My Big Unit

I may not be Ryan Trebon or Barry Wicks, but I do have a Big Unit and do win some races from time to time with it. Since coming back from Breckenridge, I have not played with My Big Unit (MBU) too much. I guess playing with it for 11 hours in one day is enough for anyone to stop for awhile. After my Breck Trip, I did give MBU a service check and a buff job... and even pulled it out of the garage to play with it for a short while in the neighborhood. You should see the looks I get sometimes when I do that. Anyway, I don't like to neglect MBU, so in a few days I will be pulling it out for another long play session at the Wilderness 101. What makes MBU so special? Well, let me tell you.

First off, let me explain that MBU is not a part of my anatomy, as probably most of you have guessed already. Big Unit is actually the name Kona has given to the fast single speed frame that I am racing on this season. I ordered MBU right before the Mohican 100, but unfortunately it came a day too late for me to use at the race. I am sure if I would have used it there my race would not have ended so abruptly. Since the Mohican, I have had some incredible rides and races on MBU.

Kona built the Big Unit with their special race butted scadium tubing. This stuff is sweet! Not only is super light, but it has a very compliant ride for an aluminum type of material, while still being super stiff laterally. I find that having a laterally stiff bike is extremely advantageous for a single speeder because more energy created by the legs is put into the drivetrain, creating more speed. The Big Unit does this not only with the use of the scadium, but also with a top tube and down tube that has more of a square shape than a round shape. Additionally, Kona uses a CNC chainstay yoke rather than welding the chainstay tubes directly to the BB, which not only gives more mud and chainring clearance, but also gives a stiffer feel to the rear end. This 29er frame is designed so well, it seems to accelerate closer to how a 26" wheel bike does. It is certainly the most responsive 29er frame that I have had a chance to ride.

The thing I like most about my Big Unit is the fit. If in the future I would decide to build a custom frame, it would fit like my 19" Big Unit. This frame feels like it was measured and designed specifically from me. Many times when I get a new frame it takes a lot of time for me to figure out how to make it feel "right." The Big Unit was not like this at all. It was a perfect fit right out of the box. More bike companies should consider using 1" increments in frame sizing instead of using 2" increments. I know for me an 18" is almost always too small and a 20" frame is too big. For most companies, there are no other choices, so for Kona to provide a complete range of frame sizes is completely cool in my book.

Well, enough bragging about MBU. I just thought that I would tell everyone in cyberworld that My Big Unit rocks! The 5th stop on the NUW Series, the Wilderness 101, in Coburn, PA is this Saturday, August 1st. If you want to do a truly hardcore, but completely fun, backcountry endurance mountain bike race, then you should give it a try. I have a feeling that this race is going to be packed with talent this year and will also see some super fast times because of the talent depth. Hope to see you there for the fun, but, if I do, please don't ask to touch my Big Unit! - Gerry

Breck 100

Wow, it is hard to believe that it has been 3 weeks since I last wrote anything on here. I have wanted to write more, but just haven't been able to find the time this month. Since my last posting, I have done the Breckenridge 100 and two road races: the last race of the WVMBA Road Series in Philippi, WV and then the Renfew Ras, near Butler, PA on the following weekend. Both were fun races that provided me a chance to do some fast rides without completely destroying me. Racing on the road also gave me more time to ride long miles during the week. I have been averaging 20-25 hours of ride time per week since my last post, which probably explains my lack of writing time lately. Anyway, I ended up winning the WVMBA Road Race and the overall WVMBA RR Series in the 40+ men category. At the Renfew Race, I came in second after being beaten by the tag-teamed effort of my former Freddie Fu Teammates Brian W. and Jason Z. After being schooled in road racing tactics by those guys, I remembered why I race off road more now than on the road.

I took a completely different type of beating at the Breckenridge 100 Ultra Endurance Race this past weekend, which not only tested me physically, but mentally as well. I arrived in Breck on Thursday Afternoon, built my bike, and then went for a ride on the first part of the course. I figured why not spin out the legs for an hour or so...well, the "so" ended up being 3.5 hours and 47 miles later. Even though my pre-ride of the course was much longer than planned, I was happy to learn from the ride to NOT use a 32x18 on the first climb. Man, did that hurt! Luckily, I did bring some lower gears with me to use in the race.

