I have finally gotten all the Mud out of my eyes and the greenbrier challenge is over. I was not thrilled about doing this race, as I was still feeling bakers dozen a little bit. My only consolation was that I would be suffering with MattyD in the expert 30-39 age class. So Sara came with me again to a race, and I really appreciated the support. I get to the race start and luckily got a good parking spot because the early people had already left. Matt was right behind me, and he parked right next to me. I try to warm-up which I am never really good at. I feel that I am little under dressed with the weather being low 60’s and overcast. I decided to use a camel back and carry GU’s with me. I think it was the right choice too for me. The camel back is allot easier to deal with on the trail then trying to get to my bottle, and then have it fall out.
I had planned to not go crazy at the start and try and just follow Matt’s wheel. Well the start goes off, and I am sticking to my plan and the first climb was going up, and this climb was a good one for me, I was able to ride it at a steady tempo. I got stuck behind some people that I should have been in front of, but I was trying to play it cool and if I had something in me I would pass them later on. I had a slight bobble on the backside rocky section and lost a place there. I was riding with Jonathan. I had battled with him last year at the 12 hours of cranky monkey. Well I feel I was riding ok, but thinking this course is crazy technical, I knew once Matt went out of view I would not see him again. The course had too many fast down hills(which Matt can rock) and some hard tech stuff. I have improved greatly in my ability to ride hard terrain, but to race in it is quite a different story. The second climb on the first lap I did my biggest mistake; I didn’t get in my low gear before the hard climb. I then pushed the gear that I was in and that is where I tweaked my back. My back will sometimes hurt in the early season if I push too hard, so this is why I ride a compact on the road bike, and ride my granny allot on mountain bikes. I find spinning, doesn’t hurt my back as much and I usually don’t go that much slower. So after the first lap I settled down, maybe too much but I realized I had 3 more laps to do. I was in a very strong field and got see the 40-49 big guns pass me. Gunner, Roger Massi said hi as he passed. I was still picking off people here and there mostly from other groups. This course had some silly ass mud, I mean I have never raced where I was going through 12 inches of water. There was one drop-off that was like a foot then into a creak. I made sure to get my front up and just launch into the creek every lap. At one point I was following I think a pro woman on the downhill, and I thought I would catch her because of how much bigger I am, but she was rocking it, and I finally got her on the gravel road. The last lap came and I was still maintaining my position, and I kind of caught up to two riders in my class after the start/finish line. We were going up the climb and I can’t remember if I got in front or they did. But I was doing the rocky stuff, and I wasn’t riding it as smooth, since I wasn’t putting in the power. I was then behind the two guys for the second climb. I saw that I could catch them on that slow climb. So I down shift and spin into the tight left hand corner to the steep stuff. I was gaining on them, and I believe I passed both of them with Tom Fenush of Allied Milk behind me. I got some distance from him, but the mud on the trail was acting like glue to my tires, so I could never really gas it. Tom passed me somewhere there, we then had the slightly up hill rock garden, where I was spinning away, and starting to make up ground and I thought I might be able to get him before the downhill. We get to a flatter part and then another rider from the 40-49 group passed me and was in between us. I was now losing hope of getting in front of Tom. Before the sloppy downhill the other racer got in front of Tom, and I was riding somewhat near him on the down hill. We got to the gravel path by the lake, and I locked out my fork, just incase I got into a sprint situation. I was getting close to him now, and I thought maybe at the rise on the gravel road. Well he must have read my mind cause he stood up and jammed it up the rise, but not enough that I wasn’t right on his tail. So I was running out of trail, and I had one shot left, there is a left hand turn into this muddy grass slop then basically grass to the finish. I know I have power so I thought I could maybe beat him through the mud. I took the inside line in the Mud/grass and I put my hands on the bar ends and just gunned it. Tom saw the attack tired to stand and fight it, gave out a yowl and I think he didn’t have it. So I rode a little farther saw I had a gap and kept that to the finish. I ended up in 7th place which was better then I thought I would do.
