Revolution Series #1 Glorietta Race Report

Last weekend I was off to the first race of the Revolution series in New Mexico! It was the first race of this type I've ever done, so I learned a lot.

Saturday, May 27 - Preriding and race prep

Got up about 530a and drove to Glorietta, New Mexico for a preview of the course. It ended up being a lot longer and more climbing than I realized and I was pretty spent by the end of it. I would NOT have wanted to ride the course blind.

Start of Stage 1

These are the notes I took after each stage (through I wish I'd taken more)

• Stage 1: lots of pedaling, flowy, look out for mid trail tree, no super technical stuff
• Stage 2: fast at the top, chunky in the middle, hop off for the one feature, everything below that is hard but rideable
• Stage 3: the first feature is rideable, but don't come out with too much speed. take all b lines after that, at the bottom just get over the line don't worry about that drop. Look ahead for the 2 jumps to avoid them
• Stage 4: take all b lines, real chunky thing near the end that's like the one spot at Valmont, try to stay light over rocks, seems like the left line is usually the best, maybe a touch more tire pressure for this one

I was disappointed that the A lines were out of my comfort level, so I was expecting to lose time at each of those (which I did). 

Sunday, May 28 - Race day

The start was really casual, everyone meandering up the transfer to the stage 1 start. I chatted with a few guys and that passed the time nicely. At the top was a huge log jam and ended up waiting for almost an hour for the other groups to start. 

Stage 1 review: Faster, somewhat flowy stage with a lot of pedaling. I felt pretty good on this stage and even caught a couple guys. There was a lot of pedaling, which suited me. It was nice to get the first stage out of the way.

Stage position: 9th

Overall position: 9th

Stage 2 review: The top was very chunky, steep, and loose. It was much worst than pre-ride and rumor was the pros destroyed it. I felt slightly out of control on some of it and was glad when that section was over. I had to hop off and run over one big drop which hurt my pride and my time. At the bottom it was some fun drops and I felt faster than my finish position indicated. 

Stage position: 9th
Overall position: 7th

Hike - a - Bike

Stage 3 review: To be honest, the later stages are already starting to blur. I remember that the top was fast, and I crashed on first A/B line split, but it didn't slow me down a ton, just got me really dirty. Right after that some guy caught me but then I was able to pull away from him. Felt just sloppy at the bottom and lost time picking through features rather than blasting over them. My forearms we're toast at the end.

Stage position: 8th
Overall position: 6th

Stage 4 review: In my notes I wrote, "Better than stage 3!" There were several A/B ride-arounds that were much slower than going over - I have to learn to hit the big features. Most of the stage was just chunky nonsense, and I found it hard to carry speed. I thought I was riding fast but a guy passed me and he was much faster. Got to get better at sending tech sections. 

Stage position: 11th
Overall final position: 7th out of 22

Final mileage: 20.80 mi
Total riding time: 4:33:52
Total elev gain: 4,403'

Elevation Profile

Learnings:

• A ton of walking - will probably use the more walkable shoes in the future
• Need to go faster over rough stuff and not pick and choose lines
• NEED to hit A lines, the B lines were much slower and really breaks up flow
• I was 0:10 from 6th, 0:30 from 5th, 2:00 from 4th

I met this cool dog at the finish

Floyd Hill Course Preview and the Importance of Preriding

I had a great opportunity this last weekend to pre-ride a course that will be featured in the Session Series on Floyd Hill. I've never ridden this course before, so I wanted to get a few laps in to get familiar and see where I was going to be able to go fast - and where to exercise caution.

This trail is a purpose built, downhill only MTB trail with alternate lines that are rocky, steep, fast. 

I was able to take 4 laps on this trail. The climb up was a 650 feet of climbing, 1.8 miles. I did it between 25 and 30 min. The descent was just over a mile back down. The challenge on the climb was to control speed and not burn out. It was tough to keep my ego in check getting passed by a lot of people. 

Course Map from Strava

What struck me was how shitty and not-confident I felt on the first time through, and how good I felt on the last time through. This reinforces what I suspect:

Preriding is key.

I spent the first time down going slow, stopping to look at the obstacles and any dangerous spots. The second and third time I tried to ride everything and see where to push speed. The fourth time I really pushed for time. 

