Pictures from the Whiteface Race...

Did Something just explode inside of me???

The Start... who's going to ride whose wheel here?

A pre-race laugh with the Biathlon Boys while Duncan Douglass talks smack...

Made it up to the top... but not feeling so good

King of the Mountain ... almost....

Surrounded by Olympians!!!

Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race and Combined King of the Mountains…

Today was the conclusion of the Whiteface Mountain Challenge King of Mountain race. I went into the competition in third place after the run segment of the race and in 1st place for my category. The bike portion of the race was on the same exact course as the run and it should prove even more gruesome than the run. The weather was not ideal low 90’s and 80% humidity.

I had hopes of racing well and being in the top twenty considering the competition would be great. The competition included three Olympians (Tim Burke US Biathlon, Lowell Bailey US Biathlon, and Duncan Douglass US Ski Team, as well as several Cat 1 Road racers). It was great to race against the Olympians since I grew up running High School Cross Country with them …but man did the push the pace.

The race started out incredible high paced… and shelled the pack within a half mile. I stuck with the pace until the pitch increased and I realized an error early on … I had not put a climbing specific compact crank on my bike and was unable to spin a high enough cadence. I pushed the high gear as long as I could but the leaders simply spinned away from me.

The only problem was that I had four miles to grind out this high gear… man did it hurt. But I had to keep pushing if I wanted to keep my 3rd place position in the King of the Mountain contest. Somehow I ground my way to the top retaining my 3rd place in the King of the Mountain contest and my 1st place for my age category. Ouch did that race hurt like crazy.

Results can be found at http://www.whitefacerace.com/

Thanks to all my sponsors …. But on a sad side note… I have had to rearrange my racing schedule for the next few weeks due to a freak accident with a dog, my bike, and a visit to the Emergency Room in Grosse Pointe, MI. I will miss all my scheduled races until July 9th, when I will return for the 6 hours of Endorphin Race.

Side-lined a bit...

Welp ... I spent the week in Gross Pointe Michigan hoping for a great week of training ... and ended up in the Hospital with some wonderful stitches in my foot ... thats over 200 lifetime stitches over 100 in my feet alone.... So it was three days off the feet and I rode yesterday for 20 miles and should be good to go on the bike but not running or swimming for a bit...

Having Fun In Lake Placid... A bike Race and other fun stuff ... (like a NEW BOAT)

What a great weekend... Race in the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race trying to obtain the elusive King of The Mountain Title versus 3 Olympians (more on the race later)
...after that a night of mini golf and "Nacho Libre"

Mary beat me in putt-putt.
I owe her $1,000.

Words that are spelled the same forwards and backwards...

The New Boat .... some pics from the maiden voyage


Playing in the Brand New Boat Courtesy of Mississippi Kayaks ... www.mkayaks.com

A Nelo Razor ....

Lessons Learned ... and other stuff from the races...

Cold Spring, NY ~ NYARA Longest Day Adventure Race
June 10, 2006.

The morning started with a shock to the system all night long we listened to huge thunderstorms roll through wondering what the weather would leave for tomorrow’s race. When we wok up and drove to the race start we saw the HUGE swells on the Hudson River and knew it would be a rough day. We had no idea how rough….

This fifteen hour adventure race was supposed to start with a long paddle on the Hudson River, normally a fairly easy task but the race started in rough conditions with white caps over two and three feet tall. Most teams struggled to keep their boats upright before the race even started. My team made it safely through the wind and to the first CP in Second place and feeling confident about the paddle. Behind us lay the shattered fragments of the rest of the racers boats over turned, spread all over the river. Nearly half way home and things turned for the worst for our team.

The swells started getting big really big capping at over 6ft at times, controlling the boat was nearly impossible and paddling forward was something totally different. The waves were hitting us from behind so we had no idea when the next huge rouge wave would come. Unfortunately one of our teammates rolled his kayak, and we rescued him, got him to shore and somehow got the boats out on the water again… it did not end though the waves got bigger and our teammate rolled his boat again three more times…. Even for an experienced paddler I struggled mightily in the waves. Our team ended up having to abandon one of the kayaks on course and received a penalty. Yet we remained one of the few teams to finish the paddle.

