bubba 7 OMG!!!!

Shit that was awesome!!

The nice weather had me on my bike a little more the week leading up to this race. I was pumped for that and the fact that TEAMSEAGAL had reports of the course being euro enough that only the biggest JERKS would not be there.

Did a couple prelaps and it was true, the course was awesome.

I started at the back of the pack to try and start this race slower than I have other races. I always feel like I blow up about 3 laps in so a slower start should be the trick. When we got going I felt pretty good. The hardest part of the course for me was the long climb next to the road after you exited the woods. Thats the only place I felt slow anyway.

About 3 or 4 laps in I found myself riding with my team mate Jason. We rode together for a while untill Christopher caught us. Christopher came by us pretty quick so I jumped on his wheel. I then rode with him for what seemed like about 2 or 3 more laps.

I felt good so I asked to pass and started to ride a little harder. I got away from him a little and just keep the pedals turning. I eventually caught one other rider and finished 17th. My legs felt good and I think I was getting faster with each lap. Not fast enough though, I got lapped again by 1st and 2nd, and only about 1/3 of a lap away from it not happening right at the end.

Even though my finishing position was once again not so great, It was motivating as hell to feel the way I felt out there. I will keep training(suck) and come back next weekend swinging.

Thanks Eville Mike and Dennis F for photos

You just got done reading the lamest report on this race. Its late. Im tired. See you Sunday.

Holla.

Alton #4 Bubba #6

What a weekend. Way to much to do in such a short period of time.

Friday.. leave work early to help build a cross course.
Saturday.. Get to park early, make sure all is good, sit in sun for hours before race.
Saturday night.. PICX after party
Sunday.. Race Bubba.

So Saturday kinda went how I expected. All day long I was excited to race because the course was so much fun to ride. Only problem was, I felt like shit. My legs almost felt shaky from all the walking around I had done in the past 12 hours at the park.

Alton 4
When the race started I actually got off to a good start leading Nagy and Strothman for a little over a lap. I knew it wasn't going to last because those guys kill me every time. I figured I would just go hard for a couple laps, hold the lead and get some home town love. Well.. it only lasted for a little over one lap. After Jay and Mark came around me I could tell that my HR was definitely in the red.

It was that uncomfortable feeling you get when your heart is in your throat and you can feel the beat in your eye balls.... yeah, that kind of uncomfortable. I pushed through it the best I could but on lap 3 or 4 I had to stop on the side of a hill and feed some baby birds that looked hungry. Luckily I had some water to wash the taste out of my mouth. After I calmed down I hopped back on my bike and finished that shit. Wasn't fast, was in last... but I finished. My team mate Jason finished 3rd not too far behind Jay. Nagy took a dominating win. I came in 5th behind Gary Dyer.

Made 5 bucks at least




Bubba 6
Got to the race feeling the effects of the after party from the night before. Took a couple warm up laps and spun around in the parking lot for about an hour before the race. I felt good actually... better than the day before. Maybe I could pull off a decent result, maybe.

There were several people missing from the race that are usually there, and usually finish in front of me. However, this was a horse power course, I was dehydrated, and it was friggin hot out. Close to 80. I had no idea what to expect.

I started the race slow. I didn't want to blow up like the day before. The first couple laps were good for me. No cramping or breathing problems and my HR felt like it was in the right spot. About the 4th lap my throat was feeling much dryer than normal. I drank as much as I could every chance I got. My water was half gone with 5 or 6 laps to go.



The first few laps I was in a small group. Then, for most of the middle part of the race I was all alone. At about 4 laps to go Matt Laberta from Dogfish caught up to me and attacked the shit out of me for an entire lap. It hurt like hell but I held his wheel. He was stronger that I was down the straight aways and would gap me a little but, I seemed to be able to catch back up in the twisty corners.


At one lap to go Matt had about a 6 or 7 second gap on my. I went as hard as I could to get back up to him. I knew if I could get the gap down to around 3 seconds before the last section of the course where most the corners were, I might be able to get around him before the finish. I got to with in striking distance but I couldn't get around where I had hoped too. He led me all the way to the last corner which was a off cambered right hand turn, from there it was about a 40 yard uphill sprint to the finish.

As we came through that corner I was able to carry a little more speed and barely snuck by him in a sprint finish. It was a awesome way to finish the weekend. I ended the day with a 13th place finish. I was happy with 13th, but also frustrated that all the guys I would battle with last year all seem to have found a few extra gears somewhere.

Hopefully the nice weather this coming week will have me on my bike more. I need to kick my own ass a little more, its pretty obvious im not doing what I need to. I want to find those gears.