I did a much easier ride on Friday and was actually pretty happy with how my legs felt after my unexpected long ride on Thursday. On Friday Afternoon, I met up with an old time buddy of mine and Pittsburgh/State College Native, Jamey McCalla, who now lives in Colorado. It was cool hanging with him and even cooler that he offered to help me at the start of the Breck 100 on Saturday.

So, Saturday Morning comes, Jamey awakes from the depths of his mini van and I climb out of my closet sized hotel room. I notice and I am happy that the sun is shinning brightly in a perfectly blue sky, but also notice that the temp outside is 40 degrees at best. Keep in mind this is at 9000 feet, the first climb of the race peaks at 12,500 feet and that typically the temperature will drop about 3.5 degrees for ever 1000 feet of elevation gained, which means it will be about 30 degrees on the mountain top. And, yes, if you are wondering, we did have to go through snow near the top of Wheeler Pass.

During the race, the climb to Wheeler Pass was much better than my Thursday Climb up the same slope, but breathing in the thin, low oxygen Colorado Air was still causing me difficulty even with an easier gear choice. By the summit, I was probably in the top 15 riders or so overall and was riding near last year's SS race winner, which was just where I wanted to be. Things changed quickly, however, when part way down the crazy fast first descent I flatted.

Flats are part of mountain bike racing and usually no big deal, so I quickly jumped off the narrow trail and began my repair. The repair took much longer than I thought that it would. First, I could not get my tubeless ready tire mounted back onto my UST Rim because of the tight tire bead and my wet Stan's Liquid Soaked Hands. Then, when I finally did get the tire mounted and put CO2 into tube, all of the air came out. I had no choice but to take out the bad tube and start begging every 29er rider I saw for a tube, since I did not pack a second tube or patch kit. It took a while, but one heck of a nice guy did stop to give up his tube...a 26" tube. I was desperate, though, and everyone knows beggars cannot be choosers. Mounting my tire with a 26" tube proved to be even more challenging than it was with a 29er tube, but after battling with it for what seemed to be forever, being bitten by about 100 mosquitoes during the change, and seemingly to have ever rider in the race pass me, I was off to race again. I figure that I easily lost 30 minutes with my horrible tube change.

As you can imagine, at this point, I was not too excited about what laid ahead. More than anything, I just wanted to make it off the mountain and was less concerned about finishing the race. But, I figured I needed to do a long ride anyway to keep my endurance up, so why not continue on with the race course and enjoy the Colorado Beauty until I did not feel like going any further.

It was great to see Jamey waiting in the pits after the bad luck of my first lap. He helped me get my belongings and mind back in order and onto the trail in a very short time. He had to leave for work after that lap, but would return for the finish. In addition to Jamey giving me motivation to carry on, I also seemed to gain strength from chasing people in front of me. One good thing about being so far back near the start of a long race is that there are a lot of people ahead to catch and for me everyone that I caught seemed to give me more motivation to push on further.

Lap 2 was crazy hard, probably the hardest of the three, especially on a single speed. I don't think it was at all sane to ride the hills that I did on that lap with only one gear. It just plain hurt! With the amount of pain I was in at that time, I started to wonder how on earth I was going to finish the loop, not alone the 3rd loop. But, after coming in for the finish of the 2nd loop, I heard the announcer say over the intercom system here comes Pflug and he is looking strong. Even though I wanted to quit, how could I when the announcer says something like that about me in front of all the spectators there?

I can honestly say that I have never suffered on my bike like I did on the third loop of this race. I had to dig very deep to get through that lap, but by working with a couple of other riders and focusing on completing the course, I was able to finish the race as the 2nd placed single speed rider with a ride time of 11 hours and 6 minutes.

I have done quite a few 100 miles mtb races, but this one takes the cake as being the most difficult. I am not sure if it was the terrain, the high altitude, or the combination of the two. But, as hard as the race was, it was also an awesome experience, with amazing trails and many unbelievable views. Next up is the Wilderness 101 NUE Series Race on August 1st. Hope to see you all there for some shared suffering!

