Race Report: The Outback

The opening round of the Mideast Hare Scramble series in Laurinburg, NC was another cold, wet race. The weather was less than desirable, and the muddy sections of the track were rough. It did turn out to be a Hoyland family reunion and it was nice to have my wife and parents there. It was also great to see the Mideast family for the first time this year.

Note that my dad is wearing shorts...crazy 

As for the race, I got a good start but overshot the third turn and got into the slop, letting teammates Brian Cook and Braden Henthorn around me. The next field I was able to outmotor Braden and went into the woods in second. Braden passed me back within the first mile, but then Brian got stuck on a downed tree and I was able to pass both of them for the lead. I led until the third lap when I came up on some stuck lappers and had nowhere to go. Brian got there and quickly made a path around, also passing me. I was able to tag in behind him, and we raced back and forth for the next two laps.

On the last lap, I made a pass on Brian and saw out of the corner of my eye that he was flying off of his quad. I turned around and went back to make sure he was ok, then took back off when he said he was fine. He tagged in behind me and when I caught some lappers with a couple miles left, he made the final pass on me to get the win. I finished in second.

Racing with Brian made up for the cold miserable weather, until I got back to the trailer and realized I had forgotten water and washrags to clean myself with. It was very cold washing myself with papertowels and the rest of my gallon jug of drinking water.

Post race discussion

Here is a video from the race. There was hardly any footage clear enough to use, so I did what I could with the footage available.

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The Outback, Laurinburg, NC

This weekend starts the Mideast Hare Scramble Series, with the Outback in Laurinburg, NC. There should be a pretty good pro turnout for this race, some guys on their way down to Florida hit this race, and some people will travel up from Florida. It is a sandy race, which makes it good pre-Florida practice without traveling all the way to Florida.

We are making some shock changes to the bike from last weekend's race, but other than that the bike is staying the same. To get ready for the race, I am going to be getting new tires ready with TireBalls.

It looks like this race has the makings for a Hoyland family reunion, since my wife will be traveling with me and my parents will be moving down to South Carolina this week and are going to try and make it to the race.

So far the weather is calling for rain, which is not good sign. I've never rode in sand while it's raining, but I've heard it's not exactly fun.

If you're planning on coming to the race, here are some Laurinburg links:
Weather for the weekend,
Directions to race
Directions to town of Laurinburg from your location,
Hotels and area information (restaurants, etc.)

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Crosstraining: Dirt Bikes

I recently bought a 2004 YZ125 to try to do some cross training. I've never really rode a dirt bike other than messing around on some at friend's houses, so I really don't know what training benefits I'll get from it. Today was my first time training with it, and here's a video of some of what I did.

So far, I've noticed that dirt bike riding works some different muscles than four wheeler riding. I have a lot to learn about riding a dirt bike, but it's the funnest thing I've done in a while. I converted it to a thumb throttle, which made me feel a lot more comfortable and in control, but I won't lie, the woods are still really hard.

My main reasons for trying out a dirt bike as a training method were money and logistics really. I live in an apartment and don't have anywhere to easily store a four-wheeler, but I have several friends in the area that ride dirt bikes and wouldn't mind finding a little garage space to store mine. Dirt bikes are also easier to transport. I can fit two bikes in the back of my truck, whereas I can only fit one four-wheeler. This helps when I want to travel with someone to ride somewhere. The area that I live in has a lot more places where I can ride a bike than a four-wheeler, so I have more places to train.

Dirt bikes are cheaper than four wheelers in almost every way. They are cheaper from the start, when you purchase one. Maintenance is cheaper, and I can do a lot of it myself especially since I got a 2-stroke. Fuel is cheaper because you use less.

Like I said, I'm still trying it out to see how it will benefit me and my training program, but seat time is seat time.

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Rattlesnake Ridge

The Rattlesnake Ridge outlaw race last weekend in Taylorsville NC was...cold to say the least. Between the wind and the occasional snow, it was not my idea of good racing conditions. I am not a fan of racing below 45 degrees, so I guess you can call me a fair weather rider.

In spite of the cold, I got a good start, but I had to stop at the end of the first lap to adjust my stabilizer for a few seconds. I had turned it down before the race because it was so cold, which made it hard to turn. But within a mile into the race, everything on the bike warmed up, including the stabilizer, and it felt like I had no stabilizer at all so I stopped to fix it. It didn't take much time, but it allowed 3 or 4 people to pass me. If I ever get a wild hair to race another race as cold as this one, which I probably won't because I hate the cold, I will NOT adjust my stabilizer before the race. Lesson learned.

We raced a 6 mile loop for a little over 2 hours. I felt like I was on the smallest merry-go-round ever; there were more laps than I could count. I wish I had my Garmin on so that I could have told what time it was and how much longer so I would have had an idea of when the last lap would be because it went straight to checkered.

There was some really good racing with my new teammate Braden Henthorn. We both had bike problems that made us pass each other back and forth throughout the race, then he made the final pass on me with 2 laps left. Below is a video of the race. Even though I had my problems with the cold and short track, it was good to start the racing season. Making some changes to the bike and my training regime to get ready for the next race this weekend, and the start of  GNCC.

