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Maybury, or rather, yrubyaM

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Maybury Time Trial – August 17th, 2013 – Northville, MI – Maybury State Park

The 2013 Maybury Time Trial was the 8th race in the MMBA Championship Points Series, and a race that I had been looking forward to quite a bit.  I had finished 3rd at Yankee and 2nd at State Games, and since only 2 out of 3 of the CPS time trial races count towards your points total, the only way Maybury was going to matter to the standings for me was if I placed higher than 3rd.  There’s also the time trial “series within a series” for the CPS (to encourage racers to do all 3), but I wasn’t particularly concerned with that.  In short, I wasn’t feeling much pressure for this race, and really just wanted to go out hard and have a good time on the trail.  Livening things up a bit was the fact that there were quite a few sport SS riders competing – Eric Wolting wanted to lock down the time trial series in his last race in the sport category (he’d won at both Yankee and State Games); Tony Cressey (who beat me by a lot at Pontiac) was back racing following a broken scapula suffered at Mud, Sweat, & Beers; my Wolverine Sports Club foes Tim Fargo & Fabrice Portes were in attendance; and Talon Tramper had made the trip with his Village Bike crew from GR.  Oh, I should also mention that they had reversed the course, which eliminated any benefit the local riders may have had.

A little about the course – Maybury is 75% tight, technical singletrack with lots of rocks & roots.  Reversed, there’s basically no intuitive way to carry momentum, so it required a really active riding style (read: a LOT of work).  For the race, it was roughly a 10-mile loop, with 1.5 miles of grass/gravel/2-track at the start, 6.5 miles of singletrack, and then another mile or so of pavement/2-track/grass at the end.  The race organizers gave everyone a chance to pre-ride the course on the Friday night preceding the race, which I took advantage of.  I’m not sure it really helped me, because there’s so much technical stuff that your brain just goes “Roots, roots, roots, rocks, roots, horrible switchback, surprisingly terrible climb (featuring: roots!), roots… bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” Nothing really sticks.  But it was good to get a decent spin in my legs the night before the race, and it did give me a general idea of what to expect.

The morning of the race I was feeling pretty great.  For the past two weeks, work had been rough with long hours and high stress, and for the first time in a while, I was feeling scrappy.  Unfortunately, this didn’t exactly translate to how I felt during the race, but it was a good way to start the day nonetheless.  My beautiful bride Jessica and my brother-in-law Eric were kind enough to accompany me, and we arrived at the park around noon.  I had a 1 p.m. start time, so I got my business together, chatted with Mr. Wolting, and cruised around for a warm-up that was probably too brief.  It was relatively hot out (high 70’s), for what’s been a very cool August, but otherwise the weather was perfect.  So, on to the race.

I was 5th off the line behind 3 Expert/Elite SS riders and one sport rider (Jonathan Bolenbaugh, I believe?).  I had a clumsy start, missing my pedal and jamming the nose of the saddle into my lower back/upper butt.  Ugh.  On the initial out-and-back grass/2-track, I could tell I wasn’t going to feel great during the race – heavy legs, rough breathing, etc., likely due to the heat.  But cycling is suffering, right?  Push through it.  I caught the sport SS rider after about 2 miles in the single track, and he kindly let me pass.  After that, I was basically alone all race.  The expert/elite guys in front of me were clearly extremely quick, and I never saw them.  I did see some of my sport SS competitors on the trail where it doubles back on itself, and towards the end I could tell that Eric was making up distance on me, but I was never passed during the race (which, during a time trial, means you’re cooked).  I kept my head about me, made sure I stayed upright on my bike, and tried to find the best lines through the root maze.  There was a climb at the end of the course that everyone had been griping about, as it really catches you off-guard, and I did have to do a bit of a run-up for that.  Otherwise, I felt like I was riding competently, but I didn’t feel fast.  Eric caught up to me right at the end of the course, and he crossed the line right behind me.  That meant I definitely did not win, as he had started over a minute behind me, but other than that I had no clue how things were shaking out.  When everything was sorted, it turns out my time of 41:27 was good for second place.  Eric had tied with a geared sport rider for the fastest sport time of the day at 39:59, and Tony Cressey had finished for 3rd at 42:25.  Given how I felt during the race, I was very happy with this result.

You can do whatever you want with your arms when there's no photographer yelling "ARMS UP GENTLEMEN" at you.
You can do whatever you want with your arms when there’s no photographer yelling “ARMS UP GENTLEMEN” at you.

