I ventured down to C-bluff Saturday afternoon to get a ride in on my SS and camp with TeamSeagal the night before the big race on Sunday. Saturday's ride was good on North Trace. Didn't go to far, just needed to ride a little and see how the legs were feeling. The felt pretty good...
Saturday night was a grand time as well. Started off by eating pasta and talking about trophy trucks. These are two things I love so the night was getting started just right. Soon, after a few beers, we headed over to a Mexican disco..... at another camp site.... to see what the hell was going on over there. Well, it was a disco at a camp site. Kind of low budget but I have to give them credit because, well, they were having a disco at a camp site. Not bad.
Woke up Sunday feeling a little tired and dehydrated from the heat and beer drinking from the day before. Started slamming water and ate some strawberry's and a bagel with the man the myth the legend.... Bob Jenkins. Now that I was fueled up for the race I kitted up and rode down to the boat ramp for the start of the race. Upon arriving there I was greeted with many smiles and high fives. This day was already awesome, and it was my birthday(29). We did a lemans start where you run to your bike. Not sure who invented this or what the purpose is. Anyway, I think I hit the single track in 10th place or so.
I was having a hard time focusing on the trail because I had a little bit of a hangover from the night before. I just kept the pedals turning at a effort I felt I could manage for the entire race. The miles seemed to click off fast. Before I knew it was 20 miles in. This trail flows so good and is so much fun to ride, I think you loose track of time and distance.
After I hit the fire road I went into TT mode and cranked through that the best I could. It was hot out there and my hands were really starting to hurt from not waring gloves. I skipped the last water station because I honestly thought the race was over at the end of the road(I don't know this area all that well). But to my surprise, I found that we had to re-enter the woods and ride more single track back to the finish area and it seemed to be mostly uphill....I think. I was way out of water by this point(only had two bottles, one was small) and I was really thirsty.
Thinking the race was only going to take about 3 hours I only brought a flask of hammer gel for the ride. It was long gone by this point. I stopped one last time on the trail for a nature break and I could tell I was dehydrated. My pee looked like orange juice.... with pulp!! Knowing I had to be close I got back on my bike and rode out of the woods to cross a road, looked left and saw a intersections sign that said 32/DD. Then I could here people's voices. I was done. I finished 6th overall and 4th in mens open for a time of 3 hours and 49 minutes.
What an awesome race and good time. Cant wait for next year, its only going to get better. After the race I rode the single track back to my car so I could go home. My day gave me 47 total miles of single track on the OT. I was cooked by the time I got back to my car.
Results
1 3:24:08 Matt James - Men Open
2 3:24:50 Dan Fuhrmann - SS Open
3 3:30:51 Jeff Yiedling - Men Open
4 3:36:35 Mitch teh Morshor - Men Open
5 3:38:46 Larry Koester - SS Open
6 3:49:20 Scott Peipert - Men Open
7 3:50:01 Nico Toscani - SS Open
8 3:52:43 John Donjoian - SS Open
9 3:52:46 Brian Busken - SS Open
10 3:59:37 Paul Krewet - Men Open
11 4:01:26 Drewballs - Men Open
12 4:01:43 Tom Lauria - Men Open
13 4:09:52 Todd Holtman - Men Open
14 4:31:11 Roger Mackay - Men Open
15 4:31:12 Stove - SS Open
16 4:39:24 Rob Ballou - Men Open
17 4:44:28 Jason Pryor - Men Open
18 4:44:29 John Hatchor - SS Open
19 4:44:46 Karen Holtman - Women Open
20 4:44:50 Stephanie McCreary Women Open
21 4:46:44 Punchor - SS Open
22 4:51:53 Karl Kimball - SS Open
23 4:57:38 Rock Wamsley - Men Open
24 5:20:50 Taggort - SS Open
25 5:23:10 Keith Weinkein - Men Open
26 5:37:14 Guy in Veloforce jersey - Mn Open
27 6:19:20 Sasha - Women Open
28 6:19:21 T-Tocs - SS Open
29 6:44:25 Borb Jerkins - Men Open
30 6:44:26 Lukas Lamb - Men Open
31 7:10:04 John Farinella - Men Open
32 7:10:06 Guy in Salsa jersey (Justin?) - Men Open
33 7:25:00 Ben G - Men Open
MEGA thanks to TeamSeagal for putting this on and putting up with me all weekend. I had a blast!
