How did this 100 miler thing get so popular? I’ve got a few reasons of my own and all but really? how is it that all these sickos show up willing and able to put there bodies on the line like it matters. It’s war games for grown ups. More »
This past Sunday was the start of my race season with a race in Rockford Illinois, known as “Do the Rock”. This was only the second time riding singletrack since last season due to the terrible winter weather we have experienced this year. Luckily, this was the case for almost everyone putting us all in the same boat for the start of the race.
i try not to make a point of racing brand new bikes, but they were just too pretty to let sit at home another weekend. jesse and i loaded up the new ferrous and headed to rockcut in rockford, il for the second year. always good competition and a fun course. the directors warned of a few muddy and soft spots but after a brief trail warmup it was quite apparent that these “few” spots could break the race open.
Yeah Cliche, I know. “Yeah Bra, the feel of steel is so real.” While my teammates are raging their new carbon superflys the Darkness and I were busy sweeping the first two podium spots in the elite “do the rock” xc race on our brand new OX platinum ferrous 29s. Yeah, Sea otter or the world cup opener sound appealing but we felt right at home slicing the midwest mud. The start line showed some promising competition as the hibernated legs of many were let loose by the race official. The fast pavement roll out release a fiery of two wheeled demons who quickly jostled for position before pinning a singular route onto dirt and out of sight. BANG! The lead rider came in hot and blew his tyre off the rim. Stans plastering nearby racers as the wounded scurried out of the line of fire. I drilled the first rise before diving into a stretch of bog that left my mind in limbo. It was apparent that we were over-geared . 36:16 which happened to be the same gear I rolled at Chequamegon adorned my freshly painted ferrous along with fresh bits from the fine folks who support my habit. The groups formed, stretched, settled. The Darkness and I appeared to be riding above the rest despite our absence of proper gearing. It’s such a fine line. Gearing. If I’m over I’ll explode but this year I’m stronger. Not stronger in the sense that I can push bigger inches but I’ve acquired a poker face. I hid every ounce of pain… or at least that’s what I thought. I pulled us through the first 12 mile lap of 3 and then some. We started to converse on gaps, condition, gearing when I bobbled in a muddy section and Marko scooted by. Thank god, I was toast and needed a break. The pace was steady as I regained mental consciousness. A spectator yelled 7 minutes until third! Nice, cruise control… not. The gap demons took over as I inadvertently took over pace just before our third. The numbness of pushing the inches faded and I was on a mission, a mission to drop Marko or put more time into third. I resorted to the latter or should I say I didn’t have a choice. Surges flew but I could hear the leaves crunching behind me. The leech lives! We were riding better on our last lap then the first and the best was yet to come. I started to envision the finish in my head. I can’t. I never could. The cave gets in the way. My vision was getting blurry as the water ran dry and the temps rose. Diving into the last valley before our 1/4 mile climb to the finish I was feeling good, a second wind if you will. I pinned it as the lapped traffic grew heavy. I crested the hill alone with Marko a close 5 seconds back as we rolled in to the finish under the same gap. It’s getting tough out there and we’re only two races into a 20 race season. Beating each other up on the mtb’s is good ol fashion brotherly love at its finest. Let the big wheels roll!
Wendsday night the Park Ave. crew came and rode the 30 mile Ramble Around Prattsburgh course with me as a guide. With only one wrong turn we completed the course in 2hrs 6min. It was a nice brisk paced ride that ended with a beautiful sunset. Watch the short video I put together of that ride. More »
Day 4 – Judgment Day
At last the day we have all been waiting for. Today was the day that all the winter training gets put to the test and the racing starts.
I am hoping that you all understand this post.
My season starts in a little over 12 hours and I have a serious case of the jitters. Part of me is bouncing off the walls in anticipation to get things started and the other part of me won’t shut up with everything that could go wrong. It’s normal to be nervous right? After tonights pre-ride of the course I am left without any answers and a lot of questions….Have I ridden enough? Did I “train” properly? How will all of those miles on the road translate to a mtb race? Why would they run the course backwards? Yeah, they decided to take the nicely groomed, but sandy, course and run it backwards which means some odd transitions and poor lines. If I wasn’t racing it would have been a blast. If you ever want to breathe new life into a trail and are able to ride it backwards I highly recommend it, and if you can do it after dark it is even better. Just putting virtual pen to virtual paper has helped to calm the nerves a little and I hope anyone else that has a case of the jitters finds some comfort in knowing they are not alone. With a new bike that has been upgraded and a sweet new kit I am going to let it all hang out and hopefully show that all the cold winter rides were worth it. Here’s to ending my hibernation.
GBK
I knew that today was going to be a wet one, as the rain woke me at the crack of dawn. There is something that makes me want to curl up in my sleeping bag when you can hear the rain falling on the tent. Today was no exception.
One lap/ 22 miles. *T 01:40:44
It has “classic” in the name for a reason. The climb out of Pope Valley, towards the end of the race, is very steep(up to 20%) and unrelenting. I did this race last year, got 3rd and I did a 1:45 time. I struggled on the big climb and was so worked I got cramps–walking. More »
Sea Otter Day 2:
Cooler temps, scouting the venue out and some more riding.
More »
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Fisher 29ers |
