Why I Wear Orange

Racing and Mapping for Trail Genius

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SOUTH BEACH TRI - COURSE PREVIEW

Coming up on a year since I got to map this awesome race! Here the Trail Genius course preview of my race to help you prepare for this years event! Watch the preview, study the Trail Genius map of the course, the get yourself signed up for this amazing triathlon in paradise

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NEW TRAIL GENIUS MAP

Winter is in full swing and so my efforts turn to snow based sports. One of my first Trail Genius projects this winter is to map the Michigan Tech University Nordic Ski Trails.

As it turns out the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Skiing Championship are being held at MTU and as luck would have it I got introduced to a MTU Nordic Ski Athlete, Alice Flanders, and we got to talking and the wheels started to turn and a plan was hatched to map at least one of the race courses before the event.

This turned out to be a very fun mini project.  Alice was able to round up a group of her fellow athletes and on one of their days off we set out to map the 5k Championship course.  I put GPS and cameras on a couple of the skiers and I went around with the drone and captured them at various spots on the course. In the end we got some great video and stuck it in this Trail Genus map: http://trailgenius.com/trail-genius-map/michigan-tech-trails-nordic-ski-trails 

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You have to check out this amazing aerial video taken during my Leadville 100 MTB race: http://trailgenius.com/trail-genius-map/leadville-100-mtb?vspot=3&zoom=15

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My 2014 Leadville 100 MTB Race

NEW TRAIL GENIUS MAP

The best and worst part about my job is that I get to share every last bit of my races with you, the ups, and yes the downs.  The 2014 Leadville 100 MTB took me 10.5 hours and you can analyze, evaluate, inspect and otherwise explore every mile with this one of a kind Trail Genius interactive course map.

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IRONMAN Wisconsin - Madison

SWIM 01:07:30 BIKE 05:51:19 RUN 04:36:23 TOTAL 11:52:11

It was a long summer to say the least. Lots of races, lots of places, but it all came down to IRONMAN Wisconsin. I was a little worried that I did not get enough recovery after Leadville, and my hamstring was irritating me but was still working. Hoped it didn't stop working 10 hrs in, and it didn't.

It should be said that the IRONMAN experience is as much to do with all  the stuff leading up to the race as the race itself. With the check in process starting on Friday and continuing through Saturday, I was glad to finally be racing Sunday morning.  Don't get me wrong all the pomp and circumstance is fun, and the IRONMAN organizers more than take care of their athletes, but I didn't feel like I deserved the pampering till I knew I could finish the race.

Race morning weather (and weather all day for that matter) was perfect. I got through transition and down to the water plenty early, maybe a little to early but from what I heard transition got crazy later in the morning. I was able to get into the water in time to swim out and be next to the pros when they started, cool but a little anticlimactic. Turns out pros in an IRONMAN put their preverbal swim pants on one leg at a time just like we do. After treading water for about 20 min trying to stay up front like my ex-collegiate swimmer wife always instructs me. I finally got to go and to say the least it was a battle.  2500 swimmers in a mass start is crazy!  I spent way more time sighting other swimmers then buoys, and kept worrying about my watch getting kicked off.  After 1.5 miles things settled down a bit, just in time for it to get crazy again as we headed for the finish. In the end I came in under my 1hr 10min goal, so can't complain.  Up the helix I went to get my bike.

T1 was long. Had to go a long way, and I took my time taking it all in.

Ah, the bike, my happy place.  What can I say, other then a post swim gastrointestinal issue, the bike flew by. Great weather, great roads, great views, could not be better.  Finished just under my goal of 6 hrs.

T2 not quite as long. Shorter distance to run and enjoyed myself to much on T1, time to see if I could finish this thing.

And then there was the run. I was surprised at how good I felt getting out on to the run course. You head away from Capital Square going down hill, so I wanted to just go all out, but I dialed it back trying to remember I had a whole marathon ahead of me. I had a lot of ups and downs through out the run.  I won't say I didn't walk, I won't say that. I kept worrying that I was not saving enough for the end. When I hit mile 20 I still had something in the tank, but I was getting really tired of fruit and energy drink, and solid food at this point was a no go so I was still worried about the dreaded bonk.  Once I got to mile 23, I said screw it, I am what I am at this point, so I started to push hard(er) for the last 3 miles.  Other then sore feet and the feeling of exhaustion setting in, I was feeling pretty good when I made it back to Capital Square for the last time.  The big crowds cheering everywhere really helps keep you going.  I picked up my pace for the last stretch around the capital, and was relieved to be done in less then 12 hrs with some time to spare.

Now that I am done, I get asked if I would do another.  Well of course I will, that was awesome!

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At the LT100 Expo

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Leadville Trail 100 MTB

Time: 10:33:19

What can I say, it was a long fun day of riding.  I started the day in the blue corral, which was way back of the starting line.  This made for an interesting first couple of hours, being stuck in the mob, going the mob's pace.  Once I got out on some paved roads things start to spread out, but on the outbound, there were times more often then not where I was stuck behind someone, especially on downhill sections.  I made it to the big Columbine climb feeling pretty good.  I motored my way up the dirt road, spending a lot of time passing.  Passing was a little scary because some of the leaders were starting to come down and they were flying!  Things were moving good, then I got above the tree line.  The course is an out and back so you share the path with the racers who have made it half way and are on their way back down.  There was not a lot of room and above the tree line the course gets pretty rugged. With racers screaming back down the hill on one side of the path, that meant no more passing and a lot of walking up the steep stuff.  Not much you can do, once one person walks, we all walk.  So I got off my bike and enjoyed the view.

