L'Enfer D'Hunterdon

Ever want to ride a Belgian classic style ride?  You know on the Pave (cobblestones, dirt, gravel).  Through cold, wind, narrow roads, steep climbs, screaming descents.  With 500 other crazy cyclists?  Well I did so yesterday I road in the 5th annual Hell of Hunterdon, AKA the L'Enfer D'Hunterdon.  76.4 miles including 20 dirt sections and 5,100 ft of climbing.

The ride took place in central New Jersey, in Hunterdon county - near the Delaware River.  The course was one giant loop with lots of turns, however it was very well marked and I never once had to pull out my Cue sheet, even when riding alone.  The start and finish took place in Lambertville NJ, and while the town is tiny, there was enough parking and pre ride pickup was easy.  The weather for the day was forecast to be nice- almost 60 degrees by lunch time, but the start of the day was closer to 30 degrees.

The ride started right at 9 AM and was supposed to be a wave start- I was about 5 rows from the front and went off in the first wave.  I decided to wear as little as I could get away with since I knew the weather would warm up soon.  So I had tights, knee warmers, a jersey, wind vest and arm warmers- and was perfect the whole day.  I think folks who wore tights, full booties and jackets were uncomfortable by 11 AM.  I also used some Embrocation- essentially some warming oils on my legs- & kept me very comfortable the whole day.  Right as we rolled out we started on the first of many climbs and within a mile or so we were in the first dirt section.

Now the dirt sections are basically dirt roads.  Not trails or off road, just unpaved roads.  With ruts, potholes, bumps and lots of gravel.  And we road on them at speed- 20+ MPH in many cases with a full peleton of riders. At every dirt section, there were several riders who had to change flat tires.  I road on a set of tubeless wheels at about 85 PSI and had no issues or flats the entire day.  I use tubeless on my road, tri and mountain bike wheels- and really love the fact I don't get flats and have a much smoother ride compared to tubulars or regular clinchers.  I am surprised more folks aren't using tubeless, but for me they work wonders!

Within the first hour the field began to thin out- some folks pulled ahead and some behind as we began to settle in for the long day.  I started to ride with group of guys and took some big pulls on some long rolling sections.  I really opened up the engine and bridged my group to a couple of groups ahead of us.  In hindsight I probably pulled more than I should have- I ended up suffering for a while mid ride (more to come on that).  I ended up meeting a guy named Mike Crocker and we road together for about an hour- nice to have a chat in between hard efforts.

At about mile 30 I took my turn leading our group which was about 15 or so.  We started up a moderately steep, but long climb.  I accelerated a bit and three of us surged ahead.  However two guys who were on my wheel quickly passed me- I felt a bit like Tommy Volkler cracking in the tour, but I just could not match their acceleration.  However my initial surge had cracked the group behind me and I began a solo ride for the next 35 miles.  Initially I was fine with this- soon after this climb the first aid station appeared.

At the aid station the organizers had porta potties, water & gatorade, food including PB&J, bananas, cookies and gels.  So I hopped of my bike, hit the head and reloaded my bottles, had a sandwich and some fig newtons.  It felt good to stretch the legs- I am definitely not used to stopping ever on a ride, nor drafting so this was nice.  However it was time to go and I got back on the bike and started out on my own.  The next 10 miles were great- some rolling back roads, a long dirt section (about 2 miles long) and a nice climb which I passed a group of cyclists out for a fun ride- I felt great.  However I was about to have a rough time for a while.  I turned on to a busier road and into a nasty headwind, and I started to get a slightly bloated feeling.  I knew I had a bit too much liquid in my stomach and while I had to keep getting some calories into my system the next 30 -45 minutes would suck.

But this is what I wanted (no not misery), but this ride while fun is also a training ride- everything I am doing this year leads up to IMLP and 76 hard miles on the bike is part of that. Having some gut issues and then having to mentally push through it is great training in the bank.  When I hit one of those sucky patches at IMLP, I will call on this day to help me push through it.

