Lumberjack 100 Follow-up, Part 1

So, that happened.  I'll delve into more detail in the following days, but suffice it to say this year went better than last, I had more fun, I went faster, but I hurt just as much.

Now that I'm home I'm finding my palms are slightly bruised, the cramps that were making some of the climbs unbearable have left my legs feeling like they were run over by a truck, and my arms are so tired I can barely lift them.

When I pulled into our tent after finishing I was so out of it I almost felt like I hadn't finished and needed to go back out onto the course.  It took over an hour with a cool towel on me before I could even think about walking to the car, and when I did whatever was left of my nutritional strategy made a reappearance.  After a long shower and an entire pizza to myself, I actually felt ok.

Within a three hours or so of finishing I realized I had a blast, I pushed myself beyond anything I'd ever accomplished, I'm so proud of all of my teammates, and I'll be back again next year.  If ever there were a course designed around my mountain biking skill-set, it's Lumberjack.  When the trails get really dicey and technical, I lose a lot of time.  But when you can really see where you're going, the trails are fast, and the course requires you to pedal a lot, I can manage.

My goal time of 8:30 was met with an 8:27.  I missed my dream time of 8:00 because of some outrageous leg cramps which started around mile 55 and stuck with me until about mile 80 pretty solidly, then reappeared at various times throughout the remainder of the course.

I'll leave you with this screen shot.  The elevation profile for the entire Lumberjack 100 course.  The opening climb is about 5 miles and 500ft of climbing.  The first time up it's not so bad, but when I hit it at just over 5 hours into the race and 66 miles behind me, it was rough.  The true killer for me was the final climb, which is extremely sandy and steep.  At about 3 miles long and 400ft of climbing, with feet that were on fire and legs cramping, that climb almost got me.

New Review: Surly Cross-Check Custom Single Speed

This one just rolled across my desk from Henry, one of our team riders.  We had the pleasure of recently building this piece up for him, and we think it turned out pretty awesome.  Read on:

Last spring I was looking for a singlespeed bike for some basic commuting.  Nothing too crazy, but nothing too plain either.  I wanted a bike that would be reliable and strong enough to take a beating on the pothole-laden Chicago streets, but still fun to ride and with some personality.  Although I looked at a few complete bike options, I was pretty much set on a Surly Cross-Check.  While it looked great and would be a perfect candidate to build up single speed, it also has semi-horizontal dropouts and thus can be built as a geared bike, whether for commuting, touring or even cyclocross racing.  Flexibility in the future was just an added plus for this already awesome bike.

I spoke with the guys at Iron Cycles and set a time to pick out components.  This was the first bike where I’d be picking essentially everything for the build, so Steven and I sat down at the shop to discuss options.  For anyone who has not done this, I highly recommend it at least once.  The simplicity of a single speed bike also makes it both easy and overwhelming to select parts.  This is because there are a limited number of items you need to buy for the build, but each part has nearly unlimited options from which to choose.
 
The end results were follows: an All City crank and chainring (which looked slick in black, with etched silver logos), a basic flat handlebar with dirtbike grips, and mini-V brakes.  One area I did spend some extra dough was the wheels, as I picked a set of electric blue Velocity deep V rims, with black spokes and hubs, wrapped in 25mm Conti Gatorskins.  Rarely would a chip of glass or stray nails would cut through these reinforced tires, so they seemed a good choice for worry-free riding.

Two weeks later everything was at the shop.  My wrenching skills are approximately limited to picking up an allen wrench to adjust a seat post, so I opted to have the new Surly built at Iron Cycles.  That said, I did want the opportunity to learn, so while Ben built the bike up he patiently explained everything he did.  I picked up a good deal and found that while the beauty of a single speed (or fixed gear) bike is its simplicity, there is still a fair amount of prep work and skill associated with building any bike.  I helped here and there with a few small tasks (though it depends who you ask – I may have slowed the process down) and after maybe 3 hours we were finished.  I took the bike home and was pretty excited to get to ride it the next day!

Fast forward just over a year to today.  I’ve not had a day riding the Surly that I don’t absolutely love it.  It has been completely maintenance-free, other than just lubing the chain and keeping the bike clean.  If I could go back to build this bike again I wouldn’t change a thing.  It’s my first steel bike and while I will stick with other frame materials for racing, there is something about the steel ride that has character and as I’d heard, kind of a soul.  As a rider you are not totally insulated from road vibrations, but they are dampened and the result is a comfortable yet solid ride feel.  The sensation of being connected to the road through your bike is definitely present with the Cross-Check.  I highly recommend considering this particular Surly if you’re in the market for a bike that is fun to ride, reliable, friendly to your wallet and flexible enough to be built up in several different ways.

Of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without a huge thank you and shout out to Ben, Steven, Brandon and Chase at Iron Cycles for the help, guidance and answering all my pain in the butt questions while building the Cross-Check.  You couldn’t find a better place to bring your bike or begin your search for a new ride, so look these guys up if you’re in the market or need any repair, fit or general bike advice.

New Build: ENVE 1.65 to PowerTap SL+ Track Wheel

Here's an "unusual" build for us, we don't build a ton of legit track racing wheels.  Lots of road wheels, lots of fixed-gear wheels, plenty of mountain wheels.  But, when asked to lace a PowerTap SL+ to an ENVE rim I wasn't about to pass on it.  We were asked to make this wheel really stiff, and stiff it is.

1.65 ENVE rim is light and stiff.  The internal nipples sway some people, but they build very nicely.  And a well-built wheel will last a long time on the track (or road).

PowerTap SL+ makes power relatively affordable for track racers.  Without this option, you'd need an SRM to get power on the track.

Made here in the good ole US of A.  I really appreciate this fact, much like Zipp, that I am supporting a US company when I can.

Brake track is very nice, though on a track bike that won't matter.

Complete rear wheel with bolts came in at 1,020g, very respectable for a 28h rear wheel with a PowerTap.  2x lacing and high spoke tension will make for a killer track wheel.