Saturday November 15th I ran Bills Bad Ass 50K for the 3rd time. This year we ran the 5 mile loop anti-clockwise 6 times then up Oak hill for a piece of candy. Between laps runners are heckled by Wild Bill and Chef Bill with a bull horn. There were 104 starters with 74 finishers making 30 candy-asses. My time of 6:20 was good enough for 19th place.
Photo Steve Pierce
Since the race is 6 loops fueling for the race would be easy. I made up 1 bottle with Hammer Nutrition HEED and 5 bottles with Perpetuem one bottle for each lap. I also had some of the newest flavor Hammer GEL Nocciola.
This years candy from the top of oak hill.
Bad Ass finish awards!
I was not done racing for the weekend yet. Sunday morning I did my first cyclocross race in 15 years. I raced the NEOCX series finally at the fields in Broadview Hts. I forgot how much fun cyclocross racing is. After winning the inaugural CDCX series this year I wanted to more cross racing.
My legs were a little dead from running for 6 hours the previous day and the temperature in the 20's I knew it would be an interesting day.
Photo Paul Hamad
I raced in the Single Speed category at 9:00 for 45 minutes and finished 6th.
Photo Paul Hamad
I had 8 minutes between races, just enough time for a Hammer GEL. I raced my single speed in the Cat5 race and finished 21st.
Renegade Cross the people that brought you the Cleveland Cobbles tested out a new race format. Since this was the first year for the Cloak-n-Dagger Cyclocross series it was kept to a short 4 race format. Racers would receive an email with a course description and would have 72 hours to complete their ride and email back the Strava ride.
You would not know what the courses were until the email arrived and no other riders would be on the course in the same 72 hour time frame. All the results were kept secret until everyone had ridden all 4 courses.
CDCX#1 is the old BOYA course in Brecksville. I was able to get 3 laps done on a course that had gravel, pavement and crushed limestone.
CDCX#2 Harvard Hill loop in Cleveland. This was featured in the past few Cleveland Cobbles rides. This route included pavement, potholes, broken glass, brick roads, small gravel sections, abandoned cars, washing machines, and train tracks. On my last lap the gates were coming down on one of the two train track crossings I was able to get 5 laps done.
CDCX#3 Wallace Lake Berea. This course had pavement, single track, and grass. On my second lap I was not paying attention and missed a turn and added about 200 yards, which would cost me later as I finished my 4th lap in 40:07.
CDCX#4 Brookside Reservation Cleveland. This was my favorite course it had pavement, single track, grass, woodchips and a long staircase. I was able to get 5 laps done.
After all the racers had completed each course a point system was devised. I think the was some Bourbon involved by the organizer when the points were tallied up. I cannot complain since I came out on top of the point standings. I didn't have the fastest times but I was consistently near the top which allowed me to win the first CDCX.
I had planned to race the courses as part of my normal training rides. My warm-up to the different courses was anywhere from 10-25 miles. I would then ride the course and take a shorter route home. I fueled with Hammer Nutrition HEED for my rides and before the start of race. would have a Hammer Gel
I made my 5th trip to Lincoln Nebraska for the Gravel Worlds again hosted by the Pirate Cycling League. The course normally is a giant loop around Lincoln with a few minor changes each year to keep it interesting. The big change to this years course was it would be run clockwise this year for the first time. After last year's blast furnace I was not looking forward to the last 35 miles being into the normal afternoon winds. This year the race started and finished near Denton for the second year at the Reinkordt farm.
To keep track of riders along the course there normally are 3 stops for Powerball tickets and secret checkpoints. For the first time the PCL had the checkpoints on the cue sheets which helped determine how much food and water to carry between stops. Racers need to be self supported and must purchase water or whatever else they need in the small towns. The racers need to stop in small town gas stations and general stores to purchase Powerball tickets to prove they made the stops in order. The day before I prepared several plastic bags mixed with Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and HEED for each bottle I would need. I mixed up 6 bags of mix along with the 2 bottles I started with and hoped it would be enough for 153 miles.
Potenza getting bike ready before start. Photo courtesy of Stephen Lam
Racers lined up at the start
The PCL delayed the start of the race 15 minutes due to some road construction on Denton Road 5 miles into the race. There was some culverts being replaced and 30 foot drop-offs on side of road which would be hard to determine where the road ends in the dark.
