Iron Cross+Cookies+Crashing=50th place

Homemade Cookies. Cheaters. What the hell!
Racing at a high level requires a lot of sacrifice. Apparently that includes homemade cookies at aid stations. I found this little secret out as I pulled into Station 3 this weekend at the Iron Cross race. "The Worlds Longest Cross Race." Normally for these long endurance races I have no idea what the promoter has at the stops. At one time, it meant a lot to me if there were an abundance of random goodies, like Swedish fish, pringles, and PB & J's. As of late, we've gotten nutrition so dialed, along with drop bag grabs, I never stay at a station long enough to know what's on the buffet. So from now on as I approach those tables I'm yelling for a handful of homemade goods as I cruise by. There is a story as to why I was able to enjoy the bounties of aid stations 3 and 4. But that will come later.
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost - but how you played the game." (Grantland Rice)

Below is what I consider to be a good summary of why sportsmanship is important. It comes from a slo-pitch softball guy.

"It seems in our sports today, the concept of good sportsmanship has been lost. While winning at all costs and poor sportsmanship may be condoned and even promoted in professional sports, this does not mean it is the proper way for athletes to behave. Whether we like it or not, sportsmanship in sports is a direct reflection of our own ethics in real life. Sportsmanship like ethics concerns both the character and the actions of an athlete. The image you project as an athlete is a product of your character. Good sportsmanship is not just what you do on the field, it is hopefully the way you conduct your life both on and off the field. In the same way, unsportsmanlike behaviour on the field is probably an indication of your off the field conduct. Unsportsmanlike behaviour -- acts that are unfair, dishonest, disrespectful or against the rules - are unsportsmanlike because they are unethical. If you are unethical in sports, can you be ethical in the other areas of your life - your business dealings, your treatment of others, your family?"
John Ariss - Touching Base Magazine - February, 2000

What's really at issue here are course manners. Or more to the point, unethical acts/ poor sportsmanship. Maybe there needs to be a lesson.
1. Making a mistake on the course, (lets say missing a turn and accidentally cutting part of the course.) And I do mean accidentally! Some times that happens. It sucks, your race is kind of ruined unless you turn around and go back to the missed turn. Then it's trying to make up lost time. There is a certain pride in coming back from a huge deficit.
If you have done this, accept it and turn yourself in. That's much better than being called out for it on someone's blog. If you roll in to the finish and act like nothing happened: lame.
2. Also consider this. Maybe it's not as cut and dry, but it's definitely on the slippery slope to yucks-ville. You organize with someone outside of your class to pace you around the course to get a better time against your competitors. Not necessarily illegal, especially in road racing, but there is a fine line. Many marathon foot races specifically have rules against pacing. Often times it's a male pacing for a female, because the male is only average in his class but it's enough to carry a good female racer to a better position.
Again this is an area of ethics that would have to be self regulated. But if you think about it, sportsmanship in road cycling dictates that if you are going to sit in and let others work for you, it should be for a few good reasons:
-you should have a teammate in mind,
-your giving everything you have already
-it's close to the end of the race and you want your competition to do more work.
That is boring.
Now the fun.
How Harlan got his cookies back.
Sunday bizarre.
Surprisingly I got a call up to the start of the race. That was nice of the promoters, and meant I had about 180 riders behind me on the start line. 180 people for me to use in a massive pileup.
At the "GO" I stepped on the pedals and my chain skipped, causing a looney tune reaction of riders falling on my (Topher's) rear wheel. People were cursing me as I tried to untangle from Bob and the leaders plus another 50 people launched themselves into the cross course. Back on the bike I made it about 200 feet and realized that somehow my rear brake had come undone in the tackle from behind. A quick stop saw it fixed, while another 30 people went by.
Okay time to start chasing.
I got about a hundred feet. On an uphill left hand turn a rider in front of me bailed and for some reason decided to flat my front wheel. Explicative!
I pulled off the course, and started to get down to business, but Theo came by and saved the day by giving me his front wheel. Thanks Theo! I'm off through the cross course death spiral almost out of the camp, and then realize the front brake is undone. Another word to the sky and I stop and reattach it.
So in the first 10 minutes of my 4-5 hour race I've stopped 4 times. A hundred people are in front of me and the leaders are attacking each other. What can I do but start chasing.
On the way to the first climb of the day someone informs me that my rear brake will hit my tire if I try to brake. I decided that since it was uphill for 15 min I'd wait till the top to adjust it. I was making some good time on the dual track climb. At one point I caught Pete who was riding no hands on the rocky terrain. It sort of looked like he was walking a tight rope.
I kept the the pace as high as I could, reeling one group in after another on the climb. Little did I know the boys up front were attacking each other up the KOM. At the top I stopped to adjust the rear brake. The descent down into the apple orchards was a blast, and the climb back out was the second test of the day.
At the top we rolled down Piney Ridge road till we turned left on Lipencote trail, where a mountain bike would have ruled the moment. Rocks and logs for hoping on the cross bike. Arms were tightening up, but it was a perfect spot to pick off a bunch of people. At the bottom I had different reports of times back from the leaders. 2min, 5min and 10 min. I liked the idea of 2, but 10 was more likely.
Coming out of the woods I saw who I thought was Mike Hebe, and tried to chase up to him. He slowed down to let me get on, but about 10 feet too soon I said okay and he took off, leaving me in the dust. That was Colin. Not Mike. Eventually I caught him and Hebe on the Wigwam run up, and we all cruised to about mile 40 together.
At that point our group was in about 14th place. Not bad I thought, but suddenly what I had went and I decided that my day, month and winter would be ruined if I kept trying to push it. Hell, it's fall, this race wasn't really one of my goals, and I discovered that if you stop at aid stations there might be homemade cookies.
So I shifted perspective. Eat cookies. Ride with different people, sit on the side of the trail and watch the race. People kept asking if I was ok. It was great. I got to see the women come through and cheer them on.
Then just before the finish line I tried to bunny hop the barriers and made a fool of myself infront of all the finishers. Over all a great day.

