Blood Rock 55K

After the Blood Rock 25K trail run last year, my thoughts immediately turned to a 50K...I couldn’t help it. The 25K had gone really well (top 20% of finishers) and the lure of doing a real ultramarathon was in my head. I have never felt the draw to do road marathons, just as I have never been big on road bike century rides. Not my thing. 

I set my sights on the Oak Mountain 50K in March. It would be a nice time of year and “only” had 4,300 feet of climbing. I could get that knocked out then get back to riding my bike more! We all know what else came around mid March: COVID. Blah. After training for 4 months, my race got cancelled a week before. I wasn’t surprised so kinda figured I would just run the course solo. Given our lack of knowledge about the virus at that time, I bailed out. Too much uncertainty. I wasn’t too bummed but the goal was still brewing in my head. Gotta get it done. Obsession. 

I put training on the shelf and did mostly easy runs all summer and LOTS of walking with Melissa. This became our quarantine habit which has stuck. Grab a couple beers and walk about 3 milly miles in our neighborhood. Where we live is super hilly so we both unintentionally got in better shape! Despite almost no hard running until September I got faster. I got a surprise entry to a half marathon (road) in October and ran a 1:40 with maybe...two tempo runs before the race. I committed to the Blood Rock 50K around July I think. I figured my work schedule would die down by September and I could train hard until December. Nope. Super busy. Melissa also started back work in September as a public school speech therapist and you can imagine how that has gone so far. It’s tough. We still got our beer walks done though. I went ahead and started back on some longer trail runs and some intervals. I’ve also been using Chris Johnson’s Cinder Block Series strength program which I think has improved my efficiency. 

Sometime during October I took a really hard fall at Red Mountain during a training run and luckily didn’t break my hip. Hit about an inch below the left greater trochanter (pointy hip bone on side) This hit my training hard though and I knew I wouldn’t be as ready as I wanted for Blood Rock. 2020, right? To summarize, I had great fitness but was undertrained for the race demands. 

I backed off on hilly runs and stuff that was hurting the leg but didn’t want to totally bail on the race. Blood Rock is a really hard course and has really generous cutoff times. I think the 55k cutoff is 16 hours!  I knew if I had to, I could fast hike it and finish. David Tosch, the race organizer, emailed us about two weeks before the race. Our 50K was now a 55K...climbing was about the same with 8700 vertical feet. From the map I could tell I would get to see some new areas of Oak Mountain so I was cool with it. I made an A, B, and C goal for the race. A was to finish in 9 hours, B was 10, and C was 11. I also made a “just maybe goal” of beating the sun. Likely not in the cards but whatever, ya know? I’m a planner. 

We had perfect weather on race day. Low of 38 degrees and a high of maybe 55. It rained ALL day on Friday which worked in our favor with fairly grippy dirt at Oak Mountain. I left a couple drop bags and went to the start. Plenty of folks with masks on but too close together for my taste so I stayed at the edge and made friends with a border collie mix. We hit an easy couple miles then turned into the Backcountry, a very technical and steep part of the course. I think it is great fun and quite the adventure which made time pass quickly. The course was incredibly well marked and in very good condition. I stuck to my fueling plan really well. 200-225 calories per hour and drink Nuun water was wanted. I alternated different food types...gels, bars, potato burritos. Little bit of everything! 

I realized about 10 miles in my GPS was short of course mileage by 10-12 percent, same as last year. I also realized my training had come up short. No surprise there. The downhill impact was really hitting me hard and I made a plan to go slower than I wanted on downhills and kinda shuffle run on the flat parts. I was doing well in technical sections which helped keep a decent pace going. We crossed the race start area near the Cabins at 15 miles and I refilled my hydration and food. Kinda wanted to quit but started making deals with myself instead. Just run a few more miles then reassess. I can always walk more. Maybe things will get better. I reminded myself multiple times that things would likely feel worse the further I went and probably really bad at some point but I could take it. As David Goggins says, you gotta keep your Inner Bitch under control. It is always there, always ready to undermine your goals, and very convincing. We all have one. The important thing is to know it is there. 

