Training Log Archive: FoxShadow

Had a great ride at the long today. Of course, some bobbles here and there, maybe 5 minutes max, but overall I finally was taking in all of the information on the map, and really getting into a comfortable groove. I had a blast!

Of course, didn't beat many riders, as the long course is limited to the top riders in the world, but I'm so happy to be leaving with my best effort laid out on the final day here in Estonia.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get here, it was a brilliant experience.

Perhaps more later, I need to eat. And shower. And go back to the US.

Thanks to tRicky for the jersey swap.

C • Better than a wife swap 1

warm up before the long, nice and easy.

MTBO Worlds. Relay.

Started out much more calm today, able to read the map from the gun. Of course, this also meant that I went out faily slowly. I was in about 25th of 31 after the 2nd control, it seemed.

From 5 to 6 I headed off to the 23rd control, located right along my route, and I can spun my map upsidedown and was not reading the numbers as well as I should have. Only a minute lost though, I'd suspect.

The rest of the first map was fairly smooth, although I felt slow, but only because other riders were screaming around so fast. I did take a correct turn down a road only to get yelled at in Estonian, so I turned around for fear that it was out of bounds and they were trying to help. I changed my route, and I suspect it cost over a minute. In retrospect, I think they were either cheering me, or just being crazy. Oh well, thanks goodness it did not cost out team anything.

I finished a few minutes back of a few team, and just ahead of the Japanese, whch was one goal of mine of course. A decent ride, if not a bit slow and methodical - out number one priority was to punch clean and avoid a DQ - mission accomplished.

Felt good to have the top american finish again today.

Headed out with the group to spin out the legs today. It was a bit wet but it was nice to get some good practice on the map, as we had the model event map that borders tomorrow's relay course on our map boards.

After a bit of map practice we spun out into the country for 30 minutes. I should have come in after that but I wanted to get more practice on the map, which was nice, but a 75 minute ride is too long for an active recovery day. It's ok, I went nice and easy, and every bit of navigational practice is very helpful.

Warm up for the middle distance. Hill repeats, mostly at an easy pace. The warm-up area was on what must have been the bunny hill - no lift there anymore despite it being shown on the map.

MTBO Worlds. The middle distance race.

Out of the start I was trying my best to chill out and read the map. I had the route to #1 fairly well memorized - but had to stop for at least 10 seconds to confirm my location at one point. Then on to number two. This control was maddening in retrospect - I just failed to see my tiny right hand turn. What's more, my compass was reading SW as I passed the trail, but the trail is shows and WSW on the map. I know, it's a small difference, but I was almost trying so hard that it made it worse. Maddening. My split was 8:07 when I finally found the control, and my chances at a top half result were already gone.

But there is good news. My mind had slowed down now. Off to #3 I went, executed my plan well, same with #4, the spectator control. Then throughout the rest of the day I was on. Not perfect, and a disappointing bobble at both #7 and #8, but a look at my splits shows that I was moving at mid-pack or better paces for the rest of the race. I am happy with that, of course. the caveat being that I was pulled along by two riders, each for 3-5 controls. But that's part of the sport, and I'm happy to say that I showed him one of the controls at one point as well, so I was at least partially on the map. I have always been a decent follower/goat racer.

It is my hope that I can stay on the map as well as take advantage of being what the austrians call a "busrider" on the long course.

The result was that I beat 17 riders. I am happy with that. I'd like to repeat that result in the long event, if not improve. Today's ride overall was good all things considered. I had the 2nd fastest split at the finish sprint, the 14th fastest to #9, a 24th fastest, and a handful of other competitive splits.

Tomorrow though, is the relay, and following will generally be a very dangerous proposition, so again the challenge is to slow the mind, and read the map, despite the violent shaking of the bike and strenuous effort of trail riding. The austrians tell me that with practice the sport really slows down, I am only seeing this during limited periods, but I can see it. Just need to find it more often in the coming days. If not, then I'll be the best busrider I can be.

In other news, my fantasy MTBO team is terrible. Argh.

Last note. I could not be happier with my fitness on the bike. I have not had an off day yet this trip (knock on wood), and generally feel like I can hang with all but the fastest riders out there. Hopefully that bodes well for doing back to back AR nationals this fall.

