Race Report – last Wed. Night Crit of the season

So last night was the final TBi Wednesday Night Crit of the season. To make it interesting, they tried a new format. The B racers (Cat 4 and Cat 3 35+) went off first, than the A racers (P 1, 2, 3) pushed off when the B racers hit the halfway point on the first lap (the loop is 1.6 miles, so we had a ~.8 mile head start).  The consensus at the beginning of the race was that the B racers wouldn’t push it too hard (for fear of burning too many matches and then not being able to hold on when the A racers caught us). So most though that they would catch us around lap 5-7. Surprisingly we managed to stay away until lap 11, when an elite chase group of 5 caught us (including my Mortiz teammate Justin).

With 2 laps to go I went to the front to help Justin and put in a small attack in hopes that the Metro VW guys would chase (giving Justin a chance to counter when they caught me). The only guy that followed me was from some other team I didn’t recognize and I eased up. By that point I was pretty spent (this was my first race in a couple months) so I let the group pass me and solo’d in on the last lap. Christian Helmig of Metro VW ended up taking the win (not surprising since he is the reigning State Crit Champ and just won Hotter ‘n’ Hell).

It was a fun format and gave me a solid hour of riding at intensity. My normalized power for the race was 263 watts and average speed was just over 25 mph.

Memorial Weekend Race Report – We beat the train!

Memorial Weekend is a hotbed for racing in DFW with 3 crits races in the area. Last year I did all 3 races as a Cat 5 (in an effort to get my 10 races and Cat-up). This year my plan was to race on Saturday at the Glickman in Dallas and Monday for the State Championship here in Fort Worth. Moritz is also one of the organizers of the State Championship, so I planned on working the event for a couple hours as well.

Saturday’s course was a technical crit with a 1/3 mile+ downhill, followed by a 180 degree turn and then a 1/3 mile+ climb to the finish line. I didn’t have any real goals for the race since I haven’t been training since my crash (I’ve been riding a lot, but haven’t done any intervals or real intensity work). Unfortunately, on the 2nd or 3rd lap I got caught behind a crash at the bottom of the hill (on the 180). So I spent the next lap or so chasing the pack. I eventually caught them at the top of the hill, only to lose them in the technical section and downhill, then I would catch back on just as we crested the hill. After a few laps of this my legs started cramping and I pulled out. It’s not in my nature to quit and I could have “time trialed” it solo for the next 30 minutes, but something just didn’t feel right. Pulling out might have been the right move since there were two crashed on the last lap (one on the downhill and one at the finish). Two of my teammates were in the crash on the downhill. One teammate went down pretty hard and has some serious road rash, but the more “painful” part for him is that he broke his frame. Crashing sucks, but it really sucks when you know it costs you thousands of dollars in damage.

Sunday I left early for a long ride with Anthony. Planned on doing a nice 4 hour endurance ride. About 10 miles in I was pseduo-trackstanding at a stop light when I fell over (first time in over a year) and bent my deraileur hanger (to the point that I can’t shift into any of my lower gears). So we rode back to my house and I picked up my cyclocross bike. Between my performance on Saturday, a stupid mistake on Sunday and the culmulative effect of having a newborn (two months of crazy sleep schedules, feedings, etc.) it was starting to feel like a pretty crappy Memorial Weekend.

So with my bike out of commission, I was out for Monday’s race. I also decided that I couldn’t leave Jess alone with both kids again (to go help work the event), but I was able to convince Grant to come with me for a bike ride. Getting Grant to ride with me takes a lot of pleading (he never wants to come initially), but when he does come, we always have a great time. When Grant and I ride, we do two things:

1. Look for bats under bridges. After seeing a TV show about the Congress Ave. Bridge in Austin, Grant is convinced there are bats under every bridge.

2. We chase the train. The area we live in (Near TCU and Colonial) has lots of train tracks, many of them running parralel to the Trinity Trail. There is also a small train that runs through Trinity Park near the zoo. Whenever we hear a whistle, we pretend to “catch the train”.

I figured we would be lucky to ride for an hour or so before Grant got bored. We headed to the Stockyards and saw the cows and rode down Exchange Ave. Then we headed NW on the Trinity Trail towards Carswell Airforce Base. This part of the trail is mostly flat, and crushed granite,  running along the top of the levee –  a perfect surface for a cyclocross bike pulling 50lbs+ of trailer and kiddo.