After riding this section on Friday I was glad the PCL kept rider safety in mind for the delayed start. The section was only a mile and not that difficult to ride with another rider, but would be more challenging with 150+ other riders around. I looked at my Garmin when I finished the section and it was 6:40 and sunrise was at 6:37.
The weather was a cool 70 and foggy in the morning and no wind. This was a rare treat for the start of the race. The fog lasted until after the first Powerball stop at mile 34. With all the moisture on my glasses and the low light in the morning had a difficult time reading my cue sheet a few times but did not get lost. After the fog lifted it stayed overcast and no wind until almost noon.
Pulling a group around mile 30 Photo courtesy of Lisa Janssen
The early miles seemed to go by rather uneventful with my plan of going out easy and trying to ride an even pace. My Garmin kept beeping my splits every 5 miles and they stayed very even throughout the day.
Split
Time
Moving Time
Distance
Elevation Gain
Elevation Loss
Avg Speed
Avg Moving Speed
Max Speed
Avg HR
Max HR
1
19:20.2
19:16
5
446
371
15.5
15.6
29.4
150
184
2
19:44.9
19:39
5
486
430
15.2
15.3
33.8
150
175
3
18:25.7
18:13
5
121
141
16.3
16.5
27.3
137
167
4
17:48.6
17:49
5
105
92
16.8
16.8
22.6
140
156
5
19:24.1
19:18
5
121
62
15.5
15.5
23.2
146
172
6
17:31.1
17:30
5
164
148
17.1
17.1
26.7
154
170
7
23:57.3
18:10
5
125
161
12.5
16.5
23.6
138
171
8
19:13.3
18:21
5
331
299
15.6
16.3
32.1
149
175
9
19:12.6
19:04
5
528
443
15.6
15.7
30.4
159
175
10
17:49.8
17:40
5
112
82
16.8
17
23.5
159
170
11
19:26.0
18:44
5
161
272
15.4
16
31.1
145
168
12
18:43.9
18:44
5
476
482
16
16
31.5
152
173
13
17:13.7
17:12
5
525
620
17.4
17.4
35.4
160
180
14
25:11.7
19:19
5
344
433
11.9
15.5
28.1
154
174
15
19:16.5
19:09
5
262
217
15.6
15.7
27.8
164
176
16
21:10.0
19:38
5
446
571
14.2
15.3
29
160
174
17
19:48.0
19:48
5
423
466
15.2
15.2
26.1
160
175
18
17:24.4
17:07
5
210
190
17.2
17.5
25.8
155
176
19
20:22.8
20:16
5
338
282
14.7
14.8
25.1
154
174
20
20:08.2
20:10
5
394
269
14.9
14.9
25.9
155
172
21
27:32.8
19:12
5
285
410
10.9
15.6
25.6
145
166
22
20:16.6
20:16
5
427
430
14.8
14.8
28.3
151
164
23
26:14.2
22:01
5
430
384
11.4
13.6
30.2
148
168
24
21:25.4
21:15
5
423
348
14
14.1
27.1
151
166
25
17:12.1
17:12
5
305
358
17.4
17.4
28.8
154
167
26
22:32.7
18:01
5
266
305
13.3
16.7
28.9
149
165
27
19:30.5
19:28
5
397
305
15.4
15.4
29.1
153
164
28
18:52.8
18:52
5
282
299
15.9
15.9
28
156
167
29
20:11.3
18:38
5
295
341
14.9
16.1
28
158
170
30
18:53.6
18:49
5
374
449
15.9
15.9
30.5
161
171
31
11:29.1
11:26
3.25
243
157
17
17
26.6
169
178
Total
15:24.0
40:17.0
153.25
9,846
9,816
14.9
15.8
35.4
152
184
Around mile 65 outside of Malcom Photo courtesy of Lisa Janssen
The beautiful rolling hills along NW 168th Street
Outside Garland
Checkpoint 3 was at Schmidty's Aunt and Uncle's house who have hosted a checkpoint\ oasis every year. There were a few other racers at the checkpoint when I left by myself. I figured they group would catch me in a few miles. I ended up riding the last 53 miles alone. Thankfully the temperature and winds stayed favorable for the entire day.
I ended up with a finish time of 10:15 which was good for 22nd overall and 15th in Men's Open. With just over 4 minutes spent at each stop including waiting in line to purchase my Powerball tickets my 33 minutes of not moving was kept to a minimum.
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