Broken Again

Its probably safe to say that everyday your learn something new.  Some days you even learn a life lesson.  Once again I find my racing season in doubt due to injury.   8 days ago I developed Achilles tendonitis in my left leg.  With my new stance on health I gave it 4 days of rest, re tested it and realized I needed to see a PT ASAP.  So I went to the UofM Medsport clinic to get my injury diagnosed.  From recommendations I went to see a fellow cyclist who happens to be a PT.  Sure enough he confirmed what I dreaded.  Achilles Tendonitis, the injury that can be a pain in the arse to get rid off.   The likely causes are what surprised me though.  First of all my hamstrings are not very flexible, I never noticed this though because my back on the other hand is super flexible.  Basically I need to focus on stretching better.  That was minor though and not likely the cause, the more likely cause was a certain massive contusion.  Yup, that injury I suffered at Iceman.  Turns out a bruise of that magnitude can wreck havoc on a muscle.  I thought I had rehabbed it with my bike training.  Nope, the tendon was slowly getting fed up with me.  When I left he recommended that I work on stretches for the time being.  Next week I plan to start a physical therapy plan to get me back up to speed and racing, but with the main goal of not training hard till I know the tendon is healed, strengthened and ready.  Who knows how long that will take, depends on how my body heals and reacts.  Back to the calf muscle though, the PT said I should be able to do 25 left foot calf raises easy for my fitness.  I tried two sets yesterday for kicks and failed with the left leg.  Today while using my massage roller on my calf I found a certain spot that was super sore.  Yup, right where I had the massive contusion on my left calf.  Lesson learned, if I ever get a massive bruise like that again I am going to seek an Injury clinic.  I had no idea a bad bruise could do this, now I know.

Opening Day

Saturday the 2011 season officially kicked off, which really was a huge relief for me.  This past winter has just plain sucked for me health wise.  I had problem after problem and once one healed another started.  I would like to say I was 100% coming into this weekend, but I wasn't.  The previous two weeks I had been battling a nasty respiratory cold that made my bronchitis flare up again.  To make matters worse I also injured my neck. So since November of last year I battled a hurt leg(5.5 weeks), bronchitis(2-3 weeks), kidney stone(1.5 weeks) and a nasty respiratory cold/neck(1.5 weeks).  The neck/back issues I am still dealing with.  With all that said, I felt good just to be lining up for the first official race of the year for me.  Willow Time Trial has always been a favorite of mine.  Mostly cause its a nice easy race to get rolling into the season.  The race is a flat 6 lap race over a 2.2 mile circuit, a little longer then a 20k.  The goal for the day was to improve on my time from last year.  Unfortunately there was an unfavorable wind.  This wind made the course something like 60 seconds slower. 

Despite me being stronger and having a nifty rear wheel disc cover I finished slower then my previous years time be some 40 some odd seconds.  The bigger issue for the day was my bike computer didn't work.  Since I was the first Cat 3 to start I spent most my time passing people.  I had no idea what lap I was on, luckily for me my teammate passed me right before the finish line so I knew it was my last lap.  At the end of the day I was 6th in category, which is good considering what I have dealt with this off season. Hopefully this is a good sign of a good summer.

Willow TT Results

Sunday was round two, Cone Azalia Road Race.  Pain is the word that best describes Cone.  Given my back/neck was not 100%, I probably should have not raced.  With the legs feeling good, I made a go at it anyways.  In the hours prior to the race a thunderstorm passed dropping a fair amount of rain.  Nothing better the wet dirt roads!  The race started out at a furious pace, it also started out with a mass of carnage and wrecks.  The first section of dirt road was like waging a war.  Bottles and people were going all over.  I saw at least a couple people go down.  My thought was to stay to the right and just keep hammering it.  Unfortunately the carnage caused me to lose touch with the front runners.  In the process of bridging back up I had a fellow racer collide with me.  Luckily I was able to bounce him off with my elbow and stay upright before he took out my front wheel.  After the dirt the race still remained chaotic.  Apparently two riders had slipped off the front, I had no idea since I was holding on for dear life.  I had hit many pot holes and thought for sure my bike was busted.  However at the end of the first lap I found myself as one of the small group of riders to survive the first lap.  Things turned sour for me fast though, I had hit to many pot holes and it had taken its number on my back and neck.  At the start of the 3rd lap I became unhitched from the chase group and spent 9 miles doing a TT.  At the end of the lap I called it a day before my back got any worse.  Unfortunately I also found out later I had DNFed while I was still 10th in the race.  If I had known that maybe, maybe I could have found a way to fight the pain.  I still finished 20th, and with my back intact.  I was also covered head to toe in mud, hopefully a picture will show up some day.  I would also like to thank all the volunteers including Marisa and her friends and Mom that came out to support putting on the race and cheering on the team.  Without there help we would have not been able to co sponsor the race.

