A Cycling Wedding Celebration

Dave and Beth finally tied the knot. Nuptials were exchanged in a private ceremony earlier this month, and they held a reception this past Sunday. I've been to quite a few wedding receptions, but none like this one. You see, Dave and Beth are both avid cyclists. In fact, a few years ago Beth completed a trans Rockies tour (Canada to Mexico) with minimal support, riding solo for much of the ride. She also does an occasional MTB race. Dave participates in all manner of cycling - road and off-road racing, hillclimbs, epic rides, you name it. So it is only fitting that cycling be a central theme to their reception.

The reception began with a bicycle procession from Mile Away Restaurant in Milford, NH, down to Milford center for a couple laps around the oval before heading back to the reception at Mile Away. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. They were on their tandem replete with tin cans dragging behind and a "Just Married" sign on the bars. Over 60 riders joined in the procession. Cathy and I were on our tandem as well as one other couple. Motorists on this fairly busy Sunday afternoon seemed to be quite receptive to our taking a lane. It was a sight to behold.

The rest of the afternoon was quite entertaining with yummy eats. I'll have to ask Dave about the cake when he gets back. They found a perfect replica of a Cannondale TT bike. The groom character appears to be reaching for the bike, but the bride character is restraining him. I wonder who came up with that?

Anyway, Beth and Dave are touring upstate New York right now on their tandem with a BOB trailer. I'm happy for both of them and wish them the best on their journey though life together.

Wedding Cake

Center Piece from our table we won

Cards in the pannier, gifts in the BOB trailer

D2R2 (Detrimental Death Ride Report)

We had pristine conditions for this year's D2R2 ride. About 300 riders were pre-reg'd among the different ride lengths. 144 were registered for the full treatment, the 112 miler. Per Topo, this contains about 15,800ft of climbing, most of it on dirt. This ride is touted as being harder than anything out there, including some of the California epics. Here's a nice description of it.

This year I spent the night locally so I could start with the main group at 6am. The sun is nowhere in sight at this hour. In fact, it was still pretty dark, especially under the trees. Lining up, missing were Dave Penney, Solobreak, and one of my IBC teammates. My other teammates thought for about a millisecond before deciding we weren't giving up riding with the main pack for for tardy individuals. I didn't get up before 5am just to start late like I have in the past either.

Starting out, I immediately recognized I was going to have a tough day. I was on a heavy bike that rolled slow, and my legs were just dead. I should have been recovered from the hard efforts last weekend and earlier this week, but I wasn't. Almost from the get go, my legs felt crampy. I could not get my respiration rate up. My legs were limiting my output big time.

We still had a sizable group rolling into the first waterstop. My legs felt like they rode 100km already. This stop was only about 32k into the ride. Dave Penney started about 15 minutes late and amazingly already caught us riding solo. The terrain between the waterstop and first official check point contained a brutal 15%climb. This pretty near killed me and I had trouble staying with the gang.

Between checkpoints one and two, there were multiple big climbs, including the dreaded Archambo Rd climb at a claimed 27% grade on loose grave. A couple riders capitulated immediately going into this and resorted to walking. You at least have to try. I cleaned it, probably with a little more margin than last year when I rode bigger gears. Dave Penney was riding a 34x27. I don't know how he managed that. I was quite sure I was not going to be able to sustain the pace the group was riding. I was already sucking wheels every chance I could get. After the first checkpoint, our group had dwindled in size some. In it were Jay Gump (Incline Training), a CCB rider, Tim Coleman (Incline Training), Dave Penney, Alex Combes (Cycle Worx), Jason? (NCC) and a couple others with just one off the front I believe.

The lunch break stop at the Green River Covered Bridge was brief. Jay was late coming in, and I think I heard he flatted. After gorging on watermelon and PB&J sandwiches, we headed right into the next climb, a biggie. It takes a sick sense of humor to put the biggest food stop down in a deep valley where the only way out is up, up and up. I wonder how many part with badly needed calories on this climb. I could no longer hold wheels of the faster guys in the pack but somehow managed to claw my way back on during descents. A couple of the riders were really good descenders on the nasty stuff, like Jason and the CCB guy. I managed to hit 43mph on dirt on one of these. A little later, I hit 53mph coming down into Colrain.

