Sep 13, 2007
Sep 12, 2007
Chain stretcher_______
Raced, with Timmy D.
Skinned my knee.
Answered Philosophical question:
why race?
Sep 5, 2007
SM100, the Looongg of it
Shenandoah 100
I tried to carpool, but I had an agenda. Agendas can cause war, or increase carbon footprints. It was a goal to get to the campground on Friday, relax all day Saturday and then race Sunday. No one was able to swing a Friday departure. Then Reuben called and said to meet him in Gettysburg Friday, and we'd go down together. It would cause a slightly later arrival time, but I could flex that line. Of course it didn't work out since he had a lot more traffic than me, and at the end of the day I drove past G-Burg and turned south on ol'interstate 81. Sorry mother earth, but if it makes any difference, I drafted a couple semi's and a trip that normally needs a full tank, only cost me 2/3rd's a gas bladder.
US-81 runs through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia like a 100 mile hotdog, down the middle of a 100 mile bun. It's one of my favorite places to drive slow along backroads.
Awaiting me was my most anticipated race of the year. In case you didn't know, the 2006 Tour De France winner, Floyd Landis, was to be there. He seems to have returned to his roots of mountain biking while waiting for the final verdict on his doping controversy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sorry, because as Landis joked, he does have the most famous urine in history. And joke he did...For someone who's life has been turned upside down, he has managed to keep a sense of humor. I got to learn about this man when the race promoter called me Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to take Floyd on a pre-ride of part of the race course. umm yeah, duh! I called Reuben and asked him how soon he could get down here. No slow driving on backroads for him. Buck was on the same path so I called him and we all met to do the Braley Pond loop from aid station 3 to 4.
What do I think of Landis? Funny, self deprecating, smart, fun to hang out with and ready to rumble with the WADA or the UCI. Awsome! I love dirt. Every one had a great time. Especially when Buck's front tire "dun blowed off" the rim in the middle of a down hill, and his tube came completely out, but didn't pop. Just tuck that baby back in and go!
Ah good times.
Racing. This race was important to me. Last year I kind of let it slide and didn't really come out to throw down. This year I was ready to throw up to come out tops. I felt that because my first race of the 100 milers went so bad my placing all season wasn't a true representation of where my fitness was. I needed another good win to prove that one was a fluke, and to solidly take 2nd place. Also beating Landis, and Eatough in one day would mean a lot. Then there were other guys like Jeff Schalk, Mike Simonson, Chris Beck and Todd Helmick who have all beat me here or other places in the past. My mother, stepfather and sister came to volunteer at an aid station and support me as much as possible, while supporting everyone. A big thank you to them. Also to Mark Russell at station 5 who had watermelon waiting for me.
From the start you could tell this race was going to be electric. Generally I don't worry to much about being at the front of the start line because the first few miles are good for moving into position. That approach was a mistake for this day. From "GO!" things were splitting up. Simonson and Schalk were at the front driving. I realized I was being gapped by a group of 40-50. The usual chit-chat was out, and it was all business as I moved up to position. Once I was in the top ten it was easier to relax a little, but nothing was slowing down. These initial efforts sort of put a fear into me when I realized that the legs weren't feeling their best.
All the names mentioned above were there, as we rolled the unused jeep road with it's loose downhill corners, and short steeps. Schalk went into the singletrack first then Eatough, Landis and myself. Schalk and Eatough attacked when they saw the trouble Landis was having in the technical stuff, and I went around the Floyd to keep them in sight. Unfortunately I got a little stalled by Floyd and by the time I got to the road it was Sam Koerber and I chasing. Not closing the gap but at least we were keeping it even. Sam was a power house, but when it was my turn to come around I wasn't willing to keep the same pace. There was a long day ahead and he was burning his candles quick at mile 15.
We chased up to Lynn trail and the start of the hardest singletrack climb of the race. I could still see Schalk and Sam ahead but next thing I knew Eatough was on the side of the trail with a rear wheel that wouldn't spin. I hate to see a competitor out due to a mechanical, especially E, since I like a fair fight.
As the climbing continued I was able to keep Sam in sight while Landis started creeping up from behind. The rough stuff was keeping him off my wheel but he sure knows how to lurk. At the top and left hand turn onto the Wolf Trail descent, I launched my second of many downhill attacks on Floyd since he had the gravel road climbs to his advantage. Before the bottom I caught Schalk and Sam and we rolled from the bottom to aid station two together taking turns keeping Landis at bay.
Coming into aid station 2 Schalk rode through while I grabbed a couple of bottles from my sister and Mother, which would have gone smoothly but I got caught between Sam and a bottle which gave Schalk a gap. He launched an attack up the next roller and I let him go thinking Sam and I could catch him, and that he was working too hard for the day. My mistake. I underestimated what he had in those legs for the day.
Up the next climb, Hanky Mt., I dropped Sam and when I turned around to see where he was, Landis was in his place. It was like some sort of magic trick. He was climbing the narrow single track with his arms draped over his bar in a stage 17 time trial tuck. Crazy! His pace wasn't crazy but I had to work harder to stay on his wheel than I would have liked. As the climb kept kicking up, one false summit after another, I asked him if it would compare to a category 1 from the TDF and he said "hell yeah!" Cool.... It was only second the biggest climb of the day. But that means it had the second biggest descent of the day! Hello, goodbye.
At the bottom of that 15 min drop back into the valley was my bag, at aid station 3, but as I came through I still had a bottle so when someone just handed me another I took it without a pause. From there it was a 5 mile section of road before the next climb up Mountain House and down Braley's. Schalk had 2 minutes on us at his point according to the peeps at the aid station, so I kept the pace high. About a mile from the turn off to the trail, Landis finally edged his way up to me. I had been watching him creep for about 5 min from way back, so I knew he wasn't moving that fast, and when he came around I was able to keep his wheel for the next mile, with a little extra effort.
I turned into the single track first, cleared the river bed, then jumped off and hoofed it up the river bank on the other side. I knew if I kept the pressure on in the Single track climb I'd probably hold him off to the top. Which I did despite bonking 10 minutes from the summit.
I haven't bonked in a race in awhile, and I knew it was because I was forgetting to eat due to the intensity of the day so far. I shoved a bunch of food down before the top, hoping to recover on the descent. Just before going over the edge I look back and see Landis coming from 30 ft back. Crap! But again the downhill is mine!
If you ever find yourself looking for places to ride in this part of VA, ask the boys at Shenandoah Bicycle Company how to get to Braley's or look at the National Geographic map of the region. This is pure gold.
The transition through Aid station 4 was flawless and I probably didn't stop more than 20sec to make the bottle grab. The volunteers were on their game. They could feel the tension in the air and totally pulled through.
Between Aids 4 and 5 was my most anticipated section of the day. It's the maker of a persons day, good or bad. Almost 12 miles of a false flat climb with progressively bigger rollers, until you make a right hand turn for a solid 4 mile climb to aid station 5, and then you think its down hill for a minute. But no, it goes up again for another couple of miles, dual track to single track. And ends at the longest descent of the day. Floyd caught me about 6 miles into the gravel road section. We exchanged sighs about not feeling great and I told him I was still recovering from a bonk and not wait for me. I was surprised when at the top he was only 4 and a half minutes up. That gave me hope for catching him by the bottom. In my eagerness to make time I blew a couple of corners, but stayed upright to the end.
