A Story from athlete and bike fitter Luke Way on the Salty Dog
After a solid April volume camp and adventures in Europe I came home feeling pretty fit. Because of all that time away from home I was missing my Trek Superfly 100 mountain bike. Needless to say, I was off to Salmon Arm the first chance I got to do some last minute Salty Dog and mountain bike skills training.
On the Saturday before the race, Rick (one of my Balance Point Athletes from Regina) and I drove out to Salmon Arm and completed an easy lap of the Salty Dog loop and picked up our race packages. Thanks to the Skookum Cycle and Salty Dog staff and volunteers for a speedy registration!
The body felt good pre race. My newly modified cleats were working without issue and my Superfly was set up to perfection. Rick and I where invited over to Sean and Julianne’s for dinner where we had the best home made enchiladas, chicken, various salad options, and to top it all off, we were served chocolate spaghetti with ice cream for desert. Who new there is such a thing as chocolate spaghetti?!
Rick and I were lucky enough to be able to stay at Andrew’s basement homestay about a 5min drive from the trailhead, which was a huge asset if you are a sleep hound like me. That being said, race morning came quickly. I was able to roll out of bed without too much pillow clutching. For breakfast I had some porridge, banana, coffee from Timmies, and a bottle of eLoad Endurance formula.
Once we arrived at the Salty Dog parking field I was really not looking forward to hauling up all the equipment we had. You know, this enduro racing thing is quite the production, especially now that I am helping support a big team of riders! Luckily with the big team production comes many hands for labor. We must have been unloaded and in the transition zone in under 20mins! Best team ever!!!
The race started with a long roll in start to string out the field. This means we started on our bikes a ways down the road from the actual finish area and we ride up the long hill before entering the trail. The pace off the start was solid. I just tried to find a wheel and tuck in. I was able to survive the road section without seeing my heart rate spike over my balance point. I must have been about 6th or 7th as we hit the first section of single track.
The Salty Dog loop consists of a 3km climb, on undulating single track followed by an additional 3km of fire road, which climbs to the high point of the course. The 300 vertical meter decent over the span of the next 4km has bridges, berms, drops, roots, and rollovers. Super fun and super flowy!
By the end of the first lap I was in second, 22 seconds behind Cory Wallace who threw down a 33.52 opening lap which was a new course record. After seeing my time as I went threw for my second lap I was a bit mystified. Even though I followed my heart rate plan, my time was unexpectedly quick. I decided to cool my jets a bit for the second lap and just maintain my balance point heat rate minus 5 beats. I was happy with this plan because Cory and I where ahead of the traffic. Following this heart rate parameter I started to feel quite good and to my surprise Cory wasn’t gaining much time on me. So on lap three I decided that I’d see if I could bridge up to Cory as see how he is doing. I caught him by the top of the climb and so we descended threw the crowds together which was quite fun until Cory t-boned some poor lady on a hi-speed (fire road crossing) climb section. Like the true champ he is he made a quick apology and off we went.
I was starting to feel the toll of the opening laps so I decided to take one lap a bit easier to fuel up and try and get some level of fitness back. Cory gained about a minute on me on that 4th lap and another on the 5th. I could still see him on the long road sections and so I didn’t panic. On lap 6 it was time to bridge back up to him and thanks to Rob (the chicken man) for the splits. By lap 8 I had passed him but my body was starting to complain about our current situation. The end of lap 8 marked 5hrs of riding, averaging about 5 beats below my balance point heart rate, and the temp was 28 degrees but it felt like 38.
Here are some things that I was noticing later in the race. Every time I started the climb back up the course, for about the first 10mins, I found my adductors cramping. This was weird as this had never been a problem before. Looking back it makes sense. The descending causes all the blood to stunt from my legs to you arms and my seat was smashing into my adductors. When I started the climb back up it took time for the blood to get back down to my legs. The most traumatized muscle would have been my adductors, so they cramped. Salty Dog Phenomena number 2 was my fore arms or hand muscles were also going into spasm. I remember laughing at myself as I descended the course because I lost all hand control. I would let go of the breaks and wonder why I was still slowing down. Then I realized that my hands were cramping on my handle bar and thus squeezing the breaks. I’d shake it off the get ready for the next steep section and then my hands wouldn’t engage the brake. I’d compare it to having a bike part like a derailleur that just wouldn’t work, only it was my hands. Because I had a compromised grip of my bike, my hands were really rubbing on my handle bar. This caused a few good-sized blisters on my palms… Insert joke here!
To finished off the day, I started to crater a bit on lap 9 and so I was passed. Luckily I had an amazing pit manager Stacey who quickly served up some water and Pepsi that gave me a new lease on life. I was able to pound out lap 10 with a good time but it wasn’t enough for the win, but second with 10 laps is nothing to be upset about!
That’s another big race in the training bank and I am feeling very confident about my season. A big thanks goes out to Trek Bikes for their support with my Superfly 100 Pro. Fresh Air Concept (Jim, Mike, Kyle, Marty) for all your help. My nutrition plan for this 6.5hr event was made up of eLoad Endurance formula and eFly, and without it I would have never made it half way. Thank you eLoad for your support of my fantastic team. Lindsey Austin at Advanced Therapeutic Massage for your weekly maintenance of my beat up body, you are a huge asset. Chris, Andrew, and Ginny for your big brains and how they help me train right. My team Balance Point Racing, you took me in like a stray dog and made me feel like a friend and local here in Kelowna. And thank you Stacey for your formula one like pit support. I can’t imagine many people made it threw the pit zone faster with a full bottle change and food!
What a fun day! This race is definitely worth checking out for your 2013 race schedule. Registration for next years Salty Dog will start open sometime in the late fall/early winter. Contact Tom at Skookum Cycle in Salmon Arm for more details.
