Double Dare

Full Squish, 36x11-36

Front:  WTB Weirwolf 2.3, 34 psi

Rear:  WTB Weirwolf 2.1, 37 psi

Trail Conditions: Does it really matter?

First of all, I'll go ahead and say that I wish I had done this singlespeed. For some reason I do better on singlespeed, or maybe it's just that I don't have as much to think about and don't second guess which gear I should be in, or if I should spin it out or gear up and get out of the saddle, or perhaps the little wheels and suspension bob are holding me back. Pedal or walk. Simple as that.

This whole year I really pushed myself to get in better shape, mainly so that I can keep up with some of my friends that are clearly faster than me. I put some goals out there and mostly accomplished them. Successful completion of races such as my first hundie, my first half marathon, and my first Double Dare. I also managed to gain back all the weight I lost in 2007/2008 and came into DD 10 lbs heavier than W101. We'll call it a year of mixed results.

There really isn't too much to describe about DD and our adventure. We strived for the bare minimum plus 1. We were in it just for completion, but didn't want to come in last so we added a checkpoint or two to the minimum required. We still came in last. While there are numerous things that I can point to, whether it be the choice of gears, nutrition, training, temperature management, etc., I think it really just boils down to this:

This has got to be some kind of forced perspective thing going on, because Tony is clearly taller than me and I don't think my head is twice the size of his. However, the stretched jacket to accommodate my gut is telling.

We got back to the camp on Day 2 around 1pm and had plenty of time to do the hike for the 2 checkpoint bonus, but we also thought that idea was the dumbest idea we had heard in recent history. If we had done that, second to last place would've been secured.




I do think that Double Dare is a little more fun than PMBAR and given the choice between the two, I'd opt for the 2 days of fun. That said, the only PMBAR we've ever completed we also came in last, so we've already vowed to try yet again to finish not last. This coming year I've already decided to do it rigid. Dropping the squish fork off will drop around 3 pounds off the bike, and it'll be that much easier to carry it up and down the mountains.

In the meantime, I've started restructuring my life as a whole and am taking better care of myself, generally speaking. I'm hoping both personal and professional goals will be realized, and being lighter and fitter comes along with the plan. As of now, I'm only planning on doing a few races. I'm still deciding if I want to register for another hundie. If so, it'll either be Shenandoah or Fools Gold. PMBAR is a given. Double Dare is 75% likely. We've already decided that we must get custom Red Lantern jerseys made.

Wilderness 101

Front Squish, 34x22

Front:  Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4, 32 psi

Rear:   Maxxis Ikon 3C/EXO/TR 2.2, 35 psi

Course Condition:  Rocks, as is always the case in PA

Well this is what all the training was supposed to be for, that is if I had kept it up. Going into the W101 I knew that I could ride my bike for 12-14 hours. What I didn't know is if I could ride it fast enough to make the cutoff. The last time I rode a century was in college on a road bike.

My plan was to stick to liquid nutrition in 2 bottles and a third bottle of water, plus I carried a couple gels and mustard packs in case the nutrition didn't work. I carried the tools and tubes on me and the bike with the drop bags consisting of 5 baggies of nutrition and some mustard to aid station #2, and the same plus lights and a Honey Stinger gel to aid station #4.

The plan:  drink nutrition every 15 minutes (at least), keep moving, and take what the course gives you (thanks James).

The drive up was terrible and I was exhausted when I arrived. I was pretty bummed out that I didn't have anybody with me. The original plan was for wife and daughter to come along and visit family in Johnstown over a long weekend. Instead I drove by myself with ample time to dwell on negative thoughts.

The morning came and I really wasn't hungry. I managed to force down a banana and a couple strawberry pop tarts before getting ready to ride. I lined up near the back and watched everyone take off in front of me while my poor wittle wegs spun as fast as they could to hit 12 mph. Reality set in and I dropped into a more comfortable pace.

