2012 24 Hours Of Falcon Ridge

I love our Manitoba mountain bike enduro events; the Morden Back 40, and the 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge.

It's a chance to get on your bike and race, or not race, just have a blast putting in laps on great trails with great people.

The 24 Hours of Falcon is held at Falcon Ridge Trails, Falcon Lake Manitoba. The course has a mix of dirt road, single track, technical rocky sections, and a couple short steep hills (up and down).

Here is the 2012 course


View 2012 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge Mountain Bike Course in a larger map

It took me a week to recover enough to do a write up on the event.  Ok I wasn't that bagged.. I just didn't get to it until a nice lazy Saturday morning.

For the past two years after the event (this year was the third annual, and best so far) I've made it halfway through the 1.5 hour drive home and had to pull over to nap.  This year I made it all the way home before I started to feel like a zombie.

The first two years I slept in the chalet which wasn't too bad, but the door slamming every time a person went in or out was a bit of a sleep killer.  This year I bought a tent.  $50.00 at Canadian Tire (half price sale).

Here's a picture of the tip of my finger. Pre-assembled tent is in the background.

Tada.  Hammering stakes into a gravel parking lot is great.  When finished I only had two tent poles left over.  Not sure where they went but it didn't seem like I needed them.  I'm pretty happy with my first tent experience since Cub-scouts.. which was nearly 40 years ago.

Critical update.. My girlfriend just read this blog entry.. "Do you want to read my write up on the 24 hour race?".  "How long is it?", she asked.. I should have said, "24 hours".  Badum dum.  Of course she was referring to the length of the write up.  She looked like she had just been asked if she wanted to read an article about watching paint dry.  "It's not that long, see?" I demo'd the length by using a really fast scroll.

I think she likes it, she's laughing. Then..

"Hey!  This wasn't the first time camping since Cub-scouts!", she said. "Really?"  Then I got one of those looks where nothing needs to be said but some how it makes you remember things.  "Right.. at Birds Hill Park.. with you."  "Yeah, you and your guitar pickin! You serenaded me by the campfire.  That was the last time we went camping!" LOL! 

I don't know if the serenading worked or if she thought, "crap.. there's always something.. well maybe if hide the guitar it will work out."..

Not being an educated consumer on how to buy a tent, I thought "4 person tent" would translate into having lots of extra room for one person.

What I didn't realize is that real capacity is a mere fraction of claimed capacity.  This is my double air mattress (which apparently uses the same real capacity formula as the tent) thrown in. It was cozy.  

Bill Algeo (wearing the yellow X vest), the organiser for 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge, addresses the crowd of ne're-do-wells and hooligans that make up the 24 event entrants.  There is also an 8 hour event that started a couple hours earlier.

 Don't mess with this crowd.  They guy in the mask was brave; the temperature was over 30 degrees C.  He said, "AAARRRGGG" a lot.

It was a good event for me.  I had it all planned out.  Don't be a rookie and go out too hard on the first few laps.  It's a 24 hour event.. blasting the first two laps is dumb.

Dumb:  See also; "Cris LaBossiere"

I hammered the hills on the first lap.  Not 100% all-out, I wasn't THAT dumb. I only went 95%.  Like Homer Simpson repeatedly putting his hand on a hot stove and saying, "D'oh!" each time, I burned myself and cramped hard core at three hours and did actually say out loud, "D'oh!"  Along with some choice expletives. 

You know those cramps that are so bad that when you try to stretch the cramping muscle to stop the cramp, the other muscles cramp?  Science note.. a muscle cramp can usually be resolved by stretching the affected muscle, which activates a motor feedback loop that overcomes the spasticity of the cramp and invokes the muscle to relax. 

Reality note: Only works on mild cramps.

Many people are lucky enough to never experience extreme cramps.  A few people have the gene's that allow them to have this displeasure.  For those who don't know, it is extremely painful and incapacitating.

