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Entered Marathon MTB nationals in Arkadelphia, AR May 6th. 50 miles of mostly singletrack. Should be 3.5 ~ 4 hr race. This will be my first ever Marathon XC, and I'll be trying to win it. I've done 6 & 24 hr endurance races which is sort of the same thing. Start loop is 4 mile mostly double track so it'll be an intense 4 miles trying to get to the single track first. After that it's really hard to pass. Form is stomping right now so I'm hoping to convert that into something at this event.
Entered Marathon MTB nationals in Arkadelphia, AR May 6th. 50 miles of mostly singletrack. Should be 3.5 ~ 4 hr race. This will be my first ever Marathon XC, and I'll be trying to win it. I've done 6 & 24 hr endurance races which is sort of the same thing. Start loop is 4 mile mostly double track so it'll be an intense 4 miles trying to get to the single track first. After that it's really hard to pass. Form is stomping right now so I'm hoping to convert that into something at this event.
I did a lot of MTB racing around that part of the country in the mid to late 90's even won the Arkansas state championship series one year. lots of cool single track around Ouachita National Forest. It was generally very hot and humid. did a race in July out of Mena where it was in the upper 90's and Raining at the same time.
Dogs,
I just scored my insurance check, 364-days after making my claim getting rear-ended and paying out of pocket. Tell me not to do R-785 Di2 with an XT RD on my Stigmata, please.
Dogs,
I just scored my insurance check, 364-days after making my claim getting rear-ended and paying out of pocket. Tell me not to do R-785 Di2 with an XT RD on my Stigmata, please.
you know it will be sweet, but will the upcoming ultegra rx800 be better for you vs the XT setup? shimano will be offering the ultegra level components with clutch and will work with road FD if your using an FD.
you know it will be sweet, but will the upcoming ultegra rx800 be better for you vs the XT setup? shimano will be offering the ultegra level components with clutch and will work with road FD if your using an FD.
R785/XT is $819, R8070 with an RX is $2200 for a bike that I'm going to crash 3x per weekend in CX season.
Sold my road bike... bought a gravel, touring, adventure road-mountain bike thing. Giant Toughroad SLR GX 1. This is a very strange bike but it's right up my ally.
Interesting points:
-23.8 lbs with the pleblian parts build which will all get replaced eventually. Hoping to end up at about 21lbs when i'm done
-room for 27.5 x 2.35 and 29 x 2.2 tires
-Composite fork with internal routing to not conflict with panniers and rack mounts
-Hidden rack mounts in back
-100/135 QR spacing so cheap wheels and hub availability in BFE if touring
-Available well under 1300 bucks, and maybe under 1k depending on the relationship you have with your LBS
Super stoked on this bike... It's a dumb bike in the eyes of purists... but as some one that rides mtb's 99% of the time, it's a good roadish bike to fill out the stable. I already have 3 wheelsets that work with this bike and I'll add another 1-2 to the mix... maybe even road +.
integrated garmin mount and mech to hydro brake junction (proprietary to giant)
New rig for Dirty Kanza 200 next week. 400 miles and about 24,000 feet of climbing training this week.
2018 Trek Boone with F&R Iso decouplers.
D/A-Ultegra Di2
Shifter on aero bars
700x35c Kenda Flintridge
TT saddle
Bike racing didn't go as well as hoped... I think I screwed up my peaking/taper before the event. Didn't have any energy to pedal and had a bad cough for the whole weekend. Pretty much coasted on stage 4 (felt dizzy and weird at the top) and lost around 10 seconds. About 5 of the top 10 enduro guys in the country were here... Cool to see Richie Rude (2X world champ) dominate.
I've had a cough since April- going to a ear/sinus/throat doctor to see what's up (feels like my vocal chords are screwed up or something).
Sounds like bronchitis. Common in athletes who do a lot of vO2 max efforts at altitude and exposed to weather extremes. Your taper was probably right. If you rest too much you just lose a little bit of top end Fitness but you'll be really strong and able to go repeatedly. If you don't rest enough the legs hurt and you fade quickly.
I went to my normal doctor and asked specifically about bronchitis (google said I had it!!)... She said my lungs sounded clear and no other signs of bronchitis... Referred me to a ENT doctor. My lungs feel fine, all my issues seem to be in my throat. Anyways- a little frustrating. We'll see.
For my taper- I don't think I went hard enough to "wake up" after my rest week before the event. Feels like I'm fully awake now. Next time I'll try and do a rest week 2 weeks prior, then do a full week of real training BEFORE going to the event. This time I did rest week, then 2 medium days of workout then straight to the event. I seem to feel strongest the 2nd week of a 3 week block of training.