The next section became a blur. We were down to just four riders (Dave P, Alex, Jason and myself) by the time we hit Green River Rd. This is my favorite part of the ride. It runs four miles with slight downhill bias. I was too wiped out to take my share of pulls though. Before we went into the next climb, Tim got back on and we were five strong.

Turning onto Nelson road is a shock to the system. You go from bombing 20-25mph on gravel along the river to an incline that strains your neck looking up at it. I'm glad the other guys didn't kill this one, as I surely would have been riding solo the rest of the ride. This climb has a double hump to it. You think you're done, but the course slaps you with another dose of vertical. There is some really nice descending from here, mostly on pavement I recall. Dave Penney was fearless on these. I have done the ride twice before now too, but I don't trust my memory well enough to bank 50+ mph around these turns.

The climb I was certain would be my doom was next. This is the feared Patten Hill climb. It starts uber steep pavement, then continues on for an eternity as wicked steep gravel. Tim was having cramping issues and dropped back early. Dave, Alex and Jason left me in their dust. Eventually Jason faded too, and I nearly caught him before the top. Some friggin redneck in a pickup buzzed all of us on this one lane road at about 40mph. I'm wobbling all over at 5mph and he missed my elbow by about 2". It would have been great if five angry cyclists caught up to the a-hole. Dave and Alex graciously soft-pedalled up top to let the rest of us get back on just before the third and final checkpoint.

This was our briefest stop. With only about 13 miles to go, we assumed fumes in the tank would get us there. I was completely done by this point, getting popped from the group up even the tiniest of hills. And there were still a couple sizable ones too. But I kept clawing my way back on. Tim lives very close to here and knows the roads well. He bombed down Cooper Ln. We didn't realize how abruptly it ends. I left skid marks coming to the stop sign. I think I felt my rear wheel hop up a few times. It was that close. Four of us nearly piled into one another. The only thing left at this point was a gnarly jeep road climb and even gnarly descent. Riders from the 100k ride were flatted along here. With my nuke proof Armadillo tires, I had no worry of flatting, but at 100psi they were beastly to control on rough stuff. Jason had full cross tires on his rig and utterly ripped this descent. He and Tim were gone, leaving Dave, Alex and I to snort dust. We didn't see them again until the finishing tent.

It was such a relief to finish the ride. My riding time was 7:43:30, which is about 45 minutes faster than last year. The course was shortened a little this year though. Not sure of elapsed time. Forgot to check clock, but I think it was around 8:30hrs. The markers this year were a real blessing. Riding with folks that knew the course, like Tim, helped too. It was just starting to warm up as we finished around 2:30pm.

Dave had to split, and I went down to the river to wash up. Coming back out on two track, I commented to another rider going in he had the same idea as me. As I turned to say this to him, my front wheel nailed a big rock. Before I knew it, I was bouncing off rocks and hard packed black dirt. I hit hard, tweaking my wrist, wearing no helmet. I was pissed. The other rider stopped to see if I was alright. I was now dirtier than before I went into the river and I had blood running down my leg. He quipped "and I supposed you just finished the 180k and then this happens?"

The food this year was not comparable to last year. We had catered burritos last year that were out of this world. This year, burgers that were prepared earlier, put on buns and wrapped in foil. They were soggy. Sweet corn was good. I stuck around for an hour but still no sign of my teammates or Solobreak. Can't wait to here his D2R2 tale.

Next year? Maybe. Each time I say I won't do it again. I'm a glutten for punishment. One thing is certain if I do it again. I will come back with a decent bike, faster tires, and fresher legs.

D2R2 Jitters

Each time I've done the D2R2 ride, I said I probably wouldn't do it again. But I keep coming back. D2R2 is perhaps the king of sufferfests here in the northeast. It is harder than 6-gaps of Vermont. It has more climbing and takes longer to finish. About 80 miles of the course is on gravel roads, two-tracks, or even bits of rutted out ATV trail. Hit this with skinny tires and you have the stuff epics are made of.

I am equipping similarly to last year. I'm using my winter beater bike (Specialized Allez) with 28mm Specialized Armadillo road tires. The only thing I'm changing is gearing. Last year I used standard road triple, a 30/25 minimum ratio. I utterly died by the time I got to Patten Hill. This year, despite climbing a little stronger, I'll use a 28/26 minimum ratio. I'm hoping the gravel is a little less loose this year too. Last year had many sections loose as marbles. There were some serious crashes as a result. My setup is heavy at 23 lbs. I'll be sport'n a full Camelbak too, and with clothes my total riding weight will tip north of 200 lbs I'm sure. Great strength training, or more likely another one of those rides of dubious training value.