We started to head back towards our house and were just coming out of Trinity Park when we heard it – the train whistle. Then we saw it – the Forest Park Miniature Train. Instantly Grant shouted, “Daddy! The train! Hurry, let’s catch it!” I didn’t have my PowerTap on my cross bike, but I’m guessing I was putting our 500 watts for the next minute and broke all previous efforts. We caught up to the train and rode beside it for a short distance. The people on the train (literally just a few feet away) started waving at us. I looked back at Grant and he was in awe. I told him to wave back and he instantly got this huge smile on his face and started waving like crazy to the folks on the train. He was like a little rockstar for 10 seconds. Then I asked him, “Do you want to beat the train?”

“Yes Daddy. Let’s go FAST!”

So I pegged it and managed to get us to the bridge for the train in time to snap the picture above. Grant was so excited to finally “catch the train”. I realized we had been out for almost 2.5 hours, so I started to head home. Grant actually started crying because he wanted to keep riding. However, it was getting very hot and I knew we should get back. Luckily, when we pulled up to the house we saw my Sister’s van. The Rosslers had stopped for a visit. This instantly dried Grant’s tears since he adores his cousins Hannah and Jack.

They played outside for a few hours and had a great time.

What could have been a crappy weekend turned into a great weekend. The 3 hours Grant and I spent on the bike was probably the most fun I’ve had on the bike in a long time. Made me realize that it’s time to change up my training/racing for a while. I’m not having fun on the road right now (plus all the races that suit my abilitities have already passed) so I’m going to do one of three things:

1. Start doing some time trialing. Maybe in time for the State Championships in Aug., but definitley in time for the Texas Time Trials in Sept.
2. Focus on cyclocross skills and really get ready for cross season in the fall
3. Get a mountainbike and do some MTB racing

It has kind of come full circle. I got into road racing because I didn’t get into the lottery for the Leadville 100 in 2007. I’m the type of person that needs some physical/athletic goal, so when I didn’t get into Leadville, I decided to try my hand at road racing. Now that I have raced on the road for a year, I’m a little burned out and I feel myself drawn to the dirt again (cross or MTB). However, MTB racing or time trials would require a new bike purchase . . . so we’ll see

Ouch!

So this weekend’s racing did not go as I had planned. Saturday’s race was perfect. I felt really good and worked for my teammate Brian who took the win. Sunday’s race in Mineral Wells is the race I had been waiting and training for. Two weeks ago I did an insane workout and pre-rode the course with some teammates and this week I really rested well so I would be on a full tank of gas. The Sunday race was 62 miles and featured the longest climb in N. Texas (Cherry Pie Hill) at the end. I really felt prepared for a Top-5 placing. That all changed around mile 16.

Just after we made a turn on to Highway 180, cruising along (my PT says we were doing 27 mph), the guy in front of me (a large guy, probably 220 lbs) suddenly went down at a 90 degree angle. I tried to get around him and almost did, but he kept sliding and I plowed right into him. As you can see from the picture above, my front wheel taco’ed and I basically landed on my head/face. The race officials were amazing and on the scene in a matter of seconds. I never lost consciousness and was really more upset about not getting to finish the race then anything else. It was only later when I surveyed the damage to my bike and myself that I feel very fortunate . . . it could have been much worse

Damage to bike:

• Front wheel destroyed
• Frame cracked
• Handlebar cracked and tape shredded
• Fork cracked
• Shifters dented and cracked
• Rear derailer trashed

Damage to Ben:

• Road rash everywhere (elbows, back, knees, hands, shoulder)
• No more fingertips on four fingers
• Helmet burns on my forehead (helmet cracked as designed – thanks Bell!)
• 15 stitches in my chin and lip
• black eye
• sore/dislocated jaw

I will be off the bike for a while to heal and figure out what to do about my road bike (luckily I have a cyclocross bike to ride for a while). The only expensive part on my bike not damaged was my PowerTap – for which I am grateful. Unfortunately, I will now miss Fort Davis and the Joe Martin stage race in Arkansas (both races with lots of climbing that would have suited me well). Time to re-think my goals for the rest of the year.

A big thanks to a few folks.