We toke off on the second section of the race and quickly regained our top position. Flying through most of the bike and being glad we were back on solid ground and no longer in the horrible Hudson. The bike flew by and a few short hours we found ourselves transitioning for the trek… But we had a new problem… one of our teammates was sick. He attempted to continue but was unable to weak and lethargic we were not sure what was wrong with him. Was it the hundreds of gallons of water ingested in the Hudson during the paddle? Who knew but it was obvious he could not go on anymore.

Jim and I continued on as an unofficial unranked teams cleaning the final trek section and having some fun along the way. Opting twice to wade through ponds versus hike through the dense brush which was great idea except for the leeches …ewww

We came into the finish of the trek section, unofficially ranked but as one of the top teams. We loaded up on newspaper for the cold ride back to the finish (an old roadie trick of throwing newspaper in your jersey to keep you warm in the cold). … Although we did not officially get ranked we had a great time … and were recognized at the awards ceremony for being the only team to lose a member and still finish the race.

I guess this race can be chalked up to lessons learned in Adventure Racing…

I have to say I was very pleased with all of my new sponsored gear this race. The Recover – Ease has made a notable difference in my racing and training allowing to race and train harder and recover faster, sweat deal! Racing in tough races back to back and feeling great is something I can only attest to as the power of Recover Ease. I am also totally happy with all my Rudy Project gear the glasses were superb in all the conditions. I loved my CW-X pro top it regulated my temperature oh so well; it worked great as my base layer for the race. I also loved racing in the Brooks Cascadia Shoe it added just enough kick to help and it was super light weight my favorite thing in any piece of gear!


Full Results and information can be found at http://www.nyara.org/

Please visit my blog while I continue to update it with racing information… and bear with me as I just started it one month ago J

http://mattydracing.blogspot.com/

Whiteface Race and Frozen PARTS!

Race Update # 3

Lake Placid, NY ~ Whiteface Mountain Uphill Footrace
June 4, 2006.


This would be my first major “footrace” since I sliced my toes off at Ironman Lake Placid over a year ago. Since then I have not done what I would consider “Run –Specific training”. I assumed I would be able to be competitive considering my running history but guessed a finishing time around 1:15. I was also a little bit leery about the race considering I had been on the road for over two weeks for my job and had little time to train.

The morning sky was an ominous portent into what might be for this day. The sky was grey and it was raining quite hard. Considering the race covers over 3500 ft in elevation gain and this was spring in the Adirondacks. A light drizzle covered the runners at the start. I started slow and towards the back not too confident in my form. By mile 1 I had cracked into the top ten, and continue to move up the ranks as the miles passed by. At the three mile mark the slight drizzle had changed into a soaking rain.

By mile 5 the race started to creep past tree line and the decreased temperatures plus the wind made for a grueling finishing three miles tempartures dropped into the low 30's and snow could be seen!!! I managed to continue my upward progression in the race realizing I had started to slowly to catch the leaders. I fought through the last mile where I could hardly feel my legs or arms and my head pounded with the freezing cold.

I finished 5th overall and 2nd in the Male 20-29 Age group with a finish time of 1:10:10 beating my goal time in these conditions. Yet the time was nowhere near my high school time of 59 minutes but then again I don’t just run anymore. I will be back on June 18th to finish the second leg of the Whiteface Mountain Challenge Double. The uphill bike race, on the very same course hopefully conditions will be a bit better.

I have to say I was totally “stoked” on all of my new sponsored gear this year. The Recover – Ease has made a notable difference in my racing and training allowing to race and train harder and recover faster, sweat deal! I am also totally happy with all my Rudy Project gear the glasses were superb in the rain. I loved my CW-X pro top it regulated my temperature oh so well; it worked great as my base layer for the race. I also loved racing in the Brooks singlet it added just enough warmth to help fit the cold and it was super light weight my favorite thing in any piece of gear!


Full Results and information can be found at http://www.whitefacerace.com/

Please visit my blog while I continue to update it with racing information… and bear with me as I just started it one month ago J

http://mattydracing.blogspot.com/