By Mike | 6/24/08 | 8:45 PM
No Comments (0) | Share This 
2ND AGAIN
I was able to finally get back to a Wednesday night race at the Whitewater Center. It’s a fun place to race as it’s fairly technical and has some actual climbs that will raise the heartrate and burn the legs.
I went into the woods in 4th place. My tactic this week was to suck wheel until the end of the race. Yeah, right John made an attack in the first technical section and I was in 4th place. Not bad considering I totally blew a corner and ended up losing about 3 places, falling to sixth place. When we hit the first substantial climb, I made a move up to 2nd place and pulled Tim with me.
I managed to catch John in a real twisty section. But not without my mistakes. I seem to be in a rut technically. I somehow managed to get caught on a tree and came to a complete stop, allowing Tim to catch up. I got going and caught John.
I stayed on John’s wheel for the rest of the first lap. Instead of sticking to the game plan, I passed John during an uphill section. I tried to break John a couple times but couldn’t shake him. This is John’s home course
. John followed me until about a mile to go. I let him take the lead thinking I’d follow his wheel and sprint out the finish. Bad move
John put in a surge and passed a lap rider that held me up a little, then I dropped my chain and by then, John was gone. I tried to catch up, but he held the lead and beat me by 18 seconds. So, another 2nd.
The good thing is that my speed is very consistent. I’m just missing a little endurance so I know what I need to work on. I’ll get there.
By Dave | 6/24/08 | 10:48 AM
Comments (2) | Share This
After skipping it last year due to racing too much, I finally got my cowbell fix on the singlespeed this past weekend. In the past, the race has been held at the US whitewater center, but for whatever reason this year’s race was held at Fisher Farms in Davidson, NC. The course only had 4 miles of singletrack, but included 3 miles of grass/field sections to increase the mileage. The singletrack was mostly tight, twisty and rooty, with quite a few techie sections of skinnies, rock gardens, bridges, log piles and the like. Overall, it was super flat, with only one short steep climb and 2 or 3 longer uphills. On a side note, this race is the only one in the southeast that has a “King of the Mountains” competition on the first lap. I just find it funny that one of the flattest courses I’ve raced on in years crowns a king of the rollers. More »
By Marko | 6/24/08 | 7:17 AM
Comment (1) | Share This
that’s right. what a glorious time. i was born in 1982, and i just have the urge to bring the eightis back. i though the racing stripes would do it but i came up a little bit short. stop number five in the wors series brought us to suamico. ive been 
dreading this race. mainly flat out double track. very hard to get away on. i didnt help myself by slipping my pedal twice at the start. i snuck my way onto the train. jesse was playing engineer. after a few pulls we had a gap. it was obvious that nothing was gonna get away without a valiant effort. that effort came on the last lap. i high-tailed it at the singletrack as jesse blocked. we got into the twisty stuff and i gunned it. out to the ski trail and it was just three. jesse took over with nearly an all out effor for several miles before it was just the two of us. it came down the the final stretch. i went left and jesse went right. i took the longer route and the was the death of me. my legs gave out just before the line as jesse took win number seven while i settled for second in the same amount of tries. photo cred.
By Tom | 6/23/08 | 10:45 PM
Comment (1) | Share This
This weekend we were back at Landahl Park for the final cross country race for the Heartland Series. I’ll start with the good stuff, what a good look’in crew on the 45-49 podium. It was good to stand on the top step of the podium so now the goal is to stand on the podium for the Expert overall. That’s going to be a tough one if we continue to have large fields stacked with fast guys from Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. This weeks course was totally different than the last course, much less singletrack, much more doubletrack. The course was fast, fast, fast, and I felt pretty good warming up. So we lined up and the horn sounded. Right away we were single file flying into the woods. By time we got to the first rocky climb 7 or 8 of us had gotten some separation from the field. For the first lap I just hung out on the back of the train led by Shadd Smith, with Cam, Dave, Aaron, Mark, and Chris. Going into the 2nd lap is where I ran into a patch of bad gravity. I’m sitting third in the train and somehow got caught leaning in rut and went down, nearly taking the rest of the group with me. It had to be bad gravity as I’m sure it wasn’t pilot error! So for the next half a lap I chase and get back on to the train. Starting the 3rd lap I’m back on the train and it’s all good, I feel good but I’ve got some bike issues. My seat is slipping and now the nose of the saddle is up my butt. A stout hand slap and it’s back down with a mental note to sit in the center of the saddle. I also put some carbon bars on this week and even though the grips seemed to stick before the race it’s not the case now. Seems they like to spin around until they push up against the shifters. Now my hands hit the shifters with every bump and dumps me into a smaller gear. But it’s all still good, I can deal with bike problems, and I’m still in the lead group. We hit the rocky climb on the 3rd lap and I screw up and get gapped a bit, no problem, just gas it a bit and BAM, down I go. I jump up and I’m ok, the bikes not. 
The bars look like this…. and no matter how hard I tugged on them they won’t move back. So I figure with a lap and a half left maybe I can ride it out. About a half a lap later I’m blasting along when I hit a rock garden at speed and loose the front wheel. 3nd patch of bad gravity and this one hurts. I hate crashing on rocks! I shook it off and this time I decide to try to go fast enough to hold my position but not fall. I felt like I was going pretty fast and near the end of the last lap someone told I was catching someone. To my surprise Shadd had come back to me, he had stuck to the pace up front while I busy flopping around on the ground so I think I had the fresher legs. I managed to get past Shadd for 6th overall. I wish I had more to write about what happened up at the front of the race but you can’t see much from ground level. Check out Cam or Mark’s blogs for more race reports.