IronCross and Oh yeah, Vegas

Two surreal events. One just happened and another is a couple of days away. For anyone who has never been to vegas....
Or my back yard..Or my bike shopOr to Trader Joe's Lately,
Or riding with Charlie?
Cross Vegas was spectacular at the Beer and Dollar Bill Grab-n-Go
Back to Vegas. I got to see my Sponsor people at Stan's, WTB, Formula. Rode with Dain. I hooked up, in the sandy trails of dirt demo with the new WTB Prowler tire!
Chris at Formula was the dude, and Barbie the bomb.

Co-worker/ jeffe/ boss went down in the parking lot. Hahahahahaha, no seriously that wasn't funny. JK.

Oh and Iron Cross is this coming weekend. So I put the machine together, and a we went for a gentle stroll, to get to know each other!

Falling Down The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon

There is a trail in there. We call this the washing machine.
Humble stick got me. The mountain laurels were so fierce they picked my scab off from two days before.

This is the place for experiencing the fall weather. 36 miles of rim riding. Thats the right side of the canyon above. then 20 miles back down the center on the rail-trail. Overall its an eight hour day. Should I call it work?





Topher got stung by bees, I got whip lash, Dave had the excuse caboose.

Bicycling Mag article, and Vegas

I'll get around to a more complete review of Vegas. But in the meantime, in case you don't know,
I have an article in Bicycling Magazine!

The Dirty Century
It's a little about the 100milers.
By the way I didn't come up with the title, so to the race that already uses the moniker "Dirty", I didn't mean to scuff your chucks.

I love interviews!

Have you seen the bike game? My favorite interview of all time.

I grew up with Fools gold.

I've herd nothing but good things about the Fools gold race.

Dopers

Guess Dave, Jeff and I beat a doper. That's annoying.

I've got your Indy Fab Jacket!!!

For some reason the Terror of Teaberry promoters gave me an IF jacket that someone had left behind. IF you can describe it or convince me it's your's I'll ship it back.

Teaberrys, and Miss-representation, miss-appropriation

Where to start. This is like my house. So many parts need attention I have a hard time beginning. Also everything is interwoven to the point that, to do one thing greatly affects the doing of another. A thousand excuses.

You may not know this but in the November issue of Bicycling Magazine, I wrote an article. It's called the Dirty Century, and is all about 100mile mountainbike races. Well, a little about them. It was a struggle for me to write the thing, since it seemed like a big deal and I was nervous.
I'm excited to have the article and I should thank the staff at Bicycling for helping that come together. I just want to clarify a couple of things. These are the results of editing.
1. There is an inaccuracy about how the 101 race goes. It mentions something about the pace picking up when it got to the single track. It usually starts on the climb after aid 1.
2. On the side is a list of 6 races they recommend. There are two in there I would never recommend until the promoters turned themselves around. Six random choices made by someone without experience. There are a ton of better races out there. Creampuff 100 being one of them.
Beware the Editors slash!

On the other hand, I raced the Terror of Teaberry last weekend, as my final serious race of the year. I wanted to do good, but it was sort of like asking an 80 year old man dance a jig with a pretty girl for 20min. His heart's in it but, those legs don't pop-lock and rocket like they used to. Thats how I know my season is over. I'm tired. Actually I could feel it going into Shenandoah. Just missing a spark. But I'm not complaining the season has been great. I reached some new levels of competition, and it was a beautiful last race. The Fall is starting to set in and all day long I felt like it was the twilight of 2007.
We started off racing into the morning sun, so bright that riding into the shadows was like having the lights flicked on and off. My eyes couldn't adjust fast enough, so following Chris's wheel in the tight shrub corridors, was an act of faith. Chris and Jeff left me about 8miles in, on a loose babyhead climb, and from that point I was on cruise control. No punching it, just rolling. Fine by me, I knew what was inside. Jeff DNF'ed at the 25mile mark, and had a hell walk out for 4 hours. That put me back in second, with Brandon staying close. He caught me at one point and I was excited to have a riding partner, but I dropped him without really meaning to, and my one speed was as excited about slowing down as speeding up. Steady Freddy.
So I was disappointed to not be able to give Chris a battle, and he took it easily by 20 min. Ouch. Still the man.

I went to Island Beach State Park in Jersey on Thursday with some friends. J is a recent Orange County CA transplant and this was her first visit to the Atlantic ocean. I sort of know how she felt, since I grew up on the Atlantic and remember my Pacific introduction. It's sort of like a long lost relative. Familiar, welcoming and mysterious.
Also along on the trip were another J and LM. All three worked together at the coffee shop next to the bike shop. Don't eat at Bum Rodgers.

Michaux'slucky rabbitt's feet. WHY!

Chain stretcher_______

Raced, with Timmy D.
Skinned my knee.
Answered Philosophical question:
why race?

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.