed my entire leg to my knee which meant a speedy trip to the Hospital.
The following week in a nutshell.
Sunday = Admitted to the Hosopital with a possible Staff infection. 24/7 of the stongest vein bunrning antibiotics they could dish out.
Monday = verification of staff infection 103 temp on Monday evening.
Tuesday = More Vein burning antibiotics and the ifection seems to be responding.
Wednesday = Surgery and still receiving antibiotics
Thursday through Saturday = More of the same changing my IV line every other day.
Released on Saturday afternoon. One more week of oral antibiotics and recovery. And at least another month off the bike.
All I can say is be careful.

Seven Springs review

The Subaru 24hour Champion Challenge was this weekend. It was cold, rainy and muddy. It was also a blast. Now don't get me wrong this was a different kind of fun. It wasn't the laughing/smiling kind of fun. It was the kind of fun that you have when you are so miserable and sleep deprived that everything seems hilarious. My day started at 0730 when I woke up and looked outside to see a downpour that was the remnants of hurricane Ernesto. Then I got my car packed, ate breakfast and headed out to meet Rich and go to Seven Springs. When I was sitting at the gas station waiting I got a phone call from Rich saying that he would be late because his camper tires were low and he hadn't noticed until the last minute. He finally got there and met me at 9:10 and we were off. We arrived at the race venue at 10:30 and immediately started to set up camp. By this time the rain had slowed to a mist but the field where we were setting up had so much water laying on it that my feet were completely soaked by the time we were done setting up. From there I went to the pre-race meeting and to pick up our band that we had to pass between riders at the beginning and end of laps. Nick was volunteered to go first so now it was time for him to head to the start finish line. He headed out at noon and Rich, Mark, and I were still working on setting up camp. About an hour later we all went up to the transition area to see Nick finish his lap and see just how fast (or slow) the course would be. It was truly unbelievable when Tinker came through second. Here this guy is doing a 24-hour solo and he beats our guy by almost 15 minutes. I was second in the rotation, so now it was time for me to head out. I was expected to be the slow guy in our team so there wasn't too much pressure on me. Good thing because I got a flat less than 2 miles into my lap. I finished in 1 hr, 38 minutes. Not a great time by any stretch of the imagination but it was only about 15 minutes slower than Nick and with the flat added in, I was happy with the time. Rich was up next and he did his lap and came back and reported the trail conditions were getting worse and worse all the time. With this Mark was off to complete his first lap. When Mark came back he told us the same thing as Rich that the trail conditions were awful. Nick was off next for what would be the last day lap. I was up next and I got the privilege of passing Mike who had been riding for over 7 hours at that point and was feeling really sick. This was my first night ride ever and I was almost blind with the fog. My lap time went from 1 hr, 38 min for the first lap to a 1 hr 58 min for the night lap. That was the beginning and end of my night riding experience. I decided I was done for the night because my MTB skills and lack of light could end up getting me killed. Rich went out next and did his night lap and said by that time the fog had died a little after you dropped off of the top of the mountain. Mark said he would do the next two laps so that he could get some sleep before his last lap of the day. I took Mark another bottle and a few gels between laps. Nick went out next for his night lap and then Rich went out for his second night lap. I went out after Rich for what would be my last lap. My goal was to go under 2 hours but that was in doubt when I was less than 4 miles into the lap and felt like I was on the verge of bonking and I had no food and only a small bottle of energy drink. It was slow going but it was looking like I was going to make it. Then when I got close to the finish and realized what time it was my new goal was to finish before 10 o'clock so I could get pancakes at the lodge. I finished my lap at 10:03 a measly 3 minutes too late so no pancakes for me. Mark went out after me for our last lap. When I got back to camp Rich had already started to tear down camp. I had something to eat and then I started to pack up as well. There are many adjectives to describe this race so here they are in no particular order: fun, muddy, cold, wet, tiring, ect.

Ole Bull Midnight Madness

This was a real mess. It rained for all but about 45 minutes during the race. To make matters worse, for some reason the dirt is not the normal dirt at Ole Bull. It is some sort of dirt/sand mixture that can really mess up your day when it is wet and gets in every possible crack and crevis. Now to the race. It started with the LeMans style start that about killed my knee that still hurts from my wreck last week at seven springs. The first lap I felt slow but still OK, I guess. The second lap I started to feel really good so I wasted no time in the transition tent and headed out for my third lap. The feeling good didn't last long because within the next half mile I was cramping in both thighs. I tried to ride through the cramps but over the next 3 laps I just got slower and more miserable so I called it a day after 5 laps at slightly after 6 o'clock. Rich had mechanical difficulties and finished his day a little after I did. Mike was next to finish a little after dark with 7 laps completed. Then finaly Mark called it a day about 30 minutes after Mike, also with 7 laps completed. It was fun but it would have been better without the rain and sand/dirt.

