2015 Funk Bottoms Gravel

This was the 5th time I have ridden the Funk Bottoms Gravel race.  The first two versions of the race were 50 miles, and in 2013 it became 100K and 200K.  It started raining Friday night around 9:00 and the rain continued to be heavy all night.  In the morning there was a flood watch for the area and with rain in the forecast for most of the day the race organizers decided to make it 1 lap 100K race.

 

Lakeville Boosters Park

 

The starting location had lots of standing water.  At the pre-race meeting riders were told if they get to a flooded section of road whoever gets there first will be the winner. The start was delayed by 15 minutes since it was raining very heavy at the time. 

 

The race started with a 2 mile neutral roll-out and after a hard right on TWP 508 the race was on.  We would ride in the rain for most of the day with a few breaks now and then. Several racers took off quickly on the first climb. Since I knew there was over 7,000 feet of climbing I was in no hurry to push the pace early. After a few miles of rolling gravel I was riding in 5th place. I was trying to keep up with Potenza who seemed to riding faster than I wanted so I let him go.

 



 

 

Road to Killbuck

Coming in to Killbuck around mile 20 I had a Hammer Gel and kept rolling.  I caught Potenza and John Porter on the mile long climb out of town. We turned on to TWP 86 which normally is a fast gravel downhill but with the rain and slick conditions I was being cautious on the downhill's. Halfway down 86 there was a large tree that had fallen across the road from the storms, and we got a little extra cross practice. When we started the climb on 324 I dropped the other 2 riders and was sitting in 3rd place.  There was a secret checkpoint around mile 38 run by members of the PCL-Ohio Chapter. When I arrived the second place rider was just leaving.  I was about 5 minutes back from the leader at the checkpoint.  I quickly refilled my bottles with my favorite mixture of Hammer Nutrition Orange-Vanilla Perpetuem and Lemon-Lime HEED.  Yes that's a lot of flavors mixed together but is actually tasty.

After the secret checkpoint I passed the 2nd place rider on the TWP 22 climb. I did not think there is anyway that I would be able to make up 5 minutes over the last 20 miles so I just kept riding the same pace. On the road to Glenmont around mile 50 there was another large tree across the road.  This time there would be no jumping over the trunk.  We had to walk into the ditch to get around everything covering the road.

Photo: Potenza

 

Photo: Donna White

I was very pleased with my second place finish.  I surprised myself by finishing only 2 minutes back from the winner Markley Anderson.   After the race there was a cooler of Nooma and Yuengling for the racers.  765 Racing had a good showing with its members finishing 2nd, 6th, 18th and 19th.

 

 

2015 Mohican 100

On Saturday May 30th I lined up for my fourth Mohican 100 Mountain Bike Race. The weather forecast for the week leading up to the race called for rain everyday including race day.  Luckily the only day there was rain was on Wednesday.  On Saturday there were strong storms in the forecast for the afternoon.  During the pre-race announcements Ryan O'Dell advice for avoiding the rain in the afternoon was to finish early.  I knew that was not going to happen with me.

Friday afternoon after I went for a short ride and ate diner I was going to get my bike ready and get my drop bags ready.  I looked at my front tire and saw one of the knobs had shredded from the tire down to the casing and a few other knobs didn't look good either.  Several 765 Racing teammates were planning to come down on Saturday and do Bourbon hand-ups and watch the race.  I made a quick call to see if one of them could bring me an extra tire in the morning, unfortunately they all decided to stay home.  Potenza meet me at the Uncle Pilot in Lodi  with a selection of tires. 

I didn't think this tire would have another 100 miles in it.

Saturday morning I left my campsite and rode the 2 miles to the start as my warm up. I arrived about 15 minutes before the start and just relaxed before what I knew would be a long day on the bike.

Photo: Kevin Pietrzyk

The race starts in downtown Loudonville and heads up the Tanney Hill, and the first person to the top get  $200.

Photo: Tim Christy

 

Cresting the Tanny Hill with the mighty KP right behind

Photo: Tim Christy

 

 

 

One of my goals was to get through the race without crashing.  I still had some bad bruises on my right arm and leg from a crash the weekend before when I rode two laps of the Mohican trail. Due to weather and other time constraints I was only able to make two trips down to ride the trail before the race. I knew that as long as I continue to fuel properly I would get through the race even though my technical skills were lacking this year. Luckily for me I am fueled by Hammer Nutrition and use the same mixture for training and racing. I use a mixture of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem Heed. Since  the race was going to be hot and humid in the morning I used Enduroltes Extreme. Since they pack 3x the sodium and potassium of the original formula I needed to take one an hour and carry only one tube for the day.  Since Hammer Nutrition was a sponsor of the race know Hammer Gels  and Heed would be at the aid stations was a relief.

 

 

 

I made it through the first few miles without any problems but was getting some odd ghost shifting in a few gears on the rocks and the roots.  It was odd since the bike would not change gears on smoother sections of trail. My chain and cassette were only a month only with less than 200 miles on them.  When I got to aid station #1 I lubed my chain and it helped for a little bit.  When I arrived at aid station #2 the mechanic asked if I needed anything and he grabbed my bike while I refilled my camelback with my favorite mixture of Perpetuem and Heed. When I got back to my bike the mechanic determined that the rear cable was not moving smooth and was hanging up in the housing.  I added a bunch of lube on the cable and it seemed to help for the rest of the ride.