I stood next to my bike on the side of the trail for about 10 minutes, unable to move in the first five.  Moving requires muscles to contract.  Asking cramping muscles to contract makes them cramp harder.
I was at a section of the course where I could have taken a short cut, almost all downhill, straight back to the start/ finish.  That would have been the smart thing to do to give my cramping muscles a break.

In regards to "smart", see "dumb" above.  I couldn't take a shortcut back, that would mean I couldn't record this lap.  If I didn't improve and was truly in unrecoverable bad shape I would have nixed the event and went straight back to recover.  Fortunately my cramps did resolve and I was able to get back on and finish the lap.

I took a two hour break massaging my trigger point laden legs and later did another 90 minutes of riding.

I don't have the capacity to do 24 hours straight, or even 8 hours straight and survive intact.  Luckily the 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge event is very accommodating to peoples varying abilities.  The objective is to complete as many laps as you're capable of or willing to do over 24 hours.  You can go solo or in teams.

For me that meant trying 4 hours on day one, and four hours on day two.  Day one went reasonably well considering the cramping blow out.

There were a few technical sections all of which I had no trouble with this year.  In previous years I would be walking over technical sections and watching in awe the other riders who seemed to float over rocks. This year I was a floater.  Almost..  I'm not that nimble yet.. couple more years.

Day two was stellar.  After a solid 4 hours of interrupted sleep (at one point someone was blowing one of those horns you hear at European soccer events.  A very pleasant sound at 2am.  Thanks for that). Oh wait.. my shin muscles cramped while trying to sleep.  Trapped in my mummy sleeping bag I couldn't bend the right way to relieve the cramp.  Frantically I nearly tore open the sleeping bag and tried to pull on my foot to stop the shin cramp.  Which of course made the calf cramp.  Then the other leg went.  Are you kidding me?

I hoped nobody was walking by my tent at that point.. not sure what they would think was going on in there with the tent shaking.. and only one person in it.

Back to day two..  I started out very conservatively.  I felt not too bad, but the first hour felt like it might be the last as well.  I tried another lap slow.  Felt better.  And better. 

At just under the halfway point in the loop you have to get your number plate punched to show that you're doing full laps. The people volunteering to do this are awesome. They're out there for hours in the heat with the incessant bugs all for the greater good. These two were from the ABES and BABES men's and woman's mixed team ..they raced as well as volunteered at the event. Cudo's.

By hour three I felt fantastik (not a typo.. I was cleaning everything).  I matched pace with another guy who incentivized me to push harder than I thought I should.  I feared cramping but there was no sign of this nemesis today.  After a pretty hard lap I felt ready to hammer.  The clock said 11:25am.  35 minutes to noon, the cut off time.

I was averaging 35+ minute laps.  I had just enough time to squeeze out one more.  I had race buzz, where you feel like every nerve in your body is tingling with anticipation of going all out.  I had my iPhone headphones in and was ready to rock.  Of course for safety's sake the volume is low so you can hear others talking or coming up behind you.

Part way through my final lap the earphones started to fritz out.  Must be the sweat.  I was zoning into the music and getting motivation from it, but thought.. ok, no tunes.. doesn't matter.. nothing will stop me from putting in my fastest lap.. at that moment, BAM!  Music volume went full blast..  I went with it.  Saw it as a sign I'm meant to go hard.

Have you heard that re-mix of Queens We Will Rock You? Niether had I.  I can't remember when or why I bought this song, but I did, and it was playing now.  Turns out it was the perfect tune to ride hard too. ..Just looked on my phone.. it's an extra when you buy the album Queen News of The World on iTunes.

Anyhoo.. After blasting the dirt road like pro rodie I arrive at the turn-around.  "25 minutes left.. can you make it?", say's the hole puncher..  25 minutes?  Holly crap I am going way faster than I thought.  "I shouldn't have a problem", I replied and sped off.

This just keeps getting better.  I was totally pumped.  At that moment my iTunes, which for some reason was set to play every artist in my library in alphabetical order, landed on Ray Charles.  It didn't start with Ray's funky tunes, but rather his ballads.  Just when the technical section started and where I need to be maximally amped. 