From the Cabins, we headed through some boring horse trails near the Group Camp road. I mentioned to a guy nearby I had never been on this hill. “I have” he said slowly then added “last night.” He was one of the 100 milers. I told him I wouldn’t ask how it was going as I figured I already knew. He laughed and we both kept moving. The climb up the Yellow White connector was really tough and steep. We cut right on the Red Road then down Green Trail which is one of the hardest descents in the park. Straight down the damn mountain. I knew at this point I had spent most of my Descending Budget and needed to be careful. Don’t fall. Don’t push it. I saw fellow cyclists Mark Cook earlier on the Group Camp Road and Mike Lackey up on Red Road which boosted my spirits some. I made it to the Terrace Drive aid station at mile 22.3 and realized I was actually still doing pretty well pace wise. My stomach felt good too. Some things were bad and some were good. I kept moving. 

Even if shit went south, I could walk back to the finish and be done in around 10 hours. More self bargaining here. I can walk as much as I want. It will be okay. I headed up Johnson’s Mountain and called Melissa to let here know where I was. From here, the course went into some fresh cut singletrack that led to the High Hampton neighborhood on the South Side of the park. Eventually, we cut left straight up the steepest powerline trail I have ever seen. A surprise one could call it. Just a real nice surprise. 

This meandered up to the Park Road then headed up to Peavine Falls Aid station, the last one of the race! I was still running as much as I could at this point but my arms felt weird. Crampy. I have had this happen once during a mountain bike race and it is not good. Basically, brachioradialis cramps from holding my arms in a running position more than I was used to I guess. Maybe some dehydration too? Maybe all the impact? I quickly figured out I could hook my thumbs in the lower strap of my hydration pack to support them. I am sure I looked ridiculous but I could still jog this way on the road headed to Peavine Aid at mile 27.5. Peavine was nice. Too nice. Lots of food choices. Lots of reasons to stay awhile. Maybe even find a comfy chair. 

I asked for a dill pickle then left. 

This led into the “other” Backcountry section. It was kinda similar to hiking trails at Mt. Cheaha and I really enjoyed it. Big, rocky slabs but not much roots or loose dirt. I was still feeling really good on uphills and able to push at what I would guess a Zone 3 type pace. Legs felt strong uphill too. My goals at this point were “Don’t Fall” and “Don’t Get Lost”. I could finish if I didn’t screw up. The pickle helped my T Rex arm situation some but really everything just hurt at this point. Legs, ribs, all of it. Some of this section runs on a ridge parallel to the Blue Trail but higher elevation. Beautiful time of day also around 3-4 PM. I fell into the same pace as a lady nearby (Tori I think) so we stuck together. She was running more than me so I just tagged along and picked up my pace a bit. I had plenty of alone time by this point, so it was nice to have a friend to chat with. We had one small scare, thinking we got off course, but quickly realized all was fine. 

We cut left on the Orange Connector, which eventually leads to Shackleford Point and the long, technical downhill to Maggie’s Glen. Pretty close to finishing at this point, so I just kept running. I had honestly planned on fast hiking the last 5-6 miles but after realizing I could still run I kept it up. I felt pretty elated from Maggie’s Glen to the finish and we were both able to run at probably a 9 minute pace after being out for a long time. The finish time was 8 hours and 44 minutes, right before sunset! The feeling of relief that came with being done was incredible. Not just the race, but the whole year of ups and downs in preparing. I really had to pull out every mental trick in my bag to get this done and glad it is over! The day was every bit beautiful as it was brutal, but I was aware of that when I signed up. Yet again, Tosch and his crew did an incredible job with the race. I feel pretty beat up the day after the race and looking forward to a few weeks off. 

But for real, how hard is Blood Rock? I would say definitely harder than a technical 100 mile mountain bike race but easier than a 24 hour solo mountain bike race. Probably harder than Dirty Kanza 200. Real hard. Truly a race worthy of its reputation and I now understand why folks say, “Don’t do Blood Rock as your first ultra…”

Strava - https://www.strava.com/activities/4434867811

Pedaling technique.

Pedaling technique comes up frequently in the fit station and is quite an important discussion to have as it can make your riding better. Or worse if the wrong approach is taken!