So for the next 10 miles I was miserable.  But I kept pedaling, albeit slower and I kept taking in some calories.  The good news was my legs felt good, actually my whole body felt good, except my gut which made me feel like I did not have energy to push hard.  So nothing hurt, but the engine just did not want to rev. The road was the longest stretch without any turns and without a doubt the most boring stretch of the day- granted I felt like crap so that might contribute to that feeling.  And if this was a triathlon, I could see that section being a hammerfest, but at that point of the day I hated it.  To make matters worse, the first turn off the boring road was on to Pine Hill Road.  Pine  Hill road is steep.  A 1 mile climb with an Avg grade of 3.1% with a middle section that is .3 miles and a 12.1% avg grade.  Certainly not a climb that if I was feeling fine would bother me, but being at the low point of the ride I had doubts in being able to get to the top with out walking.  As I started the steep section I stood on my pedals and while I was not dancing, something happened.  My legs took over, got my HR back up and got me back in the ride.  The climb for me was slow, but I never felt like I was not gonna make it- funny how the body just got in gear.  It was the kick start I needed.  As I finished the climb and we turned onto yet another dirt section my gut stopped feeling funky and I had more energy.  At this point I had about 10 miles to the next aid station so I basically buried my head and road through each section.  The hardest part of these miles was a 1.5 mile steep twisting descent on dirt.  Yeah it was hairy, but I felt great again and let the bike and gravity do its thing.

Speaking of bike- what did I ride?  My road bike, a Ridley Noah RS, carbon aero road bike, full ultegra group set , ultegra tubeless wheels and hutchinson fusion 3 tires and my Adamo breakaway saddle.  There were a couple of folks on mtn bikes and some on cross bikes and a few single speed guys (crazy but cool). My gearing is standard- 53/39 with a 11-25 cassette.  I did see a lot of compacts. But I would guess at least 60% of the riders were on standard gearing.

After the descent I rolled into the second aid station and met up again with Mike Crocker.  We ended up riding the rest of the way back to the finish together and while we didn't crush it, we road strong but chatted the entire way.  A really nice way to end a great day on the bike.  And when I rolled into the finish, it was time to kick back and have a beer.  One of the main sponsors of the race is a local brewery- RiverHorse so of course it was on tap.  So I signed in officially finishing & got my trophy- a L'Enfer D'Hunterdon pint glass.  (I really love beer glasses as trophies or awards).  I had my beer (could have had more, but had to drive home & the line for a refill was really long).  Bought my tee shirt (pavement ends) and headed home.

Overall I am very happy with the day on every level.  One- it was a great training ride- nothing beats being outside on the bike for 4+ hours.  Two- stressing my nutrition and powering through. Mental strength will power me through my A race IMLP as much if not more than the physical strength.  And I need to trust that my body will respond when I call on it.  Three- riding on dirt.  Duh.

Since this was not a formally timed race, I don't where I finished.  I think I was somewhere in the top 100 finishers based on getting my beer glass prize and the crowd at the finish area.  In lieu of formal results, here is my data from Strava http://app.strava.com/activities/46536227.

And  are some links to a couple of videos posted Youtube from the ride.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2PlDDhemw&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR-Qko9ybuE (I am in this one- about 40 seconds.  I am wearing a rudy lime green helmet and a white vest with black arm sleeves)

And next week I get back to the Multisport Season- Duathlon number 3- the Delaware Valley Duathlon.

Race number 2 of the spring Multisport season

I am doing a lot of short racing this season- duathlons, TimeTrials and running races.  The goal of these types of racing is speed work.  I am going at or near 100% in a race environment with the goal of continuing to train my body for success at IMLP.  This week the race was the 27th annual March Madness Duathlon in Central Park NY. 

The race was a bit shorter than last week's Du in prospect park- 2.2 mile run (straight out and back) 12 mile bike (2 loops of central park) and a second 2.2 mile run.  But those differences are not very significant- it was gonna be a short but very hard day.  One thing that made this race great was fellow Spinervalian Rob Crane was also racing so we got to meet up.  Having teammates at the race is great as we do so much training alone in our dark and cold pain cave basement & garage locations.

