Fort James - In Search of Podiums

I just threw up in my mouth . . . . . a lot

2011-04-03T05:15:00.001-07:00

I just registered for the MASS Cat 1 40-49 class. I then made the mistake of looking at the other riders that registered for the same class. All of them champions. I am in for a world of pain and a huge learning curve. I think it would be best if I did not look at the registrants for future races, because the feeling in my stomach right now is not nice.

http://www.bikereg.com/events/conflist.asp?EventID=12452&p=&SortBy=&z=1#17

I better go train now . . . . . .2011 is going to be awesome, hard, but awesome and I am looking forward to it.

Fair Hill is when???????

2011-03-26T02:48:00.000-07:00

OK, not like it would be my first race this season, but seriously, when did the season sneak up on us so quickly? Two weeks? Are you kidding me??

This is the first season that I am not in race read condition for April. I decided, after speaking with a local hammer (Sanford anyone?) that it might be better to have my conditioning last longer than through May 10th. I have done a lot more base than the last few years and I am looking futher into the season. I must admit that I am uncomfortable about the idea of easing into the season, but I think it is going to work out well for me.

Gotta go train now!

Bike Swap Meet - Be there!

2011-03-10T15:30:00.001-08:00

There is a local swap meet on Sunday, less than one mile from my house.

http://www.trailspinners.org/swap.html

I will not be going. Sunday is my big ride day and I have the greenlight for a 5 hour ride in the middle of the day, instead of my usual 6 AM start time. I do have some things to sell, so if anyone is looking for an almost new Niner Air 9 in raw, or a great condition raw Niner One 9, both medium, contact me. If you leave your details in a comment, I will contact you but not publish your info. The Air 9 was a warrantly replacement I received in late October and conidering the weather this winter, it only has few rides on it. I have decided both are too big for me.

Now, in addition to needing a nice long ride, the real reason I cannot go to the swap meet is I might come home with one of these:

or one of these:

It would happen for sure. Pictures courtesy of some random internet searches.

Snot Cycle Part Deux

2011-03-07T03:02:00.000-08:00

The folks in Leesburgh were nice enough to hold a second race for those that signed up for the first snot cycle race. Lots of snow and ice made for an uncomfortable day back in January. They were extra kind to me, because I sold my entry and was still allowed to race at Part Deux.

I was a little worried how the trails might be. It has been getting warmer and the ground is thawing, so the mud potential was high. I have been on some trails here locally at 6:00 AM when the temps are 20 degrees, but others have been out in the daytime and mentioned the trails were not rideable. Looking at the tires on the bike of the race promoter, I could see lots of sticky clay on them warning me of the conditions to come . . . .it was overcast and the drive down had been dark and foggy, but I do not think it rained in Leesburgh.

I got registered for the race in time to see the 40+ Cat 2 race go off with about 30 guys in the field. I said to myself that is probably where I should be racing, perhaps I could have won in that field today. I remember talking to Ben about winning a race before moving up to Expert, how I would have liked to experience that because it might never happen once I upgrade. I have had this same conversation for at least a year, yet the win never came. It seems there is always someone (or in the case of 40-44 Sport half a dozen) that is always substantialy faster then the rest of the field.

I got dressed and went out for a spin. I had heard about a rock dropoff that I wanted to see. It dropped off 4 feet to the ground, but there was a line, whatever that might mean. Turns out there was a rock stack to the ground, but the top section was 4 foot wide and the rock stack was 10 inches wide. I am glad I checked that out.

I got ready for the start, to find there was only 3 other racers. Looking around, they all looked more fit than me. One guy was riding a Moots and told me he was focusing on endurance races this season and that he just got his response from the Leadville 100 and unfortunately had been turned down. There was another guy that kinda looked like a courier with a ring in his nose. The third guy was racing for Plum Grove Cyclery, the onsite bike shop of the promoters. All of these guys looked totally fit, but the Plum Grove dude looked really really strong. I commented to the Moots guy "There is the winner there", and Mr. Moots totally agreed. Just to add to that, Mr. Plum Grove pedaled away and his pedal stroke was totally intimidating.

The race started without event and I put my head down and went. It might be a small field, but at least I could lead my 2nd expert race for a little bit until Mr. Plum Grove took over. He let me lead into the woods, but he was on my wheel. The field section was wet for sure and it was not easy to ride fast. The sun was just starting to come out and the temps were pretty warm. As we get into the woods, I let off a lttle bit, trying to recover from the start and waiting for Mr. Plum Grove to take over. We were about a mile into the race and I noticed we rode everyone else (all 2) off our wheels. I took it easy for 1/2 mile or so, enough to get over the tough rock section.

In terms of bikes, I decided to race my Engin. I have been racing a Niner Air 9 for the last 4 seasons, never totally happy with the way it handles turns, but always liking the way it responded to pedal input (which is like a rocket shop). The Engin is smaller and allows me to handle technical areas and especially tight turns much better than I can on the Niner. I knew this last season, but went back to the Niner for the acceleration. Let me say the Niner is now for sale, because it is too big for me. It was new in October (warrantly replacement). OK, sales pitch over.

Back to the race, I took the recovery, decided to push a little bit and see what happens, so I slowly pulled away from Mr. Plum Grove at mile 2 of 27 and maintained the lead until the end of the race. YES, I actually won my first race after trying for years to accomplish the same. It was a very small race, but that is OK, I will take it. I learned a lot about pushing myself during this race and pushed harder than I ever did in any other race or training event. I did not wear a heart rate monitor for the race, but I am sure I set some new records for average h/r.

There were times during the race that I wanted to stop pushing myself so I could rest, but my mind would not allow me to do that. I remember Marc V telling me that when you are pushing yourself that hard, you cannot turn it off. He is right. I remember Dan telling me he won Fair Hill using Envertene and it was weird, but worked well. He is right, the stuff works great. I ate 3 Clif blocks, drank water and accelerade, and the Envertene. I had the experience of the second place rider being local, so I had to look fresh and strong every time I passed a volunteer, because they all were teammates of his and I was afraid they would tell him I looked bad, providing him with the strength to pass me. I wanted them to say "He looked really strong" instead. I feared him for 25 miles, taking that win away from me. On lap 2, I let myself believe it was OK if he passed me and won the race. 20 seconds later, I punched myself in the face (metaphorically) for allowing that weakness into my brain. I took advantage of the dry pine tree sections to push the big ring, I cursed the new middle section that was soft and wet (and rooty and climby). I did see him in that section of the course on the 2nd lap, but had no idea how close he might have been to me because of all the twists and turns. I will say he looked extremely strong and put some fear in me.

Lap three was just trying to keep it all together. In the last mile, I came up on a woman that would not yield the trail at all. I asked nicely if I could pass on the left and she totally blocked me, to the point I ran off the course and almost crashed. I was still nice to her, then I found out later she was not racing just riding the course. Thanks for your consideration and lucky for you I was totally beat at the finish, or I would have given you an earful about that (she was parked near me).

Pulling out of the woods, I could see the finish line and sprinted for it, not knowing where Mr. Plum Grove might be. Once I was in the clear for sure, I zipped up and crossed the line with two arms in the air. I finally won a race, even though it was a very lightly attended training race. I learned a lot about racing and pushing myself that I can use this season when I get to race some very very fast experienced competitors. And I will always remember this first win and hopefully use it to push myself into a Mid pack position in my MASS class. Mr. Plum Grove admitted to his team mates that the race "was way too much suffering for March" and his teammates seemed surprised I finished in front of him.

Now to get recovered . . .

Coming off the rails

2011-03-04T03:58:00.000-08:00

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/03/news/a-conversation-with-alexi-grewal-off-and-running_162280

I remember several years ago when I would do 2 races in one day for the experience, along with extra riding before and after. All that allowed me to do was be tired and not do well in either of the races each day. I would hold back in the first one to sace something for the second, yet still go hard enough that it made me tired.

The comments are more positive this time, I think . . . .

Breakthrough ride

2011-02-27T14:01:00.001-08:00

Every one in a while, I feel like I am doing something right in this bike race game. I will admit that year after year, I have done the same thing: start hard putting some miles in early October, and keep pushing hard until I burn out.

This season, between getting sick and some snow, I have ended up building more of a base and not pushing hard through the winter. I have been smarter this year by looking ahead much futher than April or May, hoping to avoid the summer burnout I always seem to have.

This morning, I had the best road ride I have had in years. Pushed hard for over three hours until I decided to back off a bit, ate and drank smartly out on the ride, and had an average speed that I would have been proud of in the late spring, not in February. The additional base combined with some trainer time has done me well. Next Saturday, I get to test myself against some strong regional racers in Leesburgh, VA and I am looking forward to it. It will not be my first expert race as I had that experience last Fall, but it will be my first geared expert bike race and I am looking forward to it. I know I still have a lot of work to do, a lot of weight to lose, and a lot of things to learn, but I am ready for the challenge.

Train wreck, or not

2011-02-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

I am totally intrigued by this comeback story. I do find it hard to believe that everyone loved Lance when he came back, but have nothing but hatred for this guy. The comments are killer.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/02/news/alexi-grewal%e2%80%99s-big-comeback-gets-underway_161334

I was not around in cycling in 1984 (other than BMX racing), nor do I know much of Alexi other than what was in Velonews a few years ago, but if he can come back and be competitive in the pro ranks at 50, that is impressive. I guess I like the underdog stories.

*Picture courtesy of Velonews.

Racing and snow, yes snow

2011-02-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

Trying to put together a season is fun, deciding what races should be attended and balancing non-bike related commitments is always fun. I will say that the first weekend in May seems to offer many choices, but the only option is here:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12705

All you New Englanders (like CB2 and Monty) are welcome to sleep in my camper that weekend. 2 beds, 1 fridge, etc. 2 days of racing on one of the best courses on the region, plus a run if you are into that sort of thing.

Snow sucks

So in recent events, we had 70 degree temps on Friday and six inches of snow this morning. How is that for weather variation? HATE the snow. Spring cannot get here soon enough for me.

Rode on dirt yesterday

2011-02-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Super windy on Saturday combined with 27 degree temps meant I got to ride some dirt for an hour on Sunday at 6:30AM Sadly, several folks rode the same dirt trails on Saturday when it was not 27 degrees and the place is ultra lumpy rutted frozen. I spun back home and traded the MTB for the road bike.

I will say the trails that were not ridden (super secret location) were excellent. Frozen solid, not rutty and very fast.

It is a shame the Saturday wankers could not wait one more day . . . .

And then the snow came . . . . .

2010-12-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

Riding has been good lately. I managed to ride with one other person last week and we had a great ride. I went on a group ride the weekend before and that was a blast. And then the snow came . . . . .

Conditioning is coming along. I have been getting in a mix of trainer rides and mtb rides. Cyclocross bike is built up and ready to be ridden on a homemade course right across the street. And then the snow came . . . .

I planned on getting the road bike out next week for my Wednesday rides. I planned on my typical Maryland farm ride out by Fair Hill. And then the snow came . . . .

I am in my second week of base. Yeah, it seems early, but I want to be at my best in early June and then again in September. And then the snow came . . . .

Yeah, you could say I hate the stuff. I mean, I enjoy XC skiing, but there is no way to ski in this little bit of frozen crust.

Testing, Testing 1, 2 , , 1,2

2010-12-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

No, not microphone test, LT test. Did a 20 minute LT test to set heart rates and training zones on Saturday. Was a bit lower that I thought it should be, but I got a lot farther in 20 minutes than I expected, so I think that was a good thing. I rode farther in this off season test than in my 20 minute intervals last season, so I think I am heading in the right direction.