We have all seen the graph above I think. It illustrates which muscles get used in different portions of the pedal stroke. So how do we make best use of all these muscles while riding a bike? Let’s get into it some!

Good pedaling technique consists of a few things but the big hitter here is gross efficiency. Meaning how much of your effort actually moves you forward. Good technique also looks good and sounds good. Go watch the top 10 guys at a Pro XC race get up a climb. Listen and watch. The bikes shift well, the riders look smooth. Rear wheel traction is also maximized.

Somewhere along the line, clipless pedals came along, and folks began to tell riders these were better as they could forcefully pull UP on the pedals. More power, right? Not really. Humans are naturally much stronger at pushing down with their legs than pulling up or dragging the foot backwards in the “mud scraping” motion

The pedal stroke should reflect this. Think of how much weight you could push away from you with one leg. Lots! But then, you have to pull the box back to you with that leg...see where this is going? Trying to pedal in a circle with even force all the way around is simply not possible and if you can is going to massively overwork the hip flexors. There are also some really good studies on amputees riding with only one leg. They are experts at practicing “pedaling in circles”, BUT once you add a counter weight to the opposite pedal they get more efficient! 

We can also see that pedaling efficiency is the same in studies where riders were on flat vs clipless pedals. Can’t do much pulling up with a platform pedal at all. I’m not against any type of pedal here, the study simply illustrates my point. While on the platform pedal topic, practicing riding with flats can be good for technique because you can’t really do any of the bad habits!

One might be wondering how all this happens so many times an hour without much conscious thought. Reflexes, y’all! As one leg pushes, the other reflexively pulls up JUST the right amount .

Moving on, some of these are heard from well meaning riders and coaches:

Scrape the mud of the bottom of the shoe. Kick the foot over the top of the pedal stroke. Use XYZ muscle to push down. Spin a perfect circle. Make sure to pull up on the backstroke.

We have heard it all before and not much of it of use in my opinion. I call this movement micromanaging and it was shown in a study a few years ago to make pedaling efficiency WORSE. Know what worked? The rider’s self selected pedal stroke! Our brain is incredibly adept at producing the best motor pattern for a task and does so unconsciously. 

Oh and regarding ankle position pedaling. A bad fit can cause lots of toe pointing or heel drop while riding but unless you test the rider’s ankle strength and range of motion, you are pretty much guessing as to what they SHOULD be doing.

I will also try to help some here, as there are some things that can make your riding technique better…but first the caveat that we are all special and have our own preferences. Plenty of riders have told me things I disagreed with that “worked for them”. I usually say okay and move on.

• Cadence. Get better at riding at all cadences. 40 RPM up to 140. Sitting. Standing. The transition between. It all matters. Most riders sit and spin at 80 rpm and that is it! These explorations into more extreme cadences are best done in short efforts, maybe less than a minute. Optimal cadence is usually self selected…but if all you ever do is ride at 70-80 rpm your body really doesn’t have much chance to choose what is ideal.

• Shifting. Quit riding like a bull. Silent bikes are happy bikes. Plan your shifts and learn your gears.

• Stand up some. Get used to being smooth with standing climbing. This is best done at Tempo or Zone 3 power with cadence a good bit lower than while seated. Start with 30 seconds or so and add some more as it becomes easy.

• Training. Ride at a variety of power levels every week but most of your rides should be easy!

• Rollers. Riding rollers will quickly let you know how smooth you are. They are a bit dangerous starting out so be careful. 

• Strength and Balance Training. Make like Nino Schurter. Get in the gym.

• Relax. This is huge. Learn to relax while riding and you will be much more efficient. Quit overthinking your pedal stroke or trying to manipulate it. 

Mountain Bike Seat tube angles - a full explanation

A common trend over the past few years has been the move to steep seat tube angles on mountain bikes, especially in the Enduro / Trail Bike segment. This would mean bikes with 120-160 mm travel roughly. 

