DarkHorse 40

Well, been a while, but I feel obligated by the fact that I actually have a blog follower (blogower?) so I guess I will write a post about last weekend's race.

I was convinced to do the Dark Horse 40 by my friend Marc. He went down to SS-apalooza with me and he was very excited to race in Montgomery, NY again. THis time, the pre-ride was dry, as well as the race. The course was fast, flowy and DUSTY. We camped at a local campground, and I think we were the only people on the premises that were from out of state, and not related. It seemed like a giant family had taken over the campground and partied most of both the nights we were there. Lots of early morning fireworks, sketchy drive bys of our campsite, and car alarms in the wee hours of the morning.

Marc and Andrea looking for more firecrackers.

Anyway, we headed down on Friday and pre rode the course on Saturday. We took it really easy to help Andrea, Marc's better half, through the course. Unfortunately, I only filled my camelbak halfway, not expecting to need all the water for one lap. About halfway through the lap, I was dry and it was hot. Our ride lasted three hours. Not good for me.

We finished up our ride, visited Dark Horse cycles (the shop, and promoters for SSAP and the 40) and found a place to get dinner.

We bought some BEEF, made hamburgers and pasta for dinner, and sampled some local brew.

I tried to drink as much as possible, but the water at the camp site smelled like egg farts and we had more beer than bottled water. So, I went to bed with a nagging headache, and woke up in the same condition.

We headed to the start, making a quick stop to fill up on water, and I started drinking immediately. I threw some nuun into a water bottle and pounded it. The race started and I felt okay at the start, but about a quarter through the first lap, I booted. I felt a little bit better, and kept riding. I drank some more Nuun out of my camelbak, and then booted again. The people behind me were nice enough not to comment, or just trying hard to avoid the puke puddles I was leaving behind me. The headache started to come back, and I was beginning to think I would just finish and curl up into a ball and die.

Every DH course runs through the abandoned cardboard box factory. Creepy.

I continued on, and actually started to feel a bit better. 3/4 of the way through the lap, I caught the guy (IF rider from Philly) I was riding with and another SSer wearing hammer stuff. IF guy passed the hammer guy, and I thought I would go with him. I was feeling good, and went for the pass on a slightly widened section of trail with some brush on the sides. Unfortunately, lurking in that brush were lots of bar-end -snagging vines, which we don't have in VT. The vines grabbed my bars and threw me to the ground like I insulted their mother.

This is the second pair of shorts I have trashed this year. I think I will still wear them though, as they will let everyone at the start line know that I am a badass. Or just bad at keeping my tires down and my bike up right. So, after the crash, and many obscenities, I hopped back on the bike and tried to catch up. Then my chain fell off. I was a bit flustered, and it took a little while for me to get it back on. However, I did, and I was able to catch the Hammer and IF guys before the end of the lap. We headed through the start area and on of the promoters told us we were 3rd, fourth and fifth. I was surprised by this, but it helped me kick the bad feeling after wiping out and throwing my chain, and puking, and feeling horrible. IF guy and me took off on the road section and rode most of the single track together for the second lap. At the first aid station I had a bit of a gap on Mr. IF, but I stopped to fill my camelbak and figured I would catch him again. Once I got through the next singletrack section to a nice piece of straight road, I couldn't see any sign of him. I felt like he had played me, acting tired so I would try to break away. He was hammering and all I could do was hold on. I continued on, feeling dejected, but near the end of the lap I heard someone behind me, and saw Mr. IF. I shouted "I thought you were in front of me!" and took off, hoping to remain in third. I did, rolling through the roughest sections of the course like puppet tied to a bicycle. I ended up 3 minutes behind the 1st and 2nd, and only 20 seconds in front of IF, but I was pretty happy. To top it off, I won a medal with Homer Simpson on it, and the post race beers and barbecue were excellent.

SUMMER!!!

I think I was a bit too far forward.....

School is out, work is light (3 days a week, 6 hours a day is pretty schweet) and I am trying to ride as much as possible. The hard part is this week is the week of my first "big" race of the summer. Big meaning I go to Canada and try to race for 100km. I think that is like 60 American miles, but I haven't checked the exchange rate today. The race promoter likes to send emails that scare people, like recommending no one try the race on a bike without squish in the front and back, and also that no one try a single speed and that you should start the race with new brake pads. I have chosen to scoff at all these warnings, and race the single speed. We will see. Either way, I plan on being really sore next week.

Riding in VT continues to be good, when it isn't pouring, but the trails are drying out pretty quick and the options for people to ride with are increasing everyday. Hopefully a 12 hour race in Presque Isle, aka East bum fizzle, will materialize and that would be interesting.

Duck and cover.