Eventually I made it to the top, which to say the least is pretty cool!  Our plan was to have me switch the memory cards on my cameras (was running 4, all off external battery power) because the biggest we can get is 64 GB and they won't make it the whole 100 miles.  So I did just that, found a nice spot off to the side and started switching little postage stamp size memory cards.  When I was done, I took a nature break, and looked around for a bit, then it was time to get back to work.

Heading back down was scary at times, because you have all the folks (many walking) still working their way up the mountain.  Once below the tree line you are back on the nice dirt road and have plenty of room to open things up.

Short of some strong head winds on the paved section getting over to Power Lines, things were pretty straight forward, just kept turning the screws.  Had my buddy Red crewing for me, and my parents were cheering for me, so always had someone to look forward to seeing as I plodded along.

Then I hit Power Lines and things got tough.  Wow, it seemed like this climb went on forever.  Had a lot of walking at the beginning (same issues as Columbine) and then it just seemed like the climbing would never stop.  Thankfully I ended up with some good riders around me, so I just put my head down and followed their wheels.

Eventually I made it to the last couple miles into town (really a 103.76 mile course) and it was a slow grunt for me up to the finish.  Between dusty dirt roads and a monster head wind, I was moving slow.  But I made it, even had a little left in the tank to make a strong sprint for the finish.

The finish line is a bit of a blur, I remember Red there taking my picture, Merilee giving me hug, then my Mom giving me a hug and me really wanting some water.  Once the dust settled and I was able to take stock of things I found that we managed to get video (4 cameras) and gps of the whole Leadville 100 course!  This has certainly never been done before, and for good reason.  Logistically it was quite an undertaking, but this was not Trail Genius' first rodeo, so we were more then up for the task.  Now comes the work of creating the online map, stay tuned this is going to be our best yet.

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Life Time New York City Tri

International distance: 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run

Finish Time: 2hrs 15mins 36secs

It has been a busy start to August, having the NYC Tri and Leadville MTB 100 back to back!  I was already out in Colorado getting used to the altitude, so I flew to NYC for the tri trying to keep my trip as short as possible so I could get back to altitude.  I flew in Friday evening, did a quick walk in Central park, met up with Jay and checking out Time Square, then stayed up to late making plans for the expo and finish line setup the next day.  Saturday was crazy, NYC is a logistical nightmare and with both a booth at the expo and having to get our finish line booth setup to be ready for Sunday, and getting through mandatory race meetings, packet pickup and bike drop off, it was an exhausting way to spend the day before a race.  Luckily the race started super early (are you picking up on my sarcasm?  Good because I am laying it on pretty thick), we were up at 3:40 and at transition by 4:30. We could not believe there was traffic at 4 in the morning on a Sunday, but there was.  Jay almost didn't get to the dock in time to meet the boat he would be riding in for the swim.

Long story short, we made it to all our locations on time, the swim was super fast because of the current, the bike was in the pouring rain, and the run was super fun (but hilly) in Central Park.

I was done by 9 am, got a shower at the room, picked up my bike from transition, and caught a taxi to the airport so I could fly back to Denver.  Wow, that was quite a weekend.  Next up Leadville.

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Peak to Peak Hwy outside Boulder, CO

Probably not the smartest thing to spend 5 hours riding in the mountains 2 days before a race, but why put off to tomorrow what you can do today!  Fun ride, lots of climbing, tons to see.  Check out the data at: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/554235755

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First day training out in Boulder. Started the morning with an open water swim at the Boulder reservoir. Accept for a small swim area, the reservoir is usually off limits for swimming, but the Boulder Aquatic Masters put on a morning swim tues and thurs, drop-ins welcome, and I dropped in. The afternoon was spent riding up Flagstaff Rd, a super cool twisty turney road that takes you up into the mountains. I was trying to get my ride in before the storm hit, finally got scared by the black clouds all around and headed back to town, where it turns out all the rain was. Fun first ride of the trip.

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Used the make the drive straight through, this time around I broke it up by stopping in Lincoln Nebraska. Fun to see all the usual landmarks are still along the route.

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Some home made rice cakes for today's long ride

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100mi of Dirt in Dexter in a Day

Some choice pics from my adventure.

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100mi of Dirt in Dexter in a Day

>> Link to the the GPS Data on Garmin Connect

So my training schedule demanded I do a 100 mile ride, and I am down state visiting family so roads with shoulders and no traffic (like the UP) are few and far between, what to do?  Bust out my mountain bike and hit the back dirt roads!  Even better use those dirt roads to make my way over the awesome Potawatomi Trail and ride some single track.  At the end of the day I only had to ride on about a mile of paved road, and in that mile I saw 10 times the cars I saw in the other 99 miles I rode, oh brother!  I should note that I did use some of the local bike paths and rails to trails paths to make this work, and I started and finished in Dexter but wall all over the surrounding areas as well.  I have to say it's hard to beat riding 8 hours on the mountain bike and see so few cars I could count them on both hands (excluding the paved section of roads of course) in South East Michigan.

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As the Leadville MTB 100 fast approaches I keep replaying the Wilmington Whiteface course over in my head, my only yard stick to how prepared I am for the race across the sky. Wilmington was 68 miles, 7800 ft of elevation gain, max elevation a couple thousand feet. Leadville is 110 miles, over 12k of gain, max elevation over 12k. Now I spend my time trying to extrapolate my finish time at Leadville, lets hope I make a strong showing.

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When racing, it’s always nice when families got your back.

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The Long Walk

It's been a few weeks, but keep thinking about that SoBe Tri is Miami, the walk to the start of the 1 mile swim was so different then when I had to do the same thing at Steal Head in Benton Harbor, MI a couple years back.  Benton Harbor, cold and rainy, SoBe Tri warm and sunny!