I don't have any goals for this ride. It is a timed RUSA event, but I have never bothered with getting my passport card signed at each checkpoint in the past. I believe record numbers have signed up this year. I will also be starting on time at 6am. Plan to hook up with Solobreak, Dave Penney, and several IBC teammates. I'll spend a week recovering from this ride just in time for my next hillclimb event.

Weekend by Pictures

As promised, here are a few photos from the past few days, starting with the Mt Washington race. This year's race could remain as my most memorable race on the Rock Pile. Ideal conditions to start, PR pace, mechanical, setting a PR despite adversity, then hail and lighting just after finishing. How whackier could things have been?

Myself finishing on 22% grade

Coming by the camera woman (my wife) into finish, broken spoke induced strain in the legs

Ominous cloud forming over summit area

Beginning of hail and lightning

The business trip to Minnesota went well. Monday was a long day, but I was able to squeeze in a ride at dusk on a wonderful paved rail trail called the Douglas Trail. It heads 13 miles out of Rochester to Pine Island, a small village. During this ride, my front derailleur kept rubbing in big ring. I kept backing out the shifter barrel adjuster, but then in another mile it would be rubbing again. I thought for sure the cable was ready to snap. This was my winter MTB, and I hadn't checked the cables in a while. But it was fine. Hmmm... Start riding some more, rubbing gets worse and now I'm out of barrel adjustment. I recalled hearing a little bottom bracket creak earlier. What if crank was coming loose. I checked it, and it was on verge of falling off!! I was standing up hammering some of the overpass bridges. I shuddered thinking about the consequences of losing a crank arm hammering at 20mph. I torqued it down and was good for the rest of the ride.

Last night testing wrapped up a little earlier, so I was able to get up to Red Wing, MN. It is about 50 minutes north of Rochester. This place was wicked cool to ride. They have MTB races there on purpose built singletrack. I had map, but with no signage on the ground, it was hard to follow. I essentially did a lap backwards from race route. Then I saw a local rider head in the right way, booking it. I followed. There are several areas that flow like a half pipe in gullies. You experience about 3G forces in the bottom with nearly weightlessness on the upper bows. I passed the local rider where the trail widened to double track. A little while later I stopped to look at map and he came by again. I follow up a hill and he asked if I liked a good climb. I said yep, and he said a really good one was coming up, in an almost taunting way. I cleaned it in my middle ring, but barely. I nearly hurled on this intense 3-4 minute effort. The elvation change here is around 500ft, a little more than the other three places I rode out there. This loop contained all the best stuff that folks head up to the Kingdom Trails of Vermont for. I turned 46 this day, and guys my age should never be allowed to have this much fun. I was able to get in nearly 8hrs of riding during the trip.

Decorah, IA: Steep switchbacks on bluffs above Iowa River

Decorah, IA: Ice Cave

La Crosse, WI: I believe this was on trail called Hill Pig

Winona, MN: One of the bonier switchbacks

Winona, MN: Mississippi river and bluffs in background

Rochester, MN: The Douglas Trail

Red Wing, MN: Town of Red Wing, Mississippi river in background

Red Wing, MN: One of the slalom sections. This one was so steep that I wussed out on the latter part around the log. It had a little kicker (jump) just before the 180deg turn, and it appeared the only way to negotiate it without falling and sliding all the way to the bottom was to turn in mid air. It put Sidewinder at Kingdom Trails to shame.

Red Wing, MN: The area called The Quary

Straddling the Mississippi

Nice day here in the Midwest. Hot, mostly dry for a few days now. I've been on a mission ever since I became a mountain biker to ride trails in all 50 states. I'm getting close now. Even though I am more roadie than off-roadie these days, the dream of riding in every part of our great country has not subsided. I flew out here a day early on business so I could ride. From Rochester, Minnesota I can reach Iowa and Wisconsin. Today I hit all three states.