Mike D's Photos





holl-R

Bubba 4 and 5

Busy week so this will be short.

Coming off the BTEpic from the week before, I needed two days of rest before my legs felt normal again. Got a little riding in on Wednesday... that was it. Not much training last week.

Halloween night was a good night. I loved the mud, didnt like how difficult it was to see in the most rutting section. I think a tree was blocking the light. I will bring a axe to the next night race to ensure this does not happen again. Got off to a good start. Legs didnt feel too bad. Maintained same pace for the entire race which was good. My goal of not getting lapped was foiled with the short laps, and with getting lapped. Finished 14th that night. Pretty happy with that result... I think its the best I have finished in the A race(minus the races when only 10 guys show up) when 25 or so started.

The next day... Legs felt dead, I felt good. I was ready to go but my legs didnt have any snap in them. Everytime I was attacked I could not respond. I watched people ride away from me all day. The best part of the day was riding the ruts and berms that had formed. It really took me back to the days of racing motocross. Pick a rut, full throttle, full commitment, works everytime. I had a blast riding these corners. Finished 18th on Sunday. I still got lapped even with the longer laps, but only by the top 2 in the race, and pretty close to the end. I suck. But my new wheels were looking nice..


Taken from Mike D.




Holla...

Post BT-Epic

One year ago I did my first long distance MTB race called the BT-Epic. I showed up with a little fitness and perfect trail conditions on my SS 29er. I rode good last year finishing 17th with a time 0f 5:34....

Now fast forward 365 days.....(fast forward noise goes here)

I came to the race this year with a few more long distance races under my belt. But with my last long ride being over 2 months ago I really had no fitness for this. Not to mention the 2 or 3 inches of rain that had fallen in days prior. Because of these facts I thought it would be a good idea to ride my geared bike(options).

Since I knew I had no fitness, and because I missed the Burning this year, and because they had amazing FREEEEEEEEEEE Pale ale on tap, I decided to focus on fun. I had a few beers Saturday night and probably stayed up too late. When I awoke the next morning and walked down to my car to get a few things, several people cheered me on as if they could believe I was going to go out for this race. I was asked if I was still planning to race. Of course I was planning to race.... well ride the race anyway. I really didn't feel that bad from the beer the night before. Wasn't that big of a deal, just thought it was funny. Anyway...

When the race finally got going I found my self in the top 20 maybe going over the trailer across the river. I climbed the first fire road with a modest tempo and made a small effort to latch onto a couple wheels in front of me but didn't really have the legs to do so, nore did I really care. Several more riders passed me before I finally hit the single track 3 miles into the race.

After I entered the woods I hit my water bottle a couple times and just tried to relax. I knew it was going to be a long day and just wanted to ride. Several more riders passed me but I did not really care, I was just hear to have a good time.



The trails were very wet. Some trails were super muddy while others were small rivers. There were trails that were perfectly flat and I still was barely able to go 5 mph. Thick mud followed by lots of splashing which actually helped clean my bike off. The sections of the race that were like this actually helped take my mind off the race itself. You had to put all focus on the trail you were riding when it was like this and for a brief moment...... you only thought about the trail, not your time. Even with this, there were still sections of the trail that you could just bomb down and shred like 80's metal. Fast and flowy. Rocks and roots. TECH!



About the half way point I got my first flat. I had to sit on the side of the trail for about 7 or 8 minutes until someone finally stopped to help me. I couldn't get the tubeless valve out of the rim. After that was fixed and was rolling again, it started to rain. Obviously the rain was not helping the trails and also did not help me. It took a lot of the wind out of my sails. Even though I was already wet and muddy, I didn't really want to get rained on.

By this point on the race my bike was making terrible noises. I almost starting aiming for the deep water wholes with the hope of my bike getting some of the mud blasted off it. Sometimes it worked, other times it seemed to make it worse. Carry on...

I had past back about 10 people that passed during my first flat earlier and only had about 10 miles to go when I noticed my rear tire was going soft again. I stopped to check it. The tire was soft which meant a slow leak. I checked my computer and saw that I only had about 10 miles left with 7 of those being fire road. Since I only had about 3 miles of single track left I figured and could air the tire up and make it to the fire road before re-evaluating the situation. I hit the tire with a shot of CO2 and rode pretty hard to the road. It took my about15 minutes to get there, and when I did the tire had gone nearly flat again. Hmmm... I had 3 or 4 CO2's left, 2 tubes, 7 miles of fire road, and a slow leak. I could air my tire up twice with each CO2, so I sat there for a sec and did the math. I figured I had about 30 to 4o minutes worth of air to ride on before I was up shit creek.

