Mountain Bike Training at the Beach????

Probably an odd title might be the first reaction to this post, but if you just stick with it, I'll try and make some sense out of it.  Living in Charlotte NC is a blessing as someone who loves to mountain bike.  Locally we have access to some great trail systems; U.S. National White Water Center, Lake Norman State Park, Sherman Branch, Rocky River Trails and if we feel like venturing just a couple hours away we have World Class MTB locations like Dupont State Forest, Pisgah, Warrior Creek, Tsali I mean seriously folks how fricking lucky are we!  We get to ride and train in some of the best and toughest trails around.  I just competed in The Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell (you can read my race report in an earlier posting) one of the hardest 1 day MTB races around.  I have reached on many other events in SC, GA VA and TN and am always surprised by first, the number of Floridians that compete and Secondly by how well some of them do!  I know I'm not the only one who holds this opinion.  Don't get me wrong this isn't a rant against them but rather an intriguing look into this phenomenon.  Now I've ridden both road and MTB in Florida and its not without its own good routes and trails but the one thing they do lack is altitude and sustained climbs...a plethora of which we have.  So how do these guys and gals do so well when they don't have the terrain to train on that they ultimately travel to race on?  Here is my theory:

I spent the last week visit visiting my dad in Pawley's Island SC.  Pawley's is located south of Myrtle Beach not far from Georgetown SC.  Its a small island that calls itself Shabby Chic.  Its a nice place, good restaurants without the crowds of MB.  There are no MTB trails that I have found but they do have a nice Pathway that runs along HWY 17 called Wacamaw Neck Bikeway.  the Bikeway meanders from Litchfield (the next town up form Pawley's) Past Huntington Beach State Park and up to Murrell's Inlet.

Waccamaw Neck BW

Then There is Old Kings HWY,  it parallels HWY 17 and is very well know as the place to ride in Pawley's and Litchfield.  It s a pretty safe road, dead flat and and with 3 turns i can extend it to 8 miles  I think I know every bump, crack and loose bit of asphalt on that stretch of road. It gets incredibly boring but it is a great for intervals.

To give myself some variety I did bring a road bike and mountain bike...I ended up only riding the road bike once.  So i sent most of my time on Kings HWY.  Back to my theory though.  On one had miles are miles and saddle time is saddle time.  With a structured workout plan you can get fit and fast regardless of terrain.  The one constant at the beach is wind.  The the wind is the crux of my theory.  Climbing is basically sustained resistance and depending on the severity of the grade typically involves a lower cadence than you are usually accustomed to.  Just like an uphill grade provides resistance so does wind.  The beach and FLA have plenty of that on hand.  So in essence Kings HWY became a sustained hard effort when going into the wind...its like an 8 mile climb.  If you ride enough into the wind...you will get to be a strong climber of this I have no doubt.  There is one more part to the theory and its the mental side.  Riding on flat boring terrain is mentally exhausting.  It takes a lot of motivation to repeatedly go out on the same stretch of road and attempt to get in a good workout. Try getting in an 3hr ride on a 8 mile stretch of road and you'll know what I mean.  Part of getting through tough climbs is being mentally tough...no one doesn't hurt when going uphill, even the best climbers in the world will tell you that.  

The one thing my theory does not account for is descending skills and bike handling.  I suppose the FLA crowd can get good at bike handling..there is single track and you can hone your bike skills there like anywhere else; but I have found most of the FLA crowd to be less than skilled on technical downhills...you just can't substitute that skill set without actually having technical downhills.

Now I didn't spend all my riding time on Old kings Hwy.  I was able to string together a quasi urban assault linking sections of Old Kings Hwy, Pawleys Island, the Waccamaw Neck Bikeway, and Old Hwy 17 in Murrell's Inlet.  Here is what it looked like

My totals for the 6 days at the beach:

• 194.01 miles
• Avg speed: 16.2 mph
• Cal Burned 6571 
• Normalized Power Avg 199

Finally some random pics form my rides.  Thanks for reading.

Powered by Jimmie Johnson Foundation

TotalCyclist MTB team powered by the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. What does that mean, powered by Jimmie Johnson Foundation ? In essence we are advocates, partners and ambassadors for the foundation. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation (JJF) focuses on providing funding for K-12 public education. To date the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has contributed more than $7.7 million to various organizations. This ties directly to one of the core principals of our team: Teaching. Everyone on the team has benefited from the generosity of others who were willing to share time and information; we are committed to exactly the same. We strive to share our expertise and experience (good and bad!) to anyone who seeks it. Additionally we all actively support local skills clinics and strive to assist anyone new to the sport as well as encourage children to take up cycling. As part of our efforts to assist JJF, a substantial portion of all sponsorship funds raised by the team are contributed to the Foundation.


