Sonya and I spent the weekend getting in some higher altitude training for those up coming 'A' races in July. After getting some BETA from a local in the Salida, Sonya and I decided to head up to about 9,100 ft to set up camp for the weekend. Camping at the base of Mt Shavano, this left us with plenty of trail options....including the Colorado Trail....which was about 300 yards from our campsite. This section of the CO Trail happens to also be the opening miles of the Vapor Trail 125....something I have ridden twice....but only in the dark of night. I was excited to see what it looked like in the day light. The pictures below tell the story of the Saturday ride of roughly 35 miles and 5,500 ft of climbing.
Sunday, we packed up camp to head home....but first we had one more day of training to get it. This time we head a few miles south of Mt Shavano to ride in reverse the final miles of the Vapor Trail 125 course....the Silver Creek Trail. This is a solid climb from 8,600 ft up to 11,150 ft. Of course, the weather, which started with blue bird skies and temps near 70F turned violent with rain, hail, lightening, and wind. The entire route I wanted to get in was spoiled by the weather and the post holing snow at about 11,000 ft. Either way, We got in the miles and the efforts at the elevations needed. Day 2 photos below.
Here comes the rain and hail. Time to put on more clothing!
The mountain in this picture is the same mountain seen in this photo about 4 hours earlier.
Got out for a 2.5 hour mountain bike spin with Sonya late this afternoon. Did a quick spin up to the Betasso Trail west of Boulder......did one chill paced loop.....then shot back down. Video below is from the trip back down the connector trail. Which brings me to this....I need to download some new music for future videos.
Tomorrow, Sonya and I are heading to some random campground in the Salida area....and spending the weekend riding at altitude (10,000 ft) to get ready for the bigger races in July. Updates to come when we return to civilization.
This week I am going through the process of some minor recovery from the Growler. My legs are a little tired from the race...but not that bad. Coach has me doing some chill paced 2.5 hour road and mtb rides during the weekdays. Then, this weekend, Sonya and I are heading up high to fill the lungs with as little air as possible while getting in 8 hours on the mtb. Today's ride had me spinning down south of Loveland to the Carter Lake area. Sure enough, I ran into this guy....
Chris Plesko was out on a training ride on his SS mtb getting ready for the Tour Divide Race. He was about 60 miles into a 100+ mile day.
The 2009 Gunnison Growler is in the books. Unlike last years event, this years race was plagued with off and on rain and thunderstorms. Lucky for the racers, the rain made the course that much better....but as the day went on, the rain would become the second item to battle...other than the rugged course laid out by Dave Wiens.
Hartman Rocks, site of the 2009 Gunnison Growler....with clouds looming in the back ground.
Lap 1 The start was at 7 AM under skies that were spitting rain and temps in the mid-40's. Starting in downtown Gunnison, the race started with a 2.5 neutral lead out out to Hartman Rocks. Going into this race I had a nutrition and pacing plan to follow. Knowing how hard this course was, I was not going to repeat last years race performance and go out too hard.
The race officially started once we hit the dirt to Hartman Rocks...this is when I started my Suunto T6 HR monitor. After 100 yards of flat dirt road, we hit a steep punchy climb seen in the photo above. What you don't see is how muddy it is. The previous nights rain left this clay-like road sticky, slippery, and covered with tire packing mud. Many folks went super hard up this climb, but I kept my HR in my race pace zone of 162-167 bpm. The goal was to stay on the bike....no matter what the speed up the climb. As we went further up the climb many riders began sliding out and getting off their bikes to push. Since I was conserving energy, I cleaned the climb and was greeted by a hard packed road at the top. From here is was a gradual dirt road climb to the first section of singletrack. Once we hit the single track, I was in about 20th place. This was not a huge deal to me, as I knew some of the guys in front of me would come back. Even with all the rain, the course was so fast! The moisture made for a rookie traction. It seemed no matter how hard you went into a corner the brakes were not needed as my Conti Mountain King 2.2 tires were hooking up perfectly. As the lap went on, positions where exchanged. I would pass some riders....and some other riders would pass me. My nutrition of the event was simple: 3 gel flasks and 3 bottles. With roughly 3 hour laps, I would take one flask and bottle per hour. With the many connector roads between the singletrack sections this left plenty of time to fuel. As mentioned earlier, the skies were sketchy from the start. Sure enough, about 8 miles from the finish of the first lap, the skies let loose with a moderate rain. This was enough to turn some of the course to peanut butter. Lucky for the racers, this type of muddy trail was only found on a few sections of the course. By the time I crossed the finished line on the lap one, the rain had already stopped.....it lasted a whole 10 minutes. Lap 1 would be complete in about 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Lap 2 At the start of Lap 2 I swung by the area where the Topeak-Ergon racers had their drop bags. I grabbed 3 new bottles and 3 gel flasks. I was resupplied and ready for another 30 miles of the demanding Gunnison course.
