Last weekend was the first of many Marathon races of my very busy season.  The race, held in nearby northern Delaware on the banks of the Brandywine River was the annual Escape from Granogue in honor of the late Andrew Mein.  Don't know who he was, but apparently he was a pretty chill guy.  I cleaned my bike up the day before and stood looking out the window at the rain wondering what the weather was going to be like for the race.  It flip-flopped from rain, to sunny, to possible morning rain, and finally back to sunny.  Lucky me.  Although the French Creek Endurance race was fun last year, I do not wish a repeat performance by having to spend 4 hrs in the rain on one of the more brutal courses of the season.  And Granogue is already wet, so why add more (FYI: the 06 French Creek 6hr took place on 4/22/06, a 40 degree day where it rained steadily and sometimes pretty hard for the entire 6hrs of the race... so much cramping)? 



Anyway, Sunday morning, the race looked to be off to a good start.  It was sunny, but a bit windy which wouldn't be a problem once we got into the woods.  It was a very big field, one of the biggest MASS Endurance fields I have ever seen.  We were the first group to go off, followed by the Sport class (my class in XC).  At the gun, we sprinted up the paced climb just like an XC race.  At the top of the climb, I was sitting in 4th, but I didn't call it quits or anything because we still had 4 hrs of racing to go.  I settled into my pace and began to crank out laps.  The course was a little (ok... a lot) wet in most sections, especially the loose, off-camber ones...mmmmmmm.  Every root was slick, which made stunning bike handling skills a must for this course.  Contrary to what most people think of Delaware, this was no roadie course.  All the singletrack was slick and very tight.  Especially the two hairpin switchbacks on the singletrack by the river.  I cleared them on my 4th lap, which gave me a big mental boost because they had eluded me last year and the year before that.  Turns out I was just picking the wrong line.



My new nutrition strategy worked out fantastically.  I had a small paper cup of food in my jersey pocket and on cue from my watch timer I ate something from it every 40 min.  Thank you Chris Eatough for this excellent nutrition tip at the Michaux Maximus.  Eating early and often really helps keep your energy level up.  It was amazing how much better I felt eating every 40 min, not just every lap.  I also cut back on energy gel use, only taking a shot from my gel bottle before my last lap.  On top of that, I finally found an energy drink that does not make me want to throw up and not eat (*cough* Cytomax *cough*).  Hammer Perpetuum is amazing!  Although initially the dreamsicle taste put me off (I'm allergic to milk and don't really like the taste of it), it was fine during the race.  Quite pleasant actually, although I need to drink more of it next time.  (I didn't finish my 1 bottle an hour like I should have).  I felt it at the end with cramps coming on during my final ascent of the Koppenburg fireroad climb that finishes every lap.  Then again I was sprinting up it... that probably helped. 



All in all the race went great.  I cleaned the short 20% grade hill behind the timing area every lap, which was an accomplishment because I had never cleaned it before.  I ended up doing 5 laps (a bit more than 6mi per lap) in 4:46.  That put me 20th overall (of all endurance racers, Women, Men's Open, SS, and Men's 45+), which I guess wasn't too bad because there were about 35 finishers.  I was beat by most if not all of the SSers though.  In my class, which is what counts for the championship, I got 9th, which is very good.  Best place I've ever had in a Marathon.  It will be better next time, though.  The Spider performed flawlessly, as did the new wheels.  They make the bike noticeably lighter, making it easier to handle at hour 4 of the race.  Now I need a good set of lighter, tubeless, racing tires.  The Kenda Nevegal/Blue Groove clincher tires provide great traction, but aren't tubeless, are a bit heavy and roll a bit slower then I'd like them to.  I think some Karma's are in order.  Maybe a sponsorship from Kenda too... hmmm?



So in other news, I'm ordering a road bike soon, probably next week.  For training purposes... I have a 101 mile race in August (Yeah!).  And in the spirit of me being a poor college student, I will be getting a bike that will serve two purposes, getting around at school, and road training: a 2007 Schwinn Madison fixed gear ($450).  Pretty sick.  I'm excited, and I can't wait to put some miles on it.  Well, that's all for now, next race is 6/2-6/3: the Tour De Tykes XC and STXC in Danville, PA.

So I just picked up some sweet new wheels for the Spider.  My old wheels (FSA XC300's, solid wheels, a bit heavy though) were on the way out after less than a year of use after the LBS in Carlisle overtightened all of the spokes, stripping out the rim eyelets.  Evan at Bean's Bikes (LBS back home), got the wheels true, and loosened the spokes so they would hold up for a while.  They are still holding true, but were making me really nervous at the French Creek race last Sunday as I was attacking rock gardens pretty hard and expecting to pop spokes any minute.  Upon checking my race callender for June (3 races: 1 marathon, 1 XC, 1weekend festival w/ XC and STXC) I realized that I did not want to be worrying about/dealing with wheel issues then so I dropped the scratch on a new wheelset.  I now have a brand new set of Mavic Crossmax SLR's on my bike!!!  GAH!!! They are so nice, and light to boot.  They came with high recommendations by Sean from Bean's, and I'm super stoked to get some riding time on them before my first Marathon race this weekend.  Look in my pictures section for a pic of them on my bike.



 Peace, Jake

I had finals last week and didn't have time to update anything.  Anyway, we'll start with the Michaux Maximus last weekend.  I raced my friend's rigid singlespeed because I snapped a pivot axle on my Spider the week before the race... I know bummer right.  But it's fixed now and that;s what matters.



Anyway, the race went really well, I sprinted from the gun, and found my self in second position for most of the beginning climb.  On the descent, two guys dropped me because they both had some form of suspension and could handle the rough descent better than I could on my rigid.  It's ok though, I still hammered out the rest of the course and finished about 1.5 minutes behind second place.  Not bad for not actually having my bike. 



I'm glad my bike is fixed now, because I would have died at French Creek today if it wasn't and I was riding something with less gears and suspension.  At the beginning of the race, I was right in the lead pack coming up the gravel road climb and feeling pretty decent.  We dropped into the singletrack, and by that time I was feeling less decent and the leaders were a ways ahead of me.  I don't know why I had no speed today, but I just felt slow.  I was also having trouble on climbs, which I think was a matter of line choice.  I have lost all my line choosing skills.  Anyway, I got into my rythem on the singletrack and started to pick through the field, sort of.  I'm just not as fast as all these sport guys, and I can't figure out why.  Oh well...



Once we came around the Yellow/white trail and headed off up the orange, I dropped into a descent with two other guys.  We were coming down this trail, which I don't normally ride because it's closed to bikes usually, and we got to a "T" intersections, with one trail continuing down, and another turning up.  We all went left and headed down.  After about a quarter of a mile, we realized that we were no longer on the race course.  We let out a collective four letter word which I shall not mention, turned around and tried to find the turn we had missed.  We found it: the right hander at the bottom of the hill.  On the way back I saw the course tape lying in the bushes and the arrow point right high up in some tree, almost at the other side of the corner.  Bad, I probably lost five or six places in that.  The three of us continued down the course.  The quickly dropped me as I was starting to feel bad by then.  I made it back to the finish a bit later in 18th place, 13min behind the winner.  What a crappy day.   On a good note, the bike performed great!  I need to ride it more to get used to its little quirks still, but it is fantastic.  I can't wait to get a new wheelset for it and make it even lighter!



Anyway, that's all for now.  I have my first marathon event next weekend.  Depending on the results from that, I may shift my focus from XC to marathon for the rest of the season.  I would still do the XC, but mainly train for the longer events.  We'll see.  See ya next week.  Pictures will be up soon.



Jake