I don't exactly know what he's eating but it must not taste good

Mark is warming up to win the start, not necessarily a good thing in a 12 hr race.

Another Night on the Fixed Gear Bike

Well I just completed another ride on the Fixed Gear. No mishaps this evening just and enjoyable 20 mile ride in the dark really enjoying riding the Fixi and am anxious to see how riding this style of bike effects riding my regular bike.

Fixed Gear Bicycle Blues

So,
You are probably wondering what this subject might mean. One of you probably has an inkling of what I am about to write about.We have all had mishaps on the bike, yo ride you wreck thats the name of the game. While mountain bikeing you been thrown fore and aft, over logs and onto rocks. Road riding you have been sent flailinginto the air by pilons, other riders or wet bridges, train tracks etc. but what I wxperienced this evening was a totally diferent sensation.
As some of you know I have entered the realm of fixed gear. A dear friend of mine built me up a fixed gear conversion for Christmas and I have been enjoying it quite a bit.
A fixed gear for those who don't no is basically a Track bike with brakes or in other words a bike with one gear and pedals that are always turning even when you are costing.
Now you can probably guess that this takes some getting used to, the fact that the pedals are always turning takes a little while to get used to, but as I said I have been riding since Christmas and have become quite comfortable with it. So comfortable that I have been riding clipless pedals for a few weeks now which, until this evening, has made riding the bike even more enjoyable.
Now for the ejection part. As I am leaving for my ride for whatever reason I have trouble getting clipped in to the right pedal, so I'm kind of not paying full attention to what is happening.Add to this a friend of mine is comming by on an evening run and we exchange niceties. SLIGHTLY DISTRACTED + TALKING TO FRIEND + FORCING RIGHT CLEAT DOWN WHILE PEDAL COMING UP =................ You gueased it EJECTION!!!!!!!! Over the hadelbars and into the middle of the road.
Now on the bright side of thins there were no cars coming in either direction and my friend got a good chuckle and rated the whole incident as a perfect 10 een though I didnt quite ace the landing.

Another Tuesday gone by and another spin session over. It was just Rich and Myself who showed up again this week. With people being busy around Christmas I guess it can be forgiven this time. Anyway, we did the Carmichael climbing video. I really liked this video especially compaired to last weeks spinerval tape. It was fun, more people need to come.

Monday Night Ride Report

Tonights ride was a challenge to say the least. The cold temperatures weren't bad at all, but the snow and ice proved to be a real problem. I figured the snow would have compacted somewhat after Saturday and Sunday being clear and sunny, but the ice under the snow is now harder, but still not strong enough to stay on top of. I ended up cutting the ride short, and returning home via the road. This may be the end of the mountain rides until the snow melts a bit.

Mountain Bike Ride

I went on a mountain bike ride today, or should I say I took my bike for a walk. There have been some 4x4s to the gas wells, and the ruts are ridable. Some parts of the woods are ridable, where there isn't an icy crust. The areas that are open (no trees) are too difficult to ride because of the layer of ice... you can't get on top of it, and there is too much resistance to plow through it.
The ride was fun, despite the amount of walking, and maybe by Monday the conditions will change for the better. I may try again tomorrow, for no other reason than to get outside.

Another spin session

On Tuesday night it was only Rich and I at the trainer session. It was my first time doing a Spinnerval video and it was miserable. I thought this was a time of year for easy base training or complete time off of the bike (god forbid). It was actually sort of funny doing one of these videos with someone else and being able to see someone else struggle with you while the people on the video spin the huge gears, that the video tells you to use, without breaking a sweat. Anyway, it was a good time.

Have mercy

The Title of this Post describes the feeling you have when doing this particular Jacobson tape. Have mercy was the video choice for last evenings indoor festivities. This is a 2 hour session but we opted to only do 1 hour due to time constraints as well as physical. It is amazing how isometric squats load your quads with lactic acid after 50 minutes of a heart pounding leg burning workout. Hope to see you all next week.