Once loaded up, I head out on lap 2. Lap 2 was tougher, as we were forced to scramble up the rocks seen in the 2nd photo above. Keeping the pace in my zones laid out by Coach, I spun the granny gear up the kitty litter like trail. When the rocks got super steep, I got off and ran with the bike. With the race in the 2nd lap now, the riders were few and far between. It seemed like I road alone for a lot of the lap. Half way through this lap I caught a few other racers.....but I was also caught by some racers that were chasing. As much as I wanted to suck wheel on some of these racers....I knew this would push the limits of how hard I wanted to go. I knew there were a lot of demanding course sections yet.
Racing at 8800 ft, you have to run the engine as high as you can. Once you hit red line, the chance of getting back to feeling good are slim to none. As I pushed on through the race I kept looking back to see who might be there....but there never was anyone. About half way through the last lap, I was join by Shawn Meredith. We rode the remainder of the final lap together. About 3 miles from the finish, I was able to get away from Shawn on a technical climb. Knowing Shawn is a strong rider, I kept riding smooth and consistent as not to bobble and force a dismount and run.
At 6 hours and 5 minutes, I crossed the finish line. This put me in 14th place overall......about 1.5 hours faster than last year. From start to finish I felt strong....as the energy levels were consistent. Those that beat me in this race were simply faster....'nuff said. My race was executed perfectly....and a good sign of being dialed for the high priority events coming in July.
Got out today with the other team riders and checked out some sections of the course......did some hard efforts to open up the legs......and watched a thunderstorm roll just west of the venue. Time for some photos!!!
It's race weekend again. Wahooooooo! Heading to Gunnison tomorrow to do a bit of marathon mtb racing. Legs felt super good today on my opener ride, so I am hoping everything comes together for this race. Hoping for that perfect race....and a solid result. Weather 'could' be a factor, but word on the street is the course handles lots of water very well. Works for me!
Updates to come from the road here on the blog and on twitter.
The team has a new shoe sponsor this year. It happens to be Northwave. I finally got around to sticking on some Crank Bros cleats to these shoes they sent us just before Sea Otter for the photo shooting. Yes, they are green and black. A bit much for my taste, but they fit like a glove, so how can you complain. I am hoping we get to race on these shoes this year! They fit the task at hand a bit better.....especially as the temps rise.
With the addition of the Specialized Body Geometry insole, they are dang near perfection. Which brings me to a valid argument of sorts....Why do cycling shoe comapnies spend so much time to make a high performance shoe and neglect the insole in favor of a piece of flimsy rubber-like insole? Every single pair of cycling shoes I have ever owned have some weird insole action going on. Hmmmmmm?
Anyway, Some minor cleat modification is needed yet. If I can't get them 100% dialed in the next day or so, there is no way I am racing these for the Growler. Might just wait until I get the bikes re-fitted before I take these kicks to the race track.
Back in April when I attended Sea Otter, Ergon used this as a photo shooting opportunity for those Topeak-Ergon riders in attendance. Below is a sampling of some of the photos taken.
Headed out today to do a trial run of some pacing and nutrition for the Gunnison Growler next weekend. Had some company today in the form of Shawn Meredith who is also racing the same race next weekend. With the 7 AM start for the Growler, I tried a liquid breakfast this AM in the form of a Cytomax Pre-Formance, a banana, and a spoonful of honey. Doesn't sound like much, but I was full and ready to go.
Once we started on the ride, I started on the nutrition of water, gels, and Cytomax. Taking something in roughly every 15 minutes had me buring a clean engine from start to finish. The begining of the ride had me with some heavy legs, but as the day went on, things got much better and I felt better on the bike. A sign of things to come? Hopefully.
The ride today was roughly 62 miles with about 7,000ft of climbing. Our highest point was right at 10,100 ft. Yes, believe it or not....no photos today. It was a test run for the race next weekend so I was only carrying things I will or would carry next week. You want photos? See Sonya's blog...she did roughly the same route in a cooking time as well.
About 90% of my training is on the road bike. So, when I get those days to go mess around on the dirt, I try to make the best of it. Today, was a simple 2.5 hour spin through the foothills trails on the edge of town.