Cone Azalia Results

Fisk Knob Time Trial

Last weekend I kicked off my pre season at the Fisk Knob Time Trial.  Once again it was a frigid cold day just barely getting to 30°.  There was ice on the road in parts and just plain cold.  This race was just my fitness test and a gauge of my training progression.  I was hoping to improve on last years time, however colder air just makes that hard.  I don't have to much to elaborate on, but I ended up second in my age group.  I was hoping for first, but I will take second.  Despite my asthma being better the last two months the cold air still triggered a small attack.  It probably cost me a few minutes, all and all though I am still happy.

Results

2011 Update

2011 couldn't come fast enough for me.  The end of 2010 was by no means fun. My leg bruise in my calf did finally drain in December after 5.5 weeks, but that was just the beginning.  Christmas day I started to develop a cold, little did I know that in less then 48 hours it would develop into full blown bronchitis that triggered a nasty asthma attack.  After a trip to the ER in the middle of the night a few things became apparent.  I might be fit, but my lungs have not been healthy for some time.   It's been a little over a month now and I can finally say the lungs are starting to feel a little more like normal again.  So, after many tests at the doctors office I learned something.  Don't mess with asthma, even if its minor.  For the past two years I have been mostly off any medication for asthma all together.  That was the problem, over time my bronchial tubes probably just got worse.  This in turn is what led to me having bronchitis last year that I struggled with from February to April.  I had a good morning chronic cough to, that should have been my indicator something was not right.  This condition doesn't get better for someone who works out a lot outdoors without and medication.  So, this leads to where I was at Christmas.  A simple cold could easily trigger bronchitis despite me trying to get as much rest as possible.   Whats the next step, I'm back to my asthma maintenance medication.  In the next few months my lung function should improve more and return to a normal capacity for me.  The competition better watch out for me this year, last year I wasn't running on all cylinders.

That aside, I have finally started my training for the 2011 season.  So far everything is going great and I still feel strong despite the few setbacks I have had. My tentative schedule is a work in progress and is listed on the right side of the web page.   As far as goals for this season, I have only one.  That is to get and stay healthy.   Racing should come easy after that if I am running at 100%.   2011 though I a upping the technology factor when I race though.   For Christmas I got a GoPro HD camera.  I will be mounting this camera to my bike for most races.  So in the future look forward to hopefully seeing some neat video footage.

2010 Season in Review

2010 turned out to be a great year for me.  While my jump at the seasons start to Cat 3 had me nervous initially, It turned out by far to be the right move at the right time.   All and all I participated in 31 races of various types.  This year I managed to escape injury...well until midway through my last race.  I guess this would be a good time to insert and update on my injury.  While the bruise on the upper side of my leg worried me the most, it healed without complications.  However the bruise on the top of my calf below my knee didn't.  Currently I am still off the bike with no time line to return.  Unfortunately the bruise was inside the muscle, I still currently have several pockets of fluid inside the muscle that haven't drained/healed yet.  If it doesn't improve by the start of next week I will be going to find a specialist to see.  So while I initially planned to take a week off the bike after Iceman, its looking like that might be at least 4 weeks.   It will be nice when I can get out and ride again.

Back to this season though, I accomplished many of my goals.  I completed a mountain bike race, I greatly improved my time trialing ability.  My main improvement was gaining more confidence in my ability.  Towards the end of the season I was fearless of the breakaway and found myself very comfortable attacking off the front of the field.  I also was able to use my strength this year to help work the pace at the front of many races when it was needed for my team.  I also assisted in helping my teammates in lead outs on a couple occasions. I also spent several hours in the velodrome.  All and all for my second season I think I improved a lot.

So that brings me to next year...
Well I think my main goal for next year is to focus more on select individual races.  This year there was a few weekends were I was just too tired.  The State Time Trail was a great example, my body was just not rested and the results showed.  That was the worst time trial I have ever had, there was just no go in the motor.  Most disappointing about that was, that was a race I really wanted to be strong in.  So for next year I am going to better monitor my training efforts and most importantly rest more when needed.