I hit the tire and took off. I made it about 10 minutes before the tire was soft again. Uh ohh.. I hit it again and took off. I rode about another 8 or 9 before I was hitting rim on the rocks in the road. Shit... I was now down to 2 CO2's and about 3 1/2 miles of road. I hit it again and went as hard as I could. I think this time it only lasted about 5 minutes. It was pretty clear that my slow leak had turned into a full on flat. I had 1 1/2 CO2's left. Hit it, ride... Hit it, ride..... Hit it, ride..... out of air.

At this point in the race I could smell the finish line. Didn't care about my slow time. I didn't care about my mistake of NOT putting a tube in it when I had the chance. I was near the finish and that was my only goal... FINISH. I had about 2 miles to go so I just rode the flat tire. I was standing up the entire time making an attempt to save the wheel from damage on the rock road. I didn't make it too far before the tire finally came off the rim. I stopped and put it back on so I could keep riding. I only made it about 30 feet before the tire came off again. I figured at this point, with only a little over one mile to go, I would just walk. I started to run at one point but it seemed pointless. I had been passed by several riders on the last few miles of fire road so I wasn't to worried about running to the finish.

When I finally got there it had been 6 hour and 48 minutes since the race had started and in 64th place out of about 120. The winners had finished over 2 hours before I arrived. I was so glad to be done... My bike was wasted and needs some TLC before she rolls again.



I had a ton of fun down there this weekend and cant wait for next year. I can assure you that I will be better prepared next time.






2009 MTB season....DONE!

One last time..

Getting ready to head to Berryman for the last MTB race of the year. Hopefully my legs will push me faster than I am expecting them too but im not counting on it. I dont really have the base that is required to be strong at a 56 miles race like this. If I can make it to the finish line near the 5 1/2 hour mark with a smile on my face I will be stoked.

Bubba #1, and #2

The Bubba series is finally underway. They started the races right this year with a one two punch. The first race was Saturday night followed by the second on Sunday both at Faust park.

Since I did a full season of the mens open category last year I had no choice but to continue taking the abuse this season. Hopefully I have more fitness this year than last, as last year was not good to me by this point in the season. I was smoked.

Saturday night I was skeptical how I might do. I had no real expectations or goals other than to have fun, do my best, and not get lapped. The course was very soft, like marshmellow soft. Not muddy really, just soft. I am not sure what the hardest part of the night was. It could have been the super steep barrier runup, the fact that there was no where to recover, or ..... the softness that never ended.


I finished the race with no idea where I placed other than knowing it was not 1st. I was making up ground on several riders in the final laps but most cleared the finish line before me. When the results were finally posted I searched for my number which is 4. Top 10...... nope. No number 4 there. Top 15...... nope. No number 4 there either. Fuck! 15 through 20???? There it was. I finally found my number. I finished 20th out of about 30 startes and only 22 finishers. This is not what I was hoping for at the first Bubba race of the year. Nothing I could really do about it now so move on, come back tomorrow and do better.



Sunday's race used most of the satruday night course but with the usual added sections of the day time course from previous years. The course was almost just as soft as the night before and some of the added sections seemed worse even.

I think there were 32 riders that started Sunday's mens open race which is awesome. Its great to have that many racers in one race. When the race got started I knew it was going to be hard(no shit, I knew this before it started). I got off to a good start and stayed with the main group for the first lap. The previous days race on my legs had me feeling a bit slugish through the super soft stuff. A few laps in I had fallen into a pace that I was comfortable with. HR was high but I was able to answer all the little attacks that were going on around me. Several of the riders around me were trading positions with each other through out the laps of the race. I did my fair share of pulling in the group and actually tried to get a way a couple times. Its really hard to do when the course is as soft as it was.



With about 3 laps to go the group I was in had split up with what looked like about 10 to 15 second gaps between all of us. I was really trying to focus on corner speed and barrier speed as I have learned TONS of time can be made up hear. Of course, I was still going for the dollar pick ups in the barriers.....








On the bell I gave it all I had. I was hanging it out through the corners and standing up out of every corner absolutly going for it. Although I was only able to catch and pass one rider on the last lap, it was very self gratifying to know I had it in me to attack the entire last lap.

After the race, totally confident that my result would be better the the night before, I looked at the results only to find that I finished in 20th position again. The only positive of this was that it was 20th out of 28 finishers as oppose to the 22 finishers the night before. I know I can do better than this but I was not upset with it at the same time. I will get there, its a long road to get to "fit".


Thanks GoPate for the pics.







Holla atcha boy.......

Hitler and his 29er research.