By Elisabeth | 5/15/08 | 9:36 AM
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So the mountain bike season has been off to a VERY slow start here in Missouri/Kansas so I haven’t had a whole lot to say about it…but hopefully it will pick up some steam and not be deterred by the weather from here on out. This weekend Heartland Sports Promotions will be hosting Roubidoux Roundup at Corby Park in St. Joseph, MO. From what it says on the website, it will be a fun and fast course with lots of tight, twisting singletrack…so if you’re in the area, come on out! How bout you Savery? More »
By Sam | 5/14/08 | 8:10 PM
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Racing is all about that one great ride. That one time when everything just comes together perfect. Sure, you’ve got the consistent riders, like Georgia Gould, making it all look easy, but I’m not that consistent. I travel to races all year hoping for that perfect ride. In anticipation for emancipation. It’s irrational, of course, the amount of talk, plotting, broken parts, and burnt gas that racing demands would astound any who seeks to quantify. Why not just ride for fun? Fun? It’s not about fun. It’s about the thrill of the perfect ride that is only greater with the more that’s invested. Riding the trails today, I felt alright, I couldn’t help but daydream about the summer races. Which ones it gonna be?
By Jason | 5/14/08 | 2:52 PM
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Last night kicked off the Farmall Spring XC series, just outside Rochester, NY. RVE Bike is kind enough to host the Spring and Summer series right at their own property.
The course, while only 2 miles in length or so; offers up some great power climbs and the racing is only intense. 7 laps for the Expert/Pro categories and the 7 climbs per lap add up quickly and don’t ever really allow for any recovery. Last night was no exception…
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By Matthew | 5/13/08 | 9:20 AM
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Gorrick Enduro: 4th May 2008
To be honest I felt a bit of a fraud and can promise, hand out heart that I never tampered with the course tape! I should never have found myself in 1st place at the end of the first lap of The Gorrick enduro and was surprised ( but delighted!) to be in that position for the first 4 laps when the inevitable happened and I conked out like so many of the old cars that I once owned back in college.
The Gorrick Enduro is, I think one of the most underrated rides going. The singletrack is awesome and despite it being in Berkshire, it still manages to find some hills which are fireroad and unrideable! This year there was a particularly nasty one. More »
By Travis | 5/11/08 | 6:49 PM
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Wonderful weather and loads of rocks at the Maximus. To see how it played out for me go here
. By taking 4 parts Carbon, mixed with 29″ wheels and spread it out over one of the largest rock gardens in PA, I had the ingredients for a day spent in Utopia.
stork
By Dave | 5/09/08 | 1:15 PM
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The big show has finally come and gone again. Only 359 more days until the next DSG… Sigh… This year’s race started, as all my races seem to, with a healthy thunderstorm the night before. The rain stopped an hour or two before the race though, so at least I didn’t have to get my things ready in the rain.
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By Steve | 5/07/08 | 9:30 PM
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Sorry that it took so long to get this up, I did the Cohutta 65 way back when. It was a great course. It rained but the mud was very manageable. I think the larger contact patch of the 29′er is what did it, I was running Jones Dry tires and they still handled fine in the mud! Back to the course, it was great. The singletrack was super flowy, I can’t imagine how fast it would be dry. Most of the climbing was fire road so it was nice to not have to worry about technical stuff and just pedal. There was lots of great views at the tops of the climbs. I felt pretty happy with my finish, it took 6:37 which is pretty good for me. The winner of the 100 miler was only ten minutes behind me, that is just incredible! Stuff like that will definately keep me humble and also motivates me seeing what is possible!
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By Geoff | 5/07/08 | 10:51 AM
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This past weekend was the second race in the Michigan Championship Point Series, the Fort Custer Stampede. Saturday started out nice, but by time the shop closed it was gray and rainy and preriding the course was out of the question. I settled on spinning around on some dirt roads on the old rig to open up a little bit and make sure my legs were loose, then called it a night early. I woke up to a beautiful day on Sunday with highs in the low 70’s and only a cloud or two in the sky it was a perfect day to race. I got to the Fort early enough to sneak in a quick lap before the elites took off, but didn’t dare ride the finish as the elites were on course and all the tape was up. The Expert/Elite SS class goes off in front of the sport riders meaning I had a long time to start so I got out of my chamois for a bit and just relaxed. After a good warm up I got to the line with a bit early and felt more relaxed than normal and joked around with Eric Tompkins and Joe Lee a bit, as we joked around about who would lead things out. As predicted Eric took the hole shot and I snuck past Joe as he struggled to get clipped in to claim second wheel, and we were off. I looked back before the first little rise in the course and saw a stretched out pack with gaps already forming and decided to take over pace setting for Eric and attacked separating Joe, Eric, Gus, and me from all other chasers. On the first steep uphill I took a bit trickier line and Eric clipped a pedal following I hit the gas and it was down to me and Gus. Lap one consisted mainly of spinning like crazy bumping over the numerous log piles and hitting the hills just hard enough to keep myself up front. The course was extremely fast is a blast to ride. It consists of a few Michigan hills that are loose, short, and steep, a bit of twisty turny stuff, a lot of fast bermed corners, and a stream crossing. Going into the second lap I decided to see what would happen with Gus in front and let him by to do a little work, not much changed as we kept our gap on Eric with Joe a bit further back. After the water crossing I took over hoping that I could keep the pace high enough that Gus wouldn’t be able to get around me, and it almost worked. I hadn’t ridden the finish in my preride and came into the 2nd to last turn spinning out with Gus still on my wheel, I completely forgot the corner was there and was in my roadie tuck, hands in the center of the bars leaned over and had to tap the brakes going into the corner giving Gus the leverage to go inside me on the corner and hold me off for the win as I rolled across the line overlapping his wheel but not quite good enough for first, Eric came in about 45 seconds later with Joe a bit back from him. Another 2nd isn’t bad as it puts me in the drivers seat for the CPS. Unfortunately I am now left with a lot of what ifs, I know I could have ridden harder, but counted on my ability to finish strong to win it for me. So close.
GBK
By Veronique | 5/06/08 | 7:49 PM
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Last weekend was my first race (regional event) and at the same time first real mountain biking of the season. As you know, here in Quebec we had a crazy winter and the snow is still there in some area of the province. Anyway, first race was not easy with the rain and the cold temperature in Bromont. I managed to finish 4th in the open category. I was happy with this first result after one year off because of my pregnancy. I know I can improve and the season is just beginning. This is the first time I ride a Gary Fisher and also first time on a 29er (Superfly). I can tell that I am very impressed of the bike: Very light, stiff, comfortable and it is a great climber!!! I still need to practice a lot in the technical trails near my home to familiarize more with the bike. Maybe in one week the snow will be an old history and I will do more mountain bike. Next race in 2 weeks with the first round of the Quebec Cup in the expert category for me.
By Aaron | 5/06/08 | 7:32 PM
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It’s been a long time since I’ve entered a MTB race to do anything other than participate. This year, I decided I’d enter to race. Guess what… it happened. Need to change my plan… and my category. Is there a sandbagger form letter out there? ‘Cause I think everybody I know has it. You know the least you could do is make your sandbagger emails even slightly interesting… like a Haiku or at least change the font or something. I hope the saddle sore fairy takes up residence in your favorite chamois… Great to meet up with Alex from Chicago. He represented the Crew like a star! Superfly single worked flawlessly. Smaller gear and high cadence were the name of the game. Next up? The Playboy club.