Also next year I plan to ride my mountain bike much more.  I've come to find a lot of value out of that type of training.  It helps build your core, and helps keep the cycling workouts fresh.  I also plan to try and mix in a few more mountain bike races on off weekends.

As far as road racing goes I am hoping to avoid flats next year, and depending on how I feel in April I might take a run at working to upgrade to Category 2.  Below is a full list of my results, I will be working on building my race schedule for next year throughout the winter.


2010 Race Results

Mar.21.2010 Fisk Knob Time Trial (5/16 in Age Group 25-29, 42/149 Overall)
Mar.27.2010 FRCC Spring Fling #1 Criterium (9/34 B Race)
Apr.03.2010 FRCC Spring Fling #2 Criterium (16?/47 B Race)
Apr.10.2010 FRCC Spring Fling #3 Criterium (11/31 B Race)
Apr.24.2010 Willow Time Trial (8/15 Cat 3, 50/193 Overall)
May.08.2010 Tour of Kensington Valley Road Race (DNF/34 Cat 3)
May.09.2010 Cone-Azalia Spring Classic Road Race (13/30 Cat 3)
May.16.2010 MBRA Talent Pool Time Trial @ Bloomer Velodrome (5/7 Cat 3)
May.22.2010 West Branch Classic Road Race (DNF/41 Cat 3)
May.23.2010 West Branch Criterium (DNF/36 Cat 3)
May.29.2010 Das Tour of Frankenmuth Road Race (35/39 Cat 3)
Jun.03.2010 Flying Rhino: Thursday Night Worlds Road Race (??/58 A Race)
Jun.12.2010 Le Tour de Mont Pleasant - Criterium (21/35 Cat 3)
Jun.13.2010 Le Tour de Mont Pleasant - Road Race (26/37 Cat 3)
Jun.20.2010 Michigan State Time Trial Championship (12/17 Cat 3)
Jun.26.2010 Superior Bike Fest - State Championship Road Race (DNF/33 Cat 3)
Jun.27.2010 Superior Bike Fest - Circuit Race (17/24 Cat 3)
Jul.10.2010 USAC NRC - Meijer Grand Cycling Classic Criterium (DNF/83 Cat 2/3)
Jul.11.2010 Terry Reisch Memorial Charity Race Criterium (14/16 Cat 3)
Jul.17.2010 BTR Park Criterium (32/34 Cat 3)
Jul.24.2010 Maillot Jaune Road Race (9/23 Cat 3)
Jul.25.2010 Le Champion Pave Criterium (22/26 Cat 3)
Jul.31.2010 Michigan State Track Championships - 4k Time Trial (7/8 Cat 3, 8/9 Overall)
Aug.01.2010 Milford Criterium (34/41 Cat 3)
Aug.08.2010 Hines Park Time Trial (6/15 Cat 3, 31/149 Overall)
Aug.22.2010 East Grand Rapids Criterium - State Championship (29/42 Cat 3)
Aug.28.2010 Cherry-Roubaix Criterium (30/45 Cat 3)
Aug.29.2010 Cherry-Roubaix Road Race (25/41 Cat 3)
Sep.06.2010 Annual DeBaets-Devos Pro-Am Criterium (29/33 Cat 3)
Sep.12.2010 Addison Oaks Fall Classic Mountain Bike XC (7/12 Sport Men 19-29)
Nov.06.2010 Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Challenge (12/103 Mens 25-27 Age Group)

Iceman Cometh!

The end of the season finally came and went and now I am left in a mess of bruises and pain.  Heh, Iceman really lived up to its name.  When the weather is right, this race really sets the men away from the boys.  Last year the weather hit the 60's and people called it Niceman!  Heh, I think they offended someone.  This year was everything but that and more closer to Hell.  Iceman is a point to point race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, MI. The day before the race a cold front moved in, added with some lake effect snow...you get the picture.  The morning of the race I got up and it was 17° at my hotel, there wasn't snow on the ground though so I thought everything would be good.  As I drove to the start it warmed up a little.  At race start it was 24°.  I was set to go off in wave 3,  I was all set to race on a cold hard packed trail.  Warming up for the race I about turned blue,  it was damn cold.  Things went bad for me before I left the line though, my camelbak drink tube froze.  Only the bite valve was frozen so I stuck it in my jersey and it melted.  That was just the start of that issue.  