Ice Cave Park
Decorah, IA
This is straight south of Rochester on highway 52. This park, actually called Dunning's Springs park, is accompanied by Van Peenen and Palisades Parks. There are many miles of purpose built singletrack here. I rode most of it. The climbs probably don't exceed 300ft, but they are sure steep. I got in numerous VOmax intervals first thing this morning. These trails are cut into the bluffs that hug the Iowa River. There are many places a fall to the outside would result in a serious tumble. Being dry and of clay base, the trails were wicked fast. The corrugated landscape allowed trails to be built that induce as much adrenaline rush as a rollercoaster. Except here you have to earn your plummets. There is a real cave here too. I went part way inside it. Without a light and being alone, I did not venture far. You don't think of bluffs and caves when talking about Iowa. Took photos, but I don't have any application on this computer to reduce image sizes. I'll post a few after I get back. I rode about 14 miles in 1.6hrs here.

Human Powered Trails
La Crosse, WI
It is interesting as you approach the Mississippi River. The land becomes very deeply corrugated. I dropped down to La Crosse in what seemed like a canyon. From the bottom, you could just as well have been on Rt 100 in norther Vermont. The peaks and ridgelines were simply the height of the land that wasn't yet eroded away, not hills or mountains. The area away from rivers looks just like where I grew up in Michigan. Rolling hills, corn and soybeans as far as you can see. After crossing the Mississippi into Wisconsin, I had to deal with a P.I.A. detour to find my trail head. The Human Powered Trails is a small trail system. The large map at entrance says 6+ miles, but I bet there is at least twice that here. I rode about 95% of the singletrack. It was even more fun than Decorah. The trails were meticulously maintained and signed. The black rated trails (expert) were very tight with steep climbs and more than a few natural features I bobbled on. Tails like OB-1, Dark Side, French Connection, and boB Trail were my favorites. Many more 3 minute climbs to leave you gasping here. I rode about 12 miles in 1.3hrs. With about 3hrs of very peaky riding, my legs were about toast.

Holzinger Lodge
Winona, MN
I had planned to drive all the way up to Red Wing to hit the very popular MTB trails there. But it was a long haul, I was tired, and I was getting burned out on the driving. Winona was on the way and I decided spur of the moment to ride this place instead. I had no map. A map does not exist. The place is small though, and it overlooks the Mississippi River. It would be hard to get lost for any period of time. I started by going up. It became clear my choice of trails was wrong. Clearly I was going up a hiking path, as I had great difficulty carrying my bike up the thing. Later, coming down, I would find the way mountain bikers get to the top. Up top is a maze of trails. I was a little disappointed that there were only two marginal vantage points. There were a couple places that are shear cliffs, but trees and brush obstruct the view. The bluffs must be about 500ft above the valley. Heading back down the right way, I nailed a rock with my pedal. This was on trail benchcut into an extremely steep slope. I had just thought to myself "don't look down now." Next thing I'm careening over the edge. Thank God for grapevines. I could have tumbled a ways. After getting bodily limbs and bike untangled, damage assessment showed I had blood running down both legs in two places. Apparently my chain ring ripped through a sock and cut me good right along side the Achilles tendon. I had a knob the size of a golf ball on that shin too. It was time to call it a day. I was uber trashed from over 4hrs of riding.

So when I get back, I can color three more states in. This image is a bit dated, as I completed Nevada and Ohio last year. Looks like I have only eight states to go. The east and west have been canvassed well. Finally the Mississippi River has been straddled to connect to the two sides. I have secondary goals in the back of my head now. It would be cool to ride in each of the provinces of Canada as well. I plan to hit several areas of Canada over the next several years anyway. Might as well hit all of them. Mexico? Some parts aren't so safe, but mountain bike tourism is catching on there. I do plan to ride in South America (to 17,000ft) and in the Himalayas some day too. The highest motorable road in the world is there, over 18,000ft.

Mt Washington Emotional Rollercoaster

The August racers finally got a pristine day. Well, most of the racers did. There were some brief sprinkles in the area before the race, enough to make the roads wet. But the summit was visible and winds practically non-existent. Temp was about 60 at the base too. We hadn't had it this good in at least 6 years.

I had no goal for Mt Washington this year. Having just PR'd at Mt Equinox and seeing favorable conditions, I thought prospects were decent for a PR here too. I had bike setup a little differently than in past (see prior post).

The race started an hour later than prior years with Top Notch going off at 8:40am. Several guys lined up across the front were from Colorado. The loud cannon goes off, and there wasn't the usual insane attack from the get go. Everybody pretty much eased into the climb, surprisingly. I settled into 13th place as the grade got steep. Gerry Clapper (Benidorm) and Steve Gatzos (BRC) were well ahead of me, Steve setting a blistering pace hanging with overall contenders.

