Time to Flip the 2020 Script

Does this count as looking for the silver lining?

It seems like all I’ve heard for the last seventeen years is how horrible a certain year, perhaps last year, was. I’m a bit tired of being told it was rubbish, so I thought I would take a different look back at it to see why it may have been one of the most enjoyable years of riding bikes.

Sure, racing didn’t happen much, and I, being a bit of a racer boy, was bummed every time I got an email or saw a notification that a race had been postponed or simply canceled until 2021. The flip side of that coin is I often found myself with some great fitness and some free time on my calendar.

A good recap should start at the beginning.

I started training for the 2020 race season in November 2019. My first few months of base training went really well, and I was coming into late winter/early spring about as strong on the bike as I have ever been. As a birthday present to myself I took the day off work (3/16 if you want to send me presents) so I could go for a long ride. Luckily for me Trevor also had the day off, so we headed for Hastings, MI to ride the new Barry Roubaix 100 Mile Psycho Killer course. We did have to cut off one section due to bridge construction but we managed to get in over 91 miles in 5hrs 41 minutes. My legs were a bit overcooked going into the day, but it was great to get out after being confined to the trainer for most of the winter. It was a fun course, the first 1/3 left you thinking is was going to be a really fast day, but that all changed when the two-track and seasonal roads hit. It turned into a very tough, yet fun ride.

Still breaking in the new bike

Then the world apparently caught on fire, the very next day.

My first planned race was the 8-hour Wildcat mtb race in Morristown, TN. Unfortunately, it was postponed and instead of letting my training go to waste I did a ride of my own. I planned out a couple of loops around my house and rode as far as I could in the same timeframe. I ended up with an elapsed time of 8 hrs 18 minutes, ride time of 7 hrs 30 minutes and I covered a total of 150.74 miles. Here is a full recap

and of course the Strava link

The empty fields go on and on, but there is the first hint of green

Shortly after this pretty much everything was canceled or postponed and people were looking for ways to keep themselves out of trouble (or motivated, take your pick). I saw what might be one of the most mentally challenging ideas posted on the FaceSpace. The 24-hour challenge. There were two options, first: run one mile in every hour for 24 hours straight. Second: ride 10 miles in every hour for 24 hours straight. On the surface neither sounds that demanding, but anything that takes 24 hours to complete is going to at least be worth taking a look at in my bad idea book.

Of course, I chose the cycling option (although I may attempt the run at some point in the future). I started at 7:30 pm on a Friday after having done a workout in the morning and putting in a full workday. I spent most of the time on the trainer, but I did manage to ride 3 of the hours outside. I am a bit of an over achiever so I rode an average of 12 miles during each hour for a total of 287 miles, and 18 hours of ride time (I would spend about 45 min riding, then get about 15 min off the bike). The actual riding was not all that strenuous but trying to get myself motived to get back on the bike at 2, 3 or 4 in the morning after a quick 15-minute break was incredibly tough. At one point in the middle of the night during one of my breaks I was stretching on the floor and started doing the 99% asleep, mouth open, head nod. I roused myself and started moving because if I did fall asleep there was no way I was getting back up.

Strava or it didn't happen, right?

Unsurprisingly. I'm lacking good pictures from the 24 challenge, so here is one of me trying to outrun a storm

All of my races in June were canceled, so it was time to go really big. I was able to find a few friends just as eager to make some bad decision as I was. I then proceeded to plan out a route encircling the Leelanau Peninsula. We rode about 55 miles Friday afternoon, a little over 220 miles Saturday and another 25 miles Sunday to end up just over 300 miles, all unsupported. This was mainly gravel including some extremely remote and demanding, seldom used fire roads through the Manistee National Forest.

You can read the full, much more entertaining recap here: 

Strava for the Fri/Sat portion

Roy even put together a fun video of this one, at least of the part until his GoPro quit working

Bad Idea Ride

I'm still not sure anyone should be allowed to have this much fun in one weekend.

Time for an actual event. Not a race mind you, but I am thankful the 906 Adventure Crew was able to make the Crusher EX happen.

Originally the Crusher was designed as a 230 mile “enhanced gravel” race/ride from Copper Harbor, MI to Marquette, MI. I raced it in 2019 finishing 4^th overall. This year with no mass gatherings allowed in Michigan the RD changed things up and designed a 255-mile loop starting and ending in Marquette, MI (there were shorter routes available) which could be completed at any time between July 1 and Oct 1. Four friends and I set out early Saturday July 18. Much mayhem ensued and 27 hours later we four of us finished the ride, unfortunately Joe had to call it a little over 100 miles into the day.