Run 1: 8:02
Run 2: 6:58
Run 3: 6:20
Run 4: 5:22 <- in the top 5 fastest times of the day

Ride Profile

Learnings:

• Hitting every feature is fun, but might not be the fastest
• I gained a lot of speed by focusing on what corners were 180°+
• This course has a lot of splits and options, that caused confusion I likely won't deal with on other courses

Enduro Racing: It's Not All About the Bike

So, we talked about what Enduro racing is and what kinds of courses to expect. Now I'd like to talk about what kind of bike you'd expect to see in this kind of race. Modern Enduro bikes are a combination of the benefits from both downhill bikes and cross country bikes. 

"But Adam, what about Trail bikes?" Trail bikes are like light Enduro bikes. Ok, Fine, here is a better diabram. I mean diagram:

The long reach and steep seat tube angles from cross country combined with slack steer tube angles and low bottom bracket of a downhill bike make for a stable bike that maintains some climbing ability. I think of it as a slightly less convenient trail bike. Here's a bunch of examples (and a comment by some handsome fellow).

What bike am I riding? Let me take you on a journey of bikes: 

2017 Cannondale Scalpel
Travel: 100/100 on Lefty and RockSHOX Monarch 
Group: Sram 2x
Great for racing XC racing, not made for descending

2019 Specialized StumpJumper ST
Travel: 120/130 on Awesome RockSHOX Pike fork, so-so RockSHOX Monarch shock
Group: GX 1x with 50t
Great for front range trails, great in-betweener from CX to trail bike

2023 Trek Fuel EX 9.8 XT*
Travel: 140/150 on FOX suspension, disappointed in the adjustment
Group: XT with 52t
Adjustable everything, great climber, not terribly blown away on descents

*I intended to race Enduro on the Trek, but due to a frame issue I ended up replacing it after 4 rides

2023 Specialized StumpJumper EVO
Travel: 150/160
Group: AXs GX with 52t
Excellent descender, shocks are great

I also looked at the Specialized Enduro, a 170/170 true enduro bike, but that seemed like too much of a compromise for regular use. In the end, the EVO should give me all the travel and handling I need for an Enduro race while still allowing me to ride local trails. 

What is Enduro Racing?

So what is this race series that I've signed up for? Enduro is a type of mountain bike racing where the downhills are timed, and the neutral uphills are not timed.

There are a couple ways they accomplish this unique kind of race course. Here are some examples of a course you would see:

1. In this type of course, you ride to the top up a service road or trail repeatedly and take different trails down. The transfer climbs are predictable and each timed stage is different.

Self Assisted 

2. In this course, you are timed on the downhill portions of one large loop. These are self supported, usually more remote, and you have to carry all your stuff. 

Self Assisted Loop

3. Fully assisted via lift! No climbing just a gravity-fueled day of fun. These often take place at bike parks and ski areas.

Lift Access

In all these cases, the transfer is not timed, but there is a window that you have finish inside. The downhill stage times and added together:

Stage 1 - 3:30

Stage 2 - 5:25 

   Stage 3 - 4:15   

Total Time - 13:10 (final time)

Fastest total time wins, that's it, that's Enduro. Next up - What kind of bike do you ride for this kind of ting...?

2313 Days Later...

After some much needed time off, I'm back with a refreshed creative sense and a new purpose to the posting. Recap: In the last 5 years we moved to Niwot, the kids grew up, I got a new job, Natalie got a new job, we did 2 more paver projects, and got a couple more dogs. Also, lots of new bikes. 

Redwood National Forest

I've entered a race series this summer and I'll be using this blog to keep track of how things go.

I've done a lot of kinds of bike racing - BMX, Cross Country, SuperD (when that was a thing), Dual Slalom, Gravel, Short Track, etc.

Top of Escape Route

The BOD in Louisville

Dacono BMX

I always thought racing Enduro would be fun. I've never had the bike or the time - until now. I've got to a new bike that is more Enduro ready and I've started training with a focus on downhill. 

For the next few months, I am going to post about race preparation, race results, and overall feedback  on Enduro racing. 

As a kick-off, I spend the last weekend riding in Colorado Springs. One thing I was really looking forward to was riding aggressively on unfamiliar trails. One trail in particular I was able to ride once at a reasonable pace, then ride again faster, simulating what it will be like in a race. 

First ride down:

Second Ride Down:

This really emphasizes how important it is to pre-ride a course. Knowing where the obstacles are, and how to ride them, is going to be critical to be competitive. Next up: bike choice!