Observations of the race:
I thought I would do worse since Matty said we would get our asses handed to us, and I knew it would be hard to beat him.
The bike was rocking it, I felt my bike was perfect for the course with dual suspension and 29er wheels. There was maybe one or two corners I had to navigate better, but the wheel size was helping big time with the rocks. Also I no flat tires, or any other mechanicals, my brakes were getting squishy at points later in the race.
The course had allot of standing water, but if it didn’t have that water my tires would have clogged up. The Maxxis Ignightor, Crossmark combo is a good one. Haven’t gone tubeless still deciding.
Need to dress warmer, I might have gotten sick from the cold water and having to clean myself in cold water, I was shivering at the wash area.
Good after ride meal with Sara, Mike, Tris, and Jonathan at HardTimes.
A shout out to the DCMTB team who had allot of riders out there today, and everyone putting in a good effort and some good results too.
4/29/08
Greenbrier Challenge
4/28/08
The Mid-Atlantic Endurance Cup is off and running! As of now there are 4 teams/clubs in the running, but there is still time to sign up and be part of the action. The first race of the Cup was the 13 Hour of Bakers Dozen that had record turnout in it's second year and had to cap entries. The clubs in play at the race were DCMTB\CityBikes, Gripped Films\ Kenda, The Bike Lane, and Pedal Shop. After the dust had settled DCMTB/CityBikes was able to pull into the lead, with Bike Lane trailing behind. In the final totals the Bike Lane was able to hold off the Gripped Films/ Kenda gang. The next stop is the 12 hours of Lodi May 3. To any other clubs out there that wants in on the action you need to sign up before the 3rd race in the series Big Bear. Your previous results will count towards the cup. For more info go to http://midatlanticendurancecup.googlepages.com/index.htm
Top Placing Team
LAPS TIME RACE PTS.
.327 DCMTB\CITY BIKES-SOLAR RING BLINGERS 24 12:57:47 500
331 THE BIKE LANE 24 13:11:22 400
333 GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 24 13:29:30 320
324 PEDALSHOP 21 13:22:47 260
Second Placing Team
332 DCMTB/CITY BIKES 24 13:03:17 250
334 GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 23 13:33:54 200
329 THE BIKE LANE 21 13:08:12 160
279 PEDAL SHOP DO-GOODERS 20 12:30:13 130
.RACE POINT TOTAL
.DCMTB/CITYBIKES 750
THE BIKE LANE 560
.GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 520
PEDAL SHOP 390
Series Total:
DCMTB/CITYBIKES 250.
THE BIKE LANE 225.
GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 205.
PEDAL SHOP 190
4/23/08
Bakers Dozen 2008
The 2008 Bakers Dozen is over and the dust has settled. I did this race last year, and
I decided to start my mountain racing season in style by sporting the stache and the stripped socks. This was a big hit with people, I had
The Start
We went around in circles to figure out who would do the start. I had ridden with
Well I knew I was too far back because I was wanting to pass the guy in front of me, but it's really hard in the beginning of a race to do that. Well bad luck was good luck for me. I got to a bottleneck where Ryan and some other were off their bikes tangled up. This let me pass like 5-7 people. After that I only passed one other guy and one guy passed me. When you get out in the front that is usually how it works just like the other expert races I have done, after the first 2 miles I usually stay in about the same position the whole race. At one point I saw Ryan behind me, and that really spurred me on cause I didn't want no stinkin'
Rest of the Race
We were in first place early in the race, but the boys at Bike Line kept up a better average lap time then us, so we went into 2nd somewhere near the halfway point of the race. At one point our other DCMTB/CityBikes team was only 5 minutes behind us. What really worked well with our team was that we had no mechanicals, or crashes. The laps were so short that you really couldn’t make up time anywhere. We did single laps the whole day, and I think I would have totally cracked if we did two more hours. The single laps didn’t give you too much time to rest. I had a knot in my stomach the whole race it seemed, I needed some real food, so I need to work on my nutrition a little better. I got some severe cramps at one point when I was sitting but my legs seemed ok on the course. Through it all we had the DCMTB/CityBikes camp with laughs and cheering section, it was great to have that many riders at the race. I like to give a big nod to my teammates Kent and Mike, for putting up some good lap times, I think we were a good team we all have a good happy go lucky vibe. The other big thing that helped was having Sara at the race, to try help me as my brain went from a working organism to a mashed potato. Sara kept track of all 5 DCMTB/CityBikes teams so that people could easily ask when the last rider went out and when they should be back in. I was happy she got to see how cool the festival atmosphere is at these relay races.
