IMBCS #3 Ingawanis race report

Hopefully this report is a bit more punctual than the last few I've filed on a delayed basis. The IMBC series struck up again this weekend with the Ingawanis race near Waverly. This was my first race back from Colorado last year and one of the more fun races I'd done up to that point. Looking back, its still one of the more fun races I've been to. The terrain is a great mix of flats, rolling terrain, and some definite technical features from rocks, drops, and steeps both up and down. The perfect makings for a race course. I've got a whole other post in mind about my changing expectations for this race season, but suffice it to say, I've seriously downgraded my goals to the following: finish, don't be last, and don't crash. The last one is optional as sometimes its just not in the cards to stay blood free. I managed to meet all of my goals at this race, so I figure it must have been a success.

Maria, Jordan, Kurt, and I gathered together early for a carpool ride up from Des Moines to Waverly. After a few stops along the way we made it in plenty of time for a preride before the beginners were sent on their merry way. Kurt and I tooled along checking out the terrain and all was relatively pedestrian until we hit the small rock garden section. I bobbled, stopped, and unclipped for a pretty slow trot through and wondered if I'd do any better come race time. After that, we rode the rest of the course and found some more areas that would thrill come race time. The lap ended up being a shade under 6 miles with 500' of climbing per lap. With the experts slated for 4 laps, I knew pacing would be key for me.

As we waited around for the line up and start, I began to feel a bit more nervous than usual. My head wasn't really in the right place for racing. That's something a little new for me to deal with. I'm usually pretty fired up and the butterflies are just a fleeting instance before the sensation of being ready to throw down sets in. That wasn't the case today as I was still pretty tepid feeling at the line up. I slotted myself at the back of the pack and when they dropped the flag, I pedaled off in no real hurry. My legs were pretty dead feeling even with the pre-ride as I'd been off the bike for a few days before the race. The starting climb up the gravel road and into the singletrack found me dead last in the men's expert field and having a couple of the stronger ladies slotted in front of me as well in the form of Robin and Sandy from Mercy/Specialized.

The opening downhill woke me up a bit and I worked my way up a couple spots in the first open passing section and was now past 1 lady and 1 guy. So far so good as I had Robin and team mate Jason squarely in my sites. I knew Jason would be pacing well as he had done it with success at Sylvan and passed me after about 4 laps in the race. I figured I could key off of him and mark his pace as something to match. I rode well, but within my limits on all of lap 1 hanging pretty close to the 2 wheels in front of me. Robin offered the pass, but I was pretty content to sit where I was.

Downhilling it:

We came around for lap 2 and I felt pretty decent at this point. I was rolling the downhills pretty well, but the flats were leaving me trailing off the back with a severe lack of power and the uphills were just rolling ok. I had no snap what-so-ever on the flat sections and never could get in the climbing mindset where I was willing to turn myself inside out so I'd just cruise up them rather than hammer. Mid way through lap 2 btoh Robin and Jason opened up a small gap on me and I could close it somewhat at various points, but never got back on their wheels.

My rabbits:

Into lap 3 and I was feeling pretty even. I grabbed a gel as I eased my way up the gravel road opening climb again. I was pretty well alone at this point with both my rabbits out of my line of sight for the most part. I started rolling the downhills with a little more authority and really felt like I nailed the opening combination for the first time. That is until I hit the bottom and had to slam on my brakes to avoid missing the turn. My focus lapsed for a second and I nearly rode straight through the caution tape barrier. All my momentum from the downhill was now gone with the squeeze of a lever and I had to push hard to get back up to speed. I started trying to feel the rhythm of the course at this point and used the flow to help push a bit harder. I little more corner speed and pushing a little harder on the straights seemed to work for me. As the lap progressed I slowly reeled Robin back in. I had one section of rolling terrain along the top of a ridge where I'd really been riding fast and used this to work right back on to her wheel. I finally took the pass about 2/3 through the lap and pushed a bit to open a gap. I could still see Jason rolling along roughly 30 seconds up and had all but given up on catching him.

My turn on the bridge:

Climbing:

Lap 4 was more of the same. I still didn't clean the 1st rock garden as I always bobbled and would unclip somewhere. I nailed the downhills pretty well and just turned the pedals over on the uphills. As we wound our way to the last 1/4 mile or so of trail, I saw Jason up ahead and he appeared to be walking. I blew it off and figured he was just standing to crank up a hill. Then I got to the final clearing about 150 yards until the finish and could see him slowly jogging his bike along with some sort of mechanical. Hoping to snag one more spot, I sprinted it out with him to the finish. I'd like to say my sprint was strong enough to outrun a guy pushing his bike, but alas, Jason bested me across the line by a scant couple of seconds. All in all a fun way to end a pretty good couple hours on the bike.