Pre Race- It was cold, very cold- about 33 degrees.  So I was very glad not to be swimming again this week (first official swim as part of a race is not until April 28, but I hope to get some open water time by mid April).  For those of you not familiar with the nightmare of parking in NYC, Sunday is a special day- you don't need to feed the meters so it meant I could safely park on the street without fear of a ticket (& I parked on Columbus and 78th so a nice safe area too).  When I got to the transition area, the organizers weren't quite ready so I had some time to hit the porta pottie and get in line to enter the transition area. I ended up with a great location- single rack near the bike out/ in area although the guy next to me was racing on a folding bike- kinda cool. 

Once I got my packet and had my bike set up it was time to warm up.  I did a short jog and watched the weekly sunday morning central park bike race.  These guys start at sun-up and crush it for an hour and then go home / riding for the rest of the day.  But it was good to see the other side of cycling (even though a lot of the guys in the peleton think we triathletes don't appreciate cycling since we also know how to swim and run...)  And maybe this summer after LP I will take a turn or too in the peleton on my Ridley & look like a "real cyclist'.  As an aside I love cycling- road, tt, mountain, but I am proud to call myself first and foremost a triathlete.

As we waited for the race to start, the sun came out- not really warming, but it was nice to see the sun rise over the east side of the city and make its way over the park.  Quickly we were ushered to the start line and given our final race briefing- run straight to the turn around and back to here, ride two laps and do the run all over again.  Be careful as the park was closed to vehicular traffic (except garbage trucks) and other cyclists, runners and pedestrians (with dogs- not on leashes).  This was important for two reasons- one be careful and two don't follow the person in front of you blindly, they may not be racing.

And then the horn went off and we ran up a 1/4 mile hill to start the run.  Starting on hills kinda stink, but if that is the only hill and it is an out and back you have a down hill coming home.  Plus you are burning a match at the start so getting it out of the way first was not a big deal.  What was interesting about the first loop is there were a couple of guys near me wearing the same Zoot Kiawe shoes.  First time I have noticed them on other racers and here we are running together.  Now the run after the first hill was essentially flat and straight so quickly I settled into nice 6:15 pace.  I ran with a pack of about 5 guys through the turn and essentially all the way back to T1. 

Run 1 -14:23, T1 :30.

The transition area was tight and really not enough room for double file but thankfully I was there early so it was not too crowded.  I was on the bike fast and geared correctly to spin up the short hill.  I nailed a flying mount and  decided not to even worrying about getting my feat into my shoes until I got to the top of the hill.  Once my feet were in my shoes, I spun the bike up to speed and hammered.  Something cool about accelerating at the start of the bike- especially a short bike.  There is no rest in an hour long race- kinda like sprinting the whole way.  The first loop was pretty empty of racers- was probably in the top 30 or so on the first run.  There were a lot of cyclists noodling around following their race, but they stayed left closest to the running lanes so not in the way at all.  About the only issue on the first lap was some garbage trucks that were hogging some of the bike lanes and a bit of a headwind on the west side of the park.  BTW most folks thing NYC is flat, but near Central Park- 60th to 100th street or so it is hilly.  Nothing crazy, but short steep match burners- especially on the north west corner of the park.  Coming around the south side of park I was heading into my second lap- here things began to get dicey.  Lots more racers including a tight fit at the bike mount area- instead of pushing folks up the hill, the organizers were pushing them out on to the course and in the way of the second lap folks.  Some cones creating a bike start area would have worked better.  The second lap- while more crowded was also uneventful.  I passed a bunch of folks on both loops but one guy beat me- I had caught him early on the first lap, but he was able to open a gap on the second lap that wasn't worth trying to close. About 300 meters, but if I could have caught him I would have likely fried my legs.  He was on a Trek Speed Concept- with a disc wheel so obviously he was fast (if I had a disc wheel I would have been faster.... well maybe not).  As I got ready to come into T2 I had a nice clear path, pulled my feet out of my shoes and glided up to the dismount line with my left leg already kicked over.  Nice being near the pointy end of the race- just not as crowded.