Holla atcha boy...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Does the name "Tomac" ring a bell??
Remember John Tomac? Well his son Eli is a very good rider also. Only on motorcycles. He just won the Hangtown MX national in what was is professional debut. He is only the second rider in history to do this. The first was James Stewert. This would be like winning Paris-Roubaix for your first pro race.
Steve Cox photo
Steve Cox photo
Monday, May 17, 2010
Rhetts Run
Well.. I will start by saying I knew I should have stayed home. I didn't know a single person who was backing out of going to the race in my circle of friends. So, I wasn't either. I kept hearing that the course drains well but the area did get about half a foot of rain this week. Hmmm.
Got to the race good and early and everyone who was already there pretty much all said the same thing. It was a piece of shit. I raced here last year and it was awesome. The trail was ripping fast and fun as hell. This year would not be the same.
I lined up(reluctantly) for the expert race knowing it was going to be ugly. When it started it was clear right from the get go just how bad it was. It was icy slick in spots, deep mud in others, deep water wholes, and very dangerous wet rocks and roots to deal with. I felt very uncomfortable on the trail. I was using tires I have never used before and was not sure if they were working or if I was just riding tight. Probably both. I almost fell I don't know how many times.
I started getting frustrated, then Scott Oglvie "ran" past me. Yeah, I was having a hard time in some spots. I held his pace for the rest of the lap until I exited the woods to start my second lap. Fuck that. I quit. That's shit was terrible. You can call me a bitch... that stuff just isn't fun to me on a MTB. Cross is a different story though. Some guys like racing in the mud. Just not sure why I guess. Its bad for the trails(Rhett's Run needs a lot of work now) and it ruins bike parts.
So, 4 1/2 hours of driving for 30 minutes of riding. Bummer. It wasn't really riding... it was survival on a bike for 5 miles. Maybe my head wasn't in it...I don't know.... I was over it real quick. I suck.
Before exiting... I have to say that Drew Black's ride Sunday was pretty awesome to watch from the sidelines. That fact that he held the gap from Breslin, Musselman, and Elwell for the last 2 laps with out loosing time was pretty incredible. Nice work Brah!
Hope my post hasn't depressed you to bad. I have a case of the Monday's.
Holla atcha boy....
Got to the race good and early and everyone who was already there pretty much all said the same thing. It was a piece of shit. I raced here last year and it was awesome. The trail was ripping fast and fun as hell. This year would not be the same.
I lined up(reluctantly) for the expert race knowing it was going to be ugly. When it started it was clear right from the get go just how bad it was. It was icy slick in spots, deep mud in others, deep water wholes, and very dangerous wet rocks and roots to deal with. I felt very uncomfortable on the trail. I was using tires I have never used before and was not sure if they were working or if I was just riding tight. Probably both. I almost fell I don't know how many times.
I started getting frustrated, then Scott Oglvie "ran" past me. Yeah, I was having a hard time in some spots. I held his pace for the rest of the lap until I exited the woods to start my second lap. Fuck that. I quit. That's shit was terrible. You can call me a bitch... that stuff just isn't fun to me on a MTB. Cross is a different story though. Some guys like racing in the mud. Just not sure why I guess. Its bad for the trails(Rhett's Run needs a lot of work now) and it ruins bike parts.
So, 4 1/2 hours of driving for 30 minutes of riding. Bummer. It wasn't really riding... it was survival on a bike for 5 miles. Maybe my head wasn't in it...I don't know.... I was over it real quick. I suck.
Before exiting... I have to say that Drew Black's ride Sunday was pretty awesome to watch from the sidelines. That fact that he held the gap from Breslin, Musselman, and Elwell for the last 2 laps with out loosing time was pretty incredible. Nice work Brah!
Hope my post hasn't depressed you to bad. I have a case of the Monday's.
Holla atcha boy....
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Greensfelder Race
First, a quick mini post with in a post. Went down to Syllamo a couple weeks ago with high expectations and flat legs. Didnt get to ride much the two weeks before the race and my legs felt heavy because of it. Shit happens. The weather was less than desirable Friday night before the race and the forecast didnt look much better. Luckily, the weather on Saturday gave us a big break. The trails were still very wet from the rain the day before which made for slick conditions the first couple hours. I went down on some wet rocks and managed a quarter sized dent on my fork. Only cosmetic damage. I finsihed 41st for 6 hours 17 minutes 8th in class. Maybe next year. Zach killed again and finsihed 9th overall. Nice work man.