I stayed fairly strong for the first 20 miles to aid station #1 and topped off my bottles, mixing my nutrition from the baggies in my jersey pocket. I set out on a long climb again slowly picking off the people trying to spin it out. I've ridden the area once before and as chance would have it, 30 miles in and the first singletrack of the race would be trail I knew. I hit the bottle one more time, opened up the Manitou Tower Pro and dropped the guy trying to catch me as well as passed about 5 other people that weren't ready for the rocks at the top of Kettle & Lonberger. I cleaned everything including the Three Bridges until I rounded the corner to the massive rocks. I told the girl cheering me on that she ruined it for me and my first dab of the day was in front of her. Laughter resulted and I was on my way up yet another long gravel climb.

Hit aid station #2 and was feeling pretty good after 40 miles. Somewhere around mile 45 I got into a very dark place filled with self doubt. I've been here before. It sucks. Somehow, and I don't know how, I picked myself up by the bootstraps and toughed it out. At noon I realized I had gone 50 miles in 5 hours and was well ahead of my goal pace of 7.5 mph. I knew that I'd be able to finish as long as I didn't screw anything up. I had felt the twinges of hinting cramps throughout the day, so with "plenty" of time I was more inclined to walk to save the legs. Besides, I realized that I pushed the bike 2.4 mph, so anytime I saw my speed get to 2.5, off the bike I went.

My overall pace coincidentally dramatically dropped off once adopting this walk mentality, but I was okay with that. I'd never been on any of the trails or roads on the back half of the course, and I started questioning if the Garmin speed sensor was working. I didn't have a good idea what mileage I was at and there were last minute course changes that caused me to not remember distance between the last aid stations.

The trails were rough, as expected, and some 60 year old guy with a prosthetic thumb kept complaining about them, claiming that he was going to write a strongly worded email to the race director that someone might get hurt. I was unfortunately near him quite a bit for the race as his gears allowed him to catch back up to me on the gravel roads. Whenever near him, I made it a point to get pretty aggressive and go for technical sections, mainly to show that it is indeed possible to ride the trail. I had cleared him and was riding with a PA local on a bench cut trail with LOTS of rock. The local had warned me that it was sketchy and that a lot of people walk it. I made it through the first bit, saw what was coming up, and started to wonder if I should walk it. Then I bit it. I remember seeing my bottle fly though the air as I hit the ground and I realized that it was the first time the Lezyne cage didn't hold the bottle.

My knee hurt. Blood was running down my shin. The 60 year old guy with a prosthetic thumb pulled up and started whining again. The local made sure my bike and I were okay (in that order), and then took off. Then I gingerly made my way through the rocks before I got irritated enough with the whining that I took off too.

I started realizing that I had a good shot at finishing in the daylight, maybe even sub-12 hour time. This made me happy, though not really motivated to hammer out any climbs. My knee bothered me a little when I got out of the saddle to put some power out, so it was a convenient excuse to walk the remainder of the climbs.

I was so happy coming around the corner towards the finish line. I have never finished a big race with so many people still hanging out and cheering on the finishers. I can't wait to see the photos.

Burned Out

Front Squish, 34x22

Front:  Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4, 32 psi

Rear:   Maxxis Ikon 3C/EXO/TR 2.2, 35 psi

Trail Conditions: Ideal (weather too for that matter)

After falling off the workout wagon for the last couple months and the soul-crushing event others call PMBAR, I went into the Burn24 full of optimism. I even taped motivational stickers to the top tube.

It didn't work.

Or at least it didn't work against chest congestion, which I'm just getting over 1 week later...

On to the complaining/excuses!

I decided to drive over Saturday morning. 3 hours driving immediately before the race vs 18 hours of angst trying to "camp" in a field the night before the race. I arrived around 10am and found ample parking available for the event. The other times I've done the race, the parking field was packed. This time ideal pit spots were still available during the racers meeting 45 minutes before start. No wonder it was the last year. Seriously, I'd like to hear the story about why it's ending...

Before I go any further, I did call James to tell him the story of what really happened.

I should say that I've witnessed Kelly kick James off the trail because James was experiencing what most would call food poisoning, so I knew that I could "spill it" to James without worry. At the conclusion of our phone conversation he assured me that my entire experience was great blog material and that I should tell it.