MASS races are posted, 2011 goals are set and the training plan is mapped out. Trying some new things for 2011 and hopefully I hit upon something good. In 2010, racing started out good, but fizzled out by early sunner. I am currently being tempted by two bike racing related things: Snotcycle is open for business and taking accepting restrigations daily, so I think I am headed there. The other is reading about all this cyclocross racing has put me in a place where I think I will try and race one of these late season, less than serious races (or more likely, take the cross bike out once a week for some specific workout I can do on a cross bike).

Broken Stuff

2010-09-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

I should post a pic of this, but my scandium hardtail is broken. Nice crack along a weld, I am sure it will be covered under warranty and the manufacturer has a new design from the one I am riding, but with this being frame #2 broken for me, I am not so sure about me on a scandium frame. The first one lasted almost two years and this one lasted 18 months, but it saw a lot of use in those 18 months and about 25 races. I have a really important race in two weeks, so I have to see what I can do for that race. More than likely, I will use it in the race but train on another bike. Highly doubtful I can get a replacement in two weeks. Sadly, Atomic blue is no more, so it will be white, orange (no freaking way as #1 was orange!), or raw.

On the same "broken" theme, I rode up on a local guy today with a broken leg. I should post a pic of this, but 1) I do not have one and 2) it was gross! He was on the phone with 911 when I rolled up and asked me to wait at the road for the rescue crew to get there. After waiting a bit, Meinrod (no stranger himself to a broken leg) came running up saying the ambulance crew called and they were waiting at the crosswalk where I was standing. Huh? Some quick riding later and I found they were not at the other cross walk either (Pleasant Valley Road and Creek road). Turns out they went to Carpenter State Park. Lucky for the rider, a ranger was alerted to the situation by another rider, came along and radioed to the emergency crew the scene of the event. The rider was wheeled out on a one wheel stretcher that the trail spinners had recently donated to the fire house. The lower leg was broken in half and it was flopping all over the place . . . ewwww. Glad to see his sense of humor all the way though, until they had to move him. The EMT asked that the rider not hit him because it was going to hurt!

Thanks Meinrod for helping out here too. It does not seem like too many people wanted to help out.

Been like three weeks . . . .

2010-08-12T12:08:00.001-07:00

Fair Hill did not work out so well for me. Hung tough in the beginning, sitting in the top 7 guys, feeling good in the singletrack for the first two miles. Got out into the open section and while I still felt good, everyone just rode away from me on the road sections. One guy, Danny Deo, even asked me if I was OK, which I thought I was at the time.

Continued to get dropped bad and about six miles in on an incline, everything fell apart. Looking back, it was heat but when I was in the middle of it, it was just suckness. While climbing a small series of inclines (three sisters for the locals) I just lost everything. Head hurt, stomach hurt, but worst of all, I had zero power in my legs. Started drinking, picking up onopened gels from the trail, and all water bottles I found on the trail were poured over my head. At the ten mile mark, I refilled my bottles and poured water over me. At mile 12ish, I started to feel better and started joking with the riders around me. If a top finish would be out of the question, I would have fun anyway. I continued to have a good time on the racecourse and started passing people again. So much fun, alternating between drinking, passing others, laughing, and making up nicknames for people, like "Pro Trials", some guy who pulled off a 20 foot "crashing" nose wheelie without crashing. I eventually rode away from the laughing crowd and finished 18 of 32 riders, not bad considering 2 guys jumped me in the last 200 feet when I had nothing. It was my worst finish of the year and forced me to not race the next two series races. I am in the process of figuring out the rest of the season right now and feeling stronger on the bike than I did a few weeks ago. I have not ridden my geared bike since that race though and have not really trained since that race.

My overall position in the series in going to be out of the top ten. I have not have the same results as last season for a number of reasons and while I struggled with that in July, I am ok with it now. Having a point series is a good thing, but worrying about points and rankings lead to things like six hour round trips to race for two hours or less.

Let's see if I can put something together to finish the season strong. Or at least to race a few more times.

About to embark

2010-07-18T03:53:00.000-07:00

on one of the three big races here in my home state. Nice when the venues are 10 minutes away by car. It has been a long season, some ups, some downs. Many just one away from the podium, one podium (at French Creek!), then some not as good finishes. Every year it seems to get easier, then harder. Something about me and summer racing does not go together well.

But Fair Hill, Fair Hill usually treats me well. I like the endless miles of singletrack, up, down, back, forth, all over trails I have ridden hundreds of times and never get bored of. Spent a lot of time at the place the last two months, pre-dawn rides all over the place, using the stinky porta-potty one morning, solo rides, rides with team bike line, some geared, lots of singlespeed. Sometimes I forget what a treasure the place really is at times. THE best riding nearby, with apologies to Iron Hill (THE 2nd best place by a small margin).

Speaking of singlespeed, I am going to go against the grain and actually racing my normal geared bike. Like to race on a SS there, last year was the 26er TREK STP experiment there while recovering from swine-flu (although I do feel another 26er experiement coming soon, still have the scandium Kona in the basement, anyone have a SID for sale?) Kidding . . . . . I think.

I am hoping for a top ten finish today and it is there for the taking. Felt miserable last week, tired, too many hours at work, and hated the bike. Rode yesterday and the legs felt incredible. Best they have all year. Worked hard to get openers done, yet keep the legs in good shape. This series we call the MASS is ending soon, three more for me (Fair Hill today, Marsh Creek next week, and the finals at Bear Creek). Hoping to find a race or two in August, but we shall see.

Cyclocross? Not for this rider. Too long of a season and have fallen out of love with it. It's OK, as I tell the 15 people that ask me at every MTB race. It's OK. I think the cyclocross question is asked more than "Where is your singlespeed today?", not sure which of the two I am most identified with, even though I have not raced cyclocross since 2006. I guess that happens when you are part of the best cyclocross team in the region at the time (RIP, FORT-GPOA!) But I cannot be away all year racing my bike, so I have to choose and MTB is #1 for me. Not saying I will not "race" the practices if I can find some, but . . .

I will report back on my success from today. If I can get up on the podium, great! If not, I will use it as training and fuel, because this is not my last rodeo by far, even though I thought it might be on Wednesday. Amazing how easy it is to bring yourself down because of a bad MTB race or two.

So still searching for that elusive podium and knowing I will be up there again before the end of the year.

Andrew Mein's Amazing Adventure

2010-05-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Or the race formally known as "Escape From Granogue"

I just love racing at Granogue. The course is very special to me, very peaceful, and very fun. I hear comments about the course like "It is very technical" or "It is one of the hardest courses in the series", etc. I really do not think it is either, but I am not going to sell it short and say it is easy, because it is not. This course has a lot of climbing (Barry, do you have a GPS track for this course??), a little bit of rocks, and lots of fun sections of singletrack. I cannot ever remember having a bad race here, but I certainly can remember finishing one spot away from awards many, many times. 2010 was no different.

The week prior to the race, I injured my back while working on a home improvement project with my father involving a toilet and a lot of wet flooring that had to be replaced. I was concerned about racing in my geared class, so I opted for the SS class. Seemed to make sense to me because I can control the hurt while on a SS. Back was better prior to the race and I was second guessing myself, but went with it anyway. The SS class is chock full of talent and it was easy to see who the ballers were on the start line. I have a history of racing singlespeeds, even though I have not in over two years. Many times guys see me racing on a geared bike and ask me about the singlespeed. Going back to SS, none of those guys asked me about gears, just welcomed me back into the fold. Starter said go and I did. One guy was a major turbo off the line and I went for his wheel, but decided to let it go. I maintained 2nd for a little bit (real little), fell over, and dropped back to somewhere around 8th. That will happen when you fall in the first mile of a race. I rode the rest of the first lap not passing anyone and not being passed either. and wheel to wheel with the top ten guys. I was hurting. Bad. A 52" gear is not the best choice for this course, but I went with what I had on the bike rather than switch something out at the last minute. On the 2nd lap, I felt much better, rode with Mark Sanford a bunch (which was new for me, but since he started 2 minutes back and does not like wet technical courses, it makes sense). I went back and forth with another SSer all race and he rode away from me in the last 1/2 mile of singletrack. Turns out he was the fifth place rider and got the last step on the podium. He deserved it!

Came home, took the singlespeed apart, and plan on racing a geared bike for the rest of the year. My hats off to you SS guys. I hurt worse at Granogue than I have all year. I am doing well in the points for Vet II sport and need to remain focused on that class.

Next up, French Creek. Not wishing any bad luck for the promotors, but I hope it gets very wet for the race, as wet, slippery, climby, and technical are the best days for me. The weather forecast for the day of the race is: RAIN! Yay.

See you out there?????

Come and Gone

2010-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last year I purchased a copy of Joe Parkin's book "A dog in a hat". This book has become one of my favorite books and I read it about once per month. It is a fairly fast read and hard to put down once I start. Sure, I know what happens next, but I seem to enjoy it every single time regardless of how many times I have read it. The joy of experiencing life through two wheels is captured well by Joe and his descriptions of making a living as a pro cyclist in Belgium makes one want to cross the ocean and give it a try for themself.

Last Friday when I got home from work, Joe's new book "Come and Gone" was there. I cracked it open at 6:00 PM and by 11:00 AM the next day, I was reading the final words. The book is that good. While the first book was about Joe's early bike racing experience and upgrading to a professional cyclist in Belgium, the second book penned by Joe is about his return to the US and racing there, both on the road and later as a mountain biker (with a bit of cyclocross thrown in for good measure). It is interesting to read about the differences with pro life in Belgium VS in the US. He also returned to the US when the economy was not doing very well and sponsorships were getting harder to find.

Now both of these books are on my list of favorites and I find them equally entertaining. Joe experienced things I will never experience, yet reading about them inspires me to try and experience some of them. I highly recommend the book. I hear Mr. Parkin is now editor of BIKE magazine, making me wonder if that publication is worthy of my purchase these days.

Danville Tour De Tykes, or the course I love the best

2010-04-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Got to the race late, had to beg the guys at registration to let me check in as registration was closed. Lucky for me I was pre-registered and had my number, because I doubt I could have registered day of. Had 30 minutes to get dressed, get the bike ready, and get warmed up. Lisa and Isabella made the drive up with me, so they came up to the start line. It was a bit cold and they were tired from the long drive, but there to support me. Unlike previous years, this race would have staged starts, much to the dismay of the locals as I heard when I was getting ready. I disliked this race being scored like a time trial too. That would not happen this year. Yay!

While we were on our way to the event, Lisa asked me why did I drive three hours to come to this race. I explained that this course was real mountain biking to me. Big mountains, fast singletrack, power climbs, huge views from up top, and superfast, rocky, slide back behind the saddle descents. The closest I am going to get to big mountain racing.

Got to the line feeling a little cold, and very very nervous. The fields were smaller than the previous week. 24 Pre-Registered riders VS the 62 starters at Fair Hill. Tried to put a good song in my head as we rolled up to the start line.

Let it flow
let yourself go
slow and low
that is the tempo

Slow for sure. The race starts on a paved climb, then goes up a gravel road to the top of the mountain. At the top, you start riding singletrack that continues to climb. Starter says go, guys around me are jumping the gun at 2 seconds. At 1 second to go, I am the only one on the front line that is still not going. Starter says go, I go.