My wave had like 85 riders in it, when the gun went we all took off in a made rush.  30 miles to go!  The race had a nice 1-2 miles of pavement to let people settle down before we hit the trails.  Before I hit the trails my drink tube had frozen again, this time at the shoulder...I had zero energy mix.  I immediately went to conservation mode, I lowered my output to hopefully sustain making it to the finish and not bonk too hard.  My fitness was good though and I still found myself passing much of my wave and slowing working up to the front.  The first 6 miles the trail had tons of sand, I found myself just eating it as it got flung off the tires in front of me.  The first sandy downhill also turned into a real mess.  I practiced sand riding a lot, and honestly really made myself a solid technical mountain bike rider.  That doesn't mean the people around me were though.  Going down the hill about ten riders up I see the pill up happen.  First it was one, then two riders down.  By the time I got there is was like six, I bombed it off the side of the trail and passed it all without breaking my pace.  Lucky I guess, but that's about all I got today. 

It settled down a lot after that riding through the double track Nordic trails.  Eventually I hit the first section of single track and encountered my first back up.  It didn't slow me down to much, in fact probably helped me save myself given I had no energy drink/water.   The interesting part was the trail was starting to show snow accumulation.  As the trail was going from clear to patches of snow and ice.  Next to my surprise I came across an aide station about 1/4 through the race.  I snagged a cup of water mid stroke, chugged it and kept hammering on.  I have never wanted a cup of water so bad in my life.  However the real thought started to cross my mind, when would the cramps start?  Heh, about mile 8 or 9 I think.  I felt it in my hands first.  So I stopped and took my camelbak and jersey off.  I put the darn thing against my chest then put the jersey over it.  I lost two minutes or more easily, but I know that this issue needed to be fixed.  However though, it wouldn't unfreeze for another hour. 

I still battled on, I was honestly still in the hunt for a podium for my age group.  Even after the pit stop to change.  So I hammered on giving what I could.  I had to walk a few hills I could normally hammer due to traffic and cramps, but the race was still going decent for me.  Well until the half way mark,  that's when the real trouble started.

Going through the second water station the race came to a screeching halt for me, but not for the fact I had no water.  As I was leaving the station a rider tried to pass me on the incorrect side.  Unfortunately he lost control of his bike and hit me while I was drinking.  Before I knew it I was on the deck and in a massive heap of pain.  I had flown off my bike and landed on top of his bike with him partly under it.   It took me a bit to get up, my hand was really killing me.  However it was my leg that took the damage, I couldn't feel it yet and didn't know how bad it was.  I think his day was over, my body damaged his bike.  Mine only had a bad wobble to the rear wheel and slightly crooked handlebars.  I don't know when to stop though so after taking a few minutes to recollect myself I got back on with my race.  I still had a decent shot at podium with my fitness.  I should have grabbed a few cups of water before I left though.  I wasn't thinking straight I guess.

So I was back to hammering, more like a mad man now because I wanted to catch up.  However my power was weak, the left leg just wasn't firing on all cylinders after the wreck.  I made the best of what I had though and quickly got back to passing people that passed me while I was dead on the ground at water station #2.  Well, maybe I was pushing to hard.  On a section of snow covered double track a mile later I ate it hard on a corner.  The front tire slid out on me at around 20mph.  I hit the deck very hard this time, however the force was distributed all over my body.  I got up fairly quick this time,  I looked like a snowman.  The bike however looked a little more worse for ware.  The handlebars now were at a nice 45° angle.  I gave the stem a quick nudge to try and straighten it, however its never a good idea to torque your wheels like that.  So I sat there a second trying to decide what to do.  I had no multi tool to re align the stem. Heh, Patrick Robb made my decision for me.  He came flying by yelling something like "Benke get back up".  So since I had already thrown reason into the wind so many times, I hopped back on the bike and kept going.  Crooked bars or not I was going to finish.  The sensible thing would be to stop, its not easy to ride a bike this way.