Coming into aid station 6, I was just looking for a bottle hand off, and was experiencing a bit of tunnel vision thinking Floyd was still up the road. Coming into the roller that Schalk had escaped on earlier in the day I was startled to suddenly see Floyd coming from behind. What a magician. From that point on I just wanted to stay with him, because I figured if I could get to the next down hill into the finish my day would be made. And sure enough at the top we were together and he gave me the hole shot, knowing he'd just be holding me up. That would seem to be it, but before you get to the bottom there are a couple of climbs and false flats, that were taking everything out of me, to get over in a panic.
And that was it. I felt like throwing up as I rolled the last section through the campground, but it was all right when I crossed the line about a 1:30min ahead of the man with the bionic hip. Definately the hardest 100 miler for me for the year.
My mom was there to give a hug, and my sister was at the hospital, with a racer she had helped get out of the woods, on a 12hr journey.
Thanks to Indy Fab, Mike Bush at Stan's, who hooked me up with great wheels, and a new rim (which I built a new rear wheel with two days before the race), Wilderness Trail BIkes, for the tires and saddles, Cannondale for the Lefty, Formula Brakes for the stopping power, Smartwool for socks, and my friends and family and all the people who yelled my name as I rode by.
Sorry this is so long!
Sep 4, 2007
Floyd: "You can't have it all." Buck "Where would you put it?" Landis "Everywhere"
Here is a little Teaser.. 2nd place on the day, 2nd overall in the NUE Series.
SM100 is over!! Tour De France winner Floyd Landis was there. All doping allegations aside; I like him. Plus he was behind me at the finish line.
The long of it coming soon.
Aug 31, 2007
Hey Floyd! I'm confused. A Win!
Don't ask me how I feel. This weekend is the last 100miler of the NUE series, and Floyd Landis is going to show. Is he a doper or isn't he? Or does it really matter? The fact that Floyd keeps showing up to race his bike, proves to me that he has a love for it. Financially these events don't have the return he's used to. So what other reason could there be for him showing his face to possible heckling, or worse yet, losing? Maybe he's trying to help the sport of MTBing, by bringing it some publicity? We'll see what the results are.I'm nervous about the weekend. The competition is going to be stiff. Eatough, Landis, Simonson, Koerber, Schalk. Shawn Adams is out, do to injury. I just hope I have some legs left.
I won an XC race last weekend. Took out Jeff Schalk due to some long racing. He attacked early in the 4th lap, thinking that it was the final time around, uh oh, sorry Jeff but there was another left. I caught him early in the next lap. The day was hot like a smitties furnace. It took a couple of days to rehydrate.
This is the nose.
This is from when Bruno and I visited Carpenter Technologies. That's the company that developed the new Reynolds 953 steel. They've been making it for years. As a matter of fact you probably have a bit of it in you car's thermostat.
Aug 6, 2007
Wilderness 101: Stop grabbing, there's enough for all.
Five years of the Wilderness 101. That makes me feel old, but then I realize my first one was in 2002, soon after I started riding mountain bikes. Since then I've only missed the 2004 race. 
My Friday started out with a bit of frustration, self inflicted of course. I was late out the door, had to go back to the house to get forgotten things, missed a major turn on the route and in general felt like a nervous handshake all day. My missed turn took me to Selinsgrove PA, a place new to me, and the Walmart for a look at an atlas. I've been without a map for a year or so now, and tho it can be annoying I sort of like the challenge of vague directions. In reality I've been holding out to get one of those trucker atlases that are detailed enough to give coordinates to the bathroom.
The alternate route was an easterly approach to Coburn and the race start. I got to drive through Bald Eagle State Park, and after getting a little confused again about my directions I pulled into a house that had a Barber Shop attached to it. Perfect! Because I need a cut and directions. Unfortunately the lady inside had two blue hairs waiting and a man in the chair. All I left with were was some "Oh My's" and directions to Coburn.
I pulled into "The Cove", for a bit of tent pitching and proceeded to gear up for a warm up ride. Last year's and this year's warm up had a very similar feel to them. Get four to 8 people together and ride the last four miles of the race, to the end of the Fishermans trail. Then ride back. Fun, chatty and technical.
Back at camp it's time to clean up in the creek with it's "high bacteria" count, then eat. Get a quick massage from my friend Stephanie, tell Jeremiah Bishop I'm going to suck his wheel all day then I do a bunch of socializing before heading to the tent. The crickets were loud enough to make me want to get ear plugs, then I started listening to their conversations, and became quickly bored enough with patterns of 3 and 4 chirps too drift off. Only to be awakened by Trish Stevenson saying hello after just arriving. Back to Cricket talk.
Rock Blasting.
Race day.
Normal 5:15 gong wake-up. Campsite comes to life, people hoot and holla, darkness lifts its shroud and visits to the Porta-John increase. I eat my usual: Grits, Eggs and Carrot juice. Interesting huh?
So the race seemed to start off at a pretty high pace this year. I seem to recall Josh Tostado at the front a bit, then maybe Brandon and maybe Sam? I'm sure it was still too early to go to the front. I save that for after aid station 1. At one point Bishop and I take a leak off the back, right when a little attacking was happening, so we had to chase down the peloton a couple of miles before aid station 1. The 1st climb out of Station 1 is where things start to open up and Brandon, Tostado and Tinker were in front with Bishop then me then Sam then the rest settling into their pace. On the dual track descent Toast flatted and then it was only Five at the bottom. Dragaulis, Tinker, Bishop Koerber and myself. We had a good thing going.
It stayed like that for the next 25-30 miles, but at the big climb after aid station 2 I felt things were a little to relaxed and chatty, so I upped the tempo in the steep gravel, and used my CO legs to get us to the top without Brandon.
A strange thing about Tinker was that we would drop him on all the technical single track descents only to see him re-appear minutes later. It was pretty great to watch. Another cool thing was going downhill with Bishop and Sam, since both are smooth and pretty much not drop-able. In years past my one gripe about the 101 course was how the down-hills didn't have a good flow. But this year all that changed and for some reason it was much more fun and rail-able. I attribute that to my big wheeled bike.
It went on like that for awhile, but coming out of station 3, Bishop laid down the law and I followed as if handcuffed to him up Sassafrass trail. This is usually the make or break point for a lot of people in the race. 60miles in and a huge single-track climb tends to put some people down for a nap. We managed to get a gap on Sam and Tinker and from that moment on the motor was finally warmed up. We worked back and forth, and continued to open the gap. Aid Station 4 was almost a ghost town and the Red Bull I was excited to get wasn't there. Fortunately Brandon's parents were there with water, so we filled'er up and took off. At about mile 85 and 5 miles from the aid station 5 I was getting a little sloppy, got a stick in my frame and when I stopped to pull it out, Bishop instantly had a gap on me. I tried to close it, but only watched him pull away. As I came into Station 5 he was just leaving, if I had had any water I might have gone with him but knowing there was a big climb ahead and having been in a waterless situation here before I choose to stop and fill up. It was heart breaking to watch his skinny butt get skinnier as he pulled away over the next couple of miles.