It's never old school - all brand new
So everybody catch - the bugaloo flu
Not like a fever - not like a cold
The beats are clear - the rhymes are bold
So don't see a doctor or see a nurse
Just listen to the music - first things first
Let it flow
let yourself go
slow and low
that is the tempo

As we start to ascend the paved road, I notice I am on the front and put in 10 strong cranks. No one responds. I decide I will ride hard, but within my limits. I am ahead by 4 or 5 bike lengths as we ride onto the stone fire road. I am almost to the back of the group that started in front of us and decide I should try and hide in this group. Maybe having a bright blue bike and a bright blue uniform is not the best thing . . . need to rethink racing in that one of a kind 2010 Alt kit with the blue houndstooth fabric. . . . Halfway up the fire road, a guy from my wave gets around me. I learned later that he passed the leader of the wave before us prior to the top of the climb where you enter the singletrack. At the very top, another racer goes by, followed by a third. I am at my limits and unable to latch on, but I do chase on. I am in 4th position and feeling great. As we weave around the mountain top singletrack, the climbs start again. I am trying to be aggressive, passing riders from the start waves before me, but starting to feel the effort again and looking forward to the upcoming rolling power section. I bobble when passing another rider and a guy on a Blue Niner in a similar blue kit as mine from my wave goes around me. Poop.

First of all - get off the wall
It's time to party so have a ball
Because we slowed it on down - so get the hell up
Like a volcano I'll erupt
We got determination - bass and highs
White Castle fries only come in one size
What you see is what you get
And you ain't seen - nothing yet
Let it flow
let yourself go
slow and low
that is the tempo

I am starting to feel good and keeping blue niner in my sights. He has loads of power and he is using it in abundance. He is also powering right though other riders and tearing up the downhill sections. But I am determined to get back to his wheel. He is passing riders and I am following right along, passing groups of up to 2 and 3 riders at a time with me 5 seconds behind him,. He gets by a guy that is entering every fast corner full on skidding. I blame his V brakes! I need to get around him, but by this time we are in super twisty and tight singletrack and I cannot find a hole, even though I have made my intention known. Going into a fast left hand turn, he totally locks up the rear wheel, comes to a total stop, and in trying to avoid him I go down fast and hard. I am able to bounce up quickly, but while I am on the ground, Danny Dieo from Trestlebridge goes around me. Danny is on a 26 and is tearing up the tight stuff. As we exit this section, he pulls away and I work to keep myself moving forward, counting where I am in the race and telling myself it is still very early and the win is still possible.

I do not sing - but I make a Def song
You could live your whole life - and I hope you live long
On the Gong Show we won't get gonged
We're the Beastie Boys - not Cheech and Chong
Strong as an ox - fresh out the box
The crowd is so live - they're coming in flocks
And when we go on - the crowd goes off
It's all hard rock - there's nothing soft

So now I am in 6th position and I am not feeling great. There is no way I came all the way up here for 6th, I wanted a podium and I wanted it badly. I take a minute or two to get my head together and get my race mojo working. I try and keep moving forward and want to put myself in a better position when we hit the halfway mark of the course, when the course crosses over the start point and begins the ascent up the other mountain. I am starting to feel really good on the bike here, both on the ups and the downs. Somewhere in the section prior to the midway crossover, I pass Danny and set my sights on blue Niner, telling Danny to come along with me. He is on my wheel, but he eventually falls back. I am somehow able to get around blue niner just before the crossover and the ascent back up the mountain. I am now in 4th and looking for the 3rd place rider. I am rocking the climb and as soon as I am out of site of the chasers, I take a minute to eat a gel and drink some water. Smart move here, as I needed the energy the gel was providing. It allowed me to finish the race strong.

We don't only rock the house but we'll house we rock
We don't stroll but we roll straight to the top
M.C.A., Adrock, Mike D. makes three
And we can do it like this in the place to be
When I'm recorded - you'll be rewarded
I know my song is Def 'cause you all applauded
Not P.C.P. or L.S.D. - just me Mike D. in the place to be
This is not free - you must pay a fee
Cash on delivery like a C.O.D.
Let it flow
let yourself go
slow and low
that is the tempo

I love the second half of the course. The first half has climbs, but the second half has incredible, really long, technical climbs. It also has some power sections in the middle, get in the big ring, roll along fast, and relatively flat power sections, considering one is still on a mountain. The gel is making me feel good and I really work hard to catch riders in front of me. I am starting to go around some Expert riders who started before me and had to ride other sections of the course before coming back to the combined course (which is a little confusing). I am feeling good. I am trying to channel the energy of Nathan Deibert, who absolutely loves this course and is a great climber. Hopefully he felt the need to send me some good thoughts and power, it seems he may have as my suffering was not that bad. Yet.

The beat is slow in order to dance
I wanna hear I dos and no I can't
First you move your legs - and then your arms
It's not fast and nervous - this dance is calm
It's truly stable and you ought to be able
To dance to the record when it's on the turntable
Let it flow
let yourself go
slow and low
that is the tempo

The last section of the course is really hard. While descending the mountain on the loosest, steepest, hardest singletrack I have ever ridden, I am led to believe I am approaching the bottom of the mountain, because I am. And then I realize I should be hearing the music at the finish line and I am not. And then the course turns back up. And up. And along the mountain. And then down. Then up. Up some more. Up and across the mountain. In retrospect, the first descent was down to the OTHER side of the mountain and then I had to ride up and over the mountain to the finish. I actually had to walk a section of the course, because my rhythm was off and I was in the wrong gear. That can happen when you are rolling along downhill and all of sudden make a 180 turn up some loose rocky trail. I was not the only one walking, but that was also the point I saw the 3rd place rider. I push on, hoping I will not run out of trail before the finish. As it turns out, the trail had more twisting and climbing to do and he finished 3 minutes up on me. I finish the race, taking time to zip up my jersey so at least I look good for the finish line. Upon finishing, I see my wife and daughter there to greet me, but knowing I finished in 4th and would not be making a trip to the podium today. After talking to some other riders, we make our way back to the car to clean up, pack up, and went out to lunch and then home. On the way home, Lisa and I really enjoyed the drive and she really enjoyed the mountain scenery. In retrospect, it was a fantastic race and day. My finish time was 13+ minutes faster than the same course last year. And that is a pretty good improvement. The best part is I am not finished improving yet.

And so it began . . . .

2010-04-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it actually began two weekends ago at the MASS relay. Met a large group of racers on the way to the MASS relay at the Wawa in Lancaster, which is a favorite meeting place when heading into Central PA. Quick run to use the bathroom, get some food, and we were on the way. Set up camp quickly among the C3 and Fast Forward Development team and rode a quick lap. Learned how much harsher the bike feels with a rigid fork and was surprised by the roughness of the trails as I remembered them to be pretty buff.

My team all rode well and came within 20 seconds of getting our last relay rider out for another lap. Next year . . . . . I felt good on the bike and as always, loved the trails on the Osterling farm. 16 minute laps with 45 minutes of rest made for some dead legs on laps 2 and 3, but 4 felt pretty good. Fully rigid on the rooty trails in Marysville, not so much (although my front tire choice was not so cushy either).

Sunday, April 11th was the first official cross country race and the venue was 15 minutes from my house, which is always a nice thing. Team Bike Line, along with Mother Nature did a great job in getting the course ready for the race. Just six weeks ago, the course had a foot of snow in places, so it was nice to have a superfast course to race. 62 guys lined up at the start of the Vet II sport race, the largest field in quite some time. I did my best to hold back at the start to avoid overextending myself. As we approached the first turn, I started to move up through the field, but there was still a very long way to go before we would hit singletrack. I could see my teammate Barry up ahead in the crowd and worked to get up to him, which took some time, ½ a lap actually. We then did our best to pass folks and move up in our field. We passed a lot of guys and ended up 9th/10th for the day, crossing the line together and letting the timer decide the winner. It was great to be racing with a teammate, because we both kept each other focused on moving up in the field. I suspect by the time we passed our team tent (first section of the course on the fireroad), we were in about 25th place, so it was nice to keep moving forward all race. Pass and zoom, pass and zoom. Lisa and Isabella made it out the race as well and enjoyed being outside. It was nice to see them at the start of the race and at the end of the first lap as well. Hopefully they can make it out to more races in the future. Props to Mark Sanford who won Vet I Sport on Sunday. You deserve it dude.

Now it is time to work on more training and conditioning in order to improve my placings. I am looking forward to courses with more climbing and technical sections. The Secret Henry’s Team had a good day, although I am not sure how good because I have not seen final results yet.

Gearing up

2010-02-27T03:23:00.000-08:00

Prep for the 2010 race season has been going well. The snow has had an effect on everyone's training and has changed the way I have prepared from what I have previously done. I think that is a good thing. The changes in climate have allowed me to do some weight training and focus on specific types of training, training that should allow me to meet my goals this season. Junk miles are not really an effective way to train, but accumulating junk miles on a trainer are really a sad thing.

On the team front, things are going well. We have a core group of racers on Henry's that have some serious goals. A soon to be released website of the team will allow an up close and personal view of the team and where we want to be standing this season. It is good to be back in the folds of the organization that helped form my role in the community. The team is a melting pot of riders from other local teams, some defunct, so I share common backgrounds with many of these folks.

Things on the home front are going very well too. My daughter will start school in the fall, my wife is ever supportive of this insane training and racing lifestyle, and my 40th birthday went by without too much hassle.

Now I look forward to the season ahead, riding on some nice dry singletrack, and racing my mountain bike in about five weeks from now. I am looking forward to that day and now I am going to go do some more preparation work for that day.

Changes for 2010

2010-01-29T04:22:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce I will be riding for Henry's Bike Shop, located in Wilmington, DE. I previously rode for Henry's in the past, first as a member of FSVS, then again years later in 2007 and 2008 when I returned to racing after a small break. I made a decision to leave the team in 2009 and spent a year with the Allied Milk squad. Things were great with Allied Milk. A great group of guys, all strong riders and great guys. Dan Conrad is a great guy and had a lot of passion for the sport and for his team.

But returning to Henry's was the right thing for me to do. Rick, Andrew, and Vince have always treated me well, heck Vince and Andrew play with my daughter on Saturdays when we sneak off to the shop after gym class. Being on Henry's is like having a second family for me. Being supported by them, even though I was not riding in Henry's gear, always felt a little dirty to me. And the team is taking on a renewed focus towards the Mid Atlantic Super Series. Rick MiHills is poised to make a return to MTB racing and that is a great thing. At this time, I have somewhat of a leadership position with the team and I like that aspect of it, being one of the drivers of the bus.

We also have two new riders this year that moved over from No Cents Racing. Barry Jones and Robert Baldoni have been racing with me for a few years now and I looked forward to seeing them at the races. Oddly enough, our relationship started a few years back when Barry was calling me out for being a sandbagger, a compliment that still makes me blush to this day. I have grown close to him after this event and I am proud for him to be a teammate of mine. Robert is a terror on the bike and he too will make a fine addition. Hopefully we can pull a podium sweep sometime this year - - that would be sweet. At this point, it looks like we will field a small team in the MASS and a separate Endurance team as well.

It is never too late to go home again.

Snotcycle Fail

2010-01-29T04:05:00.000-08:00

As I sit here coughing, producing snot!, and feeling pretty crappy, I wonder if racing sick in cold, cold conditions is such a wise move in January. I guess the answer to "Are you going" will be made tomorrow morning. Off to drink some OJ and Cold Ease.