By Jean-francois | 6/23/08 | 9:54 AM
Comment (1) | Share This
“What’s with the big wheels?”, I get this question so many times! When I ride my bike, when I am doing demos, people stop me the ask me how it rides? Is it really different? Why? I reply, why not?! Take my bike and give it a try, they come back with a smile and I hear a big “WOW! That’s great!”. Here in Canada, 29ers are not as common as in the U.S., we’ll get there, I’m working on it!
By Jesse | 6/23/08 | 6:44 AM
Comments (2) | Share This
The separation was achieve within 6 miles. I kept looking down at my garmin as the mph’s went up until I began to taste the acidic blood in the back of my throat. I briefly pondered what a big ring would do to the group as I signaled for someone to give me a hand but the train of forty riders seemed content. With a 12 mile lap that consisted of scorching ski trail and brief stints of single track it appeared to be more than a physical challenge. The 36:16 was plenty on the flats. The mental side was almost as draining as Marko and I crossed the line in first and second for the seventh consecutive time in 2008. With that said it was one of the most grueling and strategic races yet. The longer course format seems to work well for us as we tend to get stronger as the race goes on. We pulled our fair share of work as our group of six stuck together until the last three miles. I was antsy all race but had a hard time committing to attacks knowing what was around the next bend. Marko appeared to be possessed in the single track as he would briefly gap us before TJ closed. I warned the group that he’ll sneak away if you don’t keep it pinned and the way he was riding the flats I’m sure he could have if he wanted. Entering our last lap I went to the back, fed, observed. The players were apparent as they seemed to be doing the brunt of the work. By the time I reached the single track I was sitting in second and ready to attack or be attacked. We popped out for a brief moment and Marko came around as I went to his left and blocked trail. TJ went up the right as I clogged him in the turn. This was getting tactical. I could see the entrance to the next stretch up trail and signaled Marko in as he was riding it way fast all day. It was obvious what we were doing as TJ blasted the left trying to sneak between us. I prevented a LaLonde sandwich by pinning him into the woods before the entrance. Racing! Marko set off with me in tow as our passes were sure to be heard. “Pro lead back, left, left, left.” The lapped traffic was more than obliged to give us room. Thank you. Gaging TJ’s gap off his passing requests it was apparent that he came to race. I went to the front once we were out of the single track, closed my eyes, and drilled it. I briefly glanced over my shoulder and saw TJ bridging. It was 27 gears versus one through the bogged down wood chips. I was cross eyed as we lost our chaser. We went into the final portion of single track with me riding like a first timer pin balling off trees and sliding roots. I had to recover for the final stretch. Out and through one last mud pit with Marko in tow. I kept it steady as he creeped on my left. We were approaching a sport rider and the finish line when Marko went. I dove into the inside to the right of the sport rider which forced Marko to the left creating a wheel length gap. I’m starting to feel like a cat with nine lives only I loose one every time I sprint the mustache to the line. Chalk another 1-2 for the GF29 squad!
Next up is the Wisconsin single speed state championships at Levis Mound. Epic riding, racing and folks.
By Jason | 6/20/08 | 1:23 PM
No Comments (0) | Share This
I just found this picture from this past weekend, thought I’d share it for those who are jumping into the endurance scene 
By James | 6/20/08 | 2:00 AM
No Comments (0) | Share This
This weekend will see the 11th Mountain Mayhem take place and once again the UK weather forecast does not make happy reading. Aren’t we supposed to ride in grim conditions in winter to earn sunny summer races? I’ll be part of the UK 29er crew representing in the mixed category, hopefully with more luck than I’ve experienced in the last two years…
More »
By Erik | 6/19/08 | 9:05 PM
Comment (1) | Share This
6-15-2008 Clemson XC Race
After coming off a great result the day before in the time-trial, I was feeling ready to race. I changed and began to warm-up. The nagging sluggish feeling in my body still remained but I was hoping to capitalize on the decent form I found yesterday.
After a decent warm-up and a kiss from my girlfriend I lined up for the start. Today looked promising as the rain had held off and a cool front had moved in. More »
By Alex | 6/19/08 | 8:59 PM
No Comments (0) | Share This
July 14 and 15 Don put on the always famous Subaru Cup Mega Event. This weekend of racing offered a Super D, short Track, and an XC race. I raced in the sport XC race. I headed up to Mount Morris Wisconsin from the Windy City on Saturday morning for my race at 3:30. Arriving with many time to spare I had plenty of time to check out the course, and race venu. I had the opportunity to meet some fellow 29er Crew members from far and wide. The course was insane! Tons of Climbing through ski trails and single track. Once Climbing to the top of Norodic Mountain there the course led us through some fast single track downhill and some really technical rock gardens and off camber turns. Probably one of the most notable part of the entire race was the 5ft tall triangle ramp over a fallen tree. My race started extremely well sticking towards the front the first half of the race was practically strait up hill and we flew threw it extremely fast compared to future laps. Once reaching one of the technical single track climbs i got pushed of the trail by an out of control rider! This pushed me to the back of the pack as i had to wait for the train of racers to fly by. Since the race was such a large event it was amazing to see tons of people cheering you on it was almost like a seen from the Tour de France especially when making your way around the race venu. 
My race ended up ending with a 4th place finish! This came as a surprise to me because i felt like a slug on the course! Here are a couple photos captured at the top of one of the very first climbs. I was fortunate enough to get a feed at this point, without it i would have died on the upcoming climbs.
This photo is of Fellow xXx racer Andy who raced the extremely competitive comp. race. He ended up finish in 8th, a strong finish on such a hard course!
I will be posting a video to youtube and post a link for it by the end of this weekend. A few video highlights include some great mass starts and a video of the sluggishness of my speed during the race!