Digging for the sprint:

Mid sprint:

Beat by a guy with no chain:

I looked at my numbers post race on the garmin and everything looked consistent until the last lap. It appears I dropped off a full minute, but that doesn't seem right as it sure didn't feel like I was that much slower in any section. I averaged towards the bottom of my zone 4 heart rate with a 170 bpm, and we rode 23.6 miles and 2100' of climbing. I had my pacing down pretty well, but in retrospect, it was a shade too mellow. I'm not sure if that was something I did intentionally or more of a response to how I was feeling at the start. I barely peaked into zone 5 the whole time which means I rode really consistently for output and effort. I was tired and my legs were plenty sore at the end, but I wasn't nearly as dead as I've felt in previous races.

Pics from here

IMBCS #2 Ingawanis Race Report

IMBCS #2 was originally supposed to happen much earlier in the season. Due to some torrential rains this spring, the course was pretty well washed out the week before the race. I'd heard good things about this course after last year's race and was looking forward to the challenge. The north side was supposed to be full of a lot of good climbing while the south end had more fast and flowy singletrack with some good climbing still in the mix. The north side was closed out due to logging this year leaving us entirely on the south side.

I picked up Kurt and his girlfriend Mindy to do a bit of ride sharing considering we were a 2.5 hour drive away from the race. We got up there in plenty of time to relax, do a recon lap, and get ready to race. After my recon lap, I knew the race would be fun, but also fast and painful. Just 1 day back from Colorado, I wasn't sure how my legs would react, but I was ready to put them to the test. Passing would be tough for at least a good chunk of this course so the holeshot was again going to probably be a deciding factor.

I knew Keith would be hitting it hard trying to get into the woods first and I should do what I could to hang on his wheel since he's been riding hard this year. We lined up and I was sitting nicely on the front row again. I'm not sure if there's a specific consideration on where you line up, but I haven't had anyone chastise me yet for lining up towards the front. We started out on the gravel road with a shallow climb and about a 1/4 mile to string things out before diving into the woods. Once the starter pistol went off, we were hammering. Sure enough, Keith got his holeshot, sliding sideways onto the camp entrance road and hammering up to the woods. I wasn't too far back sitting about 4th wheel until the last 100 or so yards before we hit the woods. I let up just a little and 3 or 4 people shot past putting me back a bit further than I wanted.

Early in lap 1:

The train got moving pretty quickly with 5 of us bunched up while the first 3 shot off the front. I knew it was going to be a hard chase to run any of those guys down and was chomping at the bit to get some passing done. My legs were all ready running me into the red, but I still felt good since it was lap 1. At the open section I couldn't really get my speed up enough to pass anyone, but knew there was another opening coming soon. We were hauling the mail up the climbs. I remember noticing the dirt seemingly shooting out from under the rear tire of the guy in front of me as he powered the climbs. Even more than that, I was actually holding his wheel up the climbs.

Powering the rock climb on lap 1 or 2:

In the 2nd open section, I put the hammer down as most of the guys sat up just a shade to grab a drink. It was getting toasty back in the woods even though the temps were relatively low. I ended up leading the train at this point and just pushed myself really deep into the red trying to open any type of gap. Most of that lap is a blur as I was pretty well cross-eyed with effort pouring everything I had out. I managed to open a gap on a few of the chasers, but still had some guys pretty hot on my wheel as we hit lap 2.

On lap 2 I knew I had to back down or blow up completely. I finally started downing some liquids and let a couple guys by so as to not hold them back. I think I passed another rider or two at this point as well. Looking at it now, it seems for the most part that after lap 1, you're pretty well set into where you're going to finish out within a spot or two unless something drastic happens. I wonder if this holds true for most people? I spent the rest of lap 2 in recovery mode trying to keep the pace high, but hopefully rest up from the pain of lap 1. By the end of the lap, I'd at least consumed enough liquid and paced it out that I could turn the screws back up on the effort for the final lap.

Flying down the g-out:

Lap 3 I was ready to hit it hard again. I didn't have anyone immediately around me, but could catch glimpses of people both in front and behind. Slowly, I started to real another rider in. I finally caught his wheel and rode it for just a bit as I recovered from the effort. I passed him only to realize it was a 60+ expert racer so no real advancement in my own class. I put the pressure back on the pedals and did my best to use the 3 total laps I had under my belt to work the lines and let loose on the downhills. My Colorado trip was at least repaying me through more aggressive downhilling as I was able to really roll through here.

I focused mostly on keeping my tempo even along with my heart rate on lap 3 since I didn't seem to be in any danger of catching or be caught. I made sure to clean all of the loose sandy corners that were threatening on every lap to catch someone unaware. For the final time I had to ride the rough new section of trail for the finish and then I was done. I finished out 7th in the sport open class. I was pretty happy with the effort and result.

Nearing the end:

Finish time:

Looking back, post race, I think I gave up a position or two by letting too many riders get by as we neared the entrance to the woods. A little more effort getting to the woods probably would have made for a little less effort in the woods. I still need to think more about it being ok to get passed rather than having to do the passing. I'm sure that will come as I can better assess my overall fitness and skill level in comparison to other riders in my class.