Knowing that there was still a chance of a flat and even more important breaking Chris Eatough's Course record, I kept it pinned for the next ten miles and only lost 5 min to the man from Virginia. And we both beat Eatoughs time with sub 7hr finishes. Plus it was 30 min faster than I'd ever done it before!
Over all I have to say it was a successful day, and the night proved to be a good celebration. Had a drum circle with the MI crowd, Danielle, Paula and Dan. Watched some Keg standing from various angles and rode a really small bike.
Good on ya! to the promoter Chris Scott, my Indy Fab teammates and the whole wide world!
The one on the left doesn't work any more. I was bitching about my Time's then changed the cleats. They don't last forever.
My Friday started out with a bit of frustration, self inflicted of course. I was late out the door, had to go back to the house to get forgotten things, missed a major turn on the route and in general felt like a nervous handshake all day. My missed turn took me to Selinsgrove PA, a place new to me, and the Walmart for a look at an atlas. I've been without a map for a year or so now, and tho it can be annoying I sort of like the challenge of vague directions. In reality I've been holding out to get one of those trucker atlases that are detailed enough to give coordinates to the bathroom.
The alternate route was an easterly approach to Coburn and the race start. I got to drive through Bald Eagle State Park, and after getting a little confused again about my directions I pulled into a house that had a Barber Shop attached to it. Perfect! Because I need a cut and directions. Unfortunately the lady inside had two blue hairs waiting and a man in the chair. All I left with were was some "Oh My's" and directions to Coburn.
I pulled into "The Cove", for a bit of tent pitching and proceeded to gear up for a warm up ride. Last year's and this year's warm up had a very similar feel to them. Get four to 8 people together and ride the last four miles of the race, to the end of the Fishermans trail. Then ride back. Fun, chatty and technical.
Back at camp it's time to clean up in the creek with it's "high bacteria" count, then eat. Get a quick massage from my friend Stephanie, tell Jeremiah Bishop I'm going to suck his wheel all day then I do a bunch of socializing before heading to the tent. The crickets were loud enough to make me want to get ear plugs, then I started listening to their conversations, and became quickly bored enough with patterns of 3 and 4 chirps too drift off. Only to be awakened by Trish Stevenson saying hello after just arriving. Back to Cricket talk.
Rock Blasting.Race day.
Normal 5:15 gong wake-up. Campsite comes to life, people hoot and holla, darkness lifts its shroud and visits to the Porta-John increase. I eat my usual: Grits, Eggs and Carrot juice. Interesting huh?
So the race seemed to start off at a pretty high pace this year. I seem to recall Josh Tostado at the front a bit, then maybe Brandon and maybe Sam? I'm sure it was still too early to go to the front. I save that for after aid station 1. At one point Bishop and I take a leak off the back, right when a little attacking was happening, so we had to chase down the peloton a couple of miles before aid station 1. The 1st climb out of Station 1 is where things start to open up and Brandon, Tostado and Tinker were in front with Bishop then me then Sam then the rest settling into their pace. On the dual track descent Toast flatted and then it was only Five at the bottom. Dragaulis, Tinker, Bishop Koerber and myself. We had a good thing going.
It stayed like that for the next 25-30 miles, but at the big climb after aid station 2 I felt things were a little to relaxed and chatty, so I upped the tempo in the steep gravel, and used my CO legs to get us to the top without Brandon.
A strange thing about Tinker was that we would drop him on all the technical single track descents only to see him re-appear minutes later. It was pretty great to watch. Another cool thing was going downhill with Bishop and Sam, since both are smooth and pretty much not drop-able. In years past my one gripe about the 101 course was how the down-hills didn't have a good flow. But this year all that changed and for some reason it was much more fun and rail-able. I attribute that to my big wheeled bike.
It went on like that for awhile, but coming out of station 3, Bishop laid down the law and I followed as if handcuffed to him up Sassafrass trail. This is usually the make or break point for a lot of people in the race. 60miles in and a huge single-track climb tends to put some people down for a nap. We managed to get a gap on Sam and Tinker and from that moment on the motor was finally warmed up. We worked back and forth, and continued to open the gap. Aid Station 4 was almost a ghost town and the Red Bull I was excited to get wasn't there. Fortunately Brandon's parents were there with water, so we filled'er up and took off. At about mile 85 and 5 miles from the aid station 5 I was getting a little sloppy, got a stick in my frame and when I stopped to pull it out, Bishop instantly had a gap on me. I tried to close it, but only watched him pull away. As I came into Station 5 he was just leaving, if I had had any water I might have gone with him but knowing there was a big climb ahead and having been in a waterless situation here before I choose to stop and fill up. It was heart breaking to watch his skinny butt get skinnier as he pulled away over the next couple of miles.
Knowing that there was still a chance of a flat and even more important breaking Chris Eatough's Course record, I kept it pinned for the next ten miles and only lost 5 min to the man from Virginia. And we both beat Eatoughs time with sub 7hr finishes. Plus it was 30 min faster than I'd ever done it before!
Over all I have to say it was a successful day, and the night proved to be a good celebration. Had a drum circle with the MI crowd, Danielle, Paula and Dan. Watched some Keg standing from various angles and rode a really small bike.
Good on ya! to the promoter Chris Scott, my Indy Fab teammates and the whole wide world!
The one on the left doesn't work any more. I was bitching about my Time's then changed the cleats. They don't last forever.
Jul 27, 2007
Only Slacking in Some ways. Two Wins, in two weeks.
Yes I like a good stream.
These past two weekends have added up to 126 miles of racing.
First: The Curse of Dark Hollow. 100k 8,000 ft of Michaux scares me, but I love it.
First I had to find a place to park my handgun.
During the Curse race I had the idea that, tho I don't hunt with a gun, racing for me is, in way another type of big game hunting. I think I get some of the same thrill out of competing that a hunter gets when tracking and out-smarting some elusive creature. Now if I could only eat those I catch.
It's not much of a secret that Michaux is one of the hardest places on the East Coast to ride or race. There are past articles written in a hushed and awed tone in Dirt Rag magazine about these trails. The forest will eat you. A lot of people skipped the Curse to do the Fair Hill race, because it's fun and flows like taffy at the shore. But for those who thirst for the unique challenge that is Michaux, this was a big gulp that a few couldn't finish and many more were cursing. In a good way. Even the promoters admitted they would probably not do the 100K format again, citing that it was too much for them and probably the racers. That doesn't mean anyone was disappointed, just really tired.
Pete and Stephanie rode up with me the day before for a little pre-riding. Pete on his downhill ready 96er Engin and Stephanie on my bike from last year. She was going to do it on here fully ridged 1996 Klein Rascal, but I couldn't let that happen. It would have been involuntary woman slaughter. After a good little introduction where Pete got to let his bike out of it's cage and Steph learned a bit about how disc-brakes work, we went to my mom's and got ready.