• Andy, the race promoter, for giving me a ride back to the start/finish and giving me a good pep talk on the way there.
• Katie (my teammate Brian’s wife) for cleaning up my wounds (luckily she is a nurse)
• Brian, for getting me back to FW in record time.
• The Doc for stitching me up – maybe my modeling career isn’t over 😉
• My Moritz teammates for emailing or calling to check on me.

It’s times like this I appreciate how close-knit the Texas racing community is and how grateful I am to have some really great teammates.

Jesuit Ranger Round-Up Race Report

Moritz Chevrolet Cycling had another great weekend. On Sunday we attended the Jesuit Ranger Round-Up in Celina. The race is a fundraiser for the Texas High School Cycling League and one of the few road races in the DFW area (most of the RR in Texas are near Austin).

Our top results:

A Race – 2nd place (great work Justin)

B Race – 1st (Thomas) and 4th (Brian)

I raced in the B race (Cat 4/5 race of 75 riders) with Brian, Thomas and Camilo. We discussed during our warm-up that Thomas would try to go on an early break while the other members of the team would block. If the break didn’t stick, we would then work togther to protect Brian for the sprint (Brian is the closest thing we have to Tom Boonen). Our plans worked pretty good because we accomplished both goals!
 
On the second lap of the race (the race was 5 laps of a 9 mile loop) Thomas went on a 3 man break with about 30 miles to go. Camillo and I controlled the race by setting a false tempo and chasing down any breaks that tried to form and bring back the breakaway.  I basically spent just over an hour at the front of the pack in the wind. We eventually convinced some of the Plano Athletic Cycling guys to help us at the front since they also had a man in the break. I think the pack was very confused because you rarely see teams “block” for a man up-the-road in a Cat 4 or 5 race.
Thomas of course did the most amazing job of all keeping such a high pace for such an extended period of time and pushing himself to the limit to out-sprint his two breakaway mates at the line. Once we knew that the break was clear and going to make it – Camillo and I banded together to help lead Brian out for the sprint. Brian delivered and took the field sprint for 4th.

It was a great feeling to really work as a “team” and I think in a strange way it gave me even more motivation than I’ve had for some of my individual goals. The whole time we were blocking I just kept thinking “we need to give Thomas a chance”. I know it gave me a little boost because the hour I was blocking I set a new high for my 60 minute normalized power – 270 watts (not the most impressive FTP, but not bad considering I’m only 67 kg). This is higher than what I’ve been using as my FTP in training, so I actually increased the FTP in my Cycling Peaks software.

In the Pro/1/2/3 A race Justin and Danny worked well together to put Justin in position for 2nd.  Danny went on the attack 5 laps in and got a small break formed. When the break was caught Justin counter-attacked with another group of 10-12 riders that worked well together to hold the pack off.  Justin missed the win by inches (not bad since he’s coming back from a pretty bad hip injury).

So this makes two weekends in a row where we have had a guy go on a three man break (Scott last week at Lago Vista and Thomas this weekend), have his teammates successfully block (Ed and Danny for Scott last weekend – Camillo, Brian and I this weekend) and then out-sprint his breakaway companions for the win.

Baby #2 is coming in a couple weeks. Therefore, I’m not racing the next couple of weekends. I will still be training hard though for the Mineral Wells races the first weekend in April (Grandma is nice enough to come stay with the family while Daddy goes racing).

Lago Vista Race Report

 Mortiz Chevrolet Cycling had a great weekend in Lago Vista racing La Primavera I&II. Here’s the breakdown:

Saturday

1st, 13th and 17th in the Cat 3 race.

3rd and 16th in the Cat 4 race.

1st and 17th in the Men’s 45+ race.

Sunday

4th in the Cat 3 race.

12th and 13th in the Cat 4 race.

5th and 9th in the Men’s 45+ race.

Overall, a great weekend. Big props to Scott for his win in the Cat 3 race. Scott broke his arm in a crash at New Braunfels a month ago, but he didn’t let it slow down his training. His breakaway with two laps remaining in the race was pretty impressive.

As you can see from the profile above, the race was a 4 or 5 mile loop (depending on the day) with essentially a long gradual climb followed by a fast decent to a little power climb finish. The course suited me well and I did OK. Saturday I burned a few matches going on a couple breaks – almost got one to stick. Finished with the pack at 39th (we had 100 starters both days).