Great tunes for relaxing or wanting to go to sleep.  No way I'm taking my hands off the bars to change tunes though.  Then I thought, Hey, this is Ray.. Ray is cool.  Just be cool like Ray and get into the grove.  Ahhh.. my flow changed from rigid to supple.  I wasn't banging over the roots and rocks.. I achieved the float zone.  Thanks Ray!

I cleaned all technical sections without hesitation.. I knew I would make the deadline, my goal had now changed to how much can I beat the deadline by..

I rolled into the finish and the clock said.. 11:49.  A 24 minute lap. I quickly looked at all the other lap times for the 24 hour event.. no 24 minute laps.  Waaa?  Double check.. holly crap I think I have the fastest lap time!

Turnes out I tied for fastest lap time, for which the only prize is pride, with John F, a top notch rider and one of the winners of the event.  Wow did I feel good!  The difference though is John can pump out a bunch of laps like that.. I think I could do only a few..  But for me this was a great achievement coming from not being able to ride the whole course two years ago.

I'm really looking forward to next years event.  I love riding the trails at Falcon Ridge and I love this event.  Thanks to everyone who made this possible

24 Hours of Falcon Ridge Blog

Video of one lap courtesy JP

Camp Cris

My race on wet rocks

I've been racing mountain bikes for two decades, and pretty much sucked in every race I've entered.  I've been in the entry level category the whole time.  Ok, so in the past three years I've entered more MTB races than I have in the past 17 years, but if I count from the first MTB bike race I entered, which I remember was on the Simon Fraser University hill in Burnaby BC, I've been racing MTB for.. well, actually longer than two decades.

In that first race I recall passing almost everyone in sport going downhill, which I thought was remarkable being a rodie.  Shortly after my ego-boosting descent I did an endo and chest plant into the mud.  I felt my rib cage compress like a coil spring, which fortunately sprung back instead of breaking.

Until three years ago when I decided to go all-in and switch from road to mud sucker (instead of wheel sucker), the MTB was all about getting out in the bush for some fun.  Now it's all about fun and building performance.  Today was my first race in "Comp" which in Manitoba is the upper level of our huge Sport category.  So, really I'm still in sport..

The race was in Pinawa, was pretty flat, and had plenty of Canadian Shield rock and some mucky, sloppy single track.

I came in dead last.  I expected this result when I did my warm up lap.  Wet rocks and I don't get along very well, although we're starting to warm to each other a little.

Of course I took no race pictures.  Why would I do that?  Pictures would be perfect for a blog entry of a race.  In fact, most blog entries about mountain bike races are pretty useless without pictures.

After the race I did some sight-seeing around Pinawa.  They have a suspension bridge and an old dam.

Like how I managed to capture the edge of my finger in that last one?  When I was young we had a true 100% professional quality dark room in the basement.  Back in the olden days we used film in cameras to take pictures, and developed the film with special chemicals.  My mom was a pretty serious photographer, hence the dark room.

It seems I didn't pick up the "don't put your finger in front of the lens" cardinal rule of photography.

In mountain-biking I had failed to employ bike handling cardinal rules such as:

Turn wheel and lean bike to get around corners

Stay on the trail- don't ride into trees (related to first rule)

Continuing to pedal allows you to ride over things.. Stopping peddling and panic-braking usually results in swearing, then walking over technical sections that 13 year old girls from Kids of Mud ride over while giggling 

Over the last couple years I've managed to apply some of these basic skills with some limited success.  I came in second place in the first race this year, and won the second race.  My lap times were fast enough to move up to the next category.  And yes, I did giggle like a 13 year old girl when I finally rode over stuff that had me verklempt for years.

Actually, I must confess.. I did technically win the second race, but the two people who were kicking my butt in front of me both had mechanical failures allowing me to pass them..  Nevertheless, my lap times were still good enough to move up a category.