If you've ever responded to an email or Facebook post with "TMI" you should probably stop reading now...

Still here? Good.

The only thing that went well for the race was bringing a timer to clip to my collar if I sat down to prevent me from sleeping all night. The first couple laps went okay too.

Sometime during the third lap, I had a couple vurps (trace vomit + burp) and I attributed that to mixing my bottles a little strong to make sure I was getting enough calories. I was also blowing snot rockets constantly. (Another positive was avoiding my shoulders, especially once I started getting tired. I prefer the side snot rocket to the downward trajectory option, but sometimes I don't clear a shoulder.) The gas pains were fairly discomforting and the only relief (farting) I gained was during walking. So I walked more than I needed to, figuring it would pay off later that night when I needed it. This all started around 3pm, only 3 hours into a 24 hour race.

Around 5pm I spent a good 15 minutes in a portajohn hoping that something would explode out of me and bring some relief. It was awful. There are numerous other places I can think of spending quality time than a portajohn. I even work at wastewater plants, so one would think if anyone can handle the smell, it's me.

With no relief, I trudged on with my laps, walking numerous sections. I also started diluting my bottles way down. For a period, I even completely abandoned my nutrition plan and drinking just water, hoping to get back on track. I started taking tiny sips off the bottle every 10-15 minutes. Around 7pm I started feeling better and started riding more sections that I was walking.

Around 10pm I felt a toe had blown through a sock, so I stopped after the lap to change socks. It was the first time of the race I sat down in a chair (not counting the portajohn). There was no hole in my sock. Instead, my feet were numb. I decided to pull out the timer and nap 20 minutes with my shoes off.

Then I napped another 20 minutes and still had numb feet.

Then I decided to lay down in the truck for an hour and let my feet come back. I stayed dressed and ready.

1 hour later I woke up to the beeping and coughed a decent amount of chest congestion up. So at that point I decided to call it a night and make sure I wasn't getting sick right before a work week of travel. Besides, last I had checked, I was the 4th place singlespeeder (yeah, I didn't puss out and race 40+).

I woke up around 7:00 and discovered there was just as much chest congestion as before. I trudged over to the scorer's table to see how I was doing. 5th place with 8 laps in 10 hours. I needed to turn 3 laps in 4 hours to regain 4th place, AND I needed 4th place not to do anything and remain sleeping. There was no way to catch up to 3rd. I pondered the situation and finally decided that I didn't feel good. I also decided that 8 laps in 10 hours sounds a lot better than 9 laps in 21 hours, so I decided to turn in my timing chip.

I stood beside the chip return bucket for about 5 minutes before finally letting the chip go into the bucket.

I walked back to my bike and pulled off the stupid stickers.

Cleaned up my stuff, packed, and watched the 5 man team I pitted with try to fight their way into 5th place. 5 man team is definitely the way to enjoy a 24 hour race.

In retrospect, I think the gas was caused by trying to drink the bottle too fast. I should've been taking slow and steady sips all along. Also, the bike handled like a dream. No leg cramping either. I've learned that as of now, I can ride continuously for 10-12 hours straight before starting to succumb to the elements or whatever factor I didn't take into consideration. I hope I can build on this and be ready for the hundies later this summer.

PMBAR - The Year of the Suckage

Front Squish, 34x22

Front:  Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4, 32 psi

Rear:   Maxxis Ikon 3C/EXO/TR 2.2, 35 psi

Creek Conditions: Mid thigh deep
Trail Conditions: [Groan]

Prelude:
Coming off of a 14-week Wednesday night class that had an attendance requirement, I agreed to a week vacation at Disney/beach (Jekyll Island, GA it turns out).  The week after was the NC Eastern Biological Wastewater Operators School, of which I'm the coordinator.  If there is one thing in my job that I want to run absolutely seamless, it's the Eastern School.  Mainly this is due to numerous employees of various clients attending the school, in addition to the fact that I'm fairly anal retentive and want things to be in order.  Over the last four years, PMBAR has landed on the weekend following the week-long Eastern School.  Needless to say, I usually show up at Davidson River Campground a little frazzled and this year I showed up having not ridden in over 2 weeks. Besides that, I pretty much fell off the workout bandwagon about 2 months ago and was hoping my positive outlook would carry me through.