If this is the Indiana Cycling blog I thought I should post a team picture to make it official. So here we are in all of our glory

Ironcross III

As many of you know I, along with several team mates participated in the IronCross Cyclocross race this past weekend. Mike Maher (Cyclocross Bike), Alex Cox (Mountain Bike), Brian Hopkins (Cyclocross Bike), Myself (Cyclocross Bike) and a recent friend of mine, Peter Buck (Single Speed).For those of you not familial with what a Cross bike is, it is basically a road bike with wider knobby tires.and a single speed bike only has one gear.
So a brief course description. The race had a mass start then headed into a field that was set up as a standard cyclocross course set up in a field with twists and turns and obstacles then out onto the 63 mile course ( which is actually more than that according to my calculations closer to 66 miles). The course took us out a dirt/gravel road and eventually onto a tar-chip road.this was the beginning of the climbing.
The course consisted of many dirt/gravel and fire roads with a fair amount of technical single track and to those of us on cross bikes the several miles of paved roads were a sheer pleasure.The twisty gravel road decants at 44 mph were hair razing at times (Just ask Mike) but allot of fun.
Now as many of you know,cyclocross racing usual involves getting off your bike a couple of times due to obstacles or run-ups. A run up is a part of the course where you shoulder your bike and run up a hill. Might I say that the guys that organized this race took that one step further with the 2 back to back rumpus at pretty close to the middle of the course witch I dubbed Insult and injury. The first so called run up was a power line. I know what you are thinking, You have seen many power lines around the area, cleanly mowed, usually a motorcycle or 4 wheel trail ascending them, not these ones. Maybe Billy goat trails.Steep and rocky better describe the first plod up. I watched people take 2-3 steps stop put their bike down then start the same process over again. I' not sure how long it was but let me tell you it was plenty long enough. Now you finally reach the top of injury and look on to insult. so you remount your bike and ride approx 200 yards and ascend insult. Now this run up want nearly as bad as the first. It did appear that at sometime something might have driven up it but long before all of the large stones and rocks were put there.
the third run up was just a road that was too steep to ride.
Now you are all probably wondering how the race went. Mike and Alex did rather well although Alex did have some road rash at the end of it all. Brian and I finished together a little later in the day and Pete actually passed Brian and I about 12 miles from the finish like we were standing still (on a single speed).
My race went pretty much how I figured it would, actually a little worse. As many of you know I am as passionate a archery hunter as a cyclist so unfortunately cycling kind of takes a back seat to hunting this time of year. Needless to say my fitness isn't what it usually is as well as the fact that as a fanatical archery hunter I have probably been somewhat dehydrated for the past month..
So the race starts and all is going well. I had a plan to take it easy knowing that I really wasn't prepared to race this course hard but my competitive nature wouldn't let me not try to do as well as I could, so as we started through the true cyclotrons portion of the course I feel my heart starting to beat funny (as may of you know I have exercise induced atria fibrillation), so I backed off a little and started to feel better and off onto the course. I was feeling pretty good so decided to bridge up from the group I was in to a group further up the road which I soon caught but was soon to pay for on the long climb we were starting to ascend. so I just kind of settled in and found a rhythm.We road along a long time on fire roads and Gravel Road descents and I started working with another rider and we started catching many people and was really feeling better than I expected. sot after a while we went off road onto the technical single track. It is amazing to me how well a cross bike handles the rougher terrain but it handles quit well. Not far into this section I caught Brian and passed him. His off road skills need a little work. then on through the woods down a pretty steep rocky descent and eventually back onto a paved road. I didn't wait for Brian at this point because I new if that when we got to some more climbing he would catch me. We reach a checkpoint ant they tell us we are 25 miles in and I cant believe it. I still feel pretty good and we are almost half way there.So we turn off the pavement and head toward and of section leading to insult and Injury (the back to back rumpus). At this point I start to feel a little cramping in my legs but no big deal at this point. As we approach insult I cant believe my eyes but up I go ( So this is what mountain climbing is like), passing many people along the way. I here Brian yell at me from the bottom so I waited for him at the check point at the top. I take on a little food and water we get on our bikes and start out again only now the cramps in my legs are getting worse. I don't know if you have ever had your inner thigh muscle cramp up on you before, but I cant even explain the amount of pain they produce. You stretch them one way and they pull the other. But at this point I had to ignore them because I was only half way through and I wasn't going to quit. So up insult I climb and back onto the bike. I spun through the cramps and was feeling alright. We got onto some more Gravel roads and back onto some pavement and the more I spun the better my legs felt so I figured that I was out of the woods.
It wasn't long until we headed back to gravel roads and some more off road stuff and every time I had to exert any real force to the pedals my legs would start to cramp again so I switched to survival mode. easy on the hills and spin the flats and descents.
All in all I'm glad that I did the race and look foreword to doing better next year.It was the hardest race I have done to this point in my life and hope that I'm able to do other races of this caliber. Some things I did learn from the experience:
Don't wait until the week before a race to try to get your bike dialed in.
Spend more time on the cross bike off road.
Stay well hydrated leading up to the race.
Continue to train and prepare for upcoming events.
Don't eat at Denny's Restaurant the night before a race.
one more thing.
Dont plan on going away to race on wifes BIRTHDAY!!!!