Year End Updates

2009-12-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

Finally, after getting sick 3 times in the last four weeks, I went to the doctor, where I was prescribed 2 weeks of antibiotics. The whole family is on a similar program, because we have all been sick a lot. Turns out we all have sinus infections. Every time I got sick, I had the tell-tale signs but I have been trying to avoid all of the side effects of the antibiotics, unsuccessfully it seems. Mostly avoided them because I would recover quickly and the infection signs would go away. I am glad to be on them now as I could not shake the last cold and things were going downhill fast.

Looking forward to 2010, I placed my chips down for the Baker’s Dozen. In a moment of “delusions of grandeur”, I registered for the Cat 1 race, instead of trying to go back and repeat with a top sport finish. I could switch races, but that would cost an additional $15, so I think I will just tough this one out. Since my training has been derailed by snow, rain, and being sick, this will literally just be a ride in the park for me. The distances have been lowered from last year too, because a 28 mile race in January is too much! I do love the trails there on the farm though and cannot stay away. The promoter is running a 4 race series there, so I may be back for more of the same.

Christmas was good for everyone in my family. Isabella was very excited about all of her presents. I think she was most excited about the puzzles she received. She likes the toys, but really enjoys working out problems in her head, so she loves every puzzle she gets to build. On the two days following Christmas, the first thing she said to me was “Can we play puzzles Daddy?” We did.

Hopefully I can get out and ride soon, but I am not going to push it and end up sicker. Sadly our trails are perfect now that they are frozen, but more snow and rain are on the way, so this condition may be short lived. Bummer, but for now, I better stick to the trainer and weights.

Winter Wonderland, or how the deep snow allows me to do what I need to do to get ready for 2010!

2009-12-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Our area got hit big time with snow! Depending upon who you ask, there is anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of the white fluffy stuff. Riding outside on the road may take a few days as temps will be cold for quite some time. Riding off road will be next to impossible, as the trails are very covered and again, the temps will be cold for quite some time. Last year, after a large snow, I rode the same trail over and over in Middle run, about a mile out and back. It allowed me to get some outdoor riding in while others were stuck on their trainers. The section included a climb, so it was a really good training effect and I used it for about a week until the snow started to melt. I pretty much kept it to myself, but it was better than being on the trainer. I am not so sure I am as motivated yet this season, but there is a nice trail network closeby (Redd park) and I could ski or hike there first to push the snow down, then ride the MTB. It is actually a better option than the trail in Middle Run as it is a loop option, about a mile in length - - perfect short track training loop actually. Any takers to help mash it down?

I have taken a different approach with my off-season training from last year. I did not do any running this year, while I ran last year for about six weeks. It provided a good aerobic base and helped keep the extra winter weight off. I was going to continue to not run, but based on our recent weather, I am going to go ahead and do some running for the next month or so. It may be the only chance for outside activity in the near future, although I did see Euro Camp Bound Jeff Bahnson out riding his MTB yesterday.

I also wanted to do a regimented weight lifting program for 2010 and failed there too with only periodic and non structured weight training a few times and not in a regular pattern! Luckily, there is still some time and once again, the weather outside has provided an excellent opportunity to do some weight work. Last night, in addition to other lifts, I did dumbbell squats to failure and my legs locked up big time on the last set, just like they do when I am off the back on a group ride and trying my best to get back to the pack, so I think doing some weight work will help me for the racing season. I worried about being able to get upstairs after the last set, but in time the legs loosened up.

I registered for my first race of 2010 over the weekend, the Snotcycle at the end of January. I went back and forth quite a bit trying to decide if I would race this again, but it was a lot of fun last year and I would be sorry if I did not do it. The course is a good match for my riding style and it is a lot of fun. Perhaps this year there will be no snow on the course and it will be even faster than it was in 2009. I do know I need to take a different approach with hydration, because my bottle was frozen after one lap last year and I was really thirsty! In addition, there is a crit training series scheduled for an area not that far from me and I am looking forward to taking part in a few of these events. I have done training crits in the past, but had to drive for 90 minutes to get to them (T-Town). No info posted yet other than “Wilmington Training Crit Series”, but I keep checking back.

So to sum up, slow rides in the snow once I get the trail cleared, running, weights, and the first race of the season is five weeks away! Time to get moving.

2009-12-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

More base, some weights, lots of road, little bit of trainer, and no MTB riding. Another cold set in Thursday, so I missed the best chance I had to ride my MTB this AM when the trails were frozen. Too warm tomorrow for trails, but hopefully the rain holds off for a bit and I can ride on the roads instead of the trainer. I actually have been enjoying my road bike. A lot.

Have to go do some more planning for 2010 . . . .and ride my trainer : (

Laying down a base

2009-11-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

Riding has been challenging lately at best, considering all of the rain, but it has not been impossible. Sunday's have been extra good for riding and the last three had me on the bike for 3+hours each, along with riding during the week almost every day. Just this week, the trail rides have been replaced with road rides. Kinda scary, but I actually like riding the road bike a lot. Just need to take the time to clean the dirt and grime from the drivetrain, most of this grime approaching a year of tenure on the chain and cogs.

I am looking forward to the 2010 racing season. Some decisions to make, some easy, some not so easy, but all in all it should be a good season.

Take a minute to go check out Delaware's favorite junior national champ in action here and feel free to drop a dollar or two in the bucket while you are there if you find it appropriate: www.dccofd.org/jeffbahnson.htm

Alternative Funding Methods?

2009-11-18T19:56:00.001-08:00

It costs a lot of money to send a Jr to Europe to race. Here is Lauri supporting her son's Euro trip. Source: www.cyclingnews.com

The Road to Glory starts now

2009-11-16T03:25:00.000-08:00

Thinking a lot about 2010 and where I want to be in racing. There are still some final decisions to be made, and they all be challenging. Between fighting a cold and the constant rain all every day, riding outside has been a challenge.

Rode my first long ride yesterday in a long time, a 3.5 hour tour of Fair Hill starting and ending from home. Had great company for the ride, but it seems like we went up almost every hill in the place, minus the long down and up lead-in to Skip a trail. Good times.

I will begin to lay out a plan for next year, but the mext two months looks a lot like this: Long slow rides with a little intensity once per week!

Oh yeah, go check this out www.dccofd.org/jeffbahnson.htm and drop a few coins in the bucket for ol' Jeb.

Rest in Peace Susan. WIN!

2009-08-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

I am very sad to have read this post today. I have followed these folks lives for over a year now and FC has been very open about a lot of things. Elden is a very stong man and my heart goes out to him and his family. I am so sorry.

I will be racing in my Fat Cyclist jersey on Sunday. Other than contributing to team fatty and his livestrong effort (perhaps I should have joined the team for Philly?), but other than contributing, there is nothing I can do, but I can and will the jersey Sunday in honor of Susan.

Go hug your wife/husband/child(ren)/dad/mom/brother/sister/dog/cat/neighbor. Enjoy the each day and embrace it. Each is truly a gift and you never know if will get the same gift tomorrow. Make each one count.

www.fatcyclist.com

An open letter to my teammates

2009-07-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Team,

I wanted to share my experiences with you from the night race at Marsh Creek State Park. When I first heard about the event, I knew it was one I wanted to do. I have always had a good race at Marsh Creek, with my record being 2nd, 5th, and 3rd for the last three years. The course is nice, with some singletrack, some nice climbs, and some power road sections, which I do not like, but that is because wide open power sections are a weakness for me. Throw in some rocky sections, and some mud and it is a lot of fun. Before we get there though, I want to talk a little bit about my 2009 racing season.

A top five series ranking in the MASS is my goal for the year. It is my last year in Vet 1 Sport as I will officially be old next year (40) and racing in the next age cat. So far, the season has been fairly kind to me, with both Fair Hill races being the exception. I started racing way back in January, finishing 4th out of 60 riders in Leesburgh, VA in the ice and snow. In April, FH 1 was not kind to me because I was not smart at the start. I learned long ago that a finish line sprint at the start of the race is not too smart, but I entered this race with one goal in mind and if the course was only 1/4 long, I would have accomplished that goal. Unfortunately I forgot my previous lessons and I paid the price. The rest of the season has been pretty good to me, finishing just off the podium at many races and coming back late in other races to finish up strong. Granogue 6th. Iron Hill 4th. TdT 6th. Then I got sick after Tour De Tykes. Real sick. Coughing, phlegm, nasty sick. 11 Days of anti-biotics did a number on my body and I finished them the day before FH 2. I started the FH 2 race feeling strong, but knowing I was sick and had not trained in the three weeks prior to the race. Mentally I was blown before I even started. Sure I rode during these three weeks, but I did no intensity. None. And I paid the price. Right from the start, I was off the back and just rode the race instead of racing the race. Everytime I tried to get going, my body said no. My 15th place finish was not good, but it matched my finish from the Spring FH race, one that I was hoping to drop from my score. It was still better than mid pack though and I did manage to stay in the big ring for just about the entire race. It was also my first race on a 26er in a very long time. On the open, fast course, my 29er would have been a big advantage.

After FH, I looked ahead at the remaining races and put together a plan. Marsh Creek was too soon to train for, but I had to start training for the rest of the season. Game on. Tuesday after FH had me doing 5 minute start intervals. Wednesday was hill climbs, Thursday was two 20 minute time trial efforts on the MTB. Love those things.

I arrived to the Marsh Creek venue to find it was very dark. I got lost a few times getting to the venue, but that is to be expected up there as the park is tucked away behind houses and an actual town. Soon after registering, I found Joel Kahney. Shortly after, I met up with Steve McCann and then I saw Kid Chris (Consorto). Cool. We had four strong riders. I got dressed and took a pre-ride with Mark Sanford and Dan McDermott. I got lined up at the front and hoped for the best. Fields were smaller, but it was hard to tell who was in each class. I knew Mark Sanford was there and Chris Yanovich too. Number 1 and 2 ranked in my class and I was currently sitting in fifth place. I stayed close to Chris on the MASS start and I was among a select group of ten riders. I knew Mark had to be very close behind me. I held my position for a bit, then I got myself into trouble in the dreaded open sections by the Dam. I managed to hold my position in the first open section as Mark Sanford rolled easily up to my wheel right before we entered the woods. He coached me through the wet sections as he pre-rode the course earlier in the day and knew where the trouble spots were. I managed to get away from Mark over a really big (3 foot) double log crossing and started the stone road climb back up. Mark came rolling by a few minutes (OK, seconds) later, knowing the open sections were my kryptonite. This open section of the course was over a mile long and I really, really hated that. A few more riders came by and I could not wait to get back into the dark woods. I knew from racing this course last year that a big climb was coming up, one that I had to run with my singlespeed last year but would be able to ride with gears this year. I got most of the way up before slipping out and having to run the rest of the way. The woods were really dark and I switched on my second light so I could see better.