Prerace Jitters:
Friday didn't get off to the best prerace start.

OK, let's get on to the excuses...

Tony and I agreed that we should take our time and read through the passport to verify there weren't any crazy rules to be adhered to.  After that verification, we set out with Tony immediately commenting that I looked stronger on the singlespeed than he anticipated.  Naturally I overheated in my rain jacket within 15 minutes of our start.  I waved the geared and spinning Tony by as I struggled to get my sweat-soaked brand new Endura Helium jacket peeled off of me.  As I finally got that accomplished, a line of approximately 30 riders came by who obviously spent more time reading the passport, causing worry.

I got going again and wished I also had taken off my skull cap, but screw it.  I needed to catch up with Tony.  I got to the top of the climb and found no Tony.  I got to Pressley Gap and found no Tony.  I did see James. After double checking all the number plates for Tony, I continued on up Black hoping that Tony had decided to put in the strong climb and wait for the singlespeeder to catch up.  I got to the Turkey Pen intersection and again checked all the number plates.  OK, this is odd.  Consensus is that I'm the better navigator (and descender) but I didn't expect Tony to keep going past this point, if not any of the others. He'll wait for me at the overlook because surely the sketchy downhill terrain after that will be the clue to wait.  The overlook contained no Tony.

At this point I had started asking every oncoming team (Why the hell were they doing out and backs?  Is there something I missed in the passport?) if they had seen a tall dude on gears in a red jacket.  I was going through all the emotions: anger, disgust, frustration, worry, etc. about being separated from my partner.  I was certain I was going to roll into my first checkpoint and pick up the DQ.  I had decided to stop within site of the CP and wait 5 minutes for Tony (who I had obviously unknowingly passed).  For the time being, I was trying to decide if I should continue PMBAR as a solo to see how well I'd hold up on the singlespeed in Pisgah for the first time, or if I should turn around and go back to Pressley Gap and wonder where Tony was.

I saw the tarp.  I stopped.  I pondered.  I saw a lone bike near the CP tarp.  I saw the gels taped to the top tube of the lone bike, just like Tony did a few hours before.  I noticed the bike looked a lot like Tony's.

Tony said that someone in the 30 rider group was wearing a kit and riding a bike very similar to mine and that he was working hard to catch up and that he had only been at the CP about 5 minutes.  After we vowed to not get separated again, we continued on to Squirrel.

Squirrel was non-eventful and I was feeling strong the whole way through that checkpoint and on to Bradley Creek CP, where we filtered.  I made the comment that as long as the creek crossings were knee level and below, we'd be fine.

The first crossing was about half way up my quads.

Tony was suspicious that I wasn't eating enough and insisted that we stop to filter more water at the end of Bradley.  He was right.  I went with liquid nutrition this year, but Bradley doesn't give too many opportunities to grab a bottle.  As we topped off bottles, James and Jay came around the corner working the opposite direction.  Bradley Creek is a little tricky to find and the most humorous part of the whole race was being able to point James in the right direction.  I have relentlessly picked on James for following other riders instead of navigating on his own 4 years ago, enough that some of our friends think that we hate each other.  So fitting to help him navigate this year now that he lives on the West Coast.  James let us know there were grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cold Cokes at the top of the climb, which was incentive enough for me to drop Tony and go get some.

After the grilled cheese and Coke, things got pretty crappy.  I put the brand new Endura Helium jacket back on and we started climbing Laurel Mt.  The conditions were so poor, I was afraid I'd snap the Thomson carbon All-Mtn bar as I was pulling back on it so hard to get my rear Ikon 2.2 to bite in.  It was easier to climb technical terrain than that slop.  I wished we had followed James and gone the opposite way.

We were committed to doing Laurel as an out and back for fear of killing ourselves trying to descend a wet Pilot while tired.  More grilled cheese and Coke followed by a spin on 1206 to go pick up the last CP on Avery and finish.