I’m likely going to be skipping the last Tailwind race at Stony Creek on Aug. 24th, so that leaves just two more MMBA series races at Addison and Pando.  Time to finish this thing strong. – Adam Cefai

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Playing Catch-Up in the MMBA Championship Points Series

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Big M Challenge – July 28th, 2013 – Wellston, MI – Big M Ski Area

After skipping both the Sweat Shaker and Boyne races, I found myself in 4th place in the MMBA CPS Sport Singlespeed category.  Eric Wolting has 1st in the series locked down, with 5 first-place finishes on the season including a win at Boyne, which was worth 1.5x the points (due to the drive and the distance of the race).  I skipped Boyne in order to defend my points lead in the Tailwind series, and even though that series has become my priority, I’d still like to finish as high as possible in MMBA.    Skipping those two races really cost me, so it was off to Big M on Sunday to try to make up some ground in another race worth 1.5x the points.

Big M

Since Eric has secured 1st in the series, he’s moved up to Expert/Elite SS for the rest of the season with the exception of the Maybury Time Trial.  It’s unfortunate, because the only races where we’ve competed head-to-head in an XC race format, each of us had a mechanical (him at Fort Custer and myself at Hanson Hills).  I would have liked another chance to race against him this year, but it looks like I’ll have to wait until next year when I plan on moving up.  And we’ll both be in the Sport SS class at Maybury, but we likely won’t see each other on course due to the time trial format.  Anyhow!  Sidetracked.  Basically, the point of this is that the Sport SS class in the MMBA series has lost its rabbit, and the rest of us need to fight it out for the remaining series podium spots in his absence.  Prior to the race, Byrne Johnson was in 2nd in the series, Bob Kidder was in 3rd, I was in 4th, and Talon Tramper was in 5th.  All of us showed up for Big M.

Some background on Big M: it’s a cross-country ski area located in the Manistee National Forest near Wellston, MI.  The Lumberjack 100 is held here, and due to the number of trails, race organizers can really get creative with course layout.  This means that, even for locals, it’s going to be difficult to anticipate and/or prepare for the race route.  I hadn’t ridden here before, and I really had no idea what to expect.  Based on a conversation I had with Byrne when I arrived, I decided to lighten up my gearing to 38 x 19.  I’d like to thank Byrne for the pre-race information, because if I’d have gone heavier, I don’t think my legs would work anymore.  Sport racers were doing 3 x 8.5 mile laps for a total of just under 26 miles, and what turned out to be a TON of climbing.

We started right around 12:30 p.m. with temperatures in the low 60’s.  It had rained intermittently all morning, but fortunately stopped for good in time for the sport/beginner races.  The conditions were actually pretty perfect, as the rain had settled some of the sandier sections of the trail.  I was first off the line and into the woods, and I decided to really push the pace for the first few miles to see if I could get some distance on the group.  After about a mile I had outpaced everyone but Talon, and he ended up hanging with me throughout the first lap and for part of the second.  The course included a monster climb about 2 miles in that was over a half-mile long, and I was able to drop Talon after our second time up.  For the remainder of my second lap and all of my third, I just kept a steady pace and tried to stay upright.  I did end up fading a bit from my first lap to my third, as I neglected to eat anything, and the course was not particularly conducive to taking your hands off the bars to drink, so I don’t think I even finished the water bottle I had with me.  I definitely need to work on that.  Speaking of the course, it was great – tons of faster sections combined with a few severely punishing climbs and a series of intense downhills toward the end.  My lap times were right around 40 minutes each, and I finished in 1st place in my category and 13th overall in sport with a time of 2:01:44.

 

2013 Big M Challenge Sport SS Podium, minus Byrne Johnson who placed 3rd
2013 Big M Challenge Sport SS podium, minus the actual podium and Byrne Johnson (3rd place)

I’ll be heading back up to Big M this coming weekend for a Tailwind series event in order to protect my points lead, and then the Maybury Time Trial on August 17th, which I’m very much looking forward to. – Adam Cefai

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Brighton Rec Repeat

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Brighton Rec Repeat – July 13th, 2013 – Howell, Michigan – Brighton Recreation Area

After the Bloomer Park Daze race, I found out that I was leading the Tailwind Racing series in the Sport SS class.  At the beginning of the race season, I was only planning on participating in the MMBA Championship Points Series, but the scheduling of the Tailwind races made it convenient to compete in that series as well.  The only real scheduling conflict between them was on Saturday, when there were races at Boyne (MMBA) and Brighton.  I was in 2nd in the MMBA series prior to Saturday, and Eric Wolting, who is leading that series, had a pretty big lead.  So instead of trying to gain points in the MMBA CPS, I opted to defend my Tailwind points lead.

