CCCX Mountain-Bike XC Race #4, Fort Ord, 5/21/2023

By Dennis Pedersen

After twice finishing 7th out of 8 riders, you'd  think I'd learn my lesson. But once again I drove to Fort Ord to race on the awesome CCCX XC courses Keith Defiebre sets up there for us. This race was originally to be on April 16th, though even that was a change from the very first schedule. But here we were, over a month later, for the actual race. As before, I raced in the 55+ age group, Category 2. 

Our races start at 11:30, and I got there just in time to sign up, get ready, warm up a little, and line up. I really didn't do anything differently this time, so I didn't expect the results to be much different. The weather was gray and chilly, and perhaps that affected the turnout as there were only five riders in my category. 

We started in a wave with all Category 2 racers, just separated by age group slightly at the start. We raced up the only paved section, and onto the dirt single track trail just like the previous races. And, just like the previous races, I started out okay, but quickly had to back off to avoid redlining. 

As a result, on the first lap several of the other racers in my category passed me. And on lap 2, I think, several more of them passed me on the one long-ish climb of the course. It wasn't all that long, just long enough to tire me out enough. Pretty soon I was riding by myself. Occasionally I'd pass somebody else, then they'd pass me later, usually on the hilly sections. 

Still, I felt reasonably good when I crossed the finish line at the end of the 4th and last lap. I had a feeling I was last, but had to rush off to my dad's 94th birthday party and didn't get to verify the results until a few days later when they were posted online. Yes, I was last, 5th out of five. Still that's better than 7th I suppose, haha. 

Like usual, I did a little post-race analysis after the results were posted, and unfortunately it showed that my average speed of 12.9 miles/hour was a bit slower than in race #3, though still faster than at race #1 in February. This race was about half an hour shorter than the previous races, and just 19.31 miles with 1,824 ft climbing. So I was a little surprised at being slower since I'm usually faster in shorter races. Maybe it was the cool, windy weather. 

The most important thing was that I did have fun, and I really do enjoy these courses. It's fun to be a part of it and I'll try my best to be at the next race, scheduled for Sunday, June 25th... which happens to be my mom's 88th birthday. 

 

CCCX Mountain-Bike XC Race #3, Fort Ord, 4/2/2023

By Dennis Pedersen

After lots of storms caused postponed race dates, I finally got to race again, at the the CCCX XC Race #3. I made a few changes for Race #3, to hopefully improve on my 7th out of 8 racers result from Race #1. 

I guess my suffering in Race #1 didn’t deter me from trying again. I skipped Race #2, because it was drizzling in Santa Cruz that day and I don’t enjoy riding in the rain anymore. Though I heard later that the weather ended up being nice for race #2… oh well. 

Though I am always cautiously optimistic about the benefits of using better cycling equipment, I never expect the improvements to be noticeable. But enough people and research convinced me to give tubeless tires a try, for a bit less rotational weight and the option of using lower tire pressures for better traction and comfort. While I was at it, I also bought a pair of the S-Works version of my Specialized Fast Track tires that I used at Race #1; they have a higher thread count for a more supple carcass. All of the above should yield better traction while still lowering the rolling resistance… too good to be true? 

Plus, I popped some energy gummies at the start line and filled my water bottles with home-made sports drink, to help avoid muscular fatigue at the end of the race. I really suffered from that in Race #1, and my lap times then documented my decline in power very accurately. 

One thing I did not do was to train specifically for these races. I just alternate between gym powerlifting workouts and 1-hour bike rides, usually doing one or the other every day of the week with at most one rest day. Oh, and sometimes a weekend mountain-bike ride with friends. For me it is now about staying as healthy and generally fit as a 62-year-old man can, while also having fun. 

So, on race day I had  a nice breakfast with Margaret, loaded up the car, and set off for Fort Ord. The roads were all cleared of the floods and storm debris, thankfully. 

The race start was 11:30 AM for my 55 to 64 age Category 2 race. The turnout was lower than at Race #1, maybe because it was colder and windier. Yeah, this April feels almost like winter. I wore a long-sleeved base layer with knee warmers under my kit, unlike Race #1 where I only added the knee warmers because it was so pleasant. This time the course had shorter laps, so we were racing for five laps instead of four. 

After our race start I made a conscious decision not to go too hard, plus my legs felt a bit weak anyway. So I wasn’t at the front of our group when we hit the awesome trails of Fort Ord. My hope was to set more consistent lap times, which would hopefully yield a better final result. The race was much like the last one, with the usual selection that occurs in the first lap. Soon I was riding mostly by myself, occasionally passing, or being passed by, other riders. 

I had ridden the new S-Works tires a few times on rides, and my feeling was that they were noticeably better. And that feeling continued in this race. I had less slipping in the turns and loose sections, a smoother ride, and the rolling resistance did feel lower. The trails were perfect, with no mud and just a few sections of damp, loose sand. 