(I read Kelly Klett's blog and saw the route they took seemed a lot better than what I'm about to describe.)

We picked up 476 > S Mills > Buckhorn and grinded through the slop to get to the top of Clawhammer.  It sucked.  When we reached the top, a couple other groups we had been yo-yo'ing with decided to bail, claiming that there was no way they could get Avery and get back to the Finish in 3 hours.  Then they looked at us and said, "But I'm sure you guys can do it!"

Screw it and we took off.

Descending Avery at that point was a nightmare.  We passed some poor souls pushing back up and realized they descended Pilot after leaving the Laurel CP just before us, but had obviously got at least a 30 minute jump on us by doing that.  After getting our final CP, we kept descending Avery instead of trying to push back up.  At this point I think the hypothermia was starting.  I couldn't steer the bike well, and I started crashing.  I bit it hard on a wood bridge and screamed out in pain as I ripped the brand new Endura Helium jacket.  Tony was trying to get me to eat more, or work harder to get my heart rate up.  I'm actually not real sure.  I do know that all my joints and my quads hurt so bad from the cold and that I had eaten maybe 700 calories in the previous hour.

We started to climb Clawhammer at the Horse Stables.  I was done.  I couldn't get going.  Tony turned around and asked what I wanted to do.  I think I just said, "I just want it to end."

So we bailed for the DNF.  The dirt and spray made me stop twice on the glide down.  I tried to blink it out but couldn't.  We pulled into the finish to claim our DNF about 5 minutes before James and Jay crossed the line.  At first they thought we had beat them.  Tony took his burrito and headed for the campsite.  I decided to eat mine immediately.  I think the blood all went to my core to digest, because I started shivering uncontrollably.  I do mean uncontrollably because I had a hard time just steering the bike back to the campsite.

I pulled up to the campsite to find an RV parked there and my truck and all my belongings gone. Then I realized that I had made a wrong turn, disorientation was starting to set in, and I needed to get out of the wet clothes and into something warm.

I pulled up to the actual campsite to find Tony getting ready to go get a shower.  He asked if I would watch his stuff and went off to wait for James to finish taking a long and luxurious hot shower.  I had slept on a cot under a tarp the night prior and realized I was going to have to sleep in the truck with a semi-wet sleeping bag as a blanket.  I got the sleeping bag in the truck and shed my ripped, used-to-be brand new Endura Helium jacket and Endura Hummvee jersey.  I put on everything warm I could find -- sweatshirt, fleece jacket, rain jacket, and an emergency Mylar blanket.  I stood under Tony's Honda Pilot hatch staring at a can of Pringles for 5 minutes before deciding that he wouldn't mind if I had some.

I managed to get a hot shower and didn't pass out or fall or anything en route to and from the showers.  I did not sleep well and Tony and I met at Huddle House for breakfast the next morning. He stopped to put in his contacts at the bathroom and I continued on, causing each of us to relive our Black Mt experience all over again by wondering where the other was.

My truck smelled so bad and I gleefully rolled down all the windows in Hickory once I cleared out of the rain. Once I got home, I had to spill everything into the garage to dry out.

My finger tips were numb for days, presumably from pulling on the bars so hard. Can't wait for next year.

Overall, this was a positive test for the singlespeed.  My legs felt fine all day until they got cold.  I never cramped and the Maltrin/Elete combo didn't bother me at all.  The Burn24 is coming up and that will be a test more on the mental side than the power/technical skill that Pisgah demands.  At least I have until the end of July to get my fitness up to where it should be.

Things will probably change though, so screw it.

Heartache

Front Squish, 34x22

Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35s, 32 / 35 psi

Trail Condition: Relentlessly cruel, yet awesome at the same time

I took advantage of having to be in Charlotte last Friday to shoot over to Old Fort and ride the famed Curtis Creek climb to test out my PMBAR gearing choice. As an added bonus, descending down Heartbreak Ridge would verify that I had the Manitou Tower Pro dialed in.

Spent Friday night with friends and planned on an early start to roll away from Andrews Geyser at 9am for up to six hours of fun in WNC wilderness. Assuming I finished my route in 5ish hours, I was also going to do a quick Kitsuma loop, but that would probably be skipped as I intended to get home in time for dinner with the family.

