February | 2014 | Steve Tilford

Yesterday I did the 700 mile drive to Austin from Topeka. It was pretty uneventful. I’ve done it a ton of times. The key is the correct timing. Hitting Oklahoma City, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin at the appropriate times makes for a much shorter duration. I thought I was off yesterday, getting to Austin at a little after 6, but it turned out fine.

I didn’t ride at all yesterday. That is only the 2nd day off I’ve taken in February. I slept 10 1/2 hours last night. I like getting big sleep. I was feeling pretty worked the last couple days, so maybe the day off and the sleep will get me back to a level I’m alright with.

I’m going over to the MTB course today and pre-ride. It is 40 miles away. First, I’m going to go for a couple hour road ride so I don’t get to the course all stiff and out-of-sorts. The course used to be on a ranch that owned, near Dripping Springs. I think it is not there anymore. I’ve ridden my road bike out there, on my way to Johnson City, but have never been by the MTB race course. I haven’t ridden off-road since the Berryman Epic last fall, so I’m sure to be pretty rusty.

Okay, I should get my bikes out of the car and check them out. Still supposed to be 80 here on Saturday. Wish they would downgrade that temperature some. But, back in Topeka, the high is forecast to be 9 for Sunday’s race. I’m not sure which is worse/better.

Adam Mill's Think FInance Team was here already. They brought their trailer and van down for the two weekends.

Adam Mill’s Think FInance Team was here already. They brought there trailer and van down for the two weekends.

So, we ended up with a blow up bed in the exercise room, which is fine.

Ann was a big LAF supporter. I’m not sure if sleeping under this is a good thing or not.

The Think guys headed out for a 5 hour ride this morning. They made a Skatch Lab receipe of sticky rice things to carry with them.

The wrapped them in foil and stuffed them into their jersey pockets. I don’t have enough energy to do that nowadays.

Alright, let me state this up front, MTB racing takes a lot more energy than road racing. Anyway you cut it, the sport takes more time and energy than any road race out there. Let’s just forgot the training for a bit, the MTB sport has so many more time consuming aspects that it wins hands down.

Disclaimer, I haven’t ridden a MTB off-road in around 5 months. So, I obviously hadn’t been keeping a close eye on the bicycle itself. My bikes never get too out of race tune, but like I posted a couple days ago, my bike is a bit dates. And pieced together. It is 9 speed, has Trudi’s STX front disc brake caliper and lever, and it just generally a little behind the times. This isn’t any excuse. The bike is good enough. It isn’t the weak link in the chain of things.

Pre-riding the course yesterday was a little demoralizing initially. It took nearly an hour to drive out there. By the time I got there, I had a splitting headache. Let me tell you, pre-riding a rocky, loose MTB course, when you haven’t ridden off-road in months, with a splitting headache, isn’t very fun. I was surprised how bad I was. But, it got better.

After a start lap and one full lap, the headache got better. I got better too. I have experienced this before, horrible bike handling skills that improve very quickly. By the time I was done with the 2nd lap, I’d grade my bike handling as a C-. The problem was I flatted riding around. I felt the latex spray on my legs and stopped pretty quickly. The hole was too big to seal on its own. Luckily Doug Long, a buddy of mine from Missouri, came riding up. He had a plug. So, Doug plugs the hole and puts some extra air in it. It was like having a NASCAR pit crew at my disposal. I was on my way.

On the next lap, I am skidding down a descent and I first feel, then hear latex spray again. The plug had come out, but it was laying right there. So, I take a multi-tool and use a small allen key to push the plug back in. I push it in further this time. Add air, and am off again.

The last lap I’d give myself a C+ for bike handling. And the race is going to be a lot of bike handling.

The course is just over 3 miles, I think. And nearly the whole thing is single-track. The passing is not readily available. So, the start is going to be important. After that, it is just snakey. With lots of bigs rocks. I was surprised how flat the course it. There are a few little, dinky climbs, but nothing really. There is one climb that takes minute, maybe less. I haven’t ridden a course that is this flat and short, maybe ever. That’s not saying it is going to be easy. It is very rocky and technical. There are a ton of little accelerations needed. That isn’t something I’m very good at right now. There is really no place on the course to stand up and climb or really accelerate off your seat. That is bad for the home team too.

But, this is a learning experience. I’m just a little torqued today. We started back to Austin after 4:30 and realized that it would put us on MOPAC at exactly the wrong time. So, I stopped and washed my bike and the salt of the Isuzu in Dripping Springs. Heading to Austin, I saw this place called Pieous with a bunch of cars parked in the lot. Trudi looked it up on her phone and it said it was a wood-fired pizza place. So, U-turn and there we were, before 6, eating dinner.

Pieous was great. Simple, home cooked, natural ingredient food, served by super nice and quick people. If you have a chance, it’s way out West on 290, but worth the stop.

So, I don’t have any air in my rear tire as of now. I need to get use of an air compressor to inflate it. I got a bunch of glitter from Doug Long, so that should make the latex way more able to seal a bigger hole. I’m heading over to the course today to get a number and maybe ride one more lap. I have a tendency to get so tired before MTB races by pre-riding, that I’m wasted by the time the race starts. I’m going to try to avoid that scenario today, but you never know.