Lucky for me my first race after the move up was on wet rocks.  I don't mind coming in dead last, I rode everything on the course.. not all in one lap mind you.  Last year I would have walked nearly the entire course so this year riding the entire course felt pretty gratifying.

So now I can ride most of the technical that shows up on a cross country course, but can't always ride it the first time.. er, or sometimes the 10th time.. soon I'll be able to ride this stuff faster, and by soon I mean in a couple years..

By that time I should be able to move up to the Expert category :-)

When to replace your chain

I've heard people say they've had the same chain on their bike for years and don't see any reason to change it.

I agree, if a chain isn't significantly worn, keep riding it.  There's an argument for continuing to ride a chain that is worn but isn't skipping yet; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I don't agree with that argument when it comes to chains.

You have to eventually replace the wearing parts of a drive-train anyway, so why not ride stuff until it dies, then replace it all, every few years?

You could do that, but like riding tires until bald, which can be done, the performance will gradually deteriorate as the practical service life of the component is surpassed.

The risk of mechanical failure increases, and it's no fun to be stuck in the woods with a mechanical failure that could have been prevented.

If you change your chain early you retain performance and spend less money.  Buying more chains is cheaper than not buying more chains?  Usually.  If your chain wears past a certain point it accelerates wear on chainrings and cogs.  Buying a high quality chain that lasts a long time and changing it out at the right time costs less in the long run in my experience.  Cogs and chainrings last longer.

So how do you know when your chain is worn enough that it will start causing premature wear on the rest of your drivetrain?

When chain wear is at 1%.  This refers to the increased length in the distance between link pins due to wear.  Replace your chain when it is at .75% wear, before it reaches the 1% mark.

The old school method is to measure the distance over 6 complete links, which should be exactly 12 inches on the chains we put on our mountain bikes, which is usually a chain with a 1/2 inch pitch (distance between link pins).  A set of inner and outer links = one complete link.  If chain is 1/16 of an inch past 12 inches, it's time to replace.

Never mind figuring that out though.. just buy a chain wear tool.  I like the go - no go type for ease of use.

This Park tool works well.

Resting the tool on my current chain, it slides about halfway down the .75 side of the tool.  When the chain is new there is pretty much no travel down the tool.

Pressing down with a bit of force caused the tool to go all the way down into the .75 wear indicator level. Most people will wait until the tool easily slips down instead of needing coaxing, but I'm measuring a Shimano chain here, and I don't like Shimano chains so this gives me a good excuse to get rid of the chain a little early.  Besides, race season starts in a couple weeks and if a new chain is going to skip I want to find out now so I can start the season with all the new parts I need.

If you let the chain wear to the 1% mark there is a greater chance of chainring and cog wear which will cause a new chain to skip on old cogs and increase risk of chain suck.

Shimano chains work, like all chains do. It's just that with my past life as a shop mechanic for 10 years and all the years I've been riding I've personally had more trouble with Shimano chains than any other chain, either braking or short life span.  Chains are a lot stronger now than in the 80's and 90's and Shimano chains have improved a great deal, but in my experience Shimano still wears or breaks before a Sram or Wipperman.

So why do I have a Shimano chain on my bike?  It came stock with the Giant Anthem X 29'er I bought last fall.  I thought I would ride it out to see how long new Shimano 10 speed chains last.  This is the HG74 chain, from Shimano's middle of the trail but well performing SLX group.  A lighter rider riding in dry conditions not doing any sprints or hard riding, a casual rider, could get years of trouble free service from this chain.  I got three months.

The new HGX chains from Shimano, which this is one, are specially designed with specific inner and outer plates designed for purposefully climbing or descending gears.  It shifted well until the last few weeks when I started to get some chain suck.  The chain suck could be coming from a dirty chain or wear on chainrings, so I can't really place the blame fully on the chain.

The chain did shift well, but I would expect nothing less on a 100% new bike.

My favorite chain is Connex stainless steel, made by Wipperman, and is tested as the strongest, longest lasting chain you can buy, double and triple the life of Shimano and Sram chains.  I've never broken a Connex myself and have rarely heard of them breaking from others.