I rolled away from Andrews Geyser at 10am.

I've only ridden Heartbreak Ridge one other time, and that time we came in from Old Toll Road. There's only one intersection on Heartbreak, so the most difficult part was going to be finding the entrances at each end. I ignored the suggestions to buy a map for the region. I studied route cues and it wouldn't be hard. Right off the bat, the entrance to the initial climb was a piece of cake. I was in and over the RR tracks and on my way to the brief push up the switchbacks to the Star Gap intersection. I got to the intersection in 30 minutes or so, took my right turn and was amazed at how tight the trail was. The trail hugged a private property line and there was no way people regularly rode it.

After about 20 minutes, I made it back to the trail and a little further up to the real intersection of Star Gap and cruised down the trail, making my left on the gravel road to get over to Curtis Creek. I climbed. I didn't remember having to climb this part, thinking it shouldn't have been that steep. Then I descended. A lot. I stopped to try to access the internet and figure out if I was going the right way. I regretted not having a map. I descended some more. I stopped again. Finally I kicked out on asphalt (asphalt?!!) and took a left onto what I hoped was Curtis Creek Rd.

I was already at mile 12 and 2 hours into my not so hopeful <5 hour ride, just starting the big climb. I saw a sign that confirmed I was headed in the right direction. Optimism flowed. About 10 miles of climbing to the Blue Ridge Parkway, then cruise southwest down the Parkway and watch for the trail entrance to the left after about 5 miles.

I stopped to help a guy tighten his stem.

Curtis Creek got long and steep. I had to push. Apparently the sandy crushed gravel packed into my cleats making them hard to release. At one point I tipped over just like a noob their first time in clipless pedals.  I cried when my pretty Thomson carbon bar hit the dirt, but fortunately I took the brunt of the fall with my left knee, which started bleeding. I was somewhere in the 8-9 mile range of the climb. Trees and brush had been cleared back from the road, which now was not shaded. I thought about my sunscreen 20 miles away in the truck.

I toughed it out and made it to the Parkway and pulled over to push the check-in button on the Spot to let my wife know that "I'm having an awesome time and am okay" as well as post the same message to my Facebook friends. I don't type all that in, by the way. I set it on the Spot website. All I do is push a little button that starts flashing green and continue on to my business.

I also dug the packed dust out of my cleats.

There was a little hill that I needed to climb on the Parkway that banked off to the right before I could start descending the Parkway. I rounded the turn and the Parkway kept going up. I started to realize that I never checked the elevation profile of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, in my mind, since the Parkway went down the page, then I was descending. This was not the case.

At one point I screamed out, "You bitch! Don't you ever end?!"

I was spent and was having to pause about every mile. Finally I descended and freaking descend I did, hitting 35 mph on those massive 2 lb tires with the giant lugs. I was watching my Garmin 500 (which is pretty cool, I must say) for the mileage mark to start looking for the trailhead. There were random marks on the road previously for ORAMM, and I was hoping for one of those to cue me where to turn. I made one false stop, but happened to look left just as I was about to blow by the trailhead pictured above. I checked in again with the Spot, mainly to mark the coordinates.

Someone had the cruel joke that even if you climb all the way to the top of Blue Ridge Parkway to enter Heartbreak Ridge, you still have to push your bike (or at least I do) up a couple hundred yards before you can descend. Anyway, in short order I passed the intersection where the connector from Old Toll Road comes in. I opened up the ABS+ damper a few clicks on the Tower Pro and it was on like Donkey Kong.  If I had someone with me, I would have really pushed it. The fork handled like a dream and the tires held on like I was on a slot car.

After getting my self all situated back at the truck and amazing another motorist that I had gone out by myself, with no map, to the Parkway and back, I got on the road at 5pm and made my way to a Wendy's, as I certainly wasn't getting home in time for dinner with the family.

Before and After

Before

After

No good blog emphasizing fatness would be complete without Before and After photos...