Bike- 31:53 (5th fastest) T2  0:39- was a bit slow since I went down the wrong row first. 

But quickly I was out on the run.  The hill part 2 was not fun, but I knew it was short so I concentrated on getting a stride and breathing pattern and focused on getting to the top of the hill.  While I did get passed by a couple of guys, I felt really good and actually was surprised when I got to the turnaround.  On the run back, I was gaining on a guy in front of me and decided it was worth the pain to push for the pass.  I increased my stride and with about 400 meters to go I passed him and continued to accelerate.  I held on and ended up finishing 14th overall and 3rd in my AG.

Run 2 14:56
Overall 1:02:18

I am very happy with my effort on the day- two consistent runs and a very strong bike.  Transitions along with Bike mounting/ dismounting very well executed.  

And now that I have finished two Duathlons this year I can get ranked since they are treated separately compared to triathlons in USAT's ranking program.

Congratulations to Rob Crane for also having a solid day.  There were about 470 total racers and Rob finished in 1:10:14 66th Overall and 9th in a very competitive & large age group.  And he negative split his second run!

Here is the link to the race results- hoping to add some pictures in soon.

http://www.nytc.org/results_full.cfm?ID=211

And next week I am not racing, but riding in the Hell of Hunterdon- a 76 mile Belgian style ride including about 5000' of climbing and 15% of the roads are dirt/gravel or otherwise bad.  Should be a great day.  Here is the link to HoH:

http://www.hellofhunterdon.com/

CityTri Propsect Park Duathlon Race Report

The 2013 campaign is officially underway.  My first multisport race of the year was the CityTri Prospect Park Duathlon.  I decided to race the Classic distance- 5K Run, 13.3 Mile Bike, 5K run.  The other options were a sprint and Intermediate.  While the longer distance would not pose any issues, I am using my early season racing as speed work training sessions, so shorter is fine.  I have enough longer pre IM LP racing on the schedule too, so this race was about speed.

My goal for the race was to run my first 5 k in about 21 minutes, do the bike in 36 and do the second 5 K in about 21:30 or faster.  The weather was cold but dry and not windy- perfect racing conditions.  The pre race organization was a bit crazy- you had to wait in one line for your race number and a second for your chip, but I was early so not stressed at all.  There were only 2 porta potties but lines were short (I did find a third one about 300 yards from the start area).

Transition area was a bit tight and a broad mix of athletes and bikes.  About 1/3 were hybrid, 1/2 road with clip ons (some) and the rest were high end tri bikes.  But I had a good spot at the end of a rack.  As for my set up, I went with my Zipp 101's, a single bottle between the aero bars and my old Shimano TR 51's shoes with neoprene toe covers.  I wore my Sparta Tri trisuit with a long sleeve compression top and a Sufferfest wind vest and lightweight gloves (gloves I got from the 10K Relay Race the sherpa and I did in Feb).  For the first run I wore a knit cap, on the bike I wore my Rudy Wingspan aero helmet and Rudy Noyz Glasses with red lenses (great for low light).  I wore a visor for the second 5 K and both runs were done in my Zoot Kiawes (These are the greatest running shoes I have ever owned- light, Tri specific and super fast).

On to the race.

The Intermediate guys went first since they were doing a 10K to start and had a bunch of loops and turns to contend with.  For us in the classic, we had a short loop on center drive in Prospect Park followed by a longer loop around the lake before coming back to T1.  My plan was to run at a 6:45 pace per mile for the first 5K.  However once the race started I was closer to a 6:25 pace since there was a large pack.  I felt smooth and strong, especially after I passed the small loop and really settled in.  If this had been a 5K race I think I could have held sub 6 based on the way I felt and the relative flat course. 