The 7am start was early but necessary. My mom can to hand off water-bottles, which is something I sort of resist. Ideally I would like all the riders to have to use the same resources, but Eatough repeatedly had a feed as well as Brandon Dragaulis. After a couple of races this year where not having a feed proved to be a definite handicap I accepted my mom's offer.
The usual start had us blasting through some dual track to a rock strewn descent, that has claimed my tires in the past, and was sure to put it to a few people today. We exited the woods did a quick transition climb to more single track climbing on loose rocks for about 10 min to Abby Trail on the ridge.
It was pretty much Chris and I at the top, and we began to roll Abby with a solid pace, through the rocks. When I say rocks I mean the things that people launch off of, and spend time riding over and over again with their friends till they clean it types of rocks. The type of trail that only gives you pleasure if you take it with force and finesse.
Half way through Chris E. had to stop to adjust something, and I asked if he was okay. He said yeah and I rode on, not attacking but trying to keep the same rythmn we had had. I expected him to catch up shortly but from that point on it I started to stretch my lead on him.
1.5min then 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6 and finally on the last climb of the day and at the finish I had 7 minutes.
I got ahead of my self. So the course is classic single track, with good mile to three mile climbs on gravel or trail with mostly insane descents through the woods on the log-piled ribbons. It continued like this for the better part of 4 hrs. I was stressed trying to keep my bike together and my lead. My mother made perfect feeds and gave me splits back to Chris. It was hot and hellish towards the end of the day when the course turned right off of the infamous Graves ridge and sent us over two or so miles of the most washed out, rooty and boulder strewn atv trails I had ever ridden. At the end of this little gift we crossed the road and was treated to a 2 mile finish, all up hill on gravel dual-track. Holy crap! What a way to end a grueling race.
At the end I was spent but excited to have a legitimate win over one of my biggest rivals. Unfortunately I have to do it two more times to say that it wasn't a fluke. That is skateboarding rules. 3 times to own the trick.
Pete had a good day and Stephanie managed a 3rd place finishing 10:30hrs. Ouch. She was smiling at the end.
These guys know how to use their tools.
Lots of Ti!!
Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell.
100K 11, 000 ft of climbing. Dogs with Mohawks!
Race promoter Todd Brennan puts on ORAMM, and apparently it's pretty popular, if the 450 people who showed up count for anything.
I had a tough choice to make, and I'm not sure I made the right one. Was it honor at Mt. Snow and the NORBA National Championships or NC and the possibility of LOOT?
Well considering I had blown all of the raffle money in CO getting ready for the Marathon Nat. Championship, I thought I should do the only thing that's making me any money these days and go south. With the most excellent traveling partner currently known as Topher. I knew that most of the competition would be in VT, which was actually disappointing, but handy. I like a good fight. Also on the line (I thought) was the course record, 5:08 set by Jeremiah Bishop in 2006, with a $500 bonus for breaking it. I figured I had a chance. Unfortunately the promoter had to change the course slightly, and even though it was the same distance you can't break the record if its a different course. So I set a new goal of trying for the 5hr mark.
With 450 people on the line it was sort of intimidating looking around at all the people, wondering who was the mystery meat that would present a challenge. I saw some familiar faces that could do some damage on a good day. We started with a "rolling" start, that was pretty high speed, till the first gravel section of climbing. Mostly all together we rolled up to the first bit of trail, and I went in first. And that was pretty much it. One guy was keeping me in sights till the next climb then I never saw anyone again. It was a pretty lonely day, just me and my computer telling me what my average speed was, which I was monitoring to keep around 13mph to break the 5hrs.
The climbs were pretty much all gravel while the descents were raging trail, that went on for miles. (4-7) My forearms were paying the toll, but they were fun, and the main reason I wanted to ride down there.
Towards the end I came to a set of railroad tracks we had crossed earlier, only to find a freight train rolling by. I had no option but to sit and wait, take a leak and contemplate if I could throw my bike over the thing and jump on, on one side and jump off the other. 1.5 min later, after what felt like an eternity it passed.
Eventually I rolled back into Old Fort and across the finish line at 4:54:49. But I still regretted not going to Mt. Snow.
Topher got third. On the talking bike.
These past two weekends have added up to 126 miles of racing.First: The Curse of Dark Hollow. 100k 8,000 ft of Michaux scares me, but I love it.
First I had to find a place to park my handgun.
During the Curse race I had the idea that, tho I don't hunt with a gun, racing for me is, in way another type of big game hunting. I think I get some of the same thrill out of competing that a hunter gets when tracking and out-smarting some elusive creature. Now if I could only eat those I catch.It's not much of a secret that Michaux is one of the hardest places on the East Coast to ride or race. There are past articles written in a hushed and awed tone in Dirt Rag magazine about these trails. The forest will eat you. A lot of people skipped the Curse to do the Fair Hill race, because it's fun and flows like taffy at the shore. But for those who thirst for the unique challenge that is Michaux, this was a big gulp that a few couldn't finish and many more were cursing. In a good way. Even the promoters admitted they would probably not do the 100K format again, citing that it was too much for them and probably the racers. That doesn't mean anyone was disappointed, just really tired.
Pete and Stephanie rode up with me the day before for a little pre-riding. Pete on his downhill ready 96er Engin and Stephanie on my bike from last year. She was going to do it on here fully ridged 1996 Klein Rascal, but I couldn't let that happen. It would have been involuntary woman slaughter. After a good little introduction where Pete got to let his bike out of it's cage and Steph learned a bit about how disc-brakes work, we went to my mom's and got ready.
The 7am start was early but necessary. My mom can to hand off water-bottles, which is something I sort of resist. Ideally I would like all the riders to have to use the same resources, but Eatough repeatedly had a feed as well as Brandon Dragaulis. After a couple of races this year where not having a feed proved to be a definite handicap I accepted my mom's offer.
The usual start had us blasting through some dual track to a rock strewn descent, that has claimed my tires in the past, and was sure to put it to a few people today. We exited the woods did a quick transition climb to more single track climbing on loose rocks for about 10 min to Abby Trail on the ridge.
It was pretty much Chris and I at the top, and we began to roll Abby with a solid pace, through the rocks. When I say rocks I mean the things that people launch off of, and spend time riding over and over again with their friends till they clean it types of rocks. The type of trail that only gives you pleasure if you take it with force and finesse.
Half way through Chris E. had to stop to adjust something, and I asked if he was okay. He said yeah and I rode on, not attacking but trying to keep the same rythmn we had had. I expected him to catch up shortly but from that point on it I started to stretch my lead on him.
1.5min then 2, then 3, 4, 5, 6 and finally on the last climb of the day and at the finish I had 7 minutes.
I got ahead of my self. So the course is classic single track, with good mile to three mile climbs on gravel or trail with mostly insane descents through the woods on the log-piled ribbons. It continued like this for the better part of 4 hrs. I was stressed trying to keep my bike together and my lead. My mother made perfect feeds and gave me splits back to Chris. It was hot and hellish towards the end of the day when the course turned right off of the infamous Graves ridge and sent us over two or so miles of the most washed out, rooty and boulder strewn atv trails I had ever ridden. At the end of this little gift we crossed the road and was treated to a 2 mile finish, all up hill on gravel dual-track. Holy crap! What a way to end a grueling race.
