I just got my hands on the GPS data from the race course. The trails are in in GREAT shape and keep getting better every day.

I find this very difficult to believe. Is it possible to have a motor buried deep inside the bike frame and use it during a race without detection? I don’t think so.

I woke up early for the 5:00AM ride. We gathered at WFBS before the rollout with clouds bearing down on us from the West. We made it to Good Hope Rd. before the rain started. The pace was fast but not impossible, I needed to be home by 6:30 so it was a race against time for me, which was all the motivation I needed to keep pushing the pace. We decided to take right turn on County Line Rd. and took a large part of the group with us, since the rain was coming down harder by now. The pace up the short hill on down the other side was lifted which made the ride even more fun. We got back to Port Washington Rd. and the rain was still coming down. As soon was we turned the corner to start the next hill a deer jumped out of the grass and into our path narrowly missing several riders, this thing came within inches of one guy’s wheel, before dashing across the road. It was a VERY close call that would’ve taken out most of the group if it had made contact. With elevated heart rates we kept a fast pace back to Lake Drive and from that point on the pace was slowly ratcheted up until a few of us fell out the back to ride tempo back to WFB. What a way to start the day!

It’s been awhile since I’ve raced on dirt, felt good to be back…sort of. We drove up on Saturday morning to get in a few laps before Sunday’s race. Since I haven’t been on the MTB for awhile I figured there’d be some gear choices and and final adjustments needed. I didn’t feel that great the day before for some reason, I thought that it might have been something that I ate, but didn’t know for sure. We arrived around 2:00PM changed into our gear and hit the trails. The course was dusty and fast and I was running a 34×18 gear which was a good choice given my current level of fitness.  I went out for another lap after some changes to the bike which felt a lot better. We set up camp and got ready for the race.

On race day I felt good after some breakfast. I went out for my warm up ride and got back to the starting line just as Don was doing call-ups for the single-speed class, perhaps I should wear a watch. In a few moments the race started but the roll-out pace wasn’t as fast as I thought it should have been so I quickly jumped to the front after narrowly avoiding a crash. I knew that I didn’t have the fitness to stay at the front but given the amount of dust I knew it was the best place to be. I managed to stay with the lead group to the first climb where all of the single-speeders jumped off and ran up. I held my position for the remainder of the lap and then started to get into my pace. I attacked in the woods on the rocky single track only to be out powered on the open sections. Basically, for me, it was a fun race but the first one each year is always a learning process. During the race I felt that I had the endurance but after my two laps I was exhausted, because of the heat, intensity and dust. I don’t understand how the Experts have the fitness to go hard for 4 laps and sprint a quarter mile to the finish. That was one of the best WORS finishes that I have EVER witnessed!

This was my first year riding the Bone Ride and I could not have chosen a better year to test my fitness becaues the weather was perfect. The ride out to Madison was fast which was helped by the tailwind. We were flying and the groups were very organized except for the occasional surges. I felt great riding into Madison and finished with the second group. We stopped for lunch at Noodles (which rocked, serving  30-40 riders in minutes). We headed to Yellow Jersey to organize before heading back to Milwaukee. This is where I made a huge huge mistake, one that I’m not likely to make at next years ride. I was not able to connect with the SAG that had my supply bag so I wasn’t able to get my second set of bottles or the extremely important chamois cream. I did have enough food but I would’ve liked more. I refilled my bottles at Noodles with water and some lemonade. One the way home I found my self in the second group again and I was feeling great, strong legs, good breathing, no cramping and a 20mph pace. Ten miles outside of Johnson Creek I saw the SAG with my supplies so I pulled out of the paceline to grab my supplies. All was good until I looked back and couldn’t see another group coming so I was forced to ride solo all the way to Johnson’s Creek with the headwind. I saw the Run Away Sports motor home out ahead of me but as soon as I got close it would take off again, taunting me 3 times. I caught a few riders that were ahead of me but they were in bad shape so their pace was too slow to hang with them. Eventually the Wheel and Sprocket van pulled up and shuttled me into Johnson’s Creek where I was able to connect with a group of about 20 riders. We were once again rolling at a 22mph pace when we caught up with another group of 10 riders. Then the pace stepped up and we were flying all the way to Pewaukee. I was battling significant leg cramps, trying to stretch them out on the descents and refueling with my electrolytes. When we rolled into Pewaukee I pulled off to get more water with a large group but most of those riders were ending their rides in Pewaukee, my next big mistake. I caught up to another rider and we worked together all they way to Brookfield where we caught up to another rider on Bluemound Road. and limped our way home. Total distance was just right around 160 miles, at a 20-22 mph average speed  which was right around 8 hours on the bike.

Here is some video footage that I found:

Bone Ride 2010 from Roger Ecks on Vimeo.

Tomorrow I will be riding in the 23rd annual Bone Ride from Milwaukee to Madison…and back 158 miles round trip. Should be a fun test of my fitness or a miserable failure but I am very excited to find out.

That pretty much sums up the conditions from last nights ride. Tracking the weather yesterday left me wondering whether or not we’d be able to ride at all, but it appeared that there would be some relief from the rain in the early afternoon. Since I was not able to ride all week because of several consecutive days of rain I NEEDED to ride. We left Alterra with a significant tailwind which raised the tempo to near epic levels with relative ease and for some reason Bob could not contain his water bottle, dropping it twice before abandoning the ride. Heading out to Mequon, Bruce offered Gwen some strategic paceline coaching, which seemed to work since she managed to hang with us until the halfway point before turning around for a solo ride home. As soon as we turned to the west our tempo was met with a wall of wind, which put an end to our momentum and it was a struggle just to spin the cranks. At the first stop light I was already feeling exhausted and shortly afterwards I was dropped. Fortunately for me the remaining group slowed the pace so that I could struggle to get back on. With only 4 people left from the original group Bruce suggested that they needed all the help  they could get. I kind of hoped they would have just left me.  We pushed through the wind until the route direction changed to straight south. There are a few hills that travel east that we were able to fly up with the tailwind which was actually very cool. Despite falling off the paceline twice, encountering nearly every variety of weather and having a small group, it was a good ride that I am still feeling today..must get more coffee!

Thanks to our fine Team sponsor, Alterra Coffee Roasters for providing a great location to host our Season Kickoff Party/clothing pickup. It was great to see familiar friends and meet the new members. The 2010 season will be a good one and the Alterra Team will be well represented in a variety of classes. WORS #2 will be this weekend hopefully everyone has recovered from all the Lakefront Brewery beverage consumption. The weather this week so far has been awful for riding so we all need to do whatever we can to keep our legs fresh.

Thanks for letting me steal the photo Christine!

I Never thought I could actually get out of bed, gather my gear and start riding before the sun cracked the horizon, but I finally made the commitment and I’m glad I did. I was the first person to arrive at the meeting point and within a few minutes there were about 15 others. Some familiar but most not, which was cool since it’s fun to ride with new people. We left at 5:30 AM and picked up several other riders climbing Klode Park Hill. I found myself at the front pulling on several hills, a mistake that I’m not likely not make on future rides. This group was fast and the pace was consistently 20+ with several sprints, including the effort that starts at Green Tree Road and continues to the crosswalk at the bottom of Klode Hill on our return. This is an excellent way to start your day while getting some extra mileage in for the week. If any one would like to join the ride send me an email so I can give you the details. Currently the ride starts at 5:30AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays but will be moved to 5:15AM for the remainder of the season.