Riding Life's Challenges: December 2012

Year Stats

Miles Ridden: 4750 miles

Altitude Climbed: 308,750 feet

Time on the Bike: 350 Hours 20 minutes

Calories Burned: 285, 350 calories

Days on bike: 189 days

Well it is hard to summarize a year in just one post but that is what I am left with after not posting at all this year. Crazy year of changes in life and riding.

The start of the year was not the best as I lost my mom after 16 years of battling “that stupid stuff” as she called it, also called cancer. Mom for me is now my inspiration and my motivation that nothing is to hard and I can always go harder and give more because she is a part of me and she proved that we are stronger than we want to believe.

Sandra Rockwell 1955-2012
My Motivation and Strength!!

Before the year started also there was a blessing in the birth of my twin nieces. Ella and Clara are two beautiful girls that will forever change my life as I get to watch them grow and spoil them rotten!!

Quite the handful but so much fun!!

This year I started by deciding to race parts of the NUE series as well as travel a little more to find races that were good races, in beautiful locations. Another big step this year was hiring a coach to manage my training. I went with FasCat coaching and Carson there to take me to the next level and this proved to be the best decision that I made this year.

Sandwich 50 Early Season Mud

Time trials in Decorah were first up where I found out that I no longer have a quick engine but gave it my best. An unlucky crash and strong racers didn’t allow for the three peat and ended off the podium at 4th. Next up was the Sandwich 50 in Minnesota. Here I got my engine going and got a feel of where I was going to stack up this year in the longer races. Good race a little muddy though. Ended up 3rd here. Camp Ingawanis XC was round three for early season and this again showed that I could go the distance but was missing the top end to hold some of the XC guys in these races. One of the best finishes I have ever been a part of as I was able to go elbow to elbow with a guy fighting for the second place finish. Tried but again 3rd was the number of the day.

With the early season racing done it was time to get down and dirty with the meat of the season. June this year was going to be the meat of the schedule as I took on three 100 mile races in 4 weeks. The Kenda Mohican 100 was the first 100 miler of the year. Ohio was absolutely beautiful with the campground on the side a large bluff area, also the start. The race was great experience allowing me to see where I was going to be standing in the NUE series and what my chances were here. Being the new kid on the block I didn’t go out hard enough and lost sight of the leading single speeders and was relegated to mid pack singles. Lots of single track sandwiched around gravels, fire roads and rails to trails in the middle to allow us to get to the other single track. 8th in the Single speeds and eyes opened to guys to hold to.

Lumberjack 100 Single Speed Podium

The next race in the series was two weeks away in Michigan at the Lumberjack 100. With the year being very dry this race was interesting. Knew who I wanted to stick with from the previous race and was looking for these guys throughout the race. The start was stacked and fast as we entered the single track, after avoiding a pissed off motorist who block the entrance with his child molester van, after which we avoided each other the massive pileup that ensued because of the dust and high speeds. I have never raced a hundred so fast on such rolling terrain as this. Motto of the day was “We are all going to die” as 5 single speeds cooked around the course averaging around 16 miles a hour on 100 miles of single track. Fast!!!! This race is where I was able to meet a great guy Dwayne and help to get in on what is to come this next year!! I was able to hang with the pro’s at this race and made the podium at 5th in the SingleSpeeds.

Lutsen 99er Axe and Podium

A week later it was off to Lutsen99er in Lutsen,MN. Came into the race with certain expectations only to have them not really meet. I am a mountain biker who likes single track and dirt. This race ended up being a lot of double track with even more gravel and fire roads. I was able to luckily hook up with a roadie on a geared bike and he pulled me for a lot of the race as I spun out on the open roads. Able to take the single speed win and 11th Overall at this race but it will unfortunately be the last visit to Lutsen. Not my kind of race.

July was a month of training and hitting the roads around Decorah hard to put on the base for the later part of the season. End of July was the first year of the Black HIlls 40. This race was one of the top of the year. The racing and riding in the Black Hills is amazing and worth a trip out to enjoy the splendor. The Black Hills 40 was a tough as hell race with all single track for 40 miles and a hell of a lot of climbing. Great folks at the race and a hard fought battle lead to me getting 2nd Overall, less than 30 seconds down off the win, mostly due to a blow corner early in the race that cost about 5-7 minutes and a long hike up a steep slope.