Coming into T1 I was focused on the bike and thinking through what I needed to do for a fast transition.  I took off my cap as I ran into the transition area and put my sunglasses and helmet on.  Then running shoes off, grab the bike & go.  I use a flying mount and my tri shoes are pre clipped in so no wasting time getting them on.

Run 1- 19:55
T1- 32 Seconds

Bike- 4 Laps around prospect park.  Each Lap about 3.3 miles.  The bike start puts you right on the bottom of hill- plenty of time to get geared in and my feet in the shoes, but climbing soon.  The hill is not crazy hard or long, but you definitely go up.  For each lap I stayed aero and spun up in my 39/19 or 21.  I felt very strong on the bike- took the first lap a bit easy to recon the course and make sure I knew where to hammer and where to be careful.  The only downside of the course was people and their dogs- a lot were not on leashes which is a bit scary at 35 mph.  But I did not hit any dogs.  I passed everyone but one guy (the guy who won).  I hammered hard on the bike, but not to the point I had nothing left.  I have not seen the splits of everyone else, but I should have the fastest bike - or at the least the second fastest.

Bike- 35:41
T2- 26 Seconds

Starting the second 5 K my legs were definitely screaming, but I pushed a steady pace and more importantly I was breathing easy (well easyish).  I did get passed by two guys soon after T2- and they were definitely faster runners than me so I settled into my pace.  The first mile was at 7, however miles 2 and 3 were at 6:35 each- yeah I was happy with that.  I did get passed by one other guy about 300 yards from the finish- I kicked too soon and he was able to beat me by 5 seconds. (good lesson learned)

Run 2- 21:31

Total 1:18:05  5th Overall, 1st in My AG.

I am very happy with the performance (placing is great too- but this race is part of the plan for IMLP success).  I know for sure my off season training using Spinverals DVD's has been a huge part of my success.  I am running and riding faster which is leading to some strong early season results.

Race Season Officially starts Saturday!

So I have been training well this off season and have done 4 running races this year, but Saturday is the first real race of the year for me.  Multisport season is finally upon us here in the Northeast and I racing in the Prospect Park Duathlon.  For those of you who aren't up to speed on what at Duathlon is, we Run then Bike and then Run again. For this race there were a couple of options on distance including an Olympic (10k/ 40K/5K), Sprint (4K/10K, 4K) and Classic 5k, 25K, 5K). 

While doing the Oly would not be an issue for me distance wise, I am using my early season racing as speed work training.  AKA run until you vomit (just kidding, not really).  So I am doing the classic distance.  I am looking forward to the race primarily since it represents the march towards Ironman Lake Placid and should be fun too.  More to come once I race.   And for more details on the race as well as some info on the rest of City Tri's races for 2013 check out this link
http://citytri.com/ProspectParkDu

As for my running, it continues to go very well.  I raced two weeks ago in the E. Todd Murray Half Marathon and did quite well- 1:27:10.  Race Results are here
http://raceforum.com/2013/murrayoa.htm

I also raced this past weekend in the Farmers Insurance Ginty Field 5 K.  Now I hate running 5K's since they freakin' hurt.  You basically are sprinting for 3 miles- there is no pacing other than go hard.  This course was not so friendly for going hard- at mile 1.5 we had to go up.  Up a steep hill for about a 1/2 mile.  But I ran well- 19:27 and finished first in my age group- the extended version 40-49.  Race Results are here
http://www.bestrace.com/results/13/130309ST5.HTM

What else is new?  For 2013 I will be racing in SLS3 team apparel. I am really excited to be part of the team and will be rocking their kit in my races- pictures definitely to follow.  You can check out their website here.
http://www.slstri.com/

Look for some blog posts on my reviews of the kit soon.

Last I wanted to share a training update- things continue to go well.  I am riding about 120-150 miles a week, running about 18-24 and swimming about 3-4 miles.  Plus I am doing push ups every day- anywhere from 50 to 150.  I definitely feel like I am training the right way this year.  My early season running races plus power tests are all faster, stronger & better.  So I am hoping that this trend continues in the right direction.

Finish, Finish Fast, Finish First!