Brian Wolf won, followed by Kevin Yoho, Brian Cook, Braden Henthorn, and then me in fifth. My other teammate David Reeves broke down and James Reeves won A class.

Getting Ready to Race

My first race of the season is coming up this weekend, as I mentioned in my last post. So this is the first time this year that I've had to prepare for a race. I've gotten some emails/comments asking what I do to get ready for a race, so here is a post about it. This is a local race, so what I do will be a little different than what I have to do for a GNCC race.

First, I keep my workout and diet plan on course. I don't change anything until two days before a race. I usually eat a pretty balanced diet. I don't carb load during the week like some racers/athletes. But two days before a race, I will start switching to more heavy carb meals. Still healthy with good sources of protein, but more weighted towards carbs.

Typical pre-race food.

The day before a race, I definitely eat a lot of carbs, especially at dinner. Pasta is my favorite meal the night before a race. For local races, I don't focus as much on diet, but definitely for GNCC races. The day of the race, I eat carbs and proteins, usually from PowerBars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I want refined carbs the day of the race so they digest quickly, and my stomach isn't full when the racing begins, but all my muscles are completely fueled for the race.

I also drink a lot of water before a race, starting two days before. I try to drink 1 gallon of water a day to prepare for a race. I want to be fully hydrated before, since during the race I lose so much water from sweat  that I can't drink enough even with my Camelback to replace it.

I also usually take the day before a race easy with exercise. For GNCC races, I normally just walk or bike the track. For local races, I don't do much if any exercise the day before. I want to make sure my muscles aren't sore or tired for the race. I also try to get a full night's sleep before the race. Sometimes if I'm helping with local race preparations, this isn't possible, but for GNCC's I definitely get a full night's sleep.

Drying my goggles.

As far as preparing my gear goes, I usually wash and prep my goggles with roll-offs and tear-offs the week before a race. I pack my gear bag with everything I need for the weekend. I pack a cooler with the food I want to eat before and after the race, sports drinks, and water. My bike is prepped by Santo Derisi for the GNCCs, but for the locals I sometimes help with the preparation.

If you want to know more about what I do to prepare for a race, let me know in a comment, Facebook or email at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Mid East Hare Scramble Series

Race season in nearly here. Along with the GNCC series, I will be running the Mid East Hare Scramble Series. Here's a schedule in case any of you guys are interested in running some or all of these races too.

Round	Race Date	Event	Location
Rd. 1	February 19	Outback	Laurenburg, NC
Rd. 2	March 4	Palmetto	Gaston, SC
Rd. 3	March 25	Rockhouse	Morganton, NC
Rd. 4	April 22	Harris Bridge	Woodruff,SC
Rd. 5	May 5	Antioch	Morganton, NC
Rd. 6	May 20	Deer Trail	Cowpens, SC
Rd. 7	June 3	Welborn Farm	Boonville, NC
Rd. 8	June 10	New CAW	Winnsboro, SC
Rd. 9	August 26	Harris Bridge	Woodruff, SC
Rd. 10	Sep 9	Fowkins Farm	Jonesville, SC
Rd. 11	Sep 23	Airport	Hickory, NC
Rd. 12	Sep 30	Pea Ridge	Jonesville, SC
Rd. 13 Rd. 14	Oct 14 Oct 28	Outback Rockhouse	Laurenburg, NC Morganton, NC

I will be racing an outlaw race this weekend. See the flyer below if you're interested in racing. I'll be posting again this week with some info on what I do to prepare for a race, since this is the first race of the season. If you like this blog, subscribe and follow. You can leave comments/questions on the blog, Facebook, or email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.

Mountain Biking as Training

Training should be fun. Other than riding your four-wheeler, I feel that the second best training method is pedaling up a mountain and flying down the other side. When I mountain bike, I wear my Garmin GPS watch with a heart rate monitor (which I also wear at some of the races) and in a two hour bike ride through the mountains, I burn as many calories as a 2 hour race. It is a great cardio workout, and it also works some of the same muscles that racing does.

I am lucky enough to live near the edge of the Jefferson and George Washington National Forests, where there is tons of mountain biking. Pandapas Pond is a recreation area a few minutes drive from my house (or 10 minute bike ride) with miles of trails up and down the mountains. Whenever the weather is decent, and it is not dark, I go there to ride for training. It provides a break from the treadmill running I normally do.

For those of you who do not live right next to a National Forest, look online for local parks or state parks. You'd be surprised what's around you if you just look. Most places allow biking on trails.

Mountain biking has a two sided aspect of training that many workout methods do not. Sure, it's a good workout, and I'm always really tired at the end of a good ride. But I've also gotten the trail-reading, quick-decision-making aspect of racing that I can't get from a treadmill. As you can see from the video, you can get going pretty fast down the mountain and pretty wore out pedaling up. You have to be able to continue making good decisions even when you're completely wore out.

Mountain Biking 2-1

We're still working on the angle for the camera, so bear with us. I'm sure I'll have more mountain biking videos with more info about bikes, where to ride, etc. if you are interested. Follow the blog and subscribe if you like it. Leave me comments below, on Facebook, or email me at HurricaneHoyland@gmail.com.