Random thoughts
· The Race course was better this year I really liked the flow, for a flat course it definitely didn’t feel dull. Ideally I would like the course to be maybe 2 more miles to have lap times in the 45 minute range, but that would put the people doing 45 minute laps this year in the hour range. So it is a give and take.
· Best visual was Marc chasing Bruce from Bike Lane like 2 tire widths from his back wheel wish I had a picture of that.
· Great organization and I really like changing the timing chip at your tent and having the course go through the campsite. One of the things I wish people did more of at the other races. You get an automatic cheering section.
· The duo teams of Henry Bikes and the Sollay boys are the real deal. I mean they were just rocking it.
· Mike S. from the team did one or two laps after he wrecked and we found out after the race that he broke his collarbone that is one hard dude!
· Wish the race started earlier so it ended at
· Would be fun to have a cross race at this Venue and include the pine
· Great beginning to the Mid-Atlantic Cup
4/16/08
3 Sports Duathalon
I had done this Duathalon 3 years ago, where I was with a runner, and I biked. I am friends with Kev who is a good runner, and thought it would be interesting to go down to Richmond to try and get a result. This duathalon is pretty competitive, but not very big for relay teams. I didn't even know if there would have some competition when we got down there. We got to the race start with plenty of time to spare. I was able to go out and did a 4 mile warm-up. When I got back people were lining up to start. Kev, forgot that this was a road running race, so had his trail shoes which are heavier. Was funny seeing Kev, running with these other people who were all in Skin tight bike stuff. Kev goes out on the run, and I then head to the bathroom, which is empty since everyone else is racing! As I am stretching, and talking to Sara I see another Relay team guy who has the full aero helmet and sock covers. I am a little worried, but I am hoping that Kev, will come in before them and I will need to hold this guy off. Well Kev did a pretty good run, and then I was off on the bike. The Bike was 18miles and my goal was 45 minuts. I went out hard, and after the first lap I was avg. like 24 mph. I then just tried to keep it going. The course was smooth pavement, with some rollers in it. The hardest part was that the over pass had a really bad head wind. That head wind turned into a tailwind and helped me ride at 32 and 35mph at some points. During the last lap someone caught up to me, and I then kinda freaked and started crushing it to the line. I did the bike in 45:58 so I just made it in the 45 minute range. The one big issue I had was that I hurt my butt muscle, I think it was from not riding much in an aero tuck position. Kev went on and did a solid second loop, and we won the Relay group! Had a good time, and I hope to do another relay with Kev in June at the FORD #2.
4/2/08
DownTown BreakAway Ride-Cherry Blossoms
I don't usually write about a mid-week ride, but I felt this one deserved it. I have been doing the Tues Downtown Breakaway ride since I think 2001 or so. Back then Nick ran it, I met Steve Schwartz, Wolfgang and others on those rides. Well I showed up on Tuesday, to do a ride instead of hill repeats that my team was doing. I was glad I picked the ride option:-) All the usual suspects were there, Rudi, Jonathan, Wolfgang, Jason, etc... The ride had some heavy hitters, I did something stupid and punched it up Chainbridge rd. well, I did it too early and saw that I need to work on my conditioning. After that I was like, I am not going to try to show-boat again, and just rode a steady pace. We took a detour to Kenwood, and that was the highlight, the streets were lined with cherry blossoms. I took some impromptu picks with the cell phone camera(It actually does a good job). I will be hitting these rides through the season, especially if the group continues like it was yesterday. Enjoy.
