Mid-Atlantic Cup Rolls On...

After three events and Only two more events left the competition for second place is tight and the first place spot is still within reach. The scoring was modified to have all competing squads on each of the teams. So for Big Bear the scoring was any squads over-all placing, not recognizing what category they raced. The question will be who is racing these next events since only the top 4 scores are used for each team.

12 Hours of Cranky Monkey- June 28th
18 Hours of Scouts Honor- August 15-16

Series Points awarded:


Mid-Atlantic Cup Total Series Points(top 4 scores out of 5 races):

DCMTB/CITYBIKES 725
GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 455
THE BIKE LANE 430
PEDAL SHOP 190


24 hours of Big Bear:
GrippedFilms\Kenda 250
DCMTB\CityBikes 225
BikeLane 205


- 12 hours of Lodi
Team DCMTB/CityBikes got full points being the only team that made this race. Showing that participation can get you places.

-24 hours of Big Bear
The Gripped Films/Kenda folks stepped and took the Top spot at this race with the DCMTB/CityBikes taking the number two spot, and the top spot for the second placing teams. Bike Lane had a solid showing with their two teams as well. Check out the Website Mid-Atlantic Cup for information about the cup.


Big Bear Break Down:

-Hightest placed squads in each team
MAEC RaceOverAll Team Laps Time
1 12 GFK Racing (M Exp) 16 (12:01:33)

2 13 DCMTB/City Bikes/Continuum Solar (M Vet) 16 (12:41:43)

3 52 Flagellomania (BikeLane) (5 Coed) 14 (14:05:42)

-2nd Hightest placed squads in each team

1b 20 DCMTB/City Bikes - Squadra Intossica (J Fun) 16 (13:19:27)

2b 67 Gripped Films / Kenda - GFK 5 (5 Coed) 13 (13:21:37)

3b 89 Dressed All Over & Zesty Mordant(BikeLane) (5 Coed) 11 (09:38:58)

Points--

24 Hours of Big Bear:

1 GFK Racing (M Exp) 500

2 DCMTB/City Bikes/Continuum Solar (M Vet) 400

3 Flagellomania (BikeLane) (5 Coed) 320

-2nd Hightest placed squads in each team

1b DCMTB/City Bikes - Squadra Intossica (J Fun) 250

2b Gripped Films / Kenda - GFK 5 (5 Coed) 200

3b Dressed All Over & Zesty(BikeLane) (5 Coed) 160

Totals:

GrippedFilms\Kenda 700
DCMTB\CityBikes 650
BikeLane 480

Series Points awarded:

GrippedFilms\Kenda 250
DCMTB\CityBikes 225
BikeLane 205

Total Series Points:

DCMTB/CITYBIKES 725
GRIPPED FILMS/KENDA 455
THE BIKE LANE 430
PEDAL SHOP 190

Big Bear 08'

Short version: worst endurance relay race I have ever done. Long version below…

Well, I went up to Big Bear, West Virginia with Kent, Chris, and Sara. We got there around 4 or 5 pm and set up camp a bit away from the start/finish but with some shade, which we thought would be needed over the weekend. We went and did a pre-ride, and it was good to be on the trail. We started about 3 miles in and ended up doing 11 miles--more then I wanted to do, but oh well. The trail was muddy in parts, then quite rideable in others. That night, people made some good meat to eat along with some asparagus.

We had decided that Matty would do the first lap since he has been riding well and we knew he would rock it. Matty went out, and I was the second man to go. I started off charged up and passed Steve Schwartz, was rocking it, and then hit the first mud/swamp area. I had not pre-ridden this part and BAM! I went into a ditch I didn't see and did an endo over the bars. My bar hit my leg and that did the most damage. I raced the rest of the lap, and my gears were still mis-shifting a little, but I ended up coming in at 1:18. Our team then had Mike at 1:18 like me and Joe at 1:22. So going into my second lap, I was committed to riding smoother. I didn't have the wreck I had before, but I could really feel my back start to hurt the last half of the course where the mud and hills zapped your energy. I came in feeling good about the lap, but found out my time was a 1:24, so was a little upset that I didn't pull a great lap. Matty pulled a fast one at like 1:15 I think. Mike did pretty well, and Joe had some light issues and did a 1:54 or something. So I was a little bummed about our placing at that moment, but was committed to having fun at the race.

So I started my night lap, and I ran the mud bog section (it was faster) and tried standing for all the climbing in the first part of the course to save my back. I got to the down hill stuff and I was really rockin' it for me. I then got to the fast downhill, and I was actually talking to myself out loud, “Darren keep it smooth” and that kind of stuff. So I did really well on the downhill and then in this muddy switchback, I went down. Wasn't a crazy crash but added to the bruise total on the body. I was then riding the longer uphill, and then the downhill to the stream crossing to the muddy slow uphill. Well, I heard a pop, and then my rear tire started rubbing. I thought I had broken a spoke, so thought I might need to adjust my wheel in the dropout. Well, after several on the bike off the bike tries, I finally see in the dark that I have broken my rear chain stay. I was at mile 7 and knew I had 5+ miles to run/walk out. This was different from last year when I lost my derailleur. With that issue I could still ride my bike, especially on the downhills. Here every time I got on the bike, the tire would rub hard. So I was going to have to do a 5 mile run to get the lap done. I started off at a good pace around 5mph and I did that for about a mile and a half. I was then slowing down. So I kept on pushing the bike and running where I could. Funny thing was when I was going up the big climb I didn't see anyone for like 15 minutes. Also, walking up the climb I saw how steep it was and was surprised that I had ridden it the previous two times. Another issue I was having was that with my upper body being so weak, my triceps were hurting from pushing the bike. I would switch sides to lessen the pain, but it was still not the best. Well, I ran in doing a 2:15 lap, which was pretty good considering. Mike did a non-spectacular lap, and I went to bed saying I was done. I woke up to find that Mike didn't want to do another lap, and I had said I would do one if the team would do another. Well, we threw in the towel after Matt's 9 am ride.

The DCMTB Vet team kept their stuff together to do a great ride and finish 2nd Vet for the second year in a row. The team with JJ, Jonathan, Tom, and Lynne rocked the Just for Fun class, cause they were not able to race expert. Next year for Big Bear I vow will not be like this year. I will ether be totally ready to crush it, or I will ride more of a casual ride.

Big Bear Comes.....

This will be my 6th Granny Gear Race, and my 3rd Big Bear. I love the course at Big Bear, but it is not the best for me. I started racing expert last year, so this will be my first Big Bear as an expert racer. I am not in the best of shape right now, so I am hoping that consistent laps will be my salvation. We are competing against the big boys for this race, so hopefully we can not embarrass ourselves. Check us out this weekend with the real-time scoring at http://grannygear.com/Register/show_teams.php?race=bigbear&year=2008&team_name=DCMTB%2FCity+Bikes

I'll Let you know how we do..............