In addition to the pump, bottle cages, handlebar, rim sticker removal, grips, and cog, some of you may have identified the squishy fork as a difference between the photos. 

That's a 2012 Manitou Tower Pro in 100 mm flavor with a XX-Firm Spring (Clyde Ride kit) installed. There's a lot of information out there that sometimes contradicts other information sources, sometimes references another travel or year, or is simply too long to try to comprehend in one sitting.  So here is my post to document my experience of putting the XX-Firm spring in a 100 mm travel 2012 Tower Pro.

In addition to the Manitou website (where you can download the manual as well as service guide), I consulted these sources:
twentynineinches.com 
29eronline.com
MTBR (Even though it's the print view, that link includes all the 400+ responses...ugh)

Parts, Tools, and Oils/Grease:
Manitou recommends 5WT fork oil.  I have the email from them.  They said 10WT is too thick for their shim stack.
I'm going with Motorex stuff (their carbon grease is awesome - highly recommend):
5WT Fork Oil 
5W-40 Semi-Bath Oil
Manitou Prep Grease

I also ordered one of these to measure damper oil level:  Motion Pro 08-0121 Fork Oil Level Tool. I ordered everything from Amazon.

To put an XX-Firm spring in a 100mm fork, you need the XX-Firm Spring for the 120mm fork and the pushrod from the Medium kit for the 100mm fork.  The stock fork came with Firm Spring kit.

You'll need to call Manitou, get the part numbers you need, then have your local shop call and order the part. I'm sure there's another way to do it, but I'm not going to post up to order a particular part number from PricePoint, and then later find out Manitou changed their offerings or whatever. PricePoint obviously has a relationship with Manitou, as their page is linked from the Manitou home page. Ordering the $200 tuning kit for the damper is tempting, but more tempting is to call Suspension Experts and ordering whatever pieces I need, if I get to that point.

After installation of the XX Firm spring in my fork, I noticed some play in the fork.  Basically it felt like the spring or air wasn't pushing the lowers all the way out.  A quick email to Manitou revealed that in fact I needed the pushrod from the medium kit, which they dropped in the mail free of charge.  After the new pushrod installation the play is gone and I've begun the process of tweaking the fork.

XX Firm Ride Kit for a 120mm fork

XX Firm spring on Left
Firm (Stock) spring on Right

Pushrod from Medium kit on Right
Stock (Firm kit) pushrod on Left

Oil height (5WT Fork Oil) in all Tower Pro models is 85-90mm with 87mm nominal. I'm going to max this out to 90mm to get things running a little stiffer. Oil height is listed on page 23 of the fork manual. If this plus air pressures don't get me to where I want, then I'll get into shim stack adjustments and calls to Suspension Experts. Sag settings for the 100mm are 15-20mm; I'm going for 15mm.

Semi-Bath oil goes on top of the air piston (5 mL) if you are doing MARS service. Semi-Bath oil also goes in each side of the lowers (16 mL) if you didn't keep it in the fork during service.

Tips during disassembly/assembly (Watch the video on 29eronline linked above):

Casting Removal
I had to drive the lowers all the way to the crown, bleeding off as much air as possible. This resulted in some oil getting into my shock pump. I don't think I lost too much, but that's half the reason why I bought more oil and the level tool. I haven't gotten around to checking it yet. To loosen the compression rod screw, I placed the steerer tube on a doormat, used one hand to drive the lowers to the crown, and the other hand with a ratchet to loosen the bolt. You need a way to drive the compression rod into the bottom of the lowers. Otherwise it just spins inside and you get REAL irritated. The little trick in the video didn't work for me. During all this, the fork is upside down. The oil in the lowers will stay inside. Once the lowers are free to be pulled off, I put painters masking tape over the bolt holes to hold the oil in. Then slowly slide the lowers off. I used a trash can in case the tape didn't hold.

Spring/Pushrod Replacement
Follow the Manitou Service Guide, but if you are only swapping spring and pushrod then you don't need to do anything at the crown (like removing the air cap). You can get to the spring and the pushrod from the bottom with a variety of long tools. I opted for a Craftsman Pick Up Tool, which is invaluable for correcting the combination of clumsy hands and small parts near crevices.