Happy Trails, Gerry

Steady as She Goes

On the way home from racing yesterday, I heard Steady as she goes by the Raconteurs on my favorite Sirius Channel, Alt Nation. The song reminded me of how I look at endurance MTB racing. When doing a long race, I find that it is much better to just get into a groove rather than go too hard. In my opinion, you have to find your happy place and stick with that pace. Going too hard at the beginning of a long race for too long is a sure way for me not to finish strong. I was able to test this theory of mine again at another ultra race on Sunday at the WVMBA Wayne Ultra in Leith, OH.

The Wayne Ultra race was a 42 mile XXC race, which is part of the WVMBA Ultra Endurance MTB Series. The 42 mile race was primarily made up of single track trails, but also included a few fire roads and some paved roads thrown into the mix. The start of this race (about the first 3 miles) was pretty interesting because it had a controlled pace monitored by a motorcycle rider. Before the start, he gave us very clear instructions not to pass him until he sounded his horn for the official start. Within the first hundred feet of the unofficial start of the race, a few of the crazy WV Night Club Riders jumped a dirt pile and passed the pace motorcycle. The motorcycle came to a stop and made all of the riders regroup and again told us to stay behind him. He then proceeded to ride at 7mph with all of us behind him in complete frustration with the slow pace. I have done many races with a controlled start, but never one that had to be followed so strictly and so slowly.

Anyway, this caused Andy to blow a gasket after about 2 miles of this crap. He sprinted around the motorcycle and went up the road like he was attacking a road racing peloton. He then proceeded to tell the MC rider to DQ him for not following the pace and off he went on his own up the road. At the time he did it, I thought maybe he had to pee or something and was riding up the road to relieve himself. But, no, Angry had his own agenda for the day, showing his disgust of the slow pace by removing his number plate, but continuing to race. He actually did finish quite well in fourth place....too bad it didn't count for anything. Remember, Andy, steady as she goes next time.

Being the calm, cool and collected person that I am (unlike Angry), I was able to maintain my composure and ride behind the motorcycle even as silly as I thought the slow pace was. I kept pedaling in an easy gear, spinning my legs, waiting for the first big climb that awaited our arrival. I attacked hard at the base of the climb, mostly to separate things before the single track. My strategy seemed to work and a group of about five of us created a gap on the other racers. Our group soon caught Andy in the woods. I said to him " I think you are DQ'ed" and he said he knew, but was going to race on anyway...crazy kid!

Tim Carson was flying in the early single track and after having my life flash before my eyes on a super steep descent, I was more than happy to let him ride away. I had found my pace and was just going to ride my own race like I have done so many time before. Our group of five began to splinter after about 10 miles or so and I then found myself all alone in second place. Ben Ortt caught me at a check point before a long climb about mid race or so, but I was able to open up a gap on him by the top of the climb and also gain time back on Carson. For the next ten miles to 15 miles, I saw Tim about 30 seconds up the trail from me, but I could not close the gap. Finally, on a long flat fire road section leading to the last check point, I was able to close the gap and get around Tim before the next section of single track.

At this point, with about ten miles remaining in the race and all of it seeming to be point straight up, I knew that I needed to ride a hard pace to put time on Tim before the long final descent to the finish. By the time I crossed the finish line, I created about a 5 minute gap over Tim and finished in first overall. It was definitely a fun race with some good single track. My finishing time ended up being 3 hours and 49 minutes. It felt like I had a little bit of an unfair advantage during the race because I did not use a single speed. I actually decided to do the race on a 1x9. It was the first time I have used a 1x9 for doing a MTB race and I must admit that I did enjoy it. I used a 36 tooth in the front with an 11x34 on the rear and it seemed to work perfectly for me. It was definitely a good course to use gears on because of all the steep climbing and the fast fire road sections. I don't think that I would have been able to get the overall win on a single speed at this race. I could get use to using a 1x9, but I will more than likely be using my single speed set-up at the majority of the races I do.

So, my theory of keeping it steady passed another test. I am hoping that one day Andy will find his inner Zen and also learn to keep it steady. Happy Trails, Gerry

Who Needs Gears?