Beautiful View @ Pierre's Hole 100

Podium Pierre's Hole 100

Spent the week in Spearfish,SD enjoying the scenery and great riding of the Black HIlls. After a week of “vacation” it was off to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming/Idaho. Pierre’s Hole 100 was the hardest race of the year. Held at Grand Targhee Resort it was the hardest being at 9000 feet at the start and climbing over 17000 feet throughout the race, but also the most beautiful by a long shot of the year. I found out at this race that altitude isn’t bad for me and I can climb even though I live in Iowa with a max altitude of around 1000 feet. I was able to lead for around half the race being in the mix with the top dogs of the US in Single speed nation. Eventually Gerry Pflug showed me who was boss and took over to leave me in second single speed but again gave me great knowledge to take into next year of racing.

Moving fast at Dakota 50

Dakota 50 Single Speed Podium

The last part of the mountain bike season was going to be another crazy run with 5 hard races in less than month and a half. Started run with the RustyRide 100 in Cuyuna,MN. Here I was able to take the knowledge from the early part of the year and run away with the overall win on the single speed. Great to finally taste the top step of the podium in the overall for once. After this race it was back to the Black Hills for some unfinished business. Goal race of the year was Dakota 50 as I wanted the top step for single’s really badly. This race tends to draw some unbelievable talent for such a underground race. Underground no longer though. 700 toed the line and I was smack dab in the middle of a fight for the entire race. Fighting I did having to deal with a 1-2 punch most of the day from two Idaho boys but ran away on the downhill into town as I had scouted this in my previous visit. Was able to get the single speed win with an added bonus of breaking 4 hours in the 50 miler. This is a great run for a hard ass race!!

Nice morning at Mullets

Last four in the sprint to end the mountain season were close to home. Went to a race I have been trying to get to since I first swung my leg over a bike down in Sugar Bottom. Again hard fought battle for a 3rd place in the high speed field. 12 hours of Boone was great again this year as I tried to take all of the top steps at this race leading for the 12 hours I was on course. Got the win in the 12 hour solo down here and will always try and get down to the race for some good wholesome fun with the Des Moines boys. Second to last on the season was the Mullet Classic Marathon division. Here I knew I was up for a fight as I had been marked by Blackford all season and he was out for blood. Tried to hang the whole race but realized that I was no match on this day with the previous days races making my legs feel like cement for the 4 hour marathon.

Great Hardware from BT Epic

Lastly was the BT Epic in Missouri. I went into this again with high expectations knowing many that were racing this and knew I could do well. I went with the top dogs at the start and got a feel of what it is like to play the games at the front end of the field. Mixing it up with those guys trying to get the prem was fun to say the least. The race turned out great but the only downside was that the trail was not visible for the whole day. True mountain biking with lots of fun trails thrown in for good measure. Took 1st single speed at the race and also broke the top ten with an 8th overall at the race. Very good end to the season!

Overall mountain season was a success with many podiums and great friends made along the way. Should prove to be great base for next year and knowledge that I gained this year is even better. Can’t wait to hit the dirt again next year!!

Pissed off at Oakley Night Cap

Something new for me this year was cyclocross season. Went into these races with no expectations and they proved to be lots of fun and a great way to get to know some great guys from down south! This season was for fun. Was able to move through the ranks of this fast paced, different style of racing that I wasn’t use to. As far as a write up of this season I took a few top steps during the season, got my ass handed to me many a time by experienced folks and fought my way to the upper ends of the field on more than one occasion. I look forward to putting a little more focus next year on this season as I feel I can compete with the guys in the races if I learn some more skills.

Coming Down Mt. Krumpet @ Jingle Cross Rock 2012

Running it up at Morgan Cross

Well if you read all of this, you just wasted a lot of time out of your life!! The future is good and look for updates on my new happenings in 2013 as I will be taking on the challenges and hopefully coming out on top! Wouldn’t take back anything I did this year as I have been places and seen things that make life worth living. No regrets only looking forward to the future. Season is officially over, time to get caught up on school work and life in general. Happy 2012 to everyone!!

Random Pics from the year!