The rest of the race was pretty much all of the same. Some singletrack, some narrow doubletrack, some nice climbs, both long and short ones. The wide open sections were only part of the prologue, so I was happy to be through those sections. Wet trails at the bottom of the park, dry at the top, a lit up ruins house in the middle, and a rock valley that allowed my rear wheel to slide two feet to the right every single time (scary fun). I rode each section as I would my 20 minute time trial efforts. Somewhere out there, the battery for my bar light slid down my bottom tube and it disconnected. After wasting 15 seconds trying to reconnect it while still riding, I gave up and tucked the wire under my cables. I still had my helmet light and if I lost that, I would come to a stop and fix the bar light. I passed the scoring trailer, confused if I just rode 4 miles or 9 miles. See, the course was 1 prologue lap and two laps and I never asked how many times we would cross the finish line. Looking at my watch, I figured out that I was out for about an hour and hopefully had two laps down with one to go. During my last lap, I got passed by a few of the Elite riders that were out before us and rode one more lap. First was Rob L, then a little later Wes came by. When Matt Miller came by in 5th place, I jumped on his wheel for three seconds, then I heard Kid Chris announce his arrival and I backed off so Chris could jump on Matt's wheel. I pointed out that Matt was right there in front of us as he passed me, but Chris told me he was right in front of him all race and he had been trying to close the gap for the entire race. I rolled on Chris' wheel for a short time, allowing him to pull me forward and therefore closer to the finish. The rest of the lap was uneventful and I was surprised how much shorter it seemed (well, duh, it was only 5 miles VS the 9 for the prologue/lap ). After crossing the line, I verified I was indeed done and turned in my chip.

The podium was kind to me as I finished in 3rd (of 5 riders) and scored the points that go along with 3rd, moving me up in the overall Vet 1 rankings. Awards started about 1:50 AM and looking at the pictures, it was pretty clear I was sleeping on the podium. My only podium this year so far and you would think I could look happy? I know I felt happy and smiled, so I think the posted picture was taken early in my 15 seconds of fame. I think this finish places me solidly in 4th place, but I am not taking the time to do that math right now. Once we get past 7 races, the posted points mean nothing unless you account for the best 7 races for each rider. Prior to this race, the rider in 4th has one extra race than I do and the rider in 6th has one less race than I do. The 4th place rider has beaten me the last two races by a small margin and is a great climber. The rider in 6th was the de facto champ in Vet 1 Sport last season as the rider awarded the championship upgraded to Expert once the title was locked up mid season.

As far as team points, prior to this race, we were in 5th place. I think we may currently be in 4th and we have some work ahead of us to make it to third as Bike Sport had a ton of riders out there on Saturday night. When I joined this team, it was with the vision that Allied Milk would be a top three small team in the MASS. It has been a great ride and I hope we finish that ride up strongly. I trained quite a bit in the off-season, losing 25 pounds of extra body mass and training like never before, scouring the internet and training books to learn how to get better, as well as bugging all of my racing friends for training ideas. I left a team I have been riding with since 2003 (first as the Wooden Wheels team and then Henry's Bikes, with a core group of riders all moving at the same time), give or take two seasons where I was lucky enough to be sponsored by Fort Frames, where I starred every week as pit master for the Elite team after racing the C and B Master's races earlier in the day. I gave up cyclocross last year to focus on MTB for 2009, allowing myself to build a good base in the off-season instead of racing myself silly year round. I am just an average racer that has had to work hard for the results I have earned and I know that I still have a lot of work to do to get where I want to be, but I am passionate about this sport and goal oriented. I wanted this season to count and I wanted to be on a team that wanted the same things I did. I know that Dan wanted a team podium when we talked about it over the winter. I know from Saturday night that Joel and Steve want it. I know Kid Chris wants it - why else would he be chasing down Cannondale sponsored riders for a 5th place finish at 1:45 AM instead of being out late partying like other 22 year old males?

So for the rest of the season, I have laid down a challenge to myself to finish up on the podium at each race and keeping myself firmly positioned in the top five ranking in the Vet 1 class. I am facing my kryptonite at Sewell this weekend, the land of super-fast big ring riding and few climbs or technical sections. I know it will be the hardest race of the series for me, for I am at home when the riding is technical, the climbs are long, and the conditions are horrible. I get by with my skills and average fitness. But I am facing my demons on Saturday. The rest of the MASS season is important to me and to my teammates. Who knows where we will be next year or what will happen with the MASS? Things could change a lot, but rather than focus on next year, let's focus on the rest of this season. The only thing that matters now is the next four MTB races if we want to podium. On Saturday, we will be in the belly of the beast, slaying the D and Q dragons who I think are now right behind us in the Small Team rankings due to our Saturday night performances. They have been close to us all season and I get to directly take on one of their riders who will be in his element on this power driven course.

Thanks for listening to me. I hope to see you all at the Summer Sizzler on Saturday.

James

2009-06-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

I think is best to write race reports right after the race. As time passes, details are forgotten. Here is the deal with Iron Hill. I went out hard, I pulled away from most of the others pretty easily. I rode tempo a bit when I should have been going harder, I held off the 4th place rider in the hardest part of the course only to let him pass in an easier section, let him get away, realized what was happening, and then took chase and gained a lot of ground between us, but not enough to pass him or even to catch him. I let him escape for about 20 seconds and pulled 12 of those back in the last 1/4 mile. I am pretty sure I could have taken the sprint if I was just smart enough to stay on his wheel when he went by. Push off the podium by the same rider who pushed me off the podium at Granogue.

Tour De Tykes

I was disappointed to be the only Allied Milk rider at this race, other than Seth who did not race but provided moral support out in the woods. Race started on a very long climb and I managed to blow myself up before the top, sat in, and took about two miles to recover. Once I got moving like I knew I could, the course started going downhill and I was left to just ride the brakes on the steep, loose terrain. It went this way until the second loop of the course. I saw fellow rider and friend Mark Sanford up the trail, so I took chase. We were climbing a long climb and it appeared he was in granny (I later found out his shifter cable broke and all he had was granny, although on this course, one could get by with just the little chainring). So I worked my way though a couple riders and got on Mark's wheel. He immediately offered me the chance to pass, but I told him it was me and that I would not pass until I earned it. He let me by anyway and I thanked him. I worked hard to put a gap between us and shortly came up on Tom Snook. I played the same game, passing the riders between us, was offered the chance to pass, and identified myself and told him I would earn the pass. He agreed. I was able to pass him shortly after that, and worked to put a large gap between us, not large enough as I would find out later on. At this point, I was riding pretty good and other riders were falling off the pace. I saw another "V1" on a calf and made chase. We were in the last mile or two of the course and I really tried, but was unable to pass this last rider. I would get close and he would pull away. An Expert rider was between us (they started before us and rode a longer loop). The Expert rider would bobble and allow the V1 Sport rider (another BikeLine rider named Chris Doocey) to gap me. The last 1/2 mile of the course was cruel. The course would head downhill and you would think you were done, then it would turn right back up the mountain. It did this at least four times. I kept my eye on the Bike Line rider (Chris) and would watch as Tom Snook was behind me, but not able to pass me.

We finally came out on the road and I sprinted for all I was worth to the finish line. I should have sprinted a little more, 2 second faster to be exact. You see, the race used a timing mat at the beginning and at the end. Remember in American Flyers when the Russian, David, and 7 Eleven guy were racing along and 7 Eleven guy said "You are in front of me, but I am 10 seconds in front of you?". It was the same with Tom Snook. He had a 10 second cushion on me, because he rolled over the timing mat 10 seconds behind me at the start. Even though I gapped him and fought hard to stay in front, he was awarded the 5th place finish because it took him 2 seconds less to cover the course. There was so many places I could have pulled back those 2 seconds, but I had no idea. Rich Bilson finished on the podium about two minutes up on me, but I do not even think he hung around to get his medal and prize.

The climbs in this race, combined with conversations with Nathan Diebert had me thinking a 26 is a good choice for certain courses. I "think" I would have climbed better with the smaller wheel and the course was technical, but not that technical that I would have needed the 29er. The flatter rolling courses are where 29er is king (not to mention the rocky venues too), but 26 climbs better than a 29er when one is in granny and the course offers 180 degree turns followed by more granny climbs. I was definately taking inventory of my parts after this race, seeing if I had enough to put together a race worthy 26 from the parts I have in the basement. I think I am pretty close.

So even though I have failed to earn one this season, I am still in the game for a podium shot. The guy who keeps me off the podium, Chris Y from D and Q? He finished up in 2nd place at TdT - good for him. I knew he was serious when I was getting dressed and he was warming up on his trainer with his road bike.

I am looking forward to the next races in July. That allows me a good training period to get ready for the races and I have a plan in place. Hopefully by the end of July, I will have the chance to stand on a MASS podium. Racing has been good to me this year and I have some really good finishes, just not quite what I am looking for. Season is not even half over yet though and there are plenty of opportunites for improvement.

Iron Hill - -- Arrgh$&^@#&*^

2009-06-04T04:46:00.000-07:00

Like the name of this blog, I have spent the entire year chasing the podium and while I have failed 100% of the time to get up on the box, 75% of the time I finished up just below the podium, missing it by one place and at Iron Hill, by 10 seconds. To make matters worse (or perhaps to fuel the training fire more), I was the podium presenter at two of these events. It was bitter sweet to be standing behind the podium as the top three in my class stood on the podium.

As I was leaving my house, the skys opened and rain began to pour. YES! I love the days with rough conditions as I think it brings out the true mountain bike racer. Muddy courses require fitness, bike handling skills, and a good mindset. Technical courses like Iron Hill even more so.

Arrived on site and helped the promotors with registration. They decided to take a different route with the timing chips and I think the Sport lines may have been a little longer than those at Granogue. The timing guy is new this year and we are all learning. Here is a message to other promotors using the time. Split up your chips by beginner, sport, and expert so that you do not have to sort through hundreds of chips at a time.

Mark Sanford and I went out on a little pre-ride to scout out tissue hill and slime hill. Tissue hill went straight up the hill this year (down by the parking lot) and the angles were a little different. On to slime hill to see if it would be ridable. It was not, but we talked about where to run up (left or right). Left was King here. We got to see some 8 year old boy become totally frustrated here, falling down over and over again. He started to cry a little bit, then Mark picked his bike up and got him up the hill. It was a very nice move on Mark's part as the boy stopped crying and started racing his bike again.

The race start was not too fast and furious. I think all of us in Vet 1 are content with a cival starting pace, at least everywhere except Fair Hill and I can thank myself for that start. Chris Arterburn was leading us once we got into the woods, followed by Damon, Paul, Me, and Mark Sanford. Poor Chris went down on the first wooden bridge and his wreck was not bad, but he was on the right side of the bridge and his bike was on the left, so he had to wait to get back to his bike. Order was now Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. Paul was the next to go down, so order was Damon, me, Mark, Paul recovered and came around to make it Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. I let Mark by and the four of us just pulled away from everyone else. I fell off the pace, but passed Mark on Boneshaker as he crashed hard and was pretty shaken.

I remained in third from Boneshaker until almost the end of the race. Riding along, passing lots of folks from other classes, feeling the build-up in my legs, but feeling pretty fresh the entire time and attacking sections of the course. I was a little surprised at how easy it felt, but my legs were telling me we were putting out some efforts.

(MORE TO COME)

Iron Hill Week

2009-05-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Iron Hill is scheduled for this Sunday. Iron Hill is the place where many of the Delaware/MD/PA riders go their start, either racing or just riding MTB. For a small park, the place offers a lot: Challenging climbs, rocky trails, rock gardens, whoops, fast descents, and just a really fun place to ride. Many of the trail names are known to the local riders and some are as colorful as the place once was. I got to ride a fast lap on Sunday with a local Jedi and then two more fast laps on Monday, pretty much have the course dialed in. Expectations are high for this weekend. Hopefully the rest of my Allied Milk teammates will be in attendance this weekend as well and we can take a big chunk of the small team competition points.