I went up to Udell, Michigan to compete in the Lumberjack 100 this past Saturday for another NUE Series Race. As in my three previous NUE Series Race Starts this year, I raced in the single speed class. Unlike many of the other NUE Series Races, this race is 99% single track. Additionally, there are no long fire road climbs nor are there any long flat sections which kill us single speeders from being competitive overall. This course is just tight, fast, fun and rolling single track...basically, built perfectly for a single speed to do well overall.

The hardest part of this race for a single speed racer is the start because it is about two miles of flat, paved road until you hit the trails. Luckily this year the speed was not kicked up to almost 30 mph like it was last year. I managed to stay in the top ten to fifteen riders going into the woods, but by the top of the first loose, steep and sandy climb, I was in the lead group containing Schalk and Eatough. Unfortunately, I was not able to hang onto their blistering pace very long, so I slowly let them slip away from me into the forest. I was content to go my own pace, though, knowing from experience that if I tried to match their pace too long there was a good chance that I could blow-up. Additionally, I was pretty sure that no other single speeders had made the split into the lead group, which meant I was leading the race and feeling very comfortable with things.

At this point, about 5 miles into the race, I decided to look behind me to see if anyone was near me or coming up on me. When I looked behind, I heard and saw nothing. The lead group was also out of sight and I wondered how long I would be riding alone and forced to do a solo time trial. It ended up being a long time, almost 50 miles to be exact. It was not until right before I finished my second lap that I came upon another rider. This rider had fallen off the pace of the main group. We rode in and out of the start/finish area together and did part of the third lap together before he then dropped off my pace too. Not much later, I then caught his teammate, another casualty of the lead group. He rode with me for a couple of miles and then also fell off my pace. I really could not believe how good I was feeling on the bike. Most times when I do these longer races I start to wonder about my sanity and why I put myself through such a large amount of pain. I never had these feelings during this race.

Near the end of the third lap I caught another rider off the lead group that appeared to be having a mechanical issue. I hung with him for a few minutes, but once he learned that I was a single speeder and on his lap, he decided to take off. I went into the pit and did like I had done the two previous times, grabbing two bottles, two Fig Newton Cookies and then jumping back on my bike less than 10 seconds later. Not long into the fourth lap, I caught another rider from the lead group and passed him quickly. I was not sure what place this put me in overall, but I knew that I was getting up there and still feeling really strong with maybe 15 miles to go.

With about two to three miles to go, I saw the rider that had escaped from me earlier in race once he fixed his mechanical issue. I rode behind him for a bit, but could tell he was suffering, so I attacked him on a climb and was able to stay away. I was then able to ride into the finish without any issue with my hands raised for the single speed win. I soon found out that I had actually finished 5th overall and only 30 seconds out of fourth place and almost 40 minutes faster than the second place single speed racer. I would never had done it, but my body and legs actually felt good enough to do a victory lap...yeah, right!

To me, the amazing thing about my race was the fact that my finishing time of 7 hours and 17 minutes was actually faster than my geared bike times from the two previous years. Maybe I should have switched over to the racing endurance races on a single speed years ago. Oh, by the way, Andy did not make this race because he had more important business to do; a Dave Matthews Concert. What...Andy actually going out and doing something social. Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. Happy Trails, Gerry

Scratch my Back with a Hacksaw!

You can't start a blog entry with scratch my back with a hacksaw and not say way to go Pens! For those of you reading this entry that have no idea what I mean, let me give you an explanation. When the Pens score a goal, long-time announcer of the Stanley Cup Winning Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Lang, is almost guaranteed to say this after the Pens score a goal and so it has become a Pen's Tradition. To keep in the winning tradition of the Pens, I have decided to start my own strange scoring expletive for when I win a bike race.

I would bet that Mike Lang has an interesting story behind the hacksaw thing just like I will tell you my story behind my winning phrase. Let me start by saying that I was torn about doing the Stoopid 50 MTB Race this week. I wanted to do it, but since I am doing the 100 mile Lumberjack Race in Michigan this coming weekend, I thought it would be too much to do both races. Well, I decided that I needed to do a long distance ride over the weekend anyway, so why not just do a 50 mile race. I registered on Thursday Night and was feeling pretty good on my bike ride into work on Friday Morning. I thought that since I was feeling so good on my ride I would push it hard at the Stoopid 50 and try for a great result rather than doing it for just a training race.