Yeah, the past few weeks have been a bit busy. Lots to do, not a lot of time to write. Trips to NH for family stuff (and a bike race) then a trip to Maine for wifey's race, and an ill-fated rendez-vous with Rick is! Rick and I couldn't get together, so I had to ride Maine singletrack at Bradbury all by myself. Good thing, because Rick wouldn't have been impressed by my pampered, VT style riding. Maine has roots and rocks. So does VT, but we like to space them out a bit, and throw some hills in to keep things interesting. Maine keeps them all together, and packs more twists and turns into one collection of single track than we have in Chittenden county. The riding was still fun, and I was bummed I couldn't finally meet Rick.

Wifey's race went pretty well, and I got to spend Sunday watching people run around in circles for 50, 25 or 15 miles. It made my legs and feet hurt just watching. Sunday afternoon I got to drive home, and then Monday, it was Christmas on Labor day.

It is not everyday the Moots demo van comes to your (friend's) house to share ti goodness with your friends and local riders. We planned a ride from the driveway in the picture (my buddy and grassmoots teammate Jason) up and over two large VT hills on some sweet singletrack and into the Hinesburg town forest to ride with the Mooties and some local bike shop guys. It was

good. We rode for a total of 5 hours, in which I managed to warp the front tire on my single-

speed. First I tried a new, scary large roller (steep rock face with several holes in it, for about a

15 foot drop) I hit the transition and my bike made a cracking noise that made me think I had

just snapped my carbon fork. Luckily, it just looked like a gorilla had tried to twist off my tire.

As this was before we met the Moots guys (about two minutes before) I borrowed a pump and

tried to fix the tire by deflating and inflating it several times. It helped. Then we finished our

ride in the forest and I hit a small jump on the way out, landing heavily on the front tire and

creating the cracking noise again. Long story short, I am in need of new tires.

Oh well, it was fun anyways. This weekend the Pinnacle happens, and I will be there getting

my ass kicked.

Long time, no write.

Lots has been going on in the Great green north. Lots of racing (two more is a lot) and lots of riding. The riding has been good enough that I am having trouble preparing for races with enough rest. I guess this isn't a bad problem to have. It is just so tempting to ride with friends, right out my door (and down the road a bit, I guess)

My second race of the year was the Single speed championship Supreme put on by bike29.com/five hills bikes. They are cool. This year the field was a bit bigger, (16 total) and we started off pretty fast. My legs felt like lead, as I rode about 12 hours in the week that led up to the race. A four hour ride two days before may not, in hindsight, have been the best idea. But, I was able to hang on and keep the two leaders in sight, finishing third, and winning some sweet fruit-striped socks and a t-shirt. I was pretty happy.

The race this weekend was Willowdale in Ipswich. Very fun. A huge crowd showed up, with an estimate of 400 racers. This was my first "elite race" with the big boys. I chose the single speed to maximize the suffrage, which turned out to be a good choice. The course used some of the trails from a running race I have done, the "Stonecat" trail race. Unfortunately, the course didn't go by the car in the middle of the woods with the working horn and drunk locals cheering us on.

I did get a little too close to one of the trees, while passing a group of novice women, who laughed at my fish-belly colored ass as I passed.

The first lap I rode a bit conservatively, until I latched onto the wheel of a guy wearing sweet (pink) socks that said "I'm with awesome ^^^" They made me laugh. We wear moving along when I heard some rattling and remembered I forgot to fully tighten my rear quick release after I switched my gear before the race. Oops. Hopped off, tightened it and got back on . Rode the next lap trading off with the cool sock guy, then lost him on one of the fire roads. On the last lap I passed a lot of people with flats, and managed to stay flat free. I finished in tenth, just behind really fast single speeder Will Crissman, who also informed me he has read this loose collection of pictures and ramblings bringing the total readership up to three, if my mom still reads this.

OVerall a very fun race and I look forward to the Pinnacle.

all palooza-ed out.

Singlespeedapalooza was pretty frickin' awesome. The ride down on Saturday was a beautiful day. I packed into the car with three good friends and we headed out for NY. We got some funny looks from a lot of people on the ferry, with four grown men packed into a car with four bikes on top.
We were on the FREE ferry because the old bridge to NY is in need of some repair.
We got to the trailhead around 5 and there were quite a few people preriding the course. West coast Ti meets east coast Ti. I would rock a IF, but I don't have enough tattoos and I can't grow cool facial hair. I also love my Mooto-x.
After the dusty dry lap on super fun singletrack on Saturday, it rained most of the night and Sunday morning, turning the course into a big ribbon of greasy glop. I was able to get a good starting position and stayed with the lead group on the fire road start