Fair Hill Race Report

2009-05-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

The day started a little earlier than average. Up at 5:30, breakfast and coffee made, eat as much as possible and drink as much water as possible. Arrived at Granogue around 6:30 and made my way to registration. Lauri Webber had a great system set up and I trained the other early workers and got ready to register the 32 pre-registered marathon racers. Around 8:00 or so, I left registration to get ready for my 9:00 race. Warmed up on the road a little bit, dumped my vest and arm warmers, and took my place in the staging pens.

Before I knew it, my group was at the starting line and next to go. Fat Marc set us off and I fight my temptation to go hard off the front. I still find myself at the front, but decided to just sit in and not get too excited. Former Fort Mate Richard Bilson and his C3 teammate start to pull away from the rest of us towards the tower. I sit back and wait for someone else to chase, but after about 5 seconds of this, I decide to bridge up to their wheels. Rich led us up the Tower Climb and we hold formation to the top. Once on the other side of the tower, a few folks get around me, and then slow me up big time on the singletrack climb out to the cross-roads. Into the new singletrack section and through Deputy’s Woods, I am definitely in the wrong place and get held up a lot. I found it faster to just get off the bike and run around some of the riders who are slowing me up. By the end of Deputy’s Woods, things are more open and I start to move forward. I also pass the last place singlespeed rider right after the road crossing. The trend of passing the singlespeed riders continues for the rest of the race and I pass all but the top three SS racers by the end of the race.

The rest of the race was mostly uneventful except for my exchanges with Chris Y from D and Q. He and I start exchanging positions about halfway through the first lap and this continued to almost the end of the race. He had more power than me on the open sections, like the road climb, and was a much better descender. I rode uphill a bit better and ran better. I casually mention we could wait until the end to fight out who would finish first and he replied “Or we could just continue to sort it out now”. He got away from me at the end of the first lap and I did not see him again until the river trail, where he stopped to clean his bike. I told him I was going to go ahead and attack him and he said fine. He jumped on his bike and hung with me for the rest of the lap. I asked him if I thought we were close to the top ten and he told me we were in the top five, which turned out to be true. We both advanced forward, but never caught anyone from our class. He did have two teammates up ahead and we saw one of them at the top of the last singletrack climb. Chris attacked me on this section and got away. I never saw him again. It was about this time that my rear shifter crapped out, leaving me with two front rings and only a 34 in the rear. I switched to the big ring and stayed there until the end of the race, ending up in 6th place for the day. One place away from the podium.

The next MTB race in the MASS is not until the end of this month. This is the Iron Hill race, an event that I am looking forward to competing in.

Major props to Rich Bilson, who ended up 2nd in Vet I and had a blazing first lap time.

Pictures by the uncomparable Dennis Smith

So. Darn. Close.

2009-05-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

More later, but I was so close to hitting the podium yesterday, I could taste it. During the race, I was actually in a podium spot, only to lose it in the last mile of the race. Great course. Awesome MTB conditions, and an interview on http://www.cyclingdirt.com/ right here.

I will post my race recap tomorrow, but suffice to say I was pleased with my finish. I also figured out that I blew my Fair Hill Result in the first 60 seconds of the race. The rider who finished directly in front of me at Fair Hill commented when he saw me at Granogue about how fast the FH start was. In pictures, he was right behind me in the starting line sprint. At Granogue, he finished up in 3rd or 4th position. I did not overcook myself at the start of Granogue and was able to do much better as a result. I was stupid at Fair Hill, drew other riders out in my stupidity, and they suffered a similiar fate. Lesson learned. No more sprint starts for me.

Big thanks to this guy and a well timed comment about my race performance. Your words made a lot of sense Travis and when I read them last Thursday, I started feeling good about my chances at Granogue. Your advice, as small as it may seem to you, continues to help me get where I want to be. Knowing you were here before and seeing where you ended up helps a lot, like when Julian Michaels on the Biggest loser pulls out her fat pictures!

Race Recap will be posted soon.

A look back at Fair Hill

2009-04-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

The Short Story

I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. The End.

The Long Story

I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. On the day of the race, I felt that I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. At the start, I put out a cyclocross type effort and made it to the top of the starting incline in first positon. There was a large crash directly behind me, where two riders tangled bars. I heard that one of the rider’s bikes flew up in the air, like a wheel was at head height. To me, it sounded like the entire field went down, so I took it up a couple more notches, hoping I could get a little further down the trail before the affected riders could get back on their bikes. Dan Conrad told me he the crash was directly behind me and he was surprised I did not go down as well. So I dug deeper, crossing the bridge and into the downhill portion of the course fully taxed from my efforts by the time I hit the flat section. Then I got passed. Again and Again. Breathing was labored. I went too hard for the start. AGAIN. And I would spend the next mile unsure about when I would be recovered from that effort. I felt weak and was unable to attack the other riders as I planned, because I was stupid and went too hard at the start. About ½ way into the first lap, I was able to push myself again and started to pass people. I also wasted some time here and there by not passing people in the singletrack when I came up to their wheels, instead I waited for an opening. The trails at Fair Hill are tight and twisty and I should have been more aggressive.

I was also confused at the results trailer, because I was able to determine where I finished up and I knew where I was overall in Sport (61st), but had no idea where my peers finished. On Tuesday, results by age class were posted and I found that the winner of my race was 4 minutes and 30 seconds up the trail. Compared to previous races, that was not too bad. I also found that 90 less seconds would have earned me a single digit finish, which is my goal for all of the XC races I do this year. I am pretty sure I lost 90 seconds between the start effort and not being super aggressive in the singletrack with my passing. I did pass a lot of other riders, some in my class and some in other age classes. So seeing the actual results put a positive spin on this race for me. Conditions were faster this year, but I cut 10 minutes off my 2008 time - - which is a pretty large chunk of time. I have a lot more work to do before I will be back up on the podium, but I am working hard on it and will be standing up there soon.

Major props to my Allied Milk teammates. Team Captain Dan Conrad won the 19 – 34 Expert race by about a minute or so – considering the course and the competition, that is a pretty sweet finish. Joel upgraded to Elite Open and finished in the money for the day, while the rest of my teammates finished Top Ten in the Expert rankings. Fellow Sport racer Seth had a good race and it was great to see him there, rocking the fully rigid single speed!

Bike Changes

While waiting to see the race results, I noticed a small crack in my frame. It is on the way back to the manufacturer for warranty replacement and in the meantime, I will be training and racing on my singlespeed, in the Singlespeed Sport class. I was really having a hard time deciding if I would race Age Cat or SS Sport this year and instead of having to decide for myself, my frame just made the decision for me. I am not disappointed and based on previous seasons and my love of singlespeeds, I know I will do just fine on my singlespeed. The one good thing about racing a singlespeed is the gearing provides me with a rev limiter at the start of the race. I am able to push a respectable gear (34-19 on a 29er, sometimes 34/18). Last year, my results in Age Cat Sport were about the same regardless of gears versus SS, so the biggest difference will be different racers in the SS class. I will have a teammate in the class with Seth and hopefully he does not knock me over when he passes me!

So my next race is Granogue. Here is registration and do not forget the HERA raffle.

XXC is out!

2009-04-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

Check it out on the web - - - > http://xxcmag.com/XXCIssueOne.pdf Jason Mahokey (AKA Jason Dean) did a great job pulling together the first edition. Get it now - - > it is free and packed full of good stuff.

Anyone else tired of the cold rain we have been getting? I know I am.

Five days until Fair Hill. Register here --> http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8103

PSA for Sam

2009-04-13T02:55:00.000-07:00

Get your Big Bike Gear Raffle Tickets NOW!Up for grabs is a chance to help HERA find a cure for ovarian cancer and a super cool custom 26” mountain bike fork. Donated by Independent Fabrication, a custom bike frame builder, this and many other prizes are being raffled off to support HERA Women's Cancer Foundation. Win gear from companies like White Industries, Shebeest, Timbuk2, Shenandoah Mountain Touring, Snappy Caps, Tomicogs, Mountain Khakis, Gripped Films, EWR and many more. Winners will be selected on May 3 and raffle tickets are available online. 100% of raffle proceeds are donated the HERA Foundation.

Get your tickets on bikereg:

Way cool products, way cool time, and helping Sam spread the word about cancer awareness and help find a cure.

Numb3rs

2009-04-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Numbers are behind everything. Sometimes higher is better: HR during training, time spent in zone 5, length of intervals before total exhaustion. Sometimes lower is better: Resting heatrate, recovery time, h/r reaction to specific efforts, weight. Lap times. Obesssion with numbers sets in. Thoughts go into making some higher, some lower, and keeping some the same. Sometimes it all comes together at once and magic things happen.

The first individual MASS race is nine days away. It takes 24 minutes to ride there from here. Hopefully some magic will happen there.

Until then . . . .

Origins Part II

2009-03-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

So yeah, Huffy Pro Thunder changed everything. I now had what I considered to be a bona-fide BMX racing machine (it was not). It was even track certified, whatever that means. I think it means that the first time I took it to the BMX track, the pedal came out of the crank and I now needed a new crankset. But this was just the start of what formed my love of off-road riding.

Growing up, I had a great BMX facility right down the street from my house. It was known as “The Trails” and it was a 2 acre site covered with BMX trails. There was the Ski Jump, which was a jump directly at the bottom of a three story tall steep hill. The jump was pretty much an Evil Knieval triangular/pie shaped ramp and folks used to line up tires at the bottom for jumping over. The longest jump I witnessed there was fifteen tires long. The rider rode a loop of the track and then dropped in. He was flying, down the hill and over the tires. Understand that the hill was so deep that one could skid 1/3 of the way down and still have enough speed to jump three tires. Not that I would ever wimp out that way, no sir ; ). The average rider could clear 8 tires.

Another feature there was the pit jump, which was a flyout jump preceded by a roll in. Imagine sprinting at 100% effort and then dropping down three feet and up six within a span of ten feet. That was the pit jump. Jumping tires was popular here too, but they were stacked high rather than laying them out lengthwise. Four foot was the average amount of air a good rider could get. I remember seeing a friend crack a brand new Powerlite cruiser frame on this jump. It was THE best jump in the entire place and definitely the most popular one.

There was a section called the Roller Coaster, which basically was a long downhill and uphill, but broken up with flat sections, so it felt like riding a roller coaster. In the middle of the park, there was a bump jump and at the top of the park, there was a hump jump. One was good for distance and the other one was just for fun with no real ability to get much air, but it was fun to speed jump.

As time went on and more folks were riding and racing BMX, we added jumps like the ones at the BMX tracks. I remember building a set of doubles, with one angled out further than the other so folks who could not jump them at the further distance could jump them at the closer distance. These jumps lasted a few weeks, and then the folks who could not jump them started to tear them out. We convinced them to turn the jump into a tabletop jump, then we made the tabletop jump a reverse step up. We then turned it back into a larger double jump with the center filled in, but the same folks who tried to remove the double removed the new double as well, leaving it a reverse step jump. I did manage to build another double jump in another spot. This set was only 8 inches high, but the jumps were about ten feet apart. This made for a challenging jump for those wanting to try it and those who did not could just ride them as two humps. These stayed until the park was plowed over.