After work on Friday, since I already did a ride in the morning before work, I decided to do some yard chores around my house. Nothing special about yard work; you do a little trimming and then get out the mower. Well, I get my weed whacker out and trim around my bushes and landscaping in the hurried fashion that I usually do it. Now, keep in mind when I am telling this story that I am highly trained with all types of firearms because of my line of work. I clearly understand that you should keep your finger off the trigger of a gun until it is ready to be fired. The same should hold true for power tools of any kind. Well, I certainly did not abide by all of this training while using my weed whacker on Friday. I am not sure exactly how it happened, but I think I was going to pull a weed while still running the weed whacker and while wearing shorts with no socks. The next thing I know I feel this intense stinging across the bottom of my leg and realized that I just weed whacked my upper ankle to a bloody pulp.

I walk up to the house, ask my wife for a rag and something to clean my gushing wound. I can tell you it did not look good. Among other thing, I started to think about how I was going to do a dirty MTB race in one day with an ankle that was all hacked-up. Well, I eventually got my bleeding to stop, finished my yard work and re-bandaged myself after getting cleaned-up. On Saturday, I was able to find some thin high socks with the use of gauze and tape to keep my leg clean during a training ride, so I was pretty confident that I would be okay for the race too. As luck would have it, though, while doing my training ride on Saturday, I totally whacked the knee on my same wounded leg into the stem on my bike. So, now, I had two injuries to contend with and my legs were definitely not feeling as fresh or confident as they did only a day earlier.

Brian D. picked me up on Saturday Afternoon for our trip up to State College. After we arrived in town and checked into our hotel, I noticed that my legs even felt more heavy and tired then they did earlier in the day. I was pretty sure that my race on Sunday would become a race of survival more than one of winning glory...and on a single speed nonetheless.

I surprisingly got an awesome sleep at the hotel where we stayed ( I usually don't) and woke up Sunday feeling pretty good again. I was on my new ride with a rigid carbon fork and thought that it would be a perfect set-up after hearing that the course was 60% fire road and 40% single track. What I didn't know was that the single track was pretty much all covered with jagged rock. On the first section of single track, I realized that I probably made a mistake by choosing a rigid fork over suspension. I was still riding pretty well, though, and was able to hang with local rider Matt Ferrari though most of the technical stuff. Matt and I rode pretty good together until the last check point, before he lost contact with me on a long climb. I stayed on the gas up the remaining climbs on the course, knowing that the race finished on a very technical downhill. By riding hard to put time on Matt, I actually caught-up to and passed a single speed rider that had escaped from Matt and I earlier in the race.

By the end, I was able to hang on for the single speed victory and was also able to take a 5th place overall finish out of over 200 racers at the Stoopid 50. So, considering my injury, I guess my winning saying should be: Whack My Leg with a Weed Whacker! Happy Trails - Gerry

Changing Gears

I must admit it is nice to do something different every once in awhile. Since the last Mingo RR on 04/19/2009, I have been riding my single speed mtn bike exclusively. I have a big 36x16 gear on it, with wide 29er tires and just ride it everywhere both on or off road. This past week I finally decided to do something different and ride my road bike again, so that I could get use to it before doing the Tucker County RR in WV. All I can say is WOW! The change from a single speed 29er to a fast and light road bike is absolutely amazing. It was like going from a beat-up 1973 Pinto to a Ferrari.

So, I spent the whole week riding my road bike and the first thing I notice is that my normal rides were way too short to get the time I needed on the saddle. I kept looking at my watch and trying to figure out where to go next because I was way under my normal 29er ride time, but already done with the same route. The other thing I noticed was how nice it was to change to an easier gear when going up a big climb. On my road bike, I did not have to "man up" and keep pushing a gear that probably should not be used for going up a hill. I forgot that climbing could be done easily...I guess that is why gears were invented in the first place.