At the end I was spent but excited to have a legitimate win over one of my biggest rivals. Unfortunately I have to do it two more times to say that it wasn't a fluke. That is skateboarding rules. 3 times to own the trick.
Pete had a good day and Stephanie managed a 3rd place finishing 10:30hrs. Ouch. She was smiling at the end.
These guys know how to use their tools.
Lots of Ti!!
Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell.100K 11, 000 ft of climbing. Dogs with Mohawks!
Race promoter Todd Brennan puts on ORAMM, and apparently it's pretty popular, if the 450 people who showed up count for anything.
I had a tough choice to make, and I'm not sure I made the right one. Was it honor at Mt. Snow and the NORBA National Championships or NC and the possibility of LOOT?
Well considering I had blown all of the raffle money in CO getting ready for the Marathon Nat. Championship, I thought I should do the only thing that's making me any money these days and go south. With the most excellent traveling partner currently known as Topher. I knew that most of the competition would be in VT, which was actually disappointing, but handy. I like a good fight. Also on the line (I thought) was the course record, 5:08 set by Jeremiah Bishop in 2006, with a $500 bonus for breaking it. I figured I had a chance. Unfortunately the promoter had to change the course slightly, and even though it was the same distance you can't break the record if its a different course. So I set a new goal of trying for the 5hr mark.
With 450 people on the line it was sort of intimidating looking around at all the people, wondering who was the mystery meat that would present a challenge. I saw some familiar faces that could do some damage on a good day. We started with a "rolling" start, that was pretty high speed, till the first gravel section of climbing. Mostly all together we rolled up to the first bit of trail, and I went in first. And that was pretty much it. One guy was keeping me in sights till the next climb then I never saw anyone again. It was a pretty lonely day, just me and my computer telling me what my average speed was, which I was monitoring to keep around 13mph to break the 5hrs.
The climbs were pretty much all gravel while the descents were raging trail, that went on for miles. (4-7) My forearms were paying the toll, but they were fun, and the main reason I wanted to ride down there.
Towards the end I came to a set of railroad tracks we had crossed earlier, only to find a freight train rolling by. I had no option but to sit and wait, take a leak and contemplate if I could throw my bike over the thing and jump on, on one side and jump off the other. 1.5 min later, after what felt like an eternity it passed.
Eventually I rolled back into Old Fort and across the finish line at 4:54:49. But I still regretted not going to Mt. Snow.
Topher got third. On the talking bike.
Jul 12, 2007
Michaux #2: 26er death: Life without Ergon
Lookie there. I'm on the front page of the Race Michaux web site. Sunday is the 2nd of the three Michaux series races. Eatough and I'll be going at it again. As well as Brandon Dragaulis and other company. E. is fresh off a 7day stage race and my altitude training could shake things up.
I went and pre-rode the other day and flopped around on the ground a couple of times, lost my glasses, sprained a wrist and got a little tubeless tire patching practice in.
My 26er is the bad step child. Unpredictable and misbehaving.
After coming back from CO, I didn't have the 29er so I put last years small wheeled bike together. This was a perfect opportunity to make a judgement on the 29 V 26er debate. I have been on the big wheeled bike since April 19th and the 26er was disassembled collecting dust.
So not only did I get the tiny bike together I also left it without Ergon grips.
I took the old Steele deluxe to NY for the Darkhorse gallop, and then it went with me to pre-ride Michaux.
Hands down the 29er is my bike of choice. I remember when I first threw a leg over it everything clicked besides a little getting used to timing for hopping logs. And that was my first big wheeled bike.
Now going back to the 26in wheel has been a harder transition. It might be a little quicker on the climbs (I can't prove it) but overall it feels so squirmy and unstable. In Michaux the smaller wheels felt like they were catching on every rock, root and pine cone. There might be some disadvantages to a poorly designed 29er, but a well crafted one, rises high above.
The amount of control and smoothness of the ride would serve anyone of any size well. Maybe the 26in wheel has it's advantages in racing situations, but I think they should be sent to the world of racing dorks. For me I'll race the big bike. It's more comfortable, smoother and just more fun to ride.
And until I went without them I didn't realize how much stability and control the Ergon grips provided me. Again I'll never go back.
I went and pre-rode the other day and flopped around on the ground a couple of times, lost my glasses, sprained a wrist and got a little tubeless tire patching practice in.
My 26er is the bad step child. Unpredictable and misbehaving.
After coming back from CO, I didn't have the 29er so I put last years small wheeled bike together. This was a perfect opportunity to make a judgement on the 29 V 26er debate. I have been on the big wheeled bike since April 19th and the 26er was disassembled collecting dust.
So not only did I get the tiny bike together I also left it without Ergon grips.
I took the old Steele deluxe to NY for the Darkhorse gallop, and then it went with me to pre-ride Michaux.
Hands down the 29er is my bike of choice. I remember when I first threw a leg over it everything clicked besides a little getting used to timing for hopping logs. And that was my first big wheeled bike.
Now going back to the 26in wheel has been a harder transition. It might be a little quicker on the climbs (I can't prove it) but overall it feels so squirmy and unstable. In Michaux the smaller wheels felt like they were catching on every rock, root and pine cone. There might be some disadvantages to a poorly designed 29er, but a well crafted one, rises high above.
The amount of control and smoothness of the ride would serve anyone of any size well. Maybe the 26in wheel has it's advantages in racing situations, but I think they should be sent to the world of racing dorks. For me I'll race the big bike. It's more comfortable, smoother and just more fun to ride.
And until I went without them I didn't realize how much stability and control the Ergon grips provided me. Again I'll never go back.
Jul 9, 2007
A Joke, A Race and another Race
A fairly well known man walks into a bar and asks one of his admirers if he's ever read his blog. Flustered and experiencing Blog Paranoia he answers "Yes". "I don't have a blog!" answers the questioner.
Blog Guilt
It exists.
Anyhow,
Let me tell you about the Firecracker 50. What a great race. It started with us leading out the 4th of July parade past thousands of people lining the streets of Breckenridge. They cheered, we chatted and as our group of 30 pro's came to the last light in town and our left hand turn up the first 8 mile climb (10,800 ft total in the race), the sprinting started. Nat Ross went off the front, and then came back. But the group got smaller and smaller and I felt like things were going pretty good as I stayed with the front group. Then about the time we hit the gravel section I might as well have been riding through thigh high pudding. I couldn't breath, my legs wouldn't go and groups of riders just started to peel past me.
I tried to stick a few wheels but felt like a dyslexic at a spelling bee. 30 minutes in and I thought all was lost. So much for goals and planning. When Christian Ball came by with his encouraging words I think my response was a four letter word for sex. But then Nat Ross came around, the trail got a little more level and a prediction of my sister's nagging disappointment fueled me to keep going. How could I let her down since she came all the way out here to see and support me. So I dug in. Kept a steady but not blistering pace up the second steep climb and started to real people back in, one at a time.