Having never ridden Brighton before, I did a bit of quick online recon which showed only about 200 feet of climbing per 6.5 mile race lap.  Based on that, I decided to run 38 x 18, which is what I usually run at the Fort, which has a similar amount of elevation.  At the park I ran into the usual east side crowd, but it was a relatively small field of just 6 participants.  We lined up around 1 p.m. with temperatures in the mid-80’s, and hit the course.

I was first off the line and into the woods leading Tim Fargo and Nate Layle.  Tim and I dropped Nate after a mile or so, and after passing a few other riders from other classes, I dropped Tim about 2.5 miles into the first lap.  From this point in the race, I just kept my pace up to try to ensure I wouldn’t be caught.  The Expert/Elite SS lap times were around 27-29 minutes, and I wanted to keep mine under 30.  I completed my first lap in just about 29 minutes, and on my way back into the woods, I saw Tim and Nate coming out to finish their first lap – this meant that I had at least a minute on them.  I tried to keep my pace consistent throughout my second and third laps, and apart from a brief moment of panic during my third lap when I thought Tim was close behind me, I managed to do so.  I also made the choice to have a GU pack at the beginning of my third lap to try and prevent the fading I’d been experiencing, which I believe helped quite a bit.  I finished in just over 1:30 for my second win on the season.

Brighton Rec Repeat SS Sport Podium

 

There are two more races in the Tailwind series, and four more in the MMBA CPS.  My goal is to protect my Tailwind series lead, and to finish in the top 3 in the MMBA series.  I’m going to keep my training intensity high, and possibly add in some running to increase my endurance.  We’ll see how it shakes out! – Adam Cefai

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Bloomer Park Daze

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Bloomer Park Daze – June 30th, 2013 – Rochester Hills, Michigan – Bloomer Park

I’ll try to keep this one short.  So: we’re on the east side visiting family again, and I decided to race. Based on basically nothing but my own hubris, I changed up my gearing to 36×17, which ended up being a slight mistake.  Bloomer Park has a lot of technical switchbacks and tough, punchy climbs, along with a decent amount of roots.  And not much flat.  I would have been better off with 2:1, maybe a bit lighter.  The east side had a lot of rain the week prior, so there were some pretty muddy sections as well.  It’s a 6-mile loop, and the Sport SS class was doing 3 laps.

Roots!

I hadn’t ridden Bloomer Park before, so my plan for the first lap was to stay on the leader’s wheel to get a handle on the course.  And then I remembered I hate riding behind people in a race situation.  I was 2nd into the woods and, as usual, we got caught up in traffic from the age groups starting before us.  After about 3 miles of tight singletrack and some strategic passing of slower riders from other groups, the course opened up a bit and I passed the SS rider in front of me.  For the remainder of the 1st lap and the entire 2nd lap, I led two other singlespeeders around the course.  I tried to keep the pace quick in order to drop them, but they didn’t seem to have any trouble staying on my wheel.  I tried not to think about that.  During the 3rd lap the traffic cleared up a bit, and on one particularly long climb about 2 miles in, I decided to drop the hammer to see if I could put some distance between us.  I believe it worked for a bit, but they caught me again shortly when we came into another section of switchbacks.  With about 2 miles to go, we got to the water crossing/mud pit that was  followed immediately by a 3′ steep root ledge and a long-ish gravel climb.  On our previous trips through this section I was able to unclip one foot to kind of hop up the ledge (which was unrideable due to the mud), clip back in quickly, and start up the climb.  On this occasion I messed that procedure up, and the gents behind me were able to make a pass.  When I tried to go after them, I realized my legs were toast.  I had made two mistakes: my gearing was just a bit too heavy, and I shouldn’t have tried to drop them on the long climb early in the 3rd lap.  As I finished the last two miles, I glanced behind a few times to see if any other SS riders were around, but I was well clear.  I cruised in for 3rd place in the Sport SS class with a time of 1:27:18, which was also 4th overall.