Castings Installation
Slowly slide the stanchions back into the lowers to get them started. Turn the fork upside down. REMOVE the tape. If you don't, you'll build pressure in the lowers and blow the tape off, probably with some oil.

A bike stand makes the whole process a lot easier and other than being pretty nervous about tearing apart a brand new fork, it is a fast and easy process.

ps I've dropped about 10 pounds so far this year.

Meltdown Report

Front Squish (Manitou Tower Pro, more on that later - the post is still in draft), 34x20
Wolverine 2.2s
     36 psi front / 38 psi rear (first 4 laps)
     33 psi front / 35 psi rear (second 4 laps, I reduced the fork pressure too)
Course condition: Very, very good.  Not enough racers to sweep the pine straw off, though.

Note the number plate placement so I can avoid scuffing up my new pretty Thomson bar. The Tower Pro is a 100mm travel, with an XX-Firm spring installed.  I've ridden it on one long ride prior to the race. There is still tweaking left to do.

Four races into the season and I've yet to begin one feeling well rested and prepared.  This time it was the splitting headache (no - alcohol was not consumed last night) that woke me up from my sleep and still lingered in the morning.  I took some Vitamin I and drank a lot of water before heading out the door.

Racing singlespeed has led me to believe that the long gravel road lead-in to an endurance race is the dumbest idea ever.  It exists not to space out the racers before entering the singletrack, but to penalize the singlespeeders for having the talent to ride one gear.  Still dealing with my headache, I took it easy on the lead-in and waited long enough until I thought the racers were spaced out enough that passing wouldn't be a complete chore.  I picked up the pace to one that was unsustainable (for me at least) and worked my way up the field for about half the lap before I settled into something more realistic.

The headache dissipated by the time I finished the first lap and I turned out 3 laps without stopping.  The only real issue going on was the bike felt too firm and my back was starting to bother me.  I know where the back issues were coming from.  Lots of stress going on and I'm tending to roll my shoulders forward.  I was having to make the conscious effort to pull my shoulders back and locked down, as well as leaning from the hips and driving my chest toward the stem instead of rolling my back.  Unfortunately, it's pretty tough to consciously focus on body position for 6 hours straight. (Anyone who has made the mistake of asking about the kettlebell workouts has heard a long-winded testimonial about how awesome James Wilson and his programs are.) At the end of the third lap I grabbed more bottles, took some more Vitamin I, and set back out.

Sometime during the first half of the fourth lap, someone jammed a screwdriver through my spine.

Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but I decided that I needed to take an extended break at the end of the lap to try to soften the bike up and maybe stretch the back out.  I let some air out of everything and grabbed some Biofreeze for my back.  I have a tube of Biofreeze and even carry a single-use packet on the long mountain rides.  It's awesome; similar to Icy-Hot, but better, tingly, and it smells minty versus like medicine.

I got going again and the Biofreeze and Vitamin I started working.  The bike felt better and I turned in laps 5 and 6 without stopping.  After lap 6, I grabbed the last of my bottles and ate a PBJ. Pulled out of my pit with an hour before the cut-off time knowing I'd make it in time to pull an 8th lap, which I did.

I believe I did the 8 laps (apparently ~54 miles) in 5:54, or so I'm inclined to believe when someone said I had 6 minutes to spare.  From what I understand, I was 3rd, but the singlespeed field was fairly small.  I'm more interested in seeing my splits, knowing lap 5 should be a good 10-15 minutes long.  Bob Moss turned in 10 laps, and Jeremy Morgan turned in 9 laps.  MAYBE if I didn't have the headache and the back issues, I would've gotten in a 9th lap.  It's still pretty unlikely that I would've kept up with Jeremy though.

I've given up on Strava for now.  I wasn't about to carry my phone around so it could log the same loop 8 times.  I am anxiously waiting for the Cateye Stealth 50 to come out (supposedly May). It's half the price of a Garmin 500 and still has GPS and ANT+ capability.  I just want the GPS to log the ride, so I don't need the mapping functions.