The downhills were mostly washed out jeep roads at about -18% grades. Braking too much was as dangerous as going to fast. But it was a relief from the climbing, and gave me a chance to recover. My sister was waiting at aid station 2, just before the biggest and burliest climb of the day, Little French. It was relatively short but with long sections of 16% grade. As I grabbed a bottle from Nicole, I couldn't even muster a thank you. She told me I was 30th something and all I could do was stare ahead. Josh, my host, was there and told me later, that I looked so bad that he exchanged that "oh shit" look with my sis.
At the bottom of Little French I stuck it in the little ring and set a metronome pace, slowly picking off one person at a time. And that is the general story of the day. Rock the downhills and stay steady on the ups. In the end I managed an 8th place finish, which I suppose is good, but still a little disappointing, when I think about the time and money I invested in this race. I've never committed so completely to one race, and therefore I was probably bound to be less than satisfied with anything less than 1st. I'm my own best Hater.
Oh well.
To rub my bruised ego and hopefully make a little money, I went to NJ Sunday to do the DarkHorse Gallop. Traveling right hand man Topher made the trip with me to Stewart State Forest for some fun and fast trail riding in the Campmor Series race. I decided to sit in and protect the tired legs, and from the start found myself with Troy Wells and Ed Ceccolini for the first three laps.Troy did a lot of the work, then Ed and on occasion I got up front, but each time someone came around me. It was a fun race with the three of us going back and forth, but in the 4th lap Ed attacked and my chasing dropped Troy but I also lost sight of Ed. He pulled away and all I could do in the heat was stay the course and hope Fast Eddie faded. And sure enough at the end of lap 4 I caught the man and pulled away slowly, but never comfortably. I had two bottles placed in trees for my feed but as I came by them they were on the ground so each time I had to stop and pick them up.
Tho I was running for my life, I was never able to get far away from Ed, and in the end there was only a 30 sec gap between the two of us. And my heat exhaustion was coming on. Still it was nice to do well and the race was really fun and well run. Good job guys.
Oh and Georgia Gould came and raced the mens race, and was only 5 min behind wich was good enough for a 4th place. She's fast.
Jul 7, 2007
Crack, scoundrel of the 80's, Firecracker 50 (high grade)
7/7/07 this day don't ever come around again. 
What happens when life gives you two pits? First a little opinion. Then at the bottom a race report.
I'm feeling that USA Cycling is only getting a part of what the US cycling scene is like. It's not hard to figure out that the organization does a much better job of representing the rockies and the pacific. Sure there is a huge amount of history out there but, they seem to have stopped reading contemporary literature, because there is a movement in the east that goes unnoticed because we are happy not being a part of the daily workings of a large organization that doesn't seem to consider us east coasters to be more than a blip on the map. A majority of the races in the east are not NORBA affiliated. A lot of that has to do with disillusion with the organization and possibly might have to do with the fact that capitalism works great out here and when dissatisfaction with one product became overwhelming we searched elsewhere for what we needed.
USA Cycling needs to learn that they should be a representative of all cycling not just a of those who pay into their pockets. There are a lot of great races that don't require NORBA membership. But I have a feeling that when USAC sent out a call for bids they only sent the call to races that were already in their circle. I'll find out soon, because I'm going to start the petition process to move the marathon to the east for next year.
This will present a problem because of all the non-USAC affiliated races, that might not want to deal with the headache of dealing with cycling's governing organization.
Yes it'll be a balancing act convincing race promoters out here to, live by someone else's rules, pay their extra fees and sacrifice their time. But it should set some precedences. USAC and NORBA are deep in the tornado of the self-fulfilling prophecy. 1. East coast has been fed up for a long time. 2. NORBA keeps committing alienating acts.
Where is the healing?
Loveland pass, continental divide. Separating east from west.
Race report::I'll do it tomorrow. 7/8/07
Thanks.
What happens when life gives you two pits? First a little opinion. Then at the bottom a race report.The Firecracker 50 has officially gone the way of the 4th of July. A colorful day already circling the globe on it's way back for next year. Can't say that I'm real excited about my 8th place finish. But lets look at something. Check out the results. If you notice I'm the only person from East of the Rockies in the top 20. Not that that is real special, I just want to point out that there is poor representation from the East Coast at the National Championship race. As a matter of fact there is almost none. I think I can count on one hand how many people I can identify that come from the far or mid east. Who's fault is this? Are the east coasters scared? Weak? Not competative? Or are they realistic? Racing at 9,600 feet and up doesn't exactly feel encouraging for flat-landers. This is the 3rd year in a row that the marathon National Championship has been at elevation. It would have been at Mt. Snow if not for some logistical issues with the mountain. So what does USACYCLING do? They send the Marathon back to high elevation for, get this, TWO years.
I'm feeling that USA Cycling is only getting a part of what the US cycling scene is like. It's not hard to figure out that the organization does a much better job of representing the rockies and the pacific. Sure there is a huge amount of history out there but, they seem to have stopped reading contemporary literature, because there is a movement in the east that goes unnoticed because we are happy not being a part of the daily workings of a large organization that doesn't seem to consider us east coasters to be more than a blip on the map. A majority of the races in the east are not NORBA affiliated. A lot of that has to do with disillusion with the organization and possibly might have to do with the fact that capitalism works great out here and when dissatisfaction with one product became overwhelming we searched elsewhere for what we needed.USA Cycling needs to learn that they should be a representative of all cycling not just a of those who pay into their pockets. There are a lot of great races that don't require NORBA membership. But I have a feeling that when USAC sent out a call for bids they only sent the call to races that were already in their circle. I'll find out soon, because I'm going to start the petition process to move the marathon to the east for next year.
This will present a problem because of all the non-USAC affiliated races, that might not want to deal with the headache of dealing with cycling's governing organization.
Yes it'll be a balancing act convincing race promoters out here to, live by someone else's rules, pay their extra fees and sacrifice their time. But it should set some precedences. USAC and NORBA are deep in the tornado of the self-fulfilling prophecy. 1. East coast has been fed up for a long time. 2. NORBA keeps committing alienating acts.Where is the healing?
Loveland pass, continental divide. Separating east from west.Race report::I'll do it tomorrow. 7/8/07
Thanks.
Jul 2, 2007
Super-Dogging, Fire-Crack'n, Mopering
This came to me in regards to the Mopery question;
"I was riding my bike up the path in Arlington when I had a sudden urge to..you know..take my clothes off. Not just remove them and run through the forest, mind you. But to disrobe and be seen. I rode my bike off the path and ditched it behind some bushes and proceeded to peal myself from the spandex. I squatted there waiting...when to my enjoyment another path user came strolling along with a dog. I deliberated, fearing what the dog may do and quickly jumped into their path, naked. The dogged cocked his head, the man said "hello," and they walked along. I was sorely disappointed and shrugged and put my clothes back on to ride away. As I continued up the path it began to rain and thought to myself, "why was that man wearing dark sunglasses on such a cloudy day?"