Again, a full recap is here or here for many more

I even had the chance to go on the Dirty Chain Podcast and chat about the fun I had with Trevor, Brett, and Sebastian; Todd even joined us for a bit. It's a good listen if you have a chance

Dirty Chain Podcast

And more Strava

It turns out I was not the only one itching to do something crazy. Over Labor Day weekend, my wife, Laurie, decided she wanted a go at the Crusher EX 100. I spent the day running SAG for her. At each stop I would set up everything then ride the course backwards until I met up with her, then I would ride back to the car with her. There was also a crew from SPIN on course that day and I was able to get in a few miles with them as well. Not one to let a trip to Marquette go to waste, I met up with fellow Hammer Nutrition athlete, Jeremy Hinkson, the next day and we rode the Crusher EX 40 course.

Heading up Top of the World

Rolling along

SAG stop for Laurie and Teresa, Steve and I may be the best SAG crew ever!

Rolling with SPIN

Are we done yet? 

Jeremy crushing a climb on the EX 40

This was much easier to find the second time through

Ready for another one? Well, I was. When word came out that the Marji Gesick 100 was canceled I was not surprised, but I was still bummed none the less. It did however mean I had the opportunity for another attempt at the Border to Border ride. In 2018 three of us set out early on a Saturday morning and rode 333 miles from the OH, IN, MI border to the Mackinac Bridge. (Full write-up) We had such a great time we decided we should invite some more friends along and go even further in 2019. Unfortunately, the weather ended our ride early and we called it in Petoskey. (Full write-up)

Back down to a group of three for 2020, we set out on a Friday evening, rode through the night and all the next day. We rolled into Mackinaw City, 350 miles later, just as a cold storm was rolling into what would have been our entire route across the Upper Peninsula. Cold is one thing, as is rain, but when the two come together it is just a recipe for disaster. Once again we were defeated short of our ultimate goal by the weather, but this was still my furthest distance ride ever. I am not giving up on this yet either.  I did not write a blog post about this one this year. I think my brain was just fried and numb at the same time. Our elapsed time was over 25 hours with the temperature getting as low as 26 degrees. For a little salt in the open wound, the next weekend the temps only got as low as the mid 60’s and were in the mid 70’s for most of the day.

Almost sun rise

So cold, but this is where I stopped to take a sunset picture in 2018

At the Bridge

Strava Link

Do we have time for one more? Sure, and why not do something really stupid this time: an e-Everest. Yup. I rode an Everest on the trainer. In my basement. By myself (a couple friends joined my online for a bit). Friday December 11^th, I took the day off work and after dropping my boys off at school I jumped on the trainer and stared climbing away at exactly a few minutes before 8:30 am. The platform of choice for the day was RGT Cycling and the course was the Passo Dello Stelvio, or the Stelvio Pass for those of us who don’t want to try and say that in a funny Italian accent. Now you have to, I’m waiting. Just like the "it's a me, Mario".  

Each ascent was 8.3 miles long and took between 1hr 20min and 1hr 30min. I did a remarkable job of pacing, but it was still a stupid long and painful 14 hour ride. Total climbing was 30,930 feet at a distance of 139.25 miles. With most of my rides I encourage others to give them, or something like them a try, but this is one nobody needs to endure. I do have a goal to do an outdoor Everest attempt at some point in 2021 to see how the two compare; no one ever said I was sane. I am officially in the Hells 500 Everest Hall of Fame though, so I have that going for me now.  Here is the new official write-up for this day: I rode my bike on the trainer for 14 hours, it was really boring, and it hurt, a lot, everywhere. The end.

Here is the ride on Strava though

No trainer ride pictures? No problem, here I am on a real climb while riding the Cow Pie Classic Course with Joe Cantwell earlier in the year

Last one, I promise. For the last two years I’ve set a personal goal to be consistent enough in my training to reach 10,000 miles each year. At the end of June I noticed I was well ahead of my goal pace. Without races I didn’t have taper and recovery weeks on a regular basis, so the miles just kept piling up. 6 months into the year I had 6,000 miles logged. There was only one sensible thing to do: set a goal of reaching 12,000 miles. An average of 1,000 miles per month, or 32.88 per day (really 38.34 because I have one day off a week). I didn’t really pay much attention to where I was for most of the rest of the year, I just kept riding. But when December hit I was at 10,845 miles. 1,155 miles is a pretty big month, I guess it is a good thing base training can allow for some serious saddle time because I managed to hit my goal on 12/30. There is no quitting early either. I rode again on New Years Eve to end my year with a total mileage of 12,058.  

See it really was a good year. At least I had a great year of playing bikes.

What does 2021 have in store? Good question. I am extremely hopeful some races will happen. I am working on my calendar still, but it should be good mix 100-mile mountain bike races, crazy long gravel races, and some big adventures just for fun. Be on the lookout for some more social posts and if I can find some time another blog update with some exciting news for 2021.

Now go ride your bike, or at least get on the trainer.

I almost forgot to mention, I rode Polar Roll in February and my toes are still cold.

Two goals for the day, 1: Finish, 2: grow beardcicles