Sunday was a race of attrition. A stiff wind kicked up that was essentially a crosswind for most of the course. Brian and Thomas set a fast tempo to start the race and the speed never let up. We averaged 23 mph over the 40 miles on both days, but Sunday’s speed is much more impressive considering the wind. New teammate Camillo got 3rd on Saturday and is a good climber, so he and I decided to try to get something going with about 2 laps-to-go. I went off the front on the first climb of the second-to-last lap and opened up a pretty good gap. Camillo bridged up with another rider. However, the other rider was pretty baked, or not interested in working together because Camillo and I did all the pulling. After several rotations we realized we couldn’t hold off the field with just the two of us pulling, so Camillo and I sat-up to wait for the pack.

On the last lap Thomas did a great job of “escorting” me to the front of the field so I would be in good position for the finish. For the first time all weekend I had a pretty good line on the finishing climb and was able to sprint past a few guys for 12th. We started with 100 guys on Sunday, but only 50 finished and only 25 finished in the front group (other guys came in anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes behind). Like I said, with the wind, climbs and speed, it was definitely a race of attrition.

I definitely feel like I have a better “sense” of the race now and I’m learning to conserve my energy. I’m doing the Jesuit Ranger Round-Up race in Celina Sunday (it raises money for the North Texas High School Cycling League).  It is a Cat 4/5 race of 45 miles (rolling hills course). Most of the Moritz Cat 4s will be there, so hopefully we can do well. After this I’m taking a couple weekends off from racing to accomplish a few things:

• Get some long training rides in (with lots of climbing) in preparation for the Minerals Wells races and Fort Davis.
• Celebrate Grant’s birthday (hard to imagine he is 3).
• Have a baby! That’s right – our baby girl is due on March 28th.

I would really like to get a good result before the baby comes, because I have a feeling my structured training days might be over for a while.

Walburg/Pace Bend Race Report

 So this past weekend Jess and Grant joined me for a trip south to compete in two Texas Cup Races – Walburg and Pace Bend.  Both races are within 45 minutes of Austin, so we decided to make a “family weekend” out of it (probably our last family trip before the new baby arrives).

We headed down early Friday for packet pick-up in Austin. Registration was a breeze and we grabbed dinner at the flagship Whole Foods on Lamar. Then we headed to our hotel in Georgetown, which was only 15 minutes from the start of Saturday’s race in the small, German town of Walburg, TX. The Walburg race is the first “big” race on the Texas cycling calendar and is historically known for really bad weather – rain, freezing temps and strong winds. Last year the winds were 50+ mph and racers were literally “blown off the road”. Luckily the weather was in the 50s and sunny, so it was perfect racing weather.

The race on Saturday went “OK”. It was the first time I had an opportunity to race with some Moritz teammates (Brian and Thomas).  I basically had horrible position all race (narrow roads and 100 riders will do that) so I had no chance to compete in the final uphill sprint, but I finished with the pack. Brian did great and took 8th. It was really great to have Jess and Grant there cheering me on at the finish. I finished 39th, but felt like I came in 1st.

After the race we headed for our new hotel for Saturday night – The Lakeway Resort on Lake Travis. I got a really good deal on the rate and it put us only 30 minutes from Sunday’s race at Pace Bend (which was key since my race started at 8 a.m.). After checking in we headed to an early dinner at The Oasis on Lake Travis.

 

As you can tell from the pic above, Grant had a great time at The Oasis. The area around Lake Travis really is beautiful (with all the elevation change, it really feels more like California) and The Oasis is a must stop for anyone that has never been before. The views at sunset are pretty spectacular.

Sunday’s race went a little better. We had a full field of 100 riders again, but this course suited me better with a few short hills. I felt good the whole race and tried to get a few things going – chased down a break, attacked and got a 3-man break going that didn’t last long and then attacked again solo on the last lap (which didn’t stick). I decided to wait and make one more move on the last hill before the final turn and downhill finish, but got stuck behind several slower riders and wasn’t able to accelerate on the final climb. I ended up finishing 35th. Our average speed for the 44 mile race was 23.7 mph, but it never really felt that fast; the course just had a really good “flow” to it. My normalized power for the race was 250 watts and my peak 60 minutes was 263 watts. 263 is higher than the FTP I’ve had in my training plan, so it looks like my training is working; therefore, I adjusted it up to 260 watts in my Training Peaks software.