C • Compass 2

MTBO Worlds. A humbling kick to the jimmy on today's sprint map. It was just madness! I was not prepared for the many many visible controls on course, or the difficulty to relocating on the map in the bumpy terrain. The result was fine, really about where I thought I would be when I left the states, but I have since moved my expectations higher. They remain high, despite today's humbling results. Joe and I finished next to each other in 73rd and 74th place out of about 80 official finishers, and about 100 starters (there were 15-20 mispunches today, which is no surpise given the maddening complexity of the map).

Looking forward to tomorrow a great deal. Onward!

EDIT: joe and move up to 57th and 58th overall after 20 eliteen are busted in the pink/out of bounds areas and are disqualified. Top two thirds baby.

Note to self: mount board perfectly flat tomorrow, seemed to be getting some compass sticking. Also, go slow at the beginning if at all humanly possible.

C • many controls 7

what, you warmed up longer than you raced? Yes I did. I had four hours in quarantine.

C • That's a long time! 2

Event: 2013 WMTBOC - West-Viru, ESTONIA
 

Today's terrain was awesome! Gorgeous open woods. Undulating terrain with pine trees, smooth moss and ground cover type veg that was largely ridable underneath. Today was the first day in which we could just set a compass bearing and cruise cross country. I did so, to only a small advantage, on three occasions.

The map, without the course, is available here: http://www.orienteerumine.ee/kaart/db/kaart/201208...

I rode slower today. The first four sessions I was going 80-90%, trying to get a decent race day simulation. Today my legs were a bit sore, and just two days out from the sprint, I took it easy, between 60-70% effort generally.

My nav was good, and at today's slower speeds my brain was processing much more information - even reading the contour lines, which to come clean, was a first.

I really had a blast at training camp, just a awesome time. I love the sport, and to do it with 10 other countries and their top athletes all around me, in 70 degree and sunny weather was a special treat. I am so appreciative of the opportunity to be here competing. Many thanks to O-USA, MNOC, and everyone who helped get me here!

C • Cool map 3

warm up and cool down.

Follow our team blog here: http://mtbo-team-usa.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

warm ups and cool downs after both events

Morning training on a sprint map. Semi-urban in parts (very technical map reading), and in other parts, technical riding. I had a decent morning, aside from a pinch flat. I am feeling somewhat consistent which is, but I am simply nowhere near the top guys. I have been riding around the top guys during these training session (I mean, they start after me, and literally ride around me), and these guys are beasts. Today I was carrying my bike down a wet, wooden, winding, steep staircase when a 6'1" czech dude came RIDING his damn bike down those gnarly things, during practice.

Practice? We're talking about practice! We not even talking about the game, the actual game. (Iverson reference, btw)

So that was impressive, and certianly opened a window into what it takes to win one of these events.

Results were just posted. Adjusting for my flat, I rode about 16th, which I'm happy with. I came here hoping to be in the top half of riders, and it appears like I may have a shot at that. It will take a clean ride, but thus far I've been abel to put together a few cleanish rides, so I am hopeful.

Today's afternoon training on a middle course was the best yet, really feeling more confident on the map. The confidence got too high today though, as I mispunched the final control. Glad to get that out of the way before the event.

Today's course was a middle distance course with a good mix of fast roads, ATV trails, and gnarly stuff. My route to 3 involved some gnarly stuff, and it ended up costing me 2.5 minute relative to Alex, a fast Aussie rider. I think the gnarly stuff is to be avoided in all situations but the most desparate.

I was working on riding through the punches today, which generally went well, and saves me about 2-3 second each control, BUT I effing fell over at CP10 trying to do it (something about my left cleat not clipping out properly) and apparently did not wait for the beep at 14, resulting in a mispunch.

Without the mispunch, I would have been under 40 minutes which would have put me in 18th. I'm happy with that. Despite having a fantastic run and placing in the 30th percentile, getting rocked by 20%, I am willing to admit that this ceiling is good enough to be happy about. Now if I can just put it together during the competition when everyone is going full bore. The potential to do dumb things goes WAY up when you're riding race pace, of this I am aware. But I may not be capable of holding back. We'll see!

We have 5 training courses, two today, two tomorrow, and one on Sunday, all of which have epunch and are well organized and attended. Today Teams Australia, Italy, Russia, Japan, France, and the Czechs were in attendance. This morning's training was a sprint training, on a map that was generally fairly easy, but certainly had some tricky spots. I had a good go, riding fairly conservatively. I picked up the pace on some of the longer routes but generally stayed cautious.