I left aid station #3 15 minutes ahead of  last year and was feeling good. After aid station 3.5 there was several miles of new single track that was fairly muddy when I got to it.  That section turned into  a hike a bike for a little bit and my legs were dead after that.  Right after I left aid Station #4 in Glenmont I had heavy rains for an hour.  I had a difficult time seeing due to the heavy rain. I continued on with my slow pace for the rest of the day and it stayed dry until the very end.  I was past the last aid station with about 2 miles left and I could hear the thunder and it was getting dark.  When I exited the trail of the state park with a mile to go the heavy rains came back again.  I finished in 12:05.  Not my fastest time for a 100 mile race but I survived without any major problems.

2015 Finisher growler

my Mohican 100 collection.

 

Up next is the Funk 200 http://funkbottomsgravel.com

2015 Amish Country Roubiax 100K - DNF

Sunday April 19th was the second Amish Country Roubaix in Millersburg, OH.  I missed the inaugural race in 2013 due to a camping trip with the Scouts.  Last year the race was canceled due to spring flooding and washed out roads.  Since the race is held in Holmes County and uses some of the same roads as the Funk Bottoms Gravel 200K I was looking forward to this race.

My plan was to put the race on my 2015 schedule to build up for Gravel Worlds this year. I started racing in February with the 42 mile Road Apple Roubaix gravel race, the 100K ACR was next on the list followed by 100 Mile HellKaat Hundie, the 200K at Funk Bottoms and topping off with the 155 miles for Gravel Worlds.

Photo: Paul Hamad

 

 

My training for the race was going well and felt I was going to have a good race.  The day before I did an easy 2 hours on cross bike with a few hard efforts and legs felt good. By Saturday afternoon all that had changed.  I had come down with the flu big time.  I was laying on the couch shivering covered in blankets with a fever.  That itself is not good the day before a race then the upset stomach kicked in and I starting vomiting and could not eat or dink anything.  Sunday morning after sleeping on the couch for 12 hours I had a wicked headache when I woke up.  Somehow even though I did not eat Saturday night I still had diarrhea Sunday morning along with the chills and body aches.

 

I was able to dink some Hammer Nutrition HEED and keep it down. After eating a little bit of food Sunday morning and drinking the HEED I felt about the same. Being the glutton for punishment that I am fellow 765 Racing teammate Paul Hamad drove down to the race.

 

For the 100K there was an aid station at mile 28 where you could drop off stuff for second lap.  I made up 4 bottles (2 for each lap) of my favorite mix of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and HEED. Since it was 3 miles from the start to the aid station it seemed like a good warm up to spin my legs and see how I felt. I had no energy and should have just dropped from race then. When all the racers were lining up at the start I contemplated switching to the 50K but my biggest pre-race decision was to vomit or shit my pants. Luckily neither happened but somehow I did manage to get one lap done.  I stopped at the aid station grabbed my bottles of Perpetuem and HEED that I left earlier and decided to bail on second lap.

 

 

 



 





Photo: ACR

Road Apple Roubaix

The inaugural Road Apple Roubaix was held over the weekend.  Racers had the option of doing 42 or 20 miles. Anyone signing up for a gravel race located in the Ohio Snowbelt in February better expect some snow. The day before the race the temperature in the morning was -15.  Luckily it was a balmy 17 degrees and snowing at the start and the temperature warmed up to 25 in the afternoon. There was heavy snowfall entire day which left the gravel roads covered with 6 inches unplowed snow. 

Photo Paul Hamad

 

 

Most of the riders were on fat bikes or mountain bikes. Since I am a glutton for punishment I rode my singles peed cross bike with 35c tires at 40 psi. With the combination of the deep snow and my skinny tires I don't think that I was able to ride more than 30 seconds without slipping and going sideways.  I must have crashed at least a dozen times.  I did slide off the road and into the ditch 4 times.

 

 

 

 

There was an aid station at the halfway point on both routes. Many riders that started out on the long route cut the day short and followed the 20 miles route after the aid station and ended up with 28 mile.  I carried 2 bottles of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and HEED mixed as multi-hour bottles. One of the bottles I carried on my back pocket in a effort to keep the bottle from freezing, it did not work. One of the course officials that was following riders on the course gave me some hot tea from his thermos around mile 30.  The hot tea thawed out my frozen water bottles.  The slippery conditions and constantly wrestling with the bike made eating and drinking a challenge.  When I came to a stop sign I would take a sip of my Perpetuem and HEED mix or have a Hammer GEL 

 

Photo car less Ohio

 

My bike after the 42 miles.

After the race photo  Paul Hamad

 

 

There were 136 riders that started the day and only 5 that were able to finish the entire 42 mile route.  With 3 of finishers on fat bikes I felt like I had a good showing on my SSCX only being 30 minutes behind.  I was the only person to finish on a single speed not a bad showing for my first race with 765 Racing

 



2014 Year in Review

January 228.1 Miles 

February 169.6 Miles

March 465 Miles 

Fools 25k Trail Race 2:55

April 646.1 Miles

May 812.8 Miles

Mohican 100 MTB Race 11:35

June 733.3 Miles

Funk Bottoms Gravel 200K DNF

July 753.1 Miles

July-August was CDCX series which I was 1st overall.

August 806.9 Miles

Gravel Worlds 10:15

September 411 Miles

Akron Marathon 3:48

October 530.9 Miles

November 516.6 Miles

Bills Bad Ass 50K 6:20

NEOCX @ the Fields SSCX and Cat 5

December 529.1 Miles

For 2014 I rode 6602.53 Miles on 186 rides making my average ride 35 miles.  I ran 461 miles in 51 runs averaging just over 9 miles a run.

Busy Weekend of Racing

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. 

 

Photo Aaron Tsur

Photo Aaron Tsur

Photo Aaron Tsur 

Photo Aaron Tsur

Photo Aaron Tsur

Photo Aaron Tsur

Photo Aaron Tsur

 

Cloak-n-Dagger Cyclocross

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