Grant had fun, Mommy had fun and Daddy got to test out his early-season-legs. All-in-all a great weekend.

MCC Team Training Camp Report

This past weekend was the Moritz Chevrolet Cycling team training camp in Granbury, TX (hosted by Mike and his wife in Pecan Plantation). The original plan was a full weekend of riding, dinners together, etc. Approximately 25 guys had planned on attending. However, Mother Nature had different ideas and dropped some cold weather and rain on us Saturday (they were originally forecasting freezing rain, etc). So on Thursday we decided to condense camp to one day – Sunday. The new agenda was:

1. Meet in the morning for breakfast and catching-up
2. Meet to discuss team issues (plans for the year, upcoming races, etc.)
3. Ride for 4 hours on the beautiful and hilly roads around Granbury
4. Post ride pizza, watch the Tour of California on Versus, etc.

The weather on Sunday actually turned out pretty good – sunny and in the 50’s; however, there was a steady 15-20 mph wind out of the NW. Mike planned out a great route that would take us into the headwind for about 40 miles and then we would come back on a similar route with the benefit of the tailwind, but the added challenge of climbing Comanche Peak. Larry was even nice enough to drive our support truck with extra bottles, wheels, etc. so we wouldn’t lose any time if someone flatted on the road.

We had a great ride. Mostly double paceline, played a few games of “chase the rabbit” on the hills etc. In all we did 80 miles and 5,000 ft. of climbing (profile below) in 4 hours.

For those of you fellow “power junkies” my normalized average power for the 4 hour ride was 229w, so it was a good effort and I definitely racked up some TSS.

I’m lucky to be on a team with a great group of guys and look forward to some positive results for MCC in 2008.

Copperas Cove Report – First Race of the Season

Saturday was the start of the road race season here in Texas with the TBi Copperas Cove RR. Copperas Cove is just outside Kileen, TX, so a 2.5 hour drive from Fort Worth. I rode down with Brian (one of my Mortiz teammates) for a noon start. The turn out for the race was huge:

• A P/1/2/3 field of over 60
• Two Cat 4/5 races, both with 75 racers
• 35+/Women’s race with about 75 racers as well.

All of the races started within 30 minutes of each other, so you had about 350 racers milling through the parking lot all morning – checking their gear, eating bananas or Clif Bars and trying to stay warm (it was 27 degrees in the morning, by race time it was in the high 30’s).

Unfortunately Brian and I didn’t get to race together (he was in the B race, I was in the A race), so this would be a solo effort. The race was 54 miles, consisting of a 9 mile, hilly, out-and-back stretch and a 30+ mile loop. The winds were strong out of the north (20 mph+), so I assumed everyone would stay together for the first half of the race and then things would really open up as we had the benefit of the tailwind.

My inexperience (this was only my second road race, and my first as a Cat 4) did not serve me well. I got stuck in the back of the pack early and had a difficult time moving up because we had such a large field (and the centerline rule was being heavily enforced). When you are at the back of a 75 person pack every little action up front gets magnified in the rear. As a result, guys in the front keep a pretty consistent pace, but those of us in the back are forced to constantly brake and accelerate to stay with the pack. There were definitely early season nerves (many guys were all over the road and there was a lot of hard braking), this translated into two different wrecks in the A race. Luckily I managed to avoid both of them (the second requiring me to spend some time in the grass to avoid the pile-up). I never felt “at my limit” during the race, so I just waited for the hills in the last 6 miles of the race as my best chance to advance. Luckily this worked and I was able to move up the field and then solo and bridge up to a breakaway of about 6 racers. As soon as I caught up to the break I realized these guys were gassed and we weren’t likely to hold everyone off. Sure enough, another group of about 12-15 guys bridged up to us.

Me (Racer 822) in the breakaway

So about 22 of us rolled into town together and got strung out single file before hitting the two right-hand turns (basically a U-turn) into the finishing straight. I’m not a great sprinter, so I just held on to my place – finishing 18th. If I would have known the course better, I probably would have attacked on the last little climb before we turned into the finish, but such is racing – lot’s of ifs and buts. Overall, I’m pretty pleased and it wasn’t a bad way to start the season – nice little 54 mile ride at 22 mph. I also raced with my PowerTap, so it was really interesting to look at the file after the race and see how the power efforts were compared to my perceived exhaustion at different points in the race.