Of course this is exactly what Mopery consists of. It seems fitting that the Indy Fab Team Captain, Bruno would know so well such a nefarious crime.
In this new found thirst for the fast and sketchy, I decided that another Super-D race would be a great primer for the Firecracker 50.
About 20 miles from Breckenridge is Keystone resort and the site of the G3 Gravity Series race number 1.
16min of almost pure down-helling on the 29er against 22 professional downhill racers.
One thing I really enjoy is putting myself in awkward social situations. Like going to a funeral dressed as a clown, or hanging out on top of a mountain with a bunch of baggy shorts and armored dudes while revealing all my goods in a skintight spandex package.
After a 10min chairlift ride I changed into my superman outfit and took a run down mountain. So if the Crested Butte race was 29er friendly this course was definetly full-suspension ready. Actually I'd say about half the pro's chose to use their DH rigs while the other half had 5-6in of travel. Yeah I felt like a dork and the younger kids would hardly talk to me, just grunts. I flashed back to elementary and middle school outsider status. As a matter of fact everyone was stoked on the course, saying "this is what Super-D course should be like." It had no uphill portions and very little need for pedaling. Where I could I used it as much as possible. Obviously there were no XC riders there to complain.
Since this was a big purse gravity stage race, it drew some pretty heavy hitters. Number 1, Leov, and 2, Graves top world cup racers. I'm being a little self-serving here by building this up to the final conclusion. We went off in 15sec intervals, and since only me and one other guy were the only ones who signed up only for the Super-D and not all three stages, we got to go last. As I was sitting there I threw a little trash talk out and told the armored boys in front to not let a hard-tail riding, spandexed dude catch you. So to the end...I caught a few. Oh Yeah!
I do have to say I owe alot of the confidence to the two WTB Exi-Wolves I got in the mail the day before. Thanks Dain. That was a surprise.
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Jun 30, 2007
Mopery anyone?
Ian I still owe you one for correctly identifying the cucumber avacado stick boat.
Now who can tell me what the crime of "mopery" consists of?
Jun 25, 2007
Buttian Acclimation and Super-D Wins
It hurts. Breathing, riding, looking directly into the sun. I decided to go to the fabled Crested Butte for a go at a shortish XC race. The drive with Eric was about 3hrs of crossing mountain passes and dipping into valleys. These wide expanses with sun on one side and storms on the other reminded me of a college professor, who said it's important to remember that the world is made up of people living in different systems, unaware of each other's weather.
At the turn from Gunnison to the Butte, we see a storm system in the mountains 20miles ahead. Deciding there was no rush, lunch was found at a little deli. Colorado is full of good food and coffee.
At the turn from Gunnison to the Butte, we see a storm system in the mountains 20miles ahead. Deciding there was no rush, lunch was found at a little deli. Colorado is full of good food and coffee.
CB is situtated in an enclave of mountains, with rolling hills and farmland contrasted by some massive mountain bowls, so the drive in was pretty epic. We kitted up to go for a pre-ride of the 10 mile course. Before leaving the parking lot I'm riding around waiting for Eric, and I ask a guy hows the course. Without hesitating the bitterness dripped out of his mouth formed around the words "It's a terrible course." I ask him what kind of course he does like, and he goes on about something with 45min instead of 15min climbs. This was actually the 3rd person who had some negative comment to make about the course. Which reminded me that cyclist are the biggest bunch of Nancy's. I've never met a group of people who can be so fun but so willing to complain about anything and everything. All that testosterone makes for opinionated people.So out on the course. Because I was in the biking petri-dish of Crested Butte I had nothing to complain about. It started with a 15 min climb and continued on some beautiful single track over the back of the mountain. Once we were on top there was only one more significant climb, the finish invloved some tight tree runs and uncomfortably fast, rutted single-track through the ski slopes.
With the course scoped out, it was time to head to the Butte to eat. CB has a 27 year old MTB festival, that takes over the town for a week in the summer. Unfortunatly we were a weekend early and missed the chainless downhill race. Fish Taco's and a Burrito later we headed back to the mountain. I stayed with an actual CO native, Seth and his wife Molly.
I might get a little s**t from my friends for this but I signed up in the 30+ division, because I hadn't done one before and was on a hardtail. It seemed everyone else had a bike specificaly for that race with lots of travel and big tires. With hind-site I should have done the open-pro division, since my time would have put me in 2nd over-all, 11sec behind winner Mike West. Oh well, it was so much fun, think I'll do another this weekend.
Jun 20, 2007
This is my BIKE!
It ocurred to me today, actually it was pointed out to me, that I haven't gotten around to going into detail about my 2007 race bike. Well here goes..
it's a Titanium 29er Deluxe from Indy Fab of course.
Built with: a Cannondale Lefty SL carbon Ti Fork (2.7lbs) at 80mm of travel
a Cannondale integrated stem/ steerer.
Stan's wheelsets. Racing is 355ztr rims on a DT Swiss 240 rear hub and Lefty Front
Training are Arch rims on Hope II pro rear hub and Lefty front.
WTB tires and Stem. Nano, Exi and Moto Raptors. Kevlar Bead run tubeless (it works). I like to run them between 24-28lbs. Never Burped.
I got the Holy Grail of saddles, the Rocket V. God and Ahala bless it.
Formula Puro disc breaks. Oh yeah! they stop and modulate and look cool.
Ergon Grips. Yes they look funny, but damn they feel good.
XTR cranks, shifters, derailleurs.
Thompson Seatpost.
Seven Ti Handlebar, 5degree sweep.
Time Ti Carbon ATAC
King Cage
Total Weight??? 22.25lbs
This is my First Ti Frame. Paired with the 29er wheels this bike crushes the 100milers. It's comfortable from start to finish. I test rode a Cannondale Caffine before going with the final design and had Matt B. at IF to sharpen the headtube angle from cannondales 70 to a quicker 71 degrees. That gives it a wheelbase of 109cm. Thats at least a 1cm shorter than C-Dale, Bianchi, or Gary Fisher. It has a 17 5/8in chainstay. Point is it is very flickable and quick.
The Formula Puro have a great feel.
And the Lefty Fork feels as good as everyone says it should. It feels like I've got more than 8omm of squish. I could take out a spacer and run it at 90mm. I also just put on the Seven Bars. They are borrowed from friend. I defintaly like the wider stance than the FSA Flat bars I was using.
Love this bike. Named? Pa, as in South Pa
it's a Titanium 29er Deluxe from Indy Fab of course.
Built with: a Cannondale Lefty SL carbon Ti Fork (2.7lbs) at 80mm of travel
a Cannondale integrated stem/ steerer.
Stan's wheelsets. Racing is 355ztr rims on a DT Swiss 240 rear hub and Lefty Front
Training are Arch rims on Hope II pro rear hub and Lefty front.
WTB tires and Stem. Nano, Exi and Moto Raptors. Kevlar Bead run tubeless (it works). I like to run them between 24-28lbs. Never Burped.
I got the Holy Grail of saddles, the Rocket V. God and Ahala bless it.
Formula Puro disc breaks. Oh yeah! they stop and modulate and look cool.
Ergon Grips. Yes they look funny, but damn they feel good.