By mile two, I had moved into 9th place overall. This started to mess with my head. I knew there were a lot of strong local and out of state guys here, yet I was looking at potentially a top 10 finish. I didn't feel like was even going that hard.

Approaching mile 3, I was gaining on Ian Gordon (Arc en Ciel) who beat me at Equinox. Now I'm starting to think I'm going too hard. I thought there's no way I'm going to stay ahead of Ian and take 8th place or better on this mountain. I was getting fairly warm as the sun was coming out and there was no wind at all. But I never felt better on this climb and was beginning to believe I was going to have the climb of my life.

Then it happened. A heinous loud snap from the rear wheel. This was the same sound when I snapped a spoke at Burke Mtn last fall. Sure as shit, my wheel was rubbing both the seat and chain stays badly. My bike was unrideable. I had no tools. The wheel was so badly out of true I couldn't even turn it by hand. Limited spoke wheels do this when high tension spokes pop. I didn't have brake pads on the rear to contend with this time, but the chain stays are quite narrow at the bottom bracket. I was utterly devastated. At first I tried to bend the wheel into true with my hands and then offset it in the dropouts to keep it from rubbing. It did not work. The wobble was so bad it would hit both chain stays. I stopped again. I've built and trued wheels many times now. I have a knack for how they behave. So how do you true a stubborn wheel with no tools? You use your carbon frame as a truing jig and slam the crap out of the wheel against the pavement. Oh, do this while letting out a verbal tirade too. All the riders passing me stayed well clear. I'm sure they thought I was having a shit fit. I was, I suppose, but the bike slamming was a "precisely" calibrated attempt to make my bike rideable again. I had to get to the top, as my wife is way to scared to drive back down the mountain. The slamming worked, marginally. When I got back on the bike, it was just clearing the chain and seat stays. It did starte rubbing again after a mile or so, but not badly.

So the race was back on for me. I had pretty much written off any respectable finish. At least 8 guys passed me in the 60 to 90 seconds I spent stopping twice to mess with bike. I gave the rest of the race my best shot, figuring I tapered for a hard ride and I had a lot more frustration to vent. Might was well vent it with my legs on the bike. I started passing guys again, for the second time. One or two I never saw again.

I did not run any electronics on my bike. I figured I'd be looking at something like 1:08 crossing the line. I was flabbergasted to see 1:05:33 crossing the line, a new PR. Plus Cathy told me I was 8th from the Top Notch wave. There must have been faster riders in waves further back, as I came in 10th overall out of nearly 600 finishers. This too is my best placing in this race. So either my fitness has taken a quantum jump this season for no apparent reason or the conditions were just so fast. I think its a little of both actually. You see, some lengthy stretches of gravel from the 2006 race (my previous PR) are now paved. Asphalt always rolls faster than gravel. But this year's gravel was almost as good as riding pavement too. Factor in negligible wind and ideal temps, you have a recipe for PR's. Several riders I talked to in fact PR'd today.

I predicted Steve Gatzos and Gerry Clapper would come in under and hour. Both did. Steve gave the fastest guys on the course a run for their money, coming in third overall with a 57:33, only 2:36 minutes back. Gerry came in 5th overall with 59:48, winning my 45+ age group handily by over 4 minutes. A couple other fast guys in my age group knocked me off the podium, one from Colorado.

So the race was only half the story today. The weather as last finishers were summiting was the other half. Shortly after I finished, a dark cloud began to form at the summit. Bits of rain could be felt. The temp dropped. It got darker, visibility went down, then it began to really rain. But that ain't enough on Mt Washington. You got to throw in hail. Buckets of hail pea to marble size. Where there were once hundreds of racers and spectators became wide open space. It must have hailed for 20 minutes, making the walk down to the car dicy with all the ice on the road. While we're walking down, lightning split the sky. Terrific, we're on the highest peak in 2000 miles in a lightning and hail storm going hypothermic. It was so cold. Yet there were many racers still coming up in this stuff. Many were walking, some in short sleeves. I heard from one later at the bottom that tires were slipping in the hail.