Going up.
Looking back down at Fort Collins.
Looking south from the top of Horsetooth Reservoir.
I am off to Boulder again for the weekend. There is a 'Klinik' at REI and then I am putting in a 7.5 hour training block over Saturday and Sunday on the mtb.
Must be Spring, because everything is green! Even the foothills are green. It won't last long though. Give it another month or so and everything but the trees will be brown.
The training during this week is super mellow. Nothing but recovery and endurance paced rides all week to recharge the engine for the Gunnison Growler. Not until Saturday will I be able to rev the engine for 5 hours to test mind, body, and a nutrition plan laid out by Coach for the Growler. Today was a 2.5 hour ride on the road bike with a howling northwest wind. With the wind, the speeds were low to keep the effort low. Didn't make the entire loop I wanted to do before I had to turn around to head home as not to go over the 2.5 hour mark. Tomorrow is more of the same, but this time on the dirt with the bike I am using at the Growler. Will most likely head out to Blue Sky for this.
The Growler is less than 2 weeks away. Between now and then it is all about prep'n the mind, body, and bike. This post is focused on just one small key part of the race prep: tires. The course is fast, loose is spots, techy in other spots, etc, etc. I am opting this year to run Continentals do-all tire....the Mountain King 2.2 Protection. I am opting for the Protection over the Supersonic to have a more durable tire in this harsh race environment. To give an edge of comfort and better tire traction and control, I have these set up tubeless with Stan's. I ran this same tire set up at the Vapor Trail 125 last year, and it is the magical tire to have when conditions and trail personality change during an event.
I went into the Front Range 50 feeling prep'd and ready. The days leading up to the event had me feeling fresh as I crawled out of bed on Saturday AM. Breakfast consisted of 2 eggs scrambled and 2 small pancakes topped with agave. Of course, it was all washed down with water and coffee.
The field was stacked with lots of local talent. Of course we were all racing for the overall, but the race was only being scored by age groups. In my age group (30-39) there was 88 riders at the start line. Wanting to get a good start, I lined up in the 2nd row new to Yuki. At 8:30 AM the gun went off and we all scrambled up hill to the singletrack. For me the start was good. I didn't peg it at 100% in fear of red lining too soon and blowing up. Up the hill, I was the 4th person into the singletrack as I followed Yuki, Bryan Alders, and Braden Kappius. The pace was comfy as we pedaled out the first section of trail. Soon the group slowed....but I kept going riding a comfy pace. It was not until the first major climb did the group split when Braden attacked going up the longer climb of the lap.....followed by Yuki.
I soon found myself riding with a gap from this small group....but not far behind me was another group. Here I sat up to wait for these riders to have a group to work and pace off of. We rode together as we finished out the lap.
On the 2nd lap, things changed for me. As I was pedaling along a flat trail section, my legs filled with cement....and became super heavy...and lost the snap needed. No matter how hard I went....the bike would not more forward. It was like I was dragging a boat anchor. Knowing this race was going to last another 2.5 hours I kept pedaling and fueling hoping I would ride out of the funk I was currently in. Unfortunately it never happened.
As the laps went on.....rider caught me from behind....and I caught some other racers. It soon became a time to simply get in the race effort and forget about grabbing one of the 3 podium spots. I finished out in 14th place out off like 78 finishers in my race.....about the same result as last year....but my finishing time was a bit quicker.
Yeah, I was totally bummed, but it happens. It is time to refocus and get ready for the 64 mile Gunnison Growler in couple weeks.
2005 Results
12 Hr Sugar Creek :: 2nd
12 Hr of Metro :: 1st
12 Hr of Thunder :: 2nd
12 Hr of Winter :: 3rd
24 Hr of 9 Mile :: DNF
24 Hr of 7 Oaks :: 1st
24 Hr in Japan :: 1st
2004 Results
Stump Farm 12 Hr :: 2nd
24 Hr of Rapelje :: 1st
12 Hr Nationals :: 3rd
24 Hr of 9 Mile :: 10th
24 Hr Solo World :: 12th
24 Hr of Moab :: DNF
Bio
NAME: Jeff Kerkove
NICKNAME: Mr. 24
COUNTRY: USA (Colorado)
TEAM:Topeak-Ergon DOB: 2.7.1978
HEIGHT: 6 ft.
WEIGHT: 165 lbs.
RACE CATEGORIES:
Pro (XC & Endurance) Click for full Bio
The mountain in this picture is the same mountain seen in this photo about 4 hours earlier.