XTR cranks, shifters, derailleurs.
Thompson Seatpost.
Seven Ti Handlebar, 5degree sweep.
Time Ti Carbon ATAC
King Cage
Total Weight??? 22.25lbs
This is my First Ti Frame. Paired with the 29er wheels this bike crushes the 100milers. It's comfortable from start to finish. I test rode a Cannondale Caffine before going with the final design and had Matt B. at IF to sharpen the headtube angle from cannondales 70 to a quicker 71 degrees. That gives it a wheelbase of 109cm. Thats at least a 1cm shorter than C-Dale, Bianchi, or Gary Fisher. It has a 17 5/8in chainstay. Point is it is very flickable and quick.
The Formula Puro have a great feel.
And the Lefty Fork feels as good as everyone says it should. It feels like I've got more than 8omm of squish. I could take out a spacer and run it at 90mm. I also just put on the Seven Bars. They are borrowed from friend. I defintaly like the wider stance than the FSA Flat bars I was using.
Love this bike. Named? Pa, as in South Pa
Jun 19, 2007
Leaving it behind, Hello MI and CO
Lets go a little back in time. Think about 3hrs ago. Got a clear picture of what was happening? Well I'm going back 4 days to a time when all there was before me was a highway ending in a sea (midwest) of possibilities. I'm cruising with a guy named Bob and another called Tim. Good men they are. Maybe we made a striking trio swashbuckling across PA, OH and MI on our way to the Lumberjack 100. I'm carrying an extra bike and gear enough for a three week stay, most of it to be done in Breckenridge CO.
But first we have to stop and race a 100 miles in the forested dunes outside of Manistee Michigan. Along the way we stop in Ann Arbor to spend the night with Simon and Catherine. Simon takes us on a post car-ride spin around the local trails, which involved a lot of crossing parks and parking lots. A couple of developments and past a river or two. That was fun and followed by a Lebanese dinner. I mentioned last year that MI has a large Lebanese population.
Okay so that was great, but the point is we woke up the next morn, did some brake hose shortening and took off North. Oh and there is an art to Caravaning.
Upon arrival we jumped out and did a quick ride around the inner loop of the course. As sandy as the year before, but run backwards. Finished, chatted with a few peeps then departed for the Cabin. It seems no matter how hard I try to be ready hours before bed, I"m always up till the last minute preping something.
Nothing really eventfull happens the next morning, except ummm a race. There is a mad dash for the single track and lines around the bleeding sanddunes. Each trail seemed like a gash in the side of some ancient dune with a forest for an epidermis. (sp?)
There is a train as usual for the first hour. 7 or 8 riders riding tempo, with a local setting the pace. I'm actually #2 waiting for something to happen, then I got a stick in my derailleur. No damage done but I'm now near the back of the small group with E occupying my old spot. Next thing I know E has stopped with a similar ailment, and now mr. pace setter slows down while his teammate Simonson attacks. I'm three back but sort of waiting to see if Eatough gets back on. After a while of watching Simonson disappear I made chase. Rode solo for awhile then got a partner in local Christian. We caught Simonson before the end of the lap and then he attacked at the next hike-a-bike/ climb. Eventually Eatough caught me and we reeled him in, then let him dangle then about the time I finished my last bit of water I asked E where the aid station was. Uhmmm about "10 min back" he says. and we had about 35min to go till the next one.
This is where I let him come around and decided to cut my costs. After about 40min and two sips of water from people I passed I made it back to my cooler and got a refill.
That pretty much blew my day. I held third till lap four but lost it to Christian as he came roaring by. Mybe it was the water fiasco or maybe it was me just feeling a little stale. Oh well.
Time to swim..
This is Simon form Ann Arbor hating life after the race....
We had a very nice cabin!
So I didn't go back to PA. I decided to catch a ride to Breckenridge with three other quality individuals. We packed Erika's Subaru with my stuff..Thats her below...I managed to say the wrong thing within 5 min of meeting her, but she soon realized there would be a lot more foot in mouth moments and to not get real bent out of shape. Here she looks a little mad but in reality she's just taking a break from packing. She's really nice.
These two are Ryan and Josh, I'll be staying with Josh for my time in Breck. Ryan has a dog named Rasta Parks Dog. He is an AKC registered chocolate lab. Call him "parks" if your his friend.
Some places in Nebraska need everything clarified.
But first we have to stop and race a 100 miles in the forested dunes outside of Manistee Michigan. Along the way we stop in Ann Arbor to spend the night with Simon and Catherine. Simon takes us on a post car-ride spin around the local trails, which involved a lot of crossing parks and parking lots. A couple of developments and past a river or two. That was fun and followed by a Lebanese dinner. I mentioned last year that MI has a large Lebanese population.
Okay so that was great, but the point is we woke up the next morn, did some brake hose shortening and took off North. Oh and there is an art to Caravaning.
Upon arrival we jumped out and did a quick ride around the inner loop of the course. As sandy as the year before, but run backwards. Finished, chatted with a few peeps then departed for the Cabin. It seems no matter how hard I try to be ready hours before bed, I"m always up till the last minute preping something.
Nothing really eventfull happens the next morning, except ummm a race. There is a mad dash for the single track and lines around the bleeding sanddunes. Each trail seemed like a gash in the side of some ancient dune with a forest for an epidermis. (sp?)
There is a train as usual for the first hour. 7 or 8 riders riding tempo, with a local setting the pace. I'm actually #2 waiting for something to happen, then I got a stick in my derailleur. No damage done but I'm now near the back of the small group with E occupying my old spot. Next thing I know E has stopped with a similar ailment, and now mr. pace setter slows down while his teammate Simonson attacks. I'm three back but sort of waiting to see if Eatough gets back on. After a while of watching Simonson disappear I made chase. Rode solo for awhile then got a partner in local Christian. We caught Simonson before the end of the lap and then he attacked at the next hike-a-bike/ climb. Eventually Eatough caught me and we reeled him in, then let him dangle then about the time I finished my last bit of water I asked E where the aid station was. Uhmmm about "10 min back" he says. and we had about 35min to go till the next one.
This is where I let him come around and decided to cut my costs. After about 40min and two sips of water from people I passed I made it back to my cooler and got a refill.
That pretty much blew my day. I held third till lap four but lost it to Christian as he came roaring by. Mybe it was the water fiasco or maybe it was me just feeling a little stale. Oh well.
Time to swim..
This is Simon form Ann Arbor hating life after the race....
We had a very nice cabin!
So I didn't go back to PA. I decided to catch a ride to Breckenridge with three other quality individuals. We packed Erika's Subaru with my stuff..Thats her below...I managed to say the wrong thing within 5 min of meeting her, but she soon realized there would be a lot more foot in mouth moments and to not get real bent out of shape. Here she looks a little mad but in reality she's just taking a break from packing. She's really nice.
These two are Ryan and Josh, I'll be staying with Josh for my time in Breck. Ryan has a dog named Rasta Parks Dog. He is an AKC registered chocolate lab. Call him "parks" if your his friend.
Some places in Nebraska need everything clarified.
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