A “Power”ful Christmas

So I got myself a Christmas gift that I have been wanting for a little while now. For those of you that know my bike, you might see the picture above and say, “Ben, you got new wheels for your Kredo”, and that would partially be true. The wheels in this picture are different than my “normal” wheels (Mavic Ksyrium SLs). But if you look really closely at the pic above, you will see something else special about these wheels.

These wheels are laced to a PowerTap SL 2.4 wireless power meter. I’m a pretty analytical guy, so the idea of training with power has always had some appeal for me, so I decided to bite-the-bullet and get a PowerTap. I looked at power meter options – SRM, iBike, etc., but the PowerTap made the most sense. The toughest decision when getting a PowerTap is deciding what type of wheel you are going to lace the hub to. Since I will train and race on my PowerTap, I wanted something durable, but light/aero enough that I wouldn’t feel like it was a hindrance for racing. I found the perfect combination by using a wheelsmith in Florida named Mike Garcia. Make laced my PowerTap to some Niobium 30mm rims with black Sapim CX-Ray spokes (the best spokes you can get).

 

I have 24 spokes in the front (laced radially) and 28 spokes in the rear (laced 2x on both sides). So these wheels will be plenty durable, but amazingly the total weight, (even with the heavier PowerTap hub) came in within 50 grams of the weight of my Ksyriums (plus these wheels are more aero). Mike did a great job on the build and the wheels look/ride awesome. His price was also very competitive and I basically got the whole set for about the same price as what just the rear hub laced to a mavic open pro rim would have cost me buying from anywhere else.

I’m in the process of doing my various power tests now in order to determine my training zones. However, one thing I can already tell you from putting a few rides in on these wheels is this – you are rarely working as hard as you think. The PowerTap really lets me know how often I am “dogging it”. Speed is a horrible measure of effort and I’ve quickly discovered that many of my favorite stretches of road, where I can nail it for 30 mph, I am doing at very low effort (under 200 watts). I’ll keep you posted.

To Leadville, or not to Leadville?

Last year I signed up to do the Leadville 100 mountain Bike Race. Each summer Leadville, Colorado, a city rich with mining and Wild West history, is host to a number of challenging endurance events. The town is 10,152 feet above sea level, so endurance events take on the added challenge of dealing with altitude. One of the events, the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race, is so popular that racers enter a lottery in January to secure one of the 750 available starting line spots for the August race. The ride starts at 9,200 feet, with the highest point at the famed Columbine Mine aid station at 12,600 feet, and covers over 12,000 feet of climbing over the 100 mile course.

 

The goal of Leadville is to get a “buckle”. Racers that finish in under 12 hours get a silver commemorative belt buckle. Those finishing in under 9 hours get a gold & silver buckle. Many consider Leadville the toughest race in the U.S., so these buckles are literally & figuratively “worth their weight in gold”.

But to race, you must win the lotter. The lottery works like this:

1. You send in your registration and a check for $240 before Jan. 31.
2. Then sometime in February you are notified if you “got in”
3. If you do get in, your fee is not returnable and you can’t transfer your entry to anyone else (so you better be committed). 
4. Preference in the lottery is given to people that have competed in past Leadville’s (with those completing 5 or more times getting a guaranteed spot).

So last year, partially inspired by Bernie’s Leadville story, I sent in my application the first week of January . . . and waited . . . and waited. It seemed like an eternity. I had my training program designed, I had the plans for a new “Leadville-specific” mountain bike ready, I had  travel plans ready . . . and then . .. I didn’t get in. The race received a record number of entries last year, mostly because Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong were rumored to participate (only Landis did, getting 2nd). He was pretty dissapointed and put Leadville out of my mind.

Since then I’ve started racing (on the road), moved up to Cat 4, and joined the Moritz Chevrolet Cycling team. I had totally put Leadville out of my mind. Then I get the postcard above from the Leadville organizers, reminding me to get my registration in. So now I have a dilemma . . . do I register, or not. We’re having a baby in April, so do I think I can really put in the training time needed? Can I juggle a full road racing schedule and prepare for Leadville? Is there anyway I can convince Jess to let me buy another bike? In the end, I think the competitor in me will win-out and I’ll send in my registration, but I’m still on the fence. Anyone want to join me for 9-12 hours of tortuous climbing on steep fire roads at 12,000 feet?