Chequamegon 40, aka roadies off road adventure

This years Hubsters who rocked the course.
Joel 'shake 'n bake' Cahalan
Sean O
The Fleckster
Paul O'grady
Clayton 'cod liver oil'

My race day began at 4 am, thats when I woke up to cook my breakfast , get dressed and be ready for Paul to show up. I stepped outside to a slap in the face of cold air. I ate a big bowl of yogurt and prepared a huge bowl of Oatmeal to eat on the road. It was probably the ugliest bowl of oatmeal you could imagine, I added some Green Superfood and Wheat grass powder from Amazing Grass, some Udo's Oil and a heaping teaspoon of Nordic Naturals lemon Arctic Cod Liver oil. A little maple syrup and butter, dumped it into a container for the road. I then double checked my gear to make sure I had enough cold weather gear to choose from for the day. I was cursing the fact that I didn't have any coffee in the house and didn't feel like I making green tea either. Not a good way to start the day, without caffeine.
On the way into Hayward i get a couple calls from Joel and Sean telling us to get our asses in to town quick, due to people grabbing decent start positions as early as 5am. We get into town, grab some coffee, meet up with Joel , Sean and John. We run our bikes over to the staging area. 2hours before the race and we will be starting in or around 4ooth place. Did I mention it was only 30 degrees out. On the drive out I noticed a little scratch in the back of my throat while drinking my astragalus tea. While setting up our bikes in the staging area my bowels wanted to release themselves urgently, which got me a little worried, my fear is that I was coming down with a cold. Not a good worry to have before a race. I quickly got dressed , and went with gear that may not be the warmest to stand around in, but easily removed while riding. Joel Had toe warmer packets which made a huge difference just sitting at the start line.
Sean, Paul, Fleck and Myself started out on the right side of the road, Joel had a preferred start at the front. The race started with a "neutral" roll out. The road had a few narrowing sections in the first mile, which created a nice accordion effect, Sean and myself worked our way through the crowds ahead of us. In the first 2 miles there was a pile up on the road which took out about 5 or six people. I was intent on staying close to Sean so we could work together through the masses. As we hit the grass we were easily minutes behind the leaders, and my shifting showed that it still sux. I went from my big ring to my small ring (I was aiming for the middle ring) on the first little power climb and almost ate it. I recovered, got it into the middle ring and charged back upto Sean. Sean was on a tear, he would sit on a wheel for about 15 to 30 seconds and then pass about 2-3 people. So as soon as I got on his wheel, he would shoot ahead. At the first water station Sean and I passed the same guy on a little climb, me on the right, sean on the left. Sean was so totally in the zone, he sees me and says something which gets me charged up to rock this course. I rip off my sunglasses at the first opportunity, since they are just a hindrance to seeing details on the trail. I follow Seans lead as we pass literally hundreds of people. I think to myself, why the hell do these slow assholes line up at the front of the pack. At some point I put in a small dig, and pass Cory from Penn cycle, he cheers me on, a minute later he passes me. I then give it a long dig grab some fast wheels. Passing people left and right. I didn't look back at this point, I didn't know if sean was with me or not, I'm intent on riding fast and hard.
Wait did that sign say 26 miles, was that to go or completed? It feels like 26 down. I'm with a small group of people at the first check point, I've already pulled off my vest, my sunglasses and my arm warmers, and I am way too warm. Next thing to come off is my skull cap, I pull it off through the back of my helmet on a gravel road with a ton of people cheering us on. Oh look 23 miles to go. Hmm okay, my stomach feels queasy, gatorade tastes gross and my hammergel is more like a charleston chew. Why didn't I have a water bottle with just water in it?
This course is fast, but boring. Go straight pedal hard, ohh a puddle lets go around it. Lets go around that rock. Bounce my bike down the baby head rock trails. I'm riding with 45 psi in the rear, for two reasons
1)I have no way to put air in a tube if I puncture, so i bumped it up a bunch.
2) Sean suggested it, saying it's a hard smooth course over the last 10 miles.
But thats a bit harder psi than I would normally ride, 50% harder, which made for a bouncy, bouncy ride. But no flat tires. Next year I am doing this race with a tubeless system, run a low tire pressure like Joel, and roll over all that bumpy baby headed boulder crap. I also plan on getting a preferred start. Why mess around passing slowbodies when I can see how long it will take for the super stars to drop me instead. Then again I also plan on training all summer and not having a drive train that will chain suck if I stand up to climb a hill. The joys of going over your handle bars when your chain sticks to your chainring, oh it is a pleasure, and it builds confidence in your machine. Thanks Race Face, I only thought my seat bolt broke once on the trail, my gears ghost shifted and I dropped the chain once on a climb. Thanks! Maybe I should just single speed
After the firetower climb I was riding with larry sauber of Larsen Cycles, we hit the silver section and he says "I hate this section"which means rolling hills. This is where I lose some ground, my legs were on the verge of cramping, so i was in spin mode, and losing ground to the small group I was with, this has been a problem for me all year, cramping late in a race, under heavy loads. I think this means I need to do a lot more interval training, at least more than none. So I'm riding kind of solo, hanging off the back of a group of 4 guys, trying not to lose ground, and not get passed, ticking off the mile post signs. I get caught by a Dr who I had dropped earlier, but he kept coming back and then disappearing. So I drafted him for a while, then put in a pull, and drafted. We spoke for a bit, about vioxx and fish oil, pain and how close are we to the finish line. We catch 2 more guys, take a sharp turn into the the final 2'ish miles of woods. We hit a climb, while The Dr and Andy Kruse try to power climb their way through it, Instincts kick in, I spin my way between them up and over the hill, shifting gears and powering my way over the crest giving it the last bit of hell I have in me. I drop those two and inch my way back up to Larry Sauber. I see the 1 mile to go marker. I'm hurting but i keep pounding it, I come into a clearing, I can see the finish line at the bottom of a hill. I ride the hill at warp speed, slowing for a off camber right turn, when some jackass thinks he's gonna take me. I spin it up for the sprint, I hear some spectator say "...last climb", neck and neck for the line, then cramps in each hamstring stops my legs as I lose one spot, my time 2:31:31. I am ecstatic. My goals for the day, Sub 3hr, hoping for 2:30, Top 100 and to beat sean, if only by a bike length. 2 out of three aint bad. I got 143rd, I must have passed 500 people, it was insane. I see Timmer at the finish area. He got taken out at the first section of grass with a nasty crash.

Joel rolled in at 2:20:25 , 8 minutes faster than last year. 40th place 38th in his group. He crashed in the last couple of miles, when his wheel overlapped the guy in front of him. He finished 7 minutes up on Doug Swanson. He aslo beat Ben Moore, and was within two minutes of Sam Oftedahl.








Sean Wasn't that far behind me 2:33:32, 161st
. He road a smart, fast race, lots of drafting and very little towing. NO donut holes for this guy as he races.











Paul showed his might on a SS with a blown fork seal at 2:40:01 ,260th












Fleck Rocked the Karate Monkey in his 2nd MTB race ever, 2:59:45 628th. Mustache bars with road levers, a single speed demon ,this is his future.

We all kicked some serious ass. All sub 3hrs, 4/5 of us beat Greg Lemond. What a wonderful weekend.