The winning time in a sprint is supposed to be about 20 minues. I presume that this course was easier though, and suspect that someone could knock it out in 17 if they were flying. I did the course in 23:30, which seemed to stack up well (only one other faster rider when I was finished, but that means very little as only about 10 riders had finished). Nevertheless, a good day, and one I hope to build on. Let's hope all of the maps are this good.

I am headed out this afternoon for a middle distance training, which will be a much better indicator of how things are stacking up. I was told that the results from both events will be available tonight.

Time and distance include the ride there and back, as well as some riding around the course afterward looking at some of the symbols and trails that I was not sure about...

C • good start!...encouraging t... 6

Middle distance course. Had a great go at it today. Rode pretty fast, finishing 53:30, fastest times were 44 minutes. I don't know if I can replicate these types of results in competition with the pressure on, but at least it's a possibility. I made lots of mistakes actually, but always caught them immediately and recovered very very well. So that was strange because although my flow was not super good, I never lost more than 10-15 seconds. It appears that I am riding near, although not equal to the speed of the top guys, but then stopping to check the map. The top guys are riding faster than me AND never stopping - they are able to read on the fly. I am glad we have three more training events, plus the model event (which is a training event as far as I understand) before we throw down.

The terrain here is rather flat, with lots of boggy marshy terrain. The hardtail was certainly the ride of choice for Estonia - so I'm feeling very good about my bike selection - a Diamondback Evolve Carbon Pro that is light and fast.

Feeling good, and certainly having a great time!

warm ups and cool downs for both events.

Got out for a spin, exploring some historical battle grounds upon which there are trails that allow MTB. We got some nice pedaling in before it starting raining hard, so we came in. The area we are in is very rural, and has a great deal of history, dating back to the 11th century even. There are also strange soviet buildings dotted here and there, largely in a state of disrepair.

Some of the old church buildings, perhaps most, are being restored, and I see a fair amount of investment in infrastructure -- Estonia is a cool place to visit. It is very flat, at least where we have been. Makes for faster MTBO I presume, which is probably good for me.

Arrived in Tallin, Estonia safely to great weather, and some fantastic teammates. My head is a bit foggy due to skipping a night of sleep, but we have an incredible rental house to share these first few nights, and I'm happy as can be resting up and seeing the local sights with Sue and Abra.

C • estonia! 4

Rogaine! Eric and I enjoyed ourselves out in the beautiful open woods of Mille Lacs Kathio. We can trouble at 3, 7, and 16, but kept it steady and smart on a beautiful day. Good event, thanks Ian and Owen.

Bullard, justice is ours! Kelly had to go back and change all of her 7:45min/mile stuff from 0 to 1 in order for it to count towards her weekly hours training volume. The world really is a just and good world.

C • Thank you 3

Loop at Leb. Quick and short.

A fast loop at leb, with plenty of chatting at stops. Testing bikes.

C • Purge 1

Two loops at Murphey with Biz, Dan, Mike Creigo and Andrew Kroese. Brought a few demo bikes and we had a blast. The 4 Chipotle bonanza I had burning in my pocket finally was liberated after the ride - nice little sunday morning.

Crossed the line first at the TC Urban Dash, but a clue answer that was a bit nebulous ended up disqualifying us at the finish, so we got 68th instead of 1st. Unlucky!

C • 171.....lean and mean for w... 5

Built up an Ellsworth Enlightenment that I'm testing for Gear Junkie. Took it down to the riverbottoms for it's first test ride.

Wednesday worlds. Felt great, awesome night on the bike. Took two of the three sprints. Feel pretty trashed afterward, but it's certainly worth it. The adrenaline of the sprints is addictive.

C • Great job 2

Great MTB-O training on a difficult map. Had numerous errors largely due to unmapped trails, but regardless very good training as I have had very little work with my map board running up to worlds here.

Ride up to the shop to pick up my car, then a lap at Leb later at a firm pace.

Setting at interstate.

Setting at interstate. Great woods, bad map data. Looking forward to what KT cooks up for us, hopefully well enough in advance of the Sept. 21st meet to use it.

Intervals up Louisiana street in Saint Croix Falls, plus 20 mile spin.

Warm-up run before lifting at Snap.

Upper body mostly, with some some abs and kettle ball stuff with Tommy at Snap.