2013 Bloomer Park Daze SS Sport Podium

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State Games of Michigan MTB Time Trial

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State Games Time Trial – June 22nd, 2013 – Belmont, Michigan – Cannonsburg Ski Area

I hate climbing.  Climbing on a single speed is pure torture.  However, it’s also your chance to blow the doors off of everyone else on the trail.  Cannonsburg Ski Area, home of the 2013 State Games of Michigan MTB time trial, has roughly 600 feet of climbing over a 6 mile circuit.  That doesn’t seem like much on paper, but the way the course is set up, you’re either climbing or rapidly descending – there’s very little opportunity to spin your legs out and recover.  So, in preparation, I rode the course on 3 occasions prior to the race (for a total of 5 laps) to figure out which gear I’d be able to push for 18 miles.  I started with 34×16, dropped to 36×18, and settled on 36×19 following my final prep ride.

Speaking of that…

The Friday before the race, I decided to head to Cannonsburg for a nice easy spin to loosen up my legs and make a final decision on my gearing.  I wasn’t entirely sure how the race course was going to be set up, so I opted to ride the entire loop, including the complete skills section.  The skills section is divided up into two parts – the first part has drops and jumps that you basically just avoid if you’re riding XC, and the second part has a steep climb and then some fast descents (and more avoidable stunts).  One section that isn’t avoidable has a quick descent that ends in a roller which pops you up in the air before immediately dropping into a downhill turn.  You can probably guess where this is going.  I hit that roller, popped up, landed on the decline, carried way too much speed into the turn, lost my line, and ended up slamming the left side of my body (including my jaw) onto the trail.  I sat up and took stock of myself to make sure I wasn’t severely injured: my ear was full of dirt, my right wrist was somehow jammed, my knee was swollen, and my jaw had some road rash.  I had also twisted my bars around on my steerer tube.  Fortunately I was ok to ride, so I muscled my bars back into position and gingerly finished the circuit.  Not exactly what I had in mind for the day.

Anyway, on to the race.  It looked like we were going to have a pretty full field of sport SS riders competing, with Eric Wolting, Byrne Johnson, and about 7 other riders registered.  As it turns out, only 6 of us showed up.  With this being Eric’s home trail, I wasn’t really fostering any ideas of winning – I was going to go out, ride hard, and see where I ended up.  I was definitely sore from my crash, but I knew I’d loosen up as I rode.  The organizers had arranged the course so that we were starting right up the longest climb, and they had excluded the section where I had crashed the day before (which I was grateful for).  My start time was 12:03, and with just a handful of other riders in front of me, I was on course.

The first climb was rough.  I had warmed up, but I still felt a bit like wet garbage.  My goal had been to catch as many of the riders that had started in front of me as I could during the initial climb in order to have less trail traffic during my first lap, but I believe I only caught two of them.  I then spent about a mile on the wheel of a 50+ rider in the singletrack before I could safely get by him on a two-track climb.  I passed a few other riders during my first lap, and checking my time as I started my second lap, it looked like I was doing pretty well – and I hadn’t been passed by anyone who had started behind me.  As I started my second lap, I ran into some heavy trail traffic from the riders who had just started their first lap, but it wasn’t anything unmanageable.  I passed a significant number of people on the climbs, and was passed myself by a few riders who had fresh first-lap legs.  Oh, I should also mention that it was nearly 90 degrees out, so that didn’t help anyone.  Other than increasing fatigue and dealing with traffic, my 2nd lap was uneventful.  Coming around to start my third lap, I heard someone yell something along the lines of “GO WOLTING!”, which meant that he wasn’t far behind me.  This was not good news, as he had started 3 minutes back.  My legs weren’t feeling great, but I kept my pace up as much as I could.  About halfway through my third lap, he caught and passed me prior to the creekside section.  There was no way I was going to be able to make up 3 minutes on him during that last lap, so I made no effort to try to catch him.  I focused on maintaining my pace, staying conscious on my bike, and finishing strong.  I ended up with a time of 1:22:14, which was good for 2nd place in my category and 13th out of about 120 overall.  Eric had absolutely crushed the course with a time of 1:17:58, which was first overall for the sport class.

I enjoyed this race quite a bit, and I was definitely happy with my 2nd place finish.  And although I love riding at the Fort, these hilly races are convincing me that I need to do more of my training on trails with greater elevation.  – Adam Cefai

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