The next few miles I found myself just taking it easy riding with a group of riders through a section of single track.  I tried to strike up a conversation...which brings me to a pet peeve.  Why do people take racing so serious.  I got some grumbles like, why are you talking to me.  Riding my bike in its condition was putting a lot of stress on my triceps.  So I was asking all over for a multi tool.  Well finally after 2-3 miles I saw a guy off the side fixing his bike.  So I bombed off the trail and asked to borrow his tool.  He was nice enough to lend it to me despite the clear anger he was in for his bike breaking.  His bike wasn't repairable.  Mine was, so I took the tool and adjusted the stem.  I got it close to straight.  So...after another unplanned break I was back rolling again.  At this point some junior racer had witnessed me pass him 4 times, only to have him pass me back 3 times. 

After that the race got boring and slow, the trail was melting and turning into a soupy muddy mess.  I kept just turning over the pedals passing people right and left.  Finally as I approached the last aide station my camelbak unfroze.  Since I was already bonking I needed the nutrition bad, I chugged on my drink tube.  The next few miles I found myself returning to form, passing more people.  However the hills over the last few miles were kicking my butt with one good leg.  I had to walk more of them then I would have liked.  Sigh, as I came to finish I felt a lot better.  I struggled and once again found away to find my way to the finish of another race.  As I crossed the line I did a massive bunny hop out of frustration.  While my race time stopped at just over 2:11, my computer showed a running time just over 2:01.  Heh, I really spent 10 minutes off my bike standing.  To my surprise my time snagged me 12th in my 25-27 age group out of near 100 racers.  That made me feel a lot better.

When I got off the bike the wear and tear of the race was evident.  I really hurt and had trouble walking.  As I changed in the changing tent I got my first glimpse of my leg,  I had a nice blood stain on my bibs.  There was also a bruise the size of a football with massive swelling on the upper side of my left leg.  There was a 1*2 inch cut in the middle.  I also had a nice baseball sized bruise on my left calf just under my knee.  So I guess that's what was really slowing me down.  Oh well, I packed up and went to find a beer at the after party.

As I left for the day all I could think about was next year.  I am going to take this experience and make the best of it for next year.  While I was very well trained and on pace to podium, luck robbed me of that.  Next year I am determined to step on that podium.

Iceman Men's Results

The climb of my life

So its been a while since I have wrote on here so I will start with an update.   Really there isn't much to update on, things are still being ironed out for the new team.  The website is now up @ Link.   In October I knocked a certain ride off my bucket list.  I rode from Hood River, OR to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.  Garmin Data   This ride can be summed up as pure hell, I have never suffered so much on a ride before.   All I can say is rides like this really tell you a lot about yourself and what you are able to do with a little motivation.   The ride was just a short 47 mile jaunt...however there was near 8000 feet of climbing and a not so nice east wind.   Being the brute I am, I only equipped my bike with 53/39 front rings and a 11-25 cassette.  Some pros would probably opt for easier gears on a climb like this.  

The ride started off in the mid afternoon sun, man was it cooking.  I couldn't wait to get to elevation and some cooler air.  The toughest part of this ride was the mountain, even from the start the thing was staring me down from the distance.  I left town and the road immediately slopped up.  It would stay that way all the way to the mountain.  Most the time the grade was easy around 4-6%,  I just kept a happy rhythm and keep a nice tempo.   However there were some times when the grade kicked up over 8% and that made the legs scream a bit.   The route I picked was rough, to get to Timberline Lodge I would need to climb the mountain twice.  The first summit would be on the east side of the mountain then I would descend down by Government Camp to climb up the south face to the lodge.  Easy right?  Well my legs were done after the first summit, 6000 feet of non stop climbing had really worked me over.  What made matters worse is the last 2000 was the hardest.  The trip from Government Camp to Timberline is wicked.  Road gradients ranged from 5-13%, being the person I am...I don't know when to quit. 

So I began the journey to the top.   I don't think there was a single moment the legs didn't scream, but somehow I just kept turning the pedals over.  My cadence dropped in the 60's on some of the 9%+ grades.  Far from my happy place, I struggled to get a rhythm going.  However I never gave up, well until just before the very end.  I stopped briefly before entering the parking lot to compose myself.  I was bonking and very light headed, I am shocked I didn't pass out.  After I regrouped myself I hammered on into the parking lot where Marisa and her friend Ryan were waiting to pick me up.   Mission accomplished!

On a side note, a lot of drivers passed me with these glares of "what the hell are you doing?"   However there was one car that stood out.  On my last leg to the lodge a man in a van passed me.  He was honking his horn like crazy and cheering me on out his window as he drove by.  That made my day and helped me get to the top.  He was the only one that stopped to cheer me on, but it made a big difference in my world.  Next up Iceman!