Photo: Rick Rasmussen

But even with the better tires and sports drink I still had to slow down and stretch my back as the race progressed. I thought maybe I didn’t lose as much power towards the end of the race, and after I finished the race, and had time to analyze my rough lap times from Strava, the data confirmed that, as my lap times slowed by only 1.5 minutes in Race #3, vs. Race #1 where I slowed by 2.5 minutes (though the shorter laps in Race #3 account for some of that difference). And the other data looked better for Race #3 too: 

	Race #1	Race #3
Lap 1:	28:04	22:03
Lap 2:	29:45	22:42
Lap 3:	30:26	23:23
Lap 4:	28:03 (short last lap)	23:38
Lap 5:	—	18:30 (short last lap)
Total time:	1:56:18	1:52:27
Total miles:	23.44 miles	24.97 miles
Total elevation gain:	2,306 ft	2,293 ft
Average speed:	12.1 mi/h	13.3 mi/h

I was especially excited to see that my average speed was higher this time. That was promising, and perhaps spoke to my fitness for these races improving? And sports drink? And maybe it also verified what everybody kept telling me about the advantages of tubeless tires? 

So, I felt better about this race, and yet my result was exactly the same as for Race #1: 7th out of 8. Haha! But only four of us had done both races, and when I compared myself to the three other riders I was actually closer to all of them than before, and beat one of them. 

So I seem to have improved, but most importantly, I had a lot of fun and will be at Race #4, on April 16th. 

CCCX Mountain-Bike XC Race #1, Fort Ord, 2/12/2023

 By Dennis Pedersen

Most of you probably think of me as a track cyclist. That has certainly been true for the last 10 or more years. So how did I end up astride my new Ibis DV9 hardtail on a beautiful day in Fort Ord, ready to start my first mountain-bike race in 16 years? Well, it's a long story that I won't get into (though you can read the story here), but I was stoked and ready to race on the dirt trails!

My friend and former boss Chris and I had talked each other into racing. Neither one of us had much belief that we'd do well, but racing is exciting and motivates us to stay healthy and fit. Chris and I had ridden at Fort Ord a couple of times recently, and the trails were still so familiar to me after all those years. And the recent rains had left the trails in beautiful shape, without the usual loose dust.

I drove down just in time to sign up, get ready, and reconnoiter a little bit. I was surprised at how many old friends I saw there, including fellow former Team Bicycle Trip team member Jose Luis Hernandez, now a competitor in the Category 2 55+ group I was in. As we lined up for the start of our cross-country race, on the only paved section we'd be on, I got to meet several other competitors and friends. 

Chris's 45+ group was lined up just ahead of us, when we started to roll forward. Suddenly, I realized this was the actual start of our race too. Oops! I wasn't the only one caught out, and several other people lagged behind as others raced forward onto the trails. Knowing how important a good start is, I quickly sped past several other riders and hit the dirt. 

Keith Defiebre, the CCCX race promoter, had advertised these races as being 4 to 5 miles per lap, with my group racing for four laps. Well, having done no endurance training in many years, I didn't expect to last long. I was right. About halfway into the first lap I could already tell I could not keep up with my competitors, even though I drafted as much as possible. Marcelo, the only competitor I was able to stay with for a while, slowly pulled away from me in spite of my best efforts. Being fast for 250 meters is very different from being fast for 250 minutes. 

Soon, as is common in cross-country racing, I found myself riding by myself, or passing or being passed by the same handful of people at various parts of the course. Man, my legs were definitely not happy. While I was breathing heavily, it was really the burning in my legs that was holding me back. 

But the course is a blast to ride, and really suits me well. Or would have suited me well if I had trained for it like I had in the past. Lots of small rolling hills, hard packed sand, fun downhills, and very few technical sections, all contributed to a great ride for me. Even though I was enjoying the course, my painful legs and burning lungs forced me to slow down and even stop pedaling to stretch occasionally. At some low moments I even thought I should just drop out of the race. But then I remembered how much I fun I was having and kept going. Right? 

On my third lap I noticed a couple of my competitors pass me. I didn't like that, but there wasn't much I could do except watch them ride slowly into the distance. I think they were some of the riders who got confused at the start. On my last lap, I was amazed at how fast the category 1 racers passed me. The only people I passed were a few of the slower juniors and women. 

I was able to get an idea of my lap times from Strava, and they showed how I went from 28-minute laps to 30-minute laps during the course of the race. In some ways I was surprised it wasn't worse. My competitors set fairly consistent laps in contrast. 

Thankfully, the final finish line soon appeared, and boy was I grateful! My lungs were literally hurting from gasping for breath for just shy of 2 hours. Strangely, my legs recovered pretty quickly. I guess because their potential is so low now, I wasn't able to push them hard enough to cause much damage, even though it felt like I had while racing. 

By the way, I had expected about 16 miles of racing, but we ended up doing almost 24 miles, with over 2300 ft of climbing, and I finished 7th out of 8 riders, at 1:57.14, almost 10 minutes behind the winner. 

So, I really did have fun, and it was so exciting and great to see old friends again. I'm planning on racing the next CCCX race, on February 26th. Hopefully my legs will have adapted better to this punishment by then!