Anyway, the Tucker County RR did go well for me and my hairy legs. I did the 40+ Master Race again, since I am not a roadie and did not feel like battling a bunch of Cat 1/2 riders all day. After doing a lap on the course, I was very thankful of my decision because it was one tough course loop. The last climb to the finish is probably one of the most difficult road race climbs that I have ever experienced. On one section, with my low gear of 36x23, I actually had to serpentine the climb to keep my gear turning. I could not have asked for a better designed course for me, though, because it definitely suited my climbing ability.

The race course was a lollipop type of design. We all started at the base of the last climb, rode a few rolling miles out to the main loop, did a very hilly main loop and then rode back up the stick of the lollipop, past the starting line to the top of the big climb where the windmills from the picture above were located. I was able to get clear from my race group on the first major climb on the main loop and then basically did a 35 mile solo time trial to the finish. The course pretty much destroyed every race pack out there, leaving riders to fend for themselves, pretty much like a mtn bike race and definitely the way I like it. At the end of my 37 mile race, or should I say time trial, I finish first in my class.

Well, enough for change and gears for that matter. Time to get back on the single speed and to start feeling the pain again. Today I am going to do a 4-5 hour single speed ride up at Seven Springs, then over to Hidden Valley and then back to home. It will hurt, but pain is good...Right? Happy Trails, Gerry

CRACKED!!!

Well, I was hoping to post another picture of me on top of the Mohican 100 NUE Series Single Speed Podium with this post. Unfortunately, the luck I needed for that win was not with me. I had a great race going up until just before the 3rd checkpoint. I was riding with last years NUE Series Single Speed Champion Fuzzy John and was feeling real good. We had a real big gap over the third place single speed rider and were in the top 15 riders overall before my bike had a mechanical issue which brought my race to an end.

On a steep downhill with railroad ties used as water bars, I heard a loud cracking noise right before checkpoint number 2. I knew the noise was nothing good, but the bike still seemed to be riding okay so I continued riding. The longer I rode the more creaking I heard coming from my bike. I started becoming pretty worried about the creaking and figured it was probably coming from my frame. Finally, on a long rocky descent going into checking point three, the creaking noise became so loud that I knew there was a major issue with the frame. I then lost contact with the group I was riding in going down into checkpoint three because I took the rest of the downhill very conservatively, in fear that I might completely snap my frame. When I arrived at checkpoint three, I examined my bike and found that indeed my frame was cracked on the top tube.

The frame I was using had about 3 years of use and actually had cracked at an indentation created by my handlebars coming around and smacking the frame last year, so it was definitely not caused by bad material or workmanship on the frame manufacturer's part. The sad thing about this story is my new frame was to arrive on Thursday before I left for the race, but did not actually arrive until after I left for the race on Friday. Talk about luck!

After leaving checkpoint three, I decided to ride back on the 100K course to get back to the camp ground where the race started. Surprisingly, the bike was still riding okay even with the cracked frame. I did not trust it though, so I rode the descents very slowly and cautiously and kept a constant eye on the crack. I ended up finishing the 100K course in third overall and as the first single speeder, even with my cautious riding and a cracked frame. I asked the race promoter if I was able to switch from the 100 mile race category to the 100K category after I finished, but he would not allow me to switch since I was registered for the other race.

Fuzzy John did end up winning the single speed class. In the men's open race (geared guys), Jeremiah Bishop took the overall win. The lead group was flying this year with the perfect trail conditions. Andy ended up finishing 19th overall with a time of about 7 hours 51 minutes and Ernesto finished 21st with a time just over 8 hours, which was not bad for those guys considering all the pro racers that showed up at the race. The NUE Series is becoming super competitive now with top pros coming to every race. It has been cool watching these events grow in popularity.

All in all, I was pretty happy with everything about the day and race except obviously the fact that I was not able to finish the 100 mile race in the way I had planned. My legs felt great and even the bike seemed to be working great other than my major frame issue. I feel pretty confident I will be able to pick-up where I left off at the next NUE Series race in Michigan in three weeks. So, I guess I will take solace from this race by considering it as a good, but very expensive training ride. Happy Trails - Gerry