This BMX park got a lot of use and I was lucky enough to be able to ride it every day. We played a lot of bike tag, rode a lot of laps, and learned how to jump there. It was not uncommon to have unsanctioned BMX races there, but the outcome was pretty much the same because the same people always rode there. It was here that I met two very good friends that I am still friends with today. One of these guys was a huge benefit to the place and a leader among the group. He had visions of what the place could be and had all of us moving large mounds of dirt to make it happen. He had the trails widened (which was good here) so that we could race side by side rather than have to follow the leader. He changed the roller coaster from a goat path to a six foot wide trail with a large step jump in the middle. He helped build all of the jumps. He raced BMX, road, MTB, and worked at Henry’s bikes when Henry’s was a small bike shop in the city. On the road, he raced as a Cat 3 and he raced Expert MTB. He still works in the industry, but no longer races. He is still pencil thin and could probably race road or MTB in the Cat 3 road/Expert MTB and do well with a year of serious training .

My other friend from this era still rides bikes as well. He races MTB from time to time, but work and his family keeps him from seriously training and racing these days. He was a very good BMX racer and won a national in NJ in 1985. He still has the five foot tall trophy to prove it, or at least I think he does. He was even lucky enough to have his picture with his name printed in Bicycles Today, the NBL monthly newspaper/magazine - - a feat of which I am still in awe of today. This is back when the internet did not really exist, blogs were just a twinkle in someone’s eye, and getting magazine coverage was pretty darn hard for “just some guy”.

BMX racing kept me out of trouble as a youth. There was trouble to be found there too, but wanting to race kept me on the straight and narrow. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to do well enough to get on a good team, someday getting good enough to be on a Factory Team, the ultimate achievement for any BMX crazed teenager in the 80’s. I always made sure my gear and bike were clean, just in case some BMX team manager was at the race scouting for new riders. Even at some little local events.

I probably raced 200 BMX races in my career and there are three events that stand out clearly in my mind as the best 3 races ever. In the summer of 1985, I had a great race that put me on the Wooden Wheels BMX roster. Tom Harvey Sr was at the track, as he frequently was. He was a huge supporter of the track and gave both dollars and time to the sport. I was racing 15 Novice (which is like Sport in the MTB class categories). I was not riding for a team at the time. Mr. Harvey was always extremely nice to me as was the rest of his family, although Tom Harvey Jr. was not working in the shop nor was he around the BMX scene at this time. I suspect he was pretty wrapped up in his band at the time. Anyhoo, Mr. Harvey was telling me he was considering adding a rider from my class to the team. It was right before my moto and he told me he was considering adding Bill Swanson from PA or some other guy named Billy from Kennett Square. I looked him in the eye and said both riders are pretty nice and that would be a tough choice. Bill and Billy were both in my moto that day and I went out and won that moto with Mr. Harvey watching. When I went back to staging for my next moto, I said to Mr. Harvey “What about me Mr. Harvey? Would you consider adding me to the team?” He shook my hand right there and said welcome aboard. I went on to win the next two motos, stoked to have been added to the team (a similar event would happen later in life, same team, different manager, different discipline, but the same excitement).
The second event that I clearly remember was the 1985 Ironman Classic in Howell, NJ. This race was held on the first weekend of December and it was a pretty big deal. Back then, BMX was usually finished as soon as the cold came, typically October. The Ironman was one last chance for a race and the payout was good. EVERY rider to make the main event (top 8) would get a new helmet. They had good sponsors for the event and you would even get a special number plate just for the event. I trained very hard for this event because I wanted a new helmet badly. I lifted weights every day to get my body ready, spent a lot of time on the rollers, and spent hours doing sprints outside in the cold. On the day of the race, I was leading the first moto by a lot and spun out in a turn, going from first to sixth quickly. Second moto was a win by a large margin. I was crossing the finish line as the second place rider was rounding the final turn. All I had to do was finish the last moto in 4th or better and I would transfer. The helmet would be mine. I led this moto out of the gate all the way to the final turn where I once again spun out and four riders passed me. I finished 5th and did not transfer to the main. It was a large disappointment at the time, but clearly it was my best race ever. If I had tires with more tread (I was poor, remember?), I probably would not have slid out. I may have been trying to apply too much power for the conditions as the track was frozen in the morning and thawed out during the day.

The third event I remember was a double points race at Lums Pond. It was 1985 and my last year as a Novice. No one else was registered for Novice in my age category, so I was forced to race the 15 Expert race. My good friend Craig was in the race too and this was about the time he was really training and racing well. We often rode together at the trails and spent time riding and hanging out, so when he got the holeshot I and rode on his wheel in second, it was just like riding at the trails for me. I remember telling him “I’m going to get you Craig” in every corner and followed him, beating all of the other Expert riders around the track. I finally got passed in the final straight by Alan Foster, who told me I should upgrade to Expert because I was good enough. I was do distracted by trying to beat Craig that I was able to beat a lot of great riders racing in a class above mine.

Around 1987, BMX racing dried up quickly in the Mid Atlantic. Kids stopped racing, tracks started closing, and BMX became unpopular. Having to get a job at 16 made it tough to train and by the end of 1988, BMX was done for me. It was hard to travel 2 hours plus to races to only have 3 or 4 guys in your class - - and that class was 15 and up, so at 18 I was racing 15, 16, and 17 year olds, which was not the case when I started in 1984 and BMX was huge.

I rode my BMX bike a little bit from 1989 to 1993, jumping curbs and bridges down by the brandwine, but the trails had been flattened and there was no real BMX “parks” around. In 1993, I traded a BMX cruiser for a Jamis Dakota that was way too big for me. I had a MTB though and that is all that mattered. The Jamis opened up new doors . . . . to be continued.

Origins

2009-02-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy reading about how folks got started with riding and racing bikes, so I thought I would put my pen to paper and tell you mine.

It all started with an old Kent banana seat bike. For years, I begged my parents for a bike. Living adjacent to a four-lane highway (Concord Pike and by adjacent, I mean ½ block) and my front street being a 3-lane road (Broom Street), it was not happening. I remember going to friends of my parents’ house and seeing a “hopped up” Schwinn Sting- Ray with BMX style bars, flat black paint, and aggressive knobby tires. In case you were wondering, it was not meant to be, even though it was for sale and I really wanted it. I do think that is where my off road story begins though, because that was the first off road bike I wanted and wanted to copy. This would have been 1979 or so, so BMX was just getting started and most kids made their own BMX bikes themselves from whatever they could get their hands on. The kids in Cali had been doing this for years and the East Coast did have a BMX racing scene at the time, but most kids in my neighborhood had wanne-be BMX bikes.

Around 1980 or so, my grandfather was selling an apartment building he owned. Let me explain how my family owned an apartment building for a minute, so no one gets the wrong idea. The Italian Immigrant method of home ownership involved buying a house and then cutting it up into apartments. Most of the time, you rented the extra space to family, but if not, you rented to close friends. Even when you moved your family to another place in later years, you never sold the first one - - you just kept it and rented it out. You knew your tenants well and you took care of the place. So back to the story, my grandfather was selling the apartment building and there was a bike in the basement from a tenant many years ago. My grandfather contacted the former tenant and they had no desire to come get the bike, so it became mine. I am guessing that it was a Kent, but I really do not know for sure. My mom was not happy at all. She had never learned to ride a bike as a child and saw no reason for me to learn either. It was a red stingray style frame, red banana seat, tall chrome handlebars (ape hanger style), and the best part was a knobby rear tire, white wall of course. It was a single speed with coaster brake. It needed grips, so off to Pep Boys to get some new ones (Black Hunt Wilde’s motor cross style) and a patch kit for the rear tube.

It took me a while to learn how to ride the bike, mostly because I learned to ride in a 15 X 20 paved backyard (another city thing - - remove 80% of the grass and concrete it over - - less to mow, no mud, and everyone did it). I do remember riding down the street and in a parking lot with my father running behind, holding the sissy bar so I did not fall over. And like most kids, the first time he let go and I rode by myself and did fine until I realized he was no longer there and of course I crashed.

Riding was good though and my Dad took me to area parking lots to ride quite often. Wanting to be like Fonzie and having an abundance of wood around the house (Dad was a carpenter), it did not take long for a ramp to be built in the backyard. This was before I understood what getting air really meant, so I rode over the wooden ramp, let the front wheel drop to the ground, and then the rear. A bit like riding over a log, but I thought I was jumping.

One day, after “sessioning” the ramp in the backyard, I realized I had a decal on the down tube that was cracked. Kicking back on the deck, looking at my damaged sticker and drinking Kool Aid lemonade, I came to the realization that the sticker was not cracked, but the frame was. Said my first curse word, and went inside to tell my father. It seems that riding off the ramp and not jumping would allow the down tube (curved, like the “modern day” specialized MTB’s) to strike the ramp. My father was not pleased and even though I did not mention the ramp, I am sure he knew the break was caused by something stupid that I did.

Being from an average working family, a new bike was not possible for a bit. I probably could have obtained a frame from somewhere and moved the parts over, but it was 1980 and I did not know anyone that had a pile of bike parts just sitting around (yet). I think it was Christmas that year or the next, but a Blue and Yellow Huffy Blue Thunder made its way into my life. It was a whole new world now . . . . (To be continued).

Nothing new here . . . . .

2009-02-14T00:49:00.000-08:00

Like most other bike bloggers, new materiel here has been pretty sparse. Unlike other bike bloggers, I do not have a Facebook page, so I cannot use that excuse.

Reality is I have nothing to say that is much different from the other bike bloggers in February. Trails are soft and wet, so all of the riding has been on the road or on the fire roads at White Clay when I feel the need to get out in the woods. Been fighting a sinus infection, well a cold first that turned into an infection. Rest has been tough with the cold, and has made getting my training hours in this week tough, but that is life.

The MASS schedule has been posted, as well as the Kenda Cup. I am going to try and race almost all of the MASS XC races this year, except for one (Sorry Travis, nothing personal but timing for me. I love your races and your venue). I am thinking about the Kenda cup races in NY and VT, but not sure if the time in the car will make it worthwhile, especially when the Cranky Monkey Race series takes place on the same weekends and the drive is only two hours VS six. Trying to find which venues offer the most family entertainment for weekends away and right now, Fountainhead park with the pools and waterpark seems most family oriented. Isabella loves waterparks! The idea of racing in the National events is tempting, but the competition in the MASS is probably tougher. At least the fields are larger. I have always wanted to race at Mount Snow though, so we shall see. Good thing about Cranky Monkey is the small number of events versus a season long battle for points. And no license to buy.

See, nothing new here. Same old “riding the road, fighting a cold” story as most other bike racers in February. Maybe next week will bring new topics. Like new kits for Allied Milk. And riding on trails again. Maybe frozen, maybe dry.

Racing Already????

2009-02-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, kinda crazy. I looked at this race as strictly training and not a race. It is January, my training efforts have had no real intensity (nor should they this early in the season). When I saw the Snotcycle advertised in December, I thought it would be a good place to go. I new the course lacked any major climbs, so it fit in well with the early season timeframe. I also knew it was blazing fast, because there was no climbs.

Prep for the race started on Friday night. Lisa had other plans for dinner, so I had to find another "date" for dinner. I called Isabella on her Fisher Price phone and she told me she had plans to watch some Snoopy films, but would be more than happy to have me over for dinner and a movie. I asked her what was on the menu. She told me she wanted Chicken nuggets, veggies, and sweet potato fries. Sounded good, but I had some other ideas for dinner. See I knew I would be racing this guy and I wanted to make sure my nutrition plan was in order.

Following the "If you cannot beat them, join them philosophy" I cooked up some whole wheat pasta with spinach and sauce. (one of Jason's favorite pre race meals). I topped it off with some cheese. It was delicious. A side of bread and my carbo loading was done for the day. Isabella opted for milk while I drank water. It was a delightful dinner.