I like the Connex quick connect link, although the Sram link is easier to use.

Shiny new chain in the box.

No quick link on the Shimano chain so out comes the chain tool from the bottom of the tool box to remove the old stock chain.

Connex Quick Link - no tools needed.

Must instal the right way or the link will skip on small cogs (11T) and may fail.  No worries when put on the right way though.. like anything mechanical..

I haven't ridden this 10 speed Connex yet (rode the 8 and 9sp versions before).  I'll add to this blog entry in a few days after my first ride and let you all know if I found a difference in shifting between Shimano's special HGX design and the Connex design. 

I've put about 15 hours on this chain now.. raced it twice.   Shifting under load up hills with the Connex is slightly less smooth than with Shimano's HGX chain, but it works just fine.  I'd say it's the same as Shimano's non-HGX chains or any other good top end chain.  This is for sure a nit-picky difference..   Nobody is going to lose time on any hill climbs.  Shifting seems just as fast.  It has that familiar HyperGlide click/ mild clunk feel.

I think it's worth it for the extra strength and durability.

Update August 27 2012:  Connex chain has just started to show very slight wear after 5 months.  Not yet at 0.75 wear. Not yet as much wear as the Shimano chain had at 3 months.  I'm ahead of the game chain wear wise, but the Connex was about $100.00 and the Shimano about $30.00. I need four more months of use from the Connex for wear life/ cost ratio to be equal between the two chains.  I am ahead on another front though.. My last Shimano chain on my old bike broke twice within a couple months.  Why did I buy a Shimano chain for the old bike if I don't like Shimano chains?  I went cheap because I was getting a new bike so I bought a $30.00 Shimano chain.. Wasn't so cheap as I needed to replace it early.  I threw it in the garbage and bought a Sram chain for $50.00.  Had not problems with that one.

Cut 'Yer Bar's- How to cut carbon mountain bike bars

I hate bar strikes.  No, not the local establishment closing it's doors due to employee negotiation challenges, but the kind that can send you careening off the trail when you try to ride through the space between trees that is more narrow than the width of your bars.  

The remedy? Two choices that I saw.. get better at riding with wide bars, or cut my bars. I cut my bars.

Yes you too can cut your carbon bars.  Following this straight forward guide from Easton I cut my new Easton carbon riser bars.  Actually I sort of loosely followed the instructions.. you may want to follow the official procedure to the letter and avoid the back yard hacking I do.. but you'll still get the general idea from reading this. 

These bars are really light which should cause me to double my speed while riding.  Maybe triple my speed since I cut off 3 cm or so off each end.  I thought of cutting off only one side so I could get the comfort of a wide bar, and the tree clearing and handling of a shorter bar, but it's possible this is a bad idea.

I used a zip tie as the saw guide resulting in only a slight angular cut.  I could have achieved a perfectly square cut following the vice mounting instructions in the Easton guide, but sheer laziness thwarted the effort.

 

I did follow the advice of wearing a dust mask while cutting, sanding, and clean up; breathing tiny carbon dust particles into my lungs wasn't very appealing.  Was advised to wear gloves as well.. don't want to get the carbon dust on your fingers.. could get into your eye, nose, or mouth.

I used an 800 grit fine sandpaper to smooth the cut ends and also to remove any burs on the inside of the shifters, brake levers, and stem.  I used a torque wrench to tighten all bolts to spec.. important for carbon.

I liked the 58 cm Easton carbon flat bar I had on before for stability, handling, and clearing tight trees, but the straight bar didn't agree with my elbows where I developed some pain after riding.  A 40 mm riser put my hands in the right place but I didn't like the 64 cm length, especially after clipping trees with them at Bur Oak and in Brandon (local Manitoba trails with some thread the needle tree spacing). I could have cut my alloy bars, but it made more sense to buy 69 cm carbon bars that cost 5X as much and cut those down.

