There’s only six weeks until the Wilmington-Whiteface 50k mountain bike race. I like where my fitness is right now, but it is time to pick up the pace and start training for success in this race. I like this race race a lot, and it will be my third time racing Wilminton-Whiteface. The race is actually a 100K Leadville qualifier, but in 2013, they added a 50K race. That is a nice distance for me. So far this spring, I haven’t really done much training for ultra-endurance events…until now. Work schedules are mostly stable and the weather has finally improved.

I don’t like to use the word epic to describe a ride. I think the word is used way too much. But, Saturday’s ride was epic. 32 mile of grueling climbs, rocky trails and fast descents. 3 hours and 45 minutes of riding. That’s the way I like to spend a Saturday afternoon…or any other day for that matter. The climbing starts one mile down the road from my house with a 2 mile paved climb to the start of a huge network of dirt roads, abandoned logging, abandoned farm roads, power line trails and ATV trails. There is also single-track to ride, but this ride was for the time and distance…stay focused on the goal.

In addition to the Wilmingtom-Whiteface race, training rides like this are also for the Cedar City, UT 60K in July. While I have many other cross country races throughout the season, these two races are my main objectives for the 2014 season.

Rides like this are also for fine tuning my fueling needs for the ultra-endurance events. My Hammer Nutrition fueling for this ride consisted of: 1 bottle Grape Fizz, 2L hyration pack with 2 scoops each Heed and Perpetuem (both orange) and 1 flask Montana Huckleberry Gel. Next time I’ll use the Peanut Butter Gel. The added protein can only benefit.