After eating, we retired to the family room to watch Snoopy on the TV. Snoopy has become a favorite of hers, to the point where she has to hold her snoopy stuffed animal while watching his movies. Mommy, er, Lisa came home and we all hung out for some family time.

Saturday morning came pretty early. Up at 5:30 to get some food and get the car packed. I loaded my bike up the night before, but kept the clothes inside the house so they were not cold when I put them on. It was a warm 18 degrees as I left the driveway at 6:45. Drive was uneventful and I got to the venue at 9:00, got registered, visited with the Sappsfords, and got dressed for a warm up.

VA did not get as much snow as we did, but they did get some and the trails were covered in snow (but not ice like they are here). To help balance things out, the fields had melted and were muddy, at least later in the day. The fire road sections were totally ice covered. The trail sections were 10 inches wide of packed down snow and the rest was hard crust snow, so I knew passing was going to be difficult.

I get back to the start line a few minutes before the start. I lined up on the right, then noticed there was a big gap on the lap next to Jason. I figured I should mark him now, since he laid down the smack a few days ago - ha ha! The race started and I sprinted towards the front. The start, being a fire road in a sunny field, was slippery. My Niner stayed upright and I went into the woods in 3rd position. One guy seemed to be pulling away quickly and I marked him and the guy in front of me. We seemed to be pulling away from the others and I was feeling pretty comfortable. In the first mile, the leader went down and then it was me and the guy who was previously in second place. I was on his wheel for quite some time, but there was no way for me to get around him, although I did try. I knew there was another rider close by and when it opened up a little, he got around both of us (riding for Gripped Films/Kenda). At that point, we were at the halfway point back on the fire roads. The gripped films rider was pulling away cleanly while I focused on the 2nd place rider. The second half of the course was the technical part and the fun part too. The snow covered course was very twisty, so each turn was a slide, like in a muddy cyclocross race. I found there was three way to go around the turns. Method 1 was to just go fast and let both wheels drift until you hit the soft snow section. Method 2 was to tap your rear brake and let the rear end slide around the corner. Method 3 was put foot out BMX style and use it as a prop if I started to go down. All 3 methods worked well.

During the first lap, the rider who was in 2nd went down, putting me in second. I held this position for about 1/4 lap and then he came around me again when I lost sight of the trail (the snow made it hard to see the trail -- - like a whiteout I guess. So at this point, the I was back in third and was never passed again the entire race. I did have a guy come up to me at the halfway point of the second lap. He said "Ha, I got you. But I am horrible in the technical stuff, so I am going to follow you line". 10 seconds later and he was on the ground, never to be seen again. Since we were in the technical sections and I did not want to lose my podium spot, I decided to put this guy in my head and heard him saying over and over "Race your strenghts", so I decided to do that. During the second lap, I started lapping the women and Singlespeed racers who started after us. Most would let me by, with the exception of one woman racer who would not yield the trail AT ALL. She told me just because I was one of the leading riders did not mean she had to let me by. I waited for a little window and passed her, thanking her for her kindness. It was a rush to be passing the single speed riders, guys that I raced in previous years and being able to pull away from them strongly.

Third lap was more of the same, no one passed me, I passed singlespeeders and other sport riders from my class, who I was actually lapping at that point. I did had one really hard crash (my only one of the day) on the fireroad section. I hit a patch of ice at way too much speed and went down hard. I slid like 30 feet, got up, and got moving again because I did not wont to get eaten up by a more powerful rider in the open section. Got moving, NO ONE passed me and I knew I had at least 3rd locked up. I told myself to not settle and try and find 2nd and also told myself I could still win this race. I powered through as many sections as possible and finnessed the turns, because it was getting slippery. Out into the field that marked the last mile, I see what I think is the 2nd place guy up ahead (he had polka dots on his jersey tail.). I put it in the big ring and start hammering because he looks like he was not. I catch him pretty quickly, then realize it is not the 2nd place rider because this guy is on an orange SS and not the full suspension bike #2 was on. I still pass him and finish the race. I see the Kenda guy and the polka dot guy, who I know know as Matt and Marty, hanging out at the finish line. I am pretty sure Matt (Kenda guy) won and Marty was second, but then they tell me Marty passed Matt in the last lap and won the race. The ONLY guy to pass Matt. We are the only ones at the finish line at this point and celebrate our podium together.

Notice how the top three riders know where we were during the race and who passed us? There is a theme there. When results get posted, there is a mystery rider who won the race. The top 3 (me, matt, marty) all talk about how the race went, how we were the only three riders who passed each other and how no one else passed us, how we marked each other from the start of the race. The mystery rider is no where to be found and we all tell Rob (the promotor) there is no way this other guy won the race. They had timing chips and while they would have the times for each lap, they could not see them until all of the racers are done. After a bit (like an hour), Mystery Rider shows up and we all talk to him. Matt, Marty, and I agree that perhaps he got in front of us at the very beginning, but could not have passed us during the race. We ask him when he took the lead and he gets kinda weird. He tells us he was back in traffic from the start of the race and remembers passing SS riders, etc as did we. I think even Rob (the promotor) questioned his race, because he offered to pay the same amount of cash (yes CASH!) to the mystery rider and to the actual winner of the race. (he upped the 2nd place cash to match first). Me in 4th got nothing, but it was not the money I wanted, just my name in 3rd where I finished.

So it sounds like sour grapes, and if it were only me that could not recall someone passing, I would think it was just me. When three riders cannot recall this rider passing us, something is fishy. So the pursuit of podiums is still on, because the record books show me as fourth* (of 58), fourth*overall Sport (over 100 riders) and the podium only had three spots. (well to be honest they did not even have a podium, so maybe I should pretend they did and it was a 5 person podium?).

I am more fired up than ever to get training for the MTB season now. I am pleased with my fourth* place finish and it shows that I am on the right track. Since the first race at Fair Hill is April 19th, I have some work to do.

Back where we started, here we go 'round again

2009-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Day after day I get up and I say Let's do it again, do it again, do it again. OK. Song over. Woke up early today to head out and do some start efforts as prescribed by Fat Marc. He suggest some short yet strong intervals to get the body used to the efforts. This is actually the second time this year I have done these and they are starting to feel easier. Not really, but I guess I am adjusting. I rode around the resevoir doing these efforts, so I could get a good rest in between. There must have been like 1,000 geese in the water up there and at one point, I must have scared them because they all started flying out of the water. The noises they made, both their "quack" and with their wings flapping was pretty amazing. Some folks live really close to the water and probably hate the noise, but it is better than a highway or a passenger train zooming by (been there!).

Another workout tomorrow morning followed by a mellow (advertised that way anyway) group MTB ride. First time I have ridden with anyone in like three months! I am looking forward to it.

Early Tuesday AM . . . . .

2009-01-21T02:30:00.000-08:00

So on Tuesday, I was having a great ride at Middle Run before work. Trails were rock solid frozen with a coating of snow, but traction was even better because of the snow. About 30 minutes into it, the rear tire started feeling soft.

I have been running a Bontrager TLR wheelset and tire since March with no problems. Unfortunately, the Stan's Latex is also ten months old and did not seem up to the task of fixing the wheel. At least it did not at first. I turned the wheel so the leak was at the very bottom and the air stopped leaking. The tire was very soft by then though, so I had a choice to make. I took an inventory of supplies and I had 1 26 inch tube, 1 Co2, and 2 tire levers. My tubeless set-up has worked so well that I stopped bringing 2 air cartridges on rides. I even raced last Fall at Marsh Creek without a tube or Co2. My confidence had grown that much with the TLR set-up. After thinking about it for a minute or two, I decided I would shoot some air in the tire so I could continue my ride. Air it up. Hssssssssssss. Turns out the air stopped leaking because the snow filled the hole and the pressure was low enough that the air was holding until I put a respectable amount of air in there.

At that point, I decided I would put the tube in so I could continue to ride. I had some air left in the cartridge, so I went ahead and started taking the tire off the wheel. As the tire came off, much to my surprise I found this little guy ---------> living inside of my wheel. I also found some very thin Stan's fliud inside. I suspect this little dragon ate up a bunch of my fluid (look at how full his belly is!) and that is why the tire was not able to seal. Pesky little devil.

I had some trouble getting the 26 tube into the 29 wheel, but it went in finally. I aired it up and to my dismay, I did not have enough air left to fill the tire. I started to ride home, but the tire was very soft and in 200 feet, it was totally flat. Apparantly I pinched the tube when I re-installed the tire (or ten month old tubes taped to a stem do not remain to be good). Lucky for me the snowy ground mated well with a flat tire and I was able to ride home very slowly.

So now I will ride today with a regular tire and tube and hope that works out well for me. I need some new more Stan's latex and hopefully I will be able to patch the old tire with fresh fluid.

January Training Ho Hums

2009-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

This week has been nothing but MTB rides, because the high has been 30 and the average has probably been like 15 degrees! It is good to get out and ride and the trails have been nice and frozen, but I do miss getting out on the road bike. Yesterday was 30 during my ride and it actually felt warm.

I signed up for the first race of my season too. Pretty early to race, but I would like to get the race experience under my belt sooner rather than later. The race is the Snotcycle in Leesburg, VA and will be held 1/31/09, rain or shine. There are no age classes, just Beginner, Sport, Expert, and SS. I will be in the Sport class with my gears, unless the temps are warm and the course is wet and sloppy. We shall see.

Hopefully I can work on more frequent updates.

Holiday Fun

2009-01-01T05:07:00.000-08:00

So looking back, it is safe to say we had a great holiday this year. Isabella got a lot of stuff from Santa (so much that Santa put some to the side on Christmas eve). Her face was full of joy every single time she passed the Christmas tree, proclaiming "WOW" every single time. That never got old. Lisa and I really enjoyed Christmas this year with Isabella. It was a really good time.

She was a little unsure about opening presents too. She frequently tries to rip her books and always gets told not too, so getting her to rip open the wrapping paper was not an easy task, but we helped her and it went fine.

We had family over too for breakfast and dinner. Dinner was really easy, because everyone else cooked and we just made some vegetables. Here we are a week later and I think Isabella still has some stuff she has not played with yet.

One of her favorite presents from Santa was her princess couch/bed. She tries to sleep in it every night, despite it being less comfortable than her own bed!

So now I just have to get though year end at work and continue with my training. Base 1 is already over and we are one week into Base 2. Fitness seems to be coming along well and the season schedules should be out soon, so once I know when all of the races are scheduled, I will finalize my training plan.

Happy New Year to all!

Singlespeed or Gears?

2008-12-27T08:06:00.001-08:00

For the last few years, I have struggled trying to decide if I should race gears or SS. This year is no different. I love riding my singlespeed and the ride feels fast to me. I climb better on a SS than a geared bike, I get less tired on a SS (because I can control my pace and recover on the flats as I spin), and I enjoy riding the one gear more than the many gears. Yet a part of me feels that I could be faster on a geared bike.

I just put some SRAM shifters on my bike and got out for a ride on the frozen tundra on Friday. The bike (Niner Air 9) is almost identicial to my SS (Niner One 9) - same control points, size, etc.

I still do not know. If I were smart, I would do some timed trials on the two bikes and make an educated decision. I do know that in 2008, I got burnt out trying to ride a geared bike and ended up switching to my 29er SS and was much happier as a result. Time will tell. I know I seem to have a lot more fun on the SS and I will have a teammate in the SS Sport class this year.