Ft Yargo MTB Race

Fort Yargo Mtn Bike Race Report

I’m getting back into racing my Mtn Bike this year, so this past Sunday J-rod, Abby (J-rods future better half) Ed Hamilton and myself loaded up the old van and left @ 3:30 A.M.( note to self- 3:30 A.M. is very early) and headed over to Georgia. J-rod and Abby slept all the way but Ed stayed awake to keep me awake, self-preservation I guess. I had wanted to get to the race about an hour and a half early to be registered and warmed up. We actually got there about 45’ before the start. By the time I got registered I had a good 15’s of warm-up (note to self- I need at least 45’ to 1 hr for warm-up).Because I am now 50, I get to race in the GRAND MASTERS CLASS, or as my loving wife calls it, the last class you’ll ride till you die. I guess because we are so old, the race organizers fear that it’ll get dark before we finish so they let us race first. After my good 15’ warm-up, I lined up on the start line for my first time with the other GRAND MASTERS, and with talking with them on the start line I was told that generally this age group does not get tested for performance enhancing drugs because the officials don’t really think its nobody's business who uses things like Celias, Geritol or Grecian formula hair tonic. Because I did not get to pre-ride the course and due to my lack of adequate warm-up, I quickly came up with a plan, just follow the group and after I get warmed up ATTACK and start moving up through the class. Great plan, or so I thought. The starter yelled go…twice (none of us old guys hear that well), and we took off like a bunch of wild Indians, old Indians but wild ones, had to get finished before dark you know. I went into the single track as planed, last place but still had the group in sight (and at my age that’s not that far). About 30’ into the race I started getting warmed up and put the second part of the great plan into action, ATTACK. As we hit the power line, a slight climb I passed a couple of folks, one in my class and somebody else just out walking, at the top of the climb I was really letting it hang out, so I zipped up my jersey so my stomach wouldn’t show as much and keep charging, trying to catch and pass others in my class, when coming down a fast hill, I noticed a very sharp turn with a big dip, even though I noticed it, I could not react to it and took a trip over the handlebars and hit the ground hard (note to self- 50 year olds don’t bounce they kinda thud ) the person that I had worked so hard to pass came back by as I was picking myself off the ground and asked if I was alright, I said yea I think so, just a little scared. By the time I got going again nobody was in sight and I had decided that my plan was NOT TO GOOD so I quickly came up with a second plan, finish the first loop with a little caution and ATTACK on the second loop. I finished the first loop with out another incident. Now that I had gained all that knowledge from the first lap I was able to ATTACK the second lap at a much greater speed, a good 1/2 to 1 mph faster... at times, and even passed a guy in my class (thank goodness he was on the side of the trail with broken a chain) and even a couple of junior sport class riders (ha take that you young wiper-snapper) and I even managed to finished the race before dark as well. Did I have a good time? Heck yea. Did I learn anything? Yea (1) all kidding aside the grand masters class is not any slower than some of the other sport classes, (2) pre ride the course if at all possible, and (3) get a good warm-up. Well that about sums it up for this time. My next MTN bike race will more than likely be the Bump and Grind in Birmingham. Hope to see you there...

Jeff Dorminey

Whistlestop Race Report

Whistlestop Duathlon Race Report by Carl Viars

For the 2007 (12^th) Whistlestop Duathlon one thing was clear to those who raced and to those that stayed home—Sunday, April 15^th was winter-like cold and windy. Yesterday the high and low temperature for Birmingham was 41/53 degrees, combined with the winds and overcast conditions made most wonder if they should have stayed in bed. Whistlestop is part of the Powerman Alabama Duathlon Series which pro athletes compete along with amateurs of various athletic abilities. The Whistlestop format is a 2.7 mile run, a 17 mile bike, and a 2.7 mile run. The Powerman format is a 5 mile runs and a 33 mile bike leg. I don’t have the running base for the double 5 mile runs of the Powerman, so I have stuck with the Whistlestop to get my fill of multi-sporting.

With the winter-like conditions you didn’t see people out warming up prior to the start. Most were huddled-up inside until their group was called to the starting line. For a novice like myself my strategy was to warm-up on the first run (2.7 miles). I tried to pace myself and not push it too hard on cold muscles to avoid an injury in the first 20 minutes. I quickly realized that I had overdressed, being so cold and windy I thought I could get way with wearing my bike jersey with arm warmers over my base layer of a singlet and a Underamour shirt. Wrong! It quickly got real hot, I had to pull my arm warmers down and suffer through the run. Then I was real concerned about being hot, wet, and sweaty…then jumping on the bike for a freezing. The transition to the bike leg was slow and uneventful…but it was a big relief to get on the bike.

The bike leg seemed like it would be dismal with the cold weather, overcast and windy conditions—fortunately it didn’t rain. Despite the weather the 17 mile ride wasn’t bad, I actually was a little on the warm side, and the time/mileage went by pretty fast. I felt real comfortable on the bike and on the aerobars. I didn’t experience any discomfort, but didn’t break any personal records either. In retrospect I was probably in a “survival mode” mentally speaking and wasn’t pushing myself against the weather elements. Several times I had guys pass by me real fast with a “P” marked on their calf; I realized later that stood for “PRO.” The transition to the second run was once again slow and uneventful…unlike the last transition I wasn’t glad to move on to the next leg.

The start of the second run was significantly different than my two previous Whistle Stop attempts—I wasn’t hit by lower back spasms immediately after starting the run…Thank goodness! This leg was simple trying to keep moving one foot in front of the other to finish. The 2^nd run turned out better than any previous attempt and I even had a little left at the end to finish strong—relatively speaking.

My total time was 1:46:42 which was 65^th out of 175 Whistlestop racers and 4^th (of 9) in the 50-54 age-group. Compared to 2005 I was about 45 seconds slower this time on the first run, roughly 5 minutes slower on the bike, and 2 minutes faster on the 2^nd run. I know the conditions for the bike leg was tough, but you always look to improve your performance. I am glad I toughed it out so to speak and competed this year—the epic weather conditions will provide the ingredients of many stories in the future.