It was warmer at the bottom for lunch, but the rain and thunder continued for a while. The lunch was excellent as always. Hart's does an awesome job with this. As soon as results were posted, I had to split to catch a plane. Four more storm cells, one with extreme hail on the Kanc, made for slow going. I get to airport a little late, get boarding pass with no seat number on it because flight is over booked, and the girl does not know how to check a bike in. I stood at the ticket desk for 45 minutes. My plane was boarding by the time I went through security. Like I didn't have enough stress for one day. I was quite sure my bike was not going to make it, but I saw it go up the belt into the plan. Boy that was close. I'm in Minnesota now and Sunday looks like a good day to ride here. It will be at least 40 degrees hotter than the summit of Mt Washington.

I should have known better than to risk those Velomax Ascent-II wheels again. This is third time I broke a spoke in the rear wheel. Only drive side are crossed and thus transfer power and this is side breaking. First time, it's a fluke. Second time, the design is faulty and I should have gotten ride of them. Third time, I'm a loser for not getting rid of them. Anybody want a Velomax wheelset cheap? Actually, I think the rear wheel is beyond repair now. I may consider a set of carbon (gasp) tubulars for climbing next year.

This race put me through the ringer today. I go from abysmal forecast to conditions looking best ever. Then I'm having my best climb ever and the bike craps out on me. Recover from that to claim another PR. That just led to the next stress riser trying to get everything on a plane in time.

results

Final Preparations

The Mt Washington hillclimb has traditionally been the high point and finale of my cycling season. After last year's disappointing cancellation, I no longer put that many expectations into a single climbing basket. I didn't establish any "A" race hillclimbs this year. I'm taking what I get. The PR on Equinox two weeks ago was a true bonus. It could happen on Washington again this Saturday, but it certainly isn't a goal. The weather is not looking the greatest either.

There will be a lot of fast guys there this year. I've had email correspondence with a few. I'm looking for local riders Steve Gatzos (BRC) and Gerry Clapper (Benidorm) to break an hour. Drew Miller from out west will be there. He gives Tom Danielson a run for his money on climbs out there and could be the overall winner. There are other sub-hour candidates coming in from far away. It would be nice to make my age group podium this year. I spent 6 years in the 40-44 year old age bracket since they go by age on race day, unlike USCF. I think I made the podium twice in that time.

My 45-49 year old age group is huge and diverse. Men and women total about 140 riders, are from 19 states plus the District of Columbia and multiple provinces of Canada. Many come out just to see if they can do it, but at least a few come expecting much more.

Hillclimbers are always curious about how each other trick out their climbing bikes. Some treat it like its top secret. I don't get too carried away. You reach a point where each second saved costs many dollars or makes your bike unreliable. Here's the main features for this year's Mt Washington:

Frame: Trek 5900, about 1kg weight
Rear brake and front derailleur removed (with cables)
Wheels: Velomax Ascent-II's
Tires: Michelin Pro2 Race clinchers, 23mm
Tubes: Michelin Latex
Crank: FSA carbon left side, Ultegra triple with spider chopped off drive side
Ring: Single 30t elliptic Q-ring
Cassette: Ultegra 27t, 9spd
Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR

The other stuff doesn't matter. This gets the bike down to about 15 lbs (6.8kg, UCI legal). You can buy a bike right off the shop floor these days at this weight with all the gears and brakes. My weight penalty on Mt Washington is in the 15sec per pound range. My body weight going into this year's event is the highest in many years, around 165 lbs (75kg). But Equinox has proven despite weight gain, I managed even bigger percent power increase for a stronger W/kg output.

Another rider is adressing the W/kg equation with body weight reduction with less than two weeks to race day. Personally, I feel any weight loss should have been dealt with many weeks ago and then work on power at the reduced weight. The risk is losing power with the weight and actually hurting W/kg. Another risk is coming to the race with less than 100% full glycogen tank. It will be interesting to see the power data from this experiment.

I've never built my Trek in this exact configuration before. The minimum ratio is slightly less than what I used for Equinox, and the gear spacings are a little tighter. It is bigger min ratio and spacings than when I PR'd Washington in 2006. The elliptic chain rings can mess with ratio calculations, as a 30t Q-ring actually peaks out at an equivalent 31.7t. At minimum ratio, it is less than 29t through the "dead spot", and it is this aspect I believe reduces fatigue.

I pretty much have to high-tail it from the race to the airport. Heading out to the midwest for a couple days work related business. Going a day early with a bike in the hopes of sampling some midwest dirt. I'll be in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa tri-state region with some great riding prospects along the Mississipi River. It is not flat there, and 500ft climbs with views are possible.