Greensfelder Expert race.
The entire week leading up to the race I was riding hard everyday to get my legs to get some snap back in them. I put several laps on the G-felder course and did the thursday fast ride with the guys. Come race time, my legs felt good again.
There was a large turn out of about 25 Category 1 riders. There were 5 in my age group of 29-under. When the race started Jon Schottler's chain broke right next to me and he almost went down. I hammered it into the single track to try and be first wheel on the technical downhill so I had clear vision of the trail. It worked. After the down hill I put it in overdrive and just started riding my bike really. No huge efforts from me. I knew with the super tech trail coming up I was in a good spot. I love riding that stuff and do it well.
After some time past, Drew Black made his way around and I stuck his wheel for a bit. He started to get away from me after a mile or so, Drew is very fit right now and his off season training.... what ever it was... has that dude looking real thin. Drew ened up flatting later on, on the first lap.
Ploch and EPirtle made there way by a short time later about half way through the first lap. I stuck Eric's wheel on one of the flowy downhill sections to try and keep my pace with there's. That lasted about 40 seconds. Those two are fast.
The rest of the lap, and race, were pretty uneventfull really. That was untill about 1/3 of a lap was remaining of the 3 lap race. Earlier in the race when Drew flatted he fixed if, then put his head down and charged back to the front of our field. My first lap was a 44 minutes lap. Drew's was a 51 I think(with the flat). It came down the wire really. I only beat him by 8 seconds. I was riding as hard as I could that last section because I knew he eleminated all that time I had on him and he was closing fast.
I finished first in my age group and 13th overall out of all the experts. I should also mention that Jon Schottler fixed his chain at the beginning of the race when it broke, then smoked past me on the second lap and actually beat me by 8 minutes. Unfortunatly for him, he was DQ'ed for going to his car for a tool or part. Niether he or I knew this untill the scoring was announced. I didnt win the first place medal, It was given to me. I offered the Medal to Schottler after the race because it was his in my mind but, he politly declined.
GORC did a crazy good job and the trails were awesome. Bryan Adams and Matt Hayes layed out the course which everyone loved. I hope this course gets used next year.
holla atcha boy...
Greensfelder Expert race.
The entire week leading up to the race I was riding hard everyday to get my legs to get some snap back in them. I put several laps on the G-felder course and did the thursday fast ride with the guys. Come race time, my legs felt good again.
There was a large turn out of about 25 Category 1 riders. There were 5 in my age group of 29-under. When the race started Jon Schottler's chain broke right next to me and he almost went down. I hammered it into the single track to try and be first wheel on the technical downhill so I had clear vision of the trail. It worked. After the down hill I put it in overdrive and just started riding my bike really. No huge efforts from me. I knew with the super tech trail coming up I was in a good spot. I love riding that stuff and do it well.
After some time past, Drew Black made his way around and I stuck his wheel for a bit. He started to get away from me after a mile or so, Drew is very fit right now and his off season training.... what ever it was... has that dude looking real thin. Drew ened up flatting later on, on the first lap.
Ploch and EPirtle made there way by a short time later about half way through the first lap. I stuck Eric's wheel on one of the flowy downhill sections to try and keep my pace with there's. That lasted about 40 seconds. Those two are fast.
The rest of the lap, and race, were pretty uneventfull really. That was untill about 1/3 of a lap was remaining of the 3 lap race. Earlier in the race when Drew flatted he fixed if, then put his head down and charged back to the front of our field. My first lap was a 44 minutes lap. Drew's was a 51 I think(with the flat). It came down the wire really. I only beat him by 8 seconds. I was riding as hard as I could that last section because I knew he eleminated all that time I had on him and he was closing fast.
I finished first in my age group and 13th overall out of all the experts. I should also mention that Jon Schottler fixed his chain at the beginning of the race when it broke, then smoked past me on the second lap and actually beat me by 8 minutes. Unfortunatly for him, he was DQ'ed for going to his car for a tool or part. Niether he or I knew this untill the scoring was announced. I didnt win the first place medal, It was given to me. I offered the Medal to Schottler after the race because it was his in my mind but, he politly declined.
GORC did a crazy good job and the trails were awesome. Bryan Adams and Matt Hayes layed out the course which everyone loved. I hope this course gets used next year.
holla atcha boy...
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