If you're wondering what kind of grips those are, they are the  ESI silicone grips.  Only 60 grams for the Chunky version, thicker and more comfy than the Racers Edge thinner and lighter version (50 grams).  I contemplated the weight penalty of the extra 10 grams in the Chunky version, but then realized I was delusional with weight-weenie-itis. There's an extra chunky version out now which is probably even more comfy than the Chunky. 

These have been the best grips I've ever ridden with.  If you're looking to try out some new light weight grips that stay in place and cut vibration, give these a try.  They'll slip if not clean when mounted and can start slipping if you bail and get dirt inside them.  Keep them clean and and they stay put.. no need for lock ons.

A note on cutting carbon bars.. not all bars are made the same.  Some can't be cut at all, some can be cut but only a limited section near the ends, and most can't have bar-ends mounted once cut.  I bought the Easton EC70 riser because it came in the 40 mm riser I needed to get my position right, and they could be safely cut to any length (Easton replied to my email asking them about this).  I can't use bar ends after the cut though, but haven't used those for a few years and don't miss them.

Ride report:

I do XC riding and racing, and some mild to moderate all mountain. No black diamond trails (those are for more skilful riders than I).

I found handling to be better with the narrow cut. Steering input mistakes were less amplified which worked well on technical courses and when long ride fatigue would set in. I did sacrifice some comfort, but not a lot. It was easy to adapt to and I didn't find any comfort problems, even after 6 hours of trails. For handling I noticed I was more stable and able to hold a better line when going up onto slower speed 1-2ft square edge rock rises, as well as zigzagy rooty rocky stuff.  With wider bars I had to contend with a little more front wheel wandering. In speaking to other riders some have found the greater sensitivity to steering input on a wide bar gives them more control, but for me it lead to more overcorrections and unintended steering inputs.  This may be due to differences in riding style and ability, and my 20 years of mostly road riding before switching to dirt.  My road bars are 440mm, and that's considered wide for a pavement pedaler. 

After two years of riding the 600mm cut down bars: The Easton EC70 bars feel great.  With the front suspension doing a lot of the shock absorbing work I'm not so sure I feel a large, definitive difference in less vibration, a common benefit attributed to anything carbon. These bars will flex less than stock because I've made them shorter so maybe that has something to do with it. I'd probably have to go back to alloy bars to see if I could feel an increase in ride harshness.  I bought these bars because they are light and strong, and having a bit of carbon on your bike isn't a bad thing.  Hell, make the whole bike carbon! (There wasn't a carbon version of this bike when I bought it in 2011). Carbon has an ability to cut some vibration, but how much of that is placebo or real I don't know.  I didn't notice any shocking difference, although many swear there is.

2014 update:

I did make the whole bike carbon!  Have the Giant Anthem Advanced 29er now. Still rockin the same Easton EC70 carbon bars cut down to 600mm.  After riding Vancouver BC's famed North Shore for the past three months, I'd like to try adding another 30-60mm in bar width. 

Wider bars are more comfortable for the long climbs, but as of now I'm not entirely convinced that ultra wide bars (750, 800+mm) handle better.. It seems to me that with all the hype around ultra wide that it would be easy to be duped by the placebo effect.  The bars will certainly feel different, and one will be thinking about all those anecdotal testimonials and company marketing promises.. I think many will simply assign the perceived value of better handling to the different bar feel. 

There will be an optimal bar width range that is dependant on rider weight, size, bike set up, experience, and trail type, but I think this variability will be taken care of within 600 to 700mm for most people. Personal preference aside, I'm having a bit of trouble being convinced there is a fact backed measureable difference in lap times, DH times, and yes, Enduro split times, with ultra wide bars. Hard evidence will persuade me though.  Watch my blog for a lap time comparo with different width bars later this summer. 

Wireless Disk Brakes For Bikes

Wireless Bicycle Brake Only Fails Three Out Of A Trillion Times | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

Interesting idea.. but.. what kind of whacked out test bike is that?

The prototype actuates the brake by squeezing the grip.  This will be great for adding extra resistance when sprinting and hill climbing.