As an athlete Jimmie has seen the benefits in the race car of performing endurance sports and cycling off the track. Only seems natural he would encourage others to do the same, which led to the creation of the JJF Wellness Challenge. In its current format the challenge consists of three events: 5k run, and two sprint triathlons with the proceeds from the events going to further benefit public schools. More local races, supporting local schools add in a dose of competition and a healthy purse! Everyone wins! With the 5k completed, we are rapidly coming up on the second event- Jimmie Johnson Foundation Cane Creek Sprint Triathlon on Aug. 11th, 2015. Just five days away! Before you starting thinking of reasons not to enter......No excuses! There is a spot for everyone! You can register to race here . If your not quite up to doing the whole race there is a relay class. Or if it's a recovery week, sign up to volunteer ! Don't live in the area? Jimmie will send a jet to pick you up!!  (Not true... but he might with the right donation.)  All kidding aside, if you can't get to the event you can always donate directly to the foundation or buy some gear to support JJF. If you really can't make it and none of that was enough to entice you..... this is my final offer.... buy a raffle ticket to win JJ's Chevy! (Unlike the jet transportation this is true) Only 4848 tickets available! Great odds! And if you win... they will pay the taxes! How sweet is that? I read most of the fine print (okay skimmed) and surprisingly employees of the other Home Improvement company are eligible. (Really should address that next time) Unfortunately it is limited to residents of the USA. So to all my Canadian relatives, you are out of luck.....or buy a ticket in my name and we will work something out. I promise! See you at the race!

So This is my first blog post of 2015!  Caution...its kinda long..I'm outa practice!
I could list a number of reasons why I haven't, suffice it to say I've just been lazy!  I have had a pretty good mountain biking season; I won the Super Sport category at the Charlotte Winter Short Track, managed a controversial 7th at the less than organized USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships, and have had a couple podium finishes in the Charlotte Mountain Bike Series.  Not long after MTB Marathon Nationals I decided to throw in for one of the more Epic endurance mountain bike races in the Southeast ORAMM.  In its 16th year The Off-Road Assault on Mt Mitchell or better known as ORAMM has challenged Pro's, Elite, and everyday amateurs with one of the toughest one day challenges on a mountain bike.  The event has been hosted by Blue Ridge Adventures who put on some great events and ORAMM doesn't disappoint.  Here are the basic stats: 60 miles, 10500 ft of cumulative climbing.  The race takes place the last weekend in July and the weather is generally hot.  The Total Cyclist Mountain Bike Team was well represented. Mike Schafer, Jim Heckman, Andy Hilling and Myself where in the Masters 40+ Division. Mike Tam in the Open Division andKevin Brown in Single Speed Division.  Kevin was taking on the Jerdon Mountain Challenge a shorter but still very difficult race put on by the same promoter the day before ORAMM.  The Jerdon/ORAMM double is insane! Kevin had a great race at Jerdon taking the win in single speed.

The main reason I had never considered ORAMM was it took place the same weekend as 24 Hours of Booty. I lost my mom to brain cancer and my aunt to throat cancer, so needless to say its an important ride to me.  I'm committed to 24HOB so I knew this would be a big weekend for me.  I geared up friday night July 24 for my 8th 24HOB ride.  I had to make the decision to cut my usual 300mile goal a bit short.  24HOB is an amazing experience. it begins at 7pm Friday and goes to 7PM Saturday.  I was lucky to ride the loop with some amazing people.  My friend Kaitlyn Cofty Walton and I rode into the night and then I met up with teammate Mike Tam until we decided we had to eat.

Saturday July 25.  I packed up the Sprinter van in the a.m. and headed up to Old Fort, NC the host town for ORAMM and Jerdon.  Mike Schafer his wife Kim, and friends Garret Hyer and Keith Lechleidner had set up camp at a local campground close to the race start.  Saturday afternoon was spent getting the race packet and getting my Giant XTC Advanced SL 27.5  ready for the next day.  We had most everything done by early afternoon and settled into relaxing with a few adult beverages and talking race strategy before we headed to bed.  

Now, I have a Sportsmobile Sprinter Van Conversion that is an ideal way to travel and stay for bike races.  We had a light rain as I headed off to bed..not strong enough to worry about changing tire choice but would make race day a bit more interesting.  

Sunday July 26 Race day.  I could say I woke up at 5:30 am to prep for the 8a.m start but that would be true considering I really don't think I slept more than 2 hours.  Not the best way to start a big race. I had my customary coffee, oatmeal, 1st breakfast and then my frosted mini wheat's, beat juice and Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration Mix 2nd breakfast.  Mike, Keith and I headed out at 7:15 and rode the 2.5miles over to the race start.  Garrett, Kim and Keith's wife would be handling race day support for us(essential for fast times and ease or reloading).  There are 4 supported rest stops but you have to organize your nutrition/hydration, leave it at race start and the promotors shuttle it to the rest stops..the volunteers(who are awesome!)at the rest stops help you get your bags but its time consuming with 500racers.  Having your own support  makes a world of difference.

The Race:  So I had a reach goal to cover the 60 miles in 5hours.  You might ask, having never done the race how I cam up with that number.  Mike Schafer is a vet of the race and a strong rider, we are pretty close in ability and he finished last year in 5hr:12min.  Seemed like a legitimate goal to shoot for.  We where able to line up pretty much in the front row which would make the start less stressful and easier to keep up wit the super fast guys.  There is a neutral start out of town and the pace picks up after that.  My plan was to stay in the top 10-20 riders up the first climb..old U.S. 70 which is paved and leads you up to the first single track climb Kitsuma.  As we entered old 70 there where about 40 riders joking for position..this pretty much stayed the same all the way up.  The pace was incredibly hard and I was wondering how many of these guys could hold the pace.  At the top of old 70 there is a gate that everyone has to go around single file...knowing this the pace got crazy fast 500meters before the gate..I made the decision to sprint it out and reached the gate about 11th.  This ended up being the right move as a group of about 15 separated form the rest.  

1st Kitsuma climb and decent:  This section was mostly a blur..my heart rate was pegged from the effort on 70 and I just wanted to hang on. Kitsuma climb is not long its the short steep peak on the first climb above but it does hurt after a hard effort.  Garrett and support where at the bottom of Kitusama and the transition to Star gap. I took a bottle and kept going.  At this point I was Josh Whitmoore (Green life/Organic Valley), Bob McCarty(Stradalli)multi-time national champion)), Nick Bragg (Piney Flats)  and Ross Bowden (Champion Systems), There where about 5 racers a couple min up the road.  We all worked together on the road until the entrance to Star Gap.  I lost contact with all on Star Gap...it has a couple technical switchbacks and I did not navigate them well.  I knew I could make some time up in the section between Star gap and rest area 2 called Jacobs creek.  This section is gravel forest service road and features rolling climbs and fast lose gravel descents.  I made good progress was able to first catch Ross on the decent and caught Josh as we approached rest area 2(Garrett was set up just after that at the beginning of Curtis Creek.  I took 2 more bottles of NUUN and an ice pack Garret had prepared (he stuffed it down my jersey...so nice!).  I soon caught Wes Richards (last years Single Speed Winner) and not long after that Josh and Ross bridged up to us.  Curtis creek takes you from about mile 29-36 and its all climbing the steepest is the middle third and is bout 13%.  The four of us took turns setting pace on the climb till mile 32 where Wes was able to accelerate at a pace we couldn't match.  At some point Josh and I dropped Ross but we where caught by a super fast Jacob McGahey (Industry Nine) about 1.5 miles form the BRP)  Josh and Jacob dropped me but i was able to catch back up as they entered the BRP)  the three of us worked together  on the 5 mile stretch of the BRP to the Hike-ABike section up to Heartbreak-ridge.  We where caught by Brad Cooper(Motor Mile Racing last years 40+winner) during that hike.

Heartbreak-Star-Gap-Mill Creek 2nd Kitsuma

Jacob and Josh got a head start on the decent of heartbreak and separated quickly..I was able to get around Brad in short order.  I was taking chances and eventually it caught up and I crashed and fell down the side of HBR about ten feet.  I lost a bottle but was otherwise ok.  I remounted as quick as I could but Brad had passed me.  I descended solo for a while and caught Josh just before the Star Gap decent. Near the bottom of Star Gap I caught back up to Brad...Jacob was out of sight.  At the transition from Star Gap to Mill Creek I took two more bottles, 1 water 1 NUUN some beet juice and the best surprise of the day, another unexpected ice pack on down the jersey(OMG that was heaven!).  My time at this point was about 4hrs15min ( knew that the rest of the course would take about an hour give or take (the 5hr goal would be very tough).  Brad didn't stop and was able to get a gap that he never relinquished.  I climbed Mill Creek and the 2nd Kitsuma climb solo and everything started falling apart..i started to cramp and I felt like legs full of concrete.  I just wanted to get to the bottom of Kitsuma...it was down hill on nice pavement to the finish.  "The mind is the enemy" one of my favorite quotes from The Princess Bride. The decent down Kitsuma the 2nd time seemed forever!  Its not actually all decent, there are three pitchy climbs and they absolutely where soul crushing when you are just looking to get to the bottom.  I got to the bottom of Kitsuma at bout 5hr52min.  I gave the  last few miles to the finish everything I had left in the tank.  It was close but I finished in 5hr 6min. Never disappointed and super happy with the effort.  

Stats:

5th place Masters 40+

Mike Schafer finished 6th! in 5hr12min (2 Top tens for TC athletes)

16th place Overall

10500 ft of climbing

6 bottles of NUUN

2 bottles water

2 pantyhose stuffed with ice

4500 calories burned

1 very tired dude