Extreme Momentum

MATTS Bong 1.5 30K TT
May 31, 2009 – Kansasville, WI
Masters 30+ – 5th – 42.57.68
276 watts – 25.8 MPH

Some days you have it, some days you don’t. Today was my first major target race of the year–the Bong and a Half.  That’s right, we’ve had the Single Bong (20K) and the Double Bong (40K), now we have the Bong 1.5 (30K).  I thought this would be the right distance and time to shoot for another W in Masters 30+ and try to crack 26.5 MPH. Based on my training and results to date, I thought everyone had come together (including the weather for once).

Yeah, well, sometimes I think the target race thing is the ultimate jinx.  I think I’ve had 1-2 target races in my life, where I’ve had a great performance.  Most of the time, my best results come when I least expect it.  Still, they are important to help structure your training cycles.

Conditions couldn’t have been anymore perfect.  Sunny, low 60s, and slight SE wind at 5 MPH.  I immediately knew I’d be going for the deep killer–the Hed Stinger 9. My legs felt great and I had decent sleep throughout the week.  In fact, I had an early start time even though I hadn’t registered until a few days before the race.  I thought this would be a low key affair and perfect chance to hammer.  Ha!

Let’s just say I was happy to have preregistered.  With all of the races this weekend, I didn’t think many people would show up to a TT.  Turns out nearly 300 did, when we would normally get about 100.  Vision Quest alone brought almost 50. The DoR line snaked down the hall, but the preregistration line was empty.  Woohoo! I decided to register for a second race, but I knew the logistics would prove challenging.

Unlike the Single and Double Bongs which start and finish in the same spot, the Bong 1.5 would start near registration but finish on the far side of loop course.  Thus, riders would have to ride about 6 miles back to the start. I had about 40 minutes between my races, so I figured this would be OK. My plan was to go hardest for my first race, then just do the second as part of my training and build some more TT endurance.

I got a good warm-up in before my first race and got to the line with about 2 minutes before my start. I felt pretty good the first 10K, but soon started to get fatigued.  Uh, oh.  Considering my TTing experience, I knew this wasn’t a good sign. The wind was neglible, in fact it was weird racing this course without wind.  Normally, it’s about 10-15 MPH so you have to gauge when to really push it considering the rectangular and rolling nature of the Bong course.

As my race progressed, I just focused on the riders in front of me and didn’t worry about the numbers.  The thirty second start intervals ensured their were lots of riders out on the course to chase.  Rounding the corner on my first lap, I started having memories of my crash last year when I wiped out at nearly 30 MPH and broke my clavicle.  Let’s just say I took it a little slower this year.

After the turn, I had a Vision Quest rider pass me.  I thought the had just started so I latched onto him hoping that I could feed off his pace.  Turns out he had started 30 second behind me!  Had I known this, I might have pushed it more; however, I don’t know how much more I could have pushed it.  I was pretty spent at the finish. I knew I had a decent time, but it wasn’t a stellar performance.

Looking back at my power data, I was on track for my first 10K, but my last 10K was off over the same part of the course. Uh. It was a mediocre, uneventful race for me, but I at least felt as if I gave it my all.  Like I said, some days you have it, some days you don’t.

Here’s my data for the day:

With a 4-day Memorial Day weekend, I decided to beat the crowds and head up to Kettle Moraine for some trail running and MTBing. The southern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest is one of my favorite places for trail running and MTBing. It’s got enough ups and downs to make it physically demanding and the scenery is great. My plan was to do a 5 mile run, then about a 2-3 hour MTB ride.

The weather was gorgeous with partly cloudy skies and temps around 70 degrees F. A perfect spring day. I got up to the trails just before lunch time and figured I could get an easy run in, then eat, and bike later. The trail was great and I hadn’t run there in a few years. My 5 mile run turned into nearly 7 miles and I went harder than I planned. Oh, well, I was having fun. Time to go get some lunch at the La Grange General Store.

Run at the Kettle Moraine Nordic Trails at EveryTrail

I was pretty cooked after my run. Even though I hydrated well beforehand, I think I underestimated the sun and warm weather. I was excited to get MTBing though and headed out on the Blue trail. I was feeling pretty good eager to see the new Connector trails, since I hadn’t ridden them in a few years. The trails were in awesome shape, but I was beginning to get pretty tire and dehydrated by the time I got up to Emma Carlin. I had fun riding some of the new trail reroutes. Check out one of the photos below of the scenic overlook where the connector trails hook up.

I thought my ride home would be easy. Ha! The trails were a little more technical heading south and my fatigue made them more of a challenge. I ended up catching my bike on q tree and went over the handlebars. Thankfully, I landed in the brush. I got a little scraped up, but my handlebars were completely backwards. Great, and I still had about 5 miles to go. This situation is why you always carry a multi-tool with you while MTBing. A few adjustments and I was off. I opted to ride the roads back to the parking lot, rather than tackling the trails some more.

Overall, another fun day at Kettle, even if I got well done.

Southern Kettle Moraine Trails (w/connector) at EveryTrail

And the power to screw up.  That sums up how I was feeling when I decided to replace the bearings on my commuting Powertap this weekend.  I had just gotten my training Powertap back from Saris for a similar repair, but that one was covered warranty.  This one was not.

The potholes and rough winter riding conditions had caused one of the bearings to freeze up and I was a weird swaying sensation at times when I used this wheel.  I found some 6901 cartridge bearings on sale (the Powertap hub uses four).  If done right, this whole repair would cost me just $25. I had replaced bearings in other hubs before, so my confidence was pretty high.

Well, taking the hub apart was easy.  I didn’t need to remove any of the electronics and I was able to tap out the old bearings with a screwdriver.  I also pressed the new bearings in with a simple bolt and washers setup. Things were going great and until I installed the  cassette.

The old freehub shell was alloy and fairly worn down, and I ended up cross threading the lock-ring. Crap. Talk about a rookie mistake. Well, the freehub was pretty much gone and I probably needed a new one anyway, so I ordered one from Saris.

Yep, easy to take apart, easy to put back together, and easy to screw up even at the end.

Here are the axle, freehub, and bearings from a Powertap hub.