Historically, mountain bikes have featured on average a 73 seat tube angle and many are still really close to that. I think there are a few around with 72 degree STA but more common is the steeper ones around 74 degrees and plenty more examples around 75-78 degrees. For reference, a slack seat tube angle would be seen on a beach cruiser around 65 degrees or so and a very steep seat tube angle would be on a triathlon bike around 78-80 degrees. The higher number means your hips are further forward...think of a unicycle with the seat directly over the cranks, that would be 90 degrees. 

Before we go too deep here, be aware that there can be a virtual and actual seat tube angle on many bikes…the virtual one is what is most important. The diagram from Turner below is a great representation of this.

Anyway, I think the push towards steeper STAs have been in part driven by slacker head tube angles. The slack HTA makes for better stability and confidence on nasty downhill stuff but a wandering front wheel on climbs. By moving the rider further forward with the steep STA there is more control on climbs. 

Most bikes in this category also have dropper seat posts which means the saddle is out of the way on downhills so the angle of the seat tube doesn’t really matter all that much descending.  The primary time STA matters is during seated pedaling, which most riders do LOTS of. If you want to dive into this topic more, look over articles from Steve Hogg or Keith Bontrager on this.

Let’s go over a few practical details:

Respect the Design: If you already own a mountain bike, my best advice is just start with the saddle in the middle of the seatpost. Bikes are designed by very smart people and I like to stick to the intended fit and design without going too crazy. Big travel trail bikes will have the seat more forward than a cross country hardtail, there is no way around it. Don’t try to make the bike something it isn’t. Often riders with a short torso and long legs will like the seat moved forward some and riders with more normal proportions or a long torso and shorter legs will prefer the seat moved back for reasons mentioned in the Body Proportions section below. Bikes with a steep STA tend to feel too short in the reach from saddle to bar when seated and this is really just a compromise of modern geometry.

Terrain: Are you always climbing steep, then descending steep? A steeper STA is great here as you aren’t worried about flat ground pedaling all that much. A STA that is too steep will cause too much weight on the hands in hard singletrack riding and really make for some weird handling. Around here in the Southeast I’d lean towards more of a slacker STA due to how much seated pedaling we have. Also consider the wheelbase of the bike compared to your favorite trails. Bikes are getting longer and this isn’t always a good thing. 

Body Proportions: Everything else being even, a rider with a shorter torso will want a steeper STA! The shorter torso requires less distance for the hips to be behind the bottom bracket to counterbalance the position. Heavy feet, light hands ya know? Long torsos will usually demand a slacker STA to achieve this. Also, the rider with a more aggressive forward lean while pedaling will often like a touch slacker STA since the more horizontal torso position projects more weight forward onto the bars. As we talked about above, this is somewhat predetermined for you based on what bike you have.

Personal Preference: Go test ride some bikes! Decide for yourself versus letting Specialized or Trek dictate what YOU should be on. Riders that do lots of accelerating out of turns and out of the saddle climbing will be more sensitive to differences due to the frequent body position changes. Often, you will need to change your riding style a bit to suit the bike that you are on.

Bike Choice: In general, longer travel bikes have a steeper STA and a more upright position MOST of the time. There are exceptions to this, but I’ve noticed I like the steeper STA on my old Fuel EX but would HATE it on my new Procaliber hardtail. Full suspension bikes will often make better use of a steep STA than a comparable hardtail due to the suspension sag climbing which makes the bike even slacker.

Getting Used To It: Anatomy wise, the forward seat position means more quad usage and less hamstrings, glutes, and low back. This means the knee is further forward over the pedal spindle, which I’m not too worried about as KOPS is kind of an arbitrary relationship. This means the pedal stroke is a bit “knee dominant” which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion. 

How to adapt?

Firstly, make sure your seat height is correct. Too low and too far forward is BAD. Also doing some solid off bike training is a good idea. Goblet squats, step ups, and split squats are good options. The seated knee extension machine is solid also. Don’t be scared of it. Also regardless of what STA the bike comes with riders with long legs will need a more forward seat position vs the long torso crowd. Also riding a foot position a bit more forward on the pedal than usual can help a steep STA feel better. 

Hopefully this serves as a more objective guide to seat tube angles. It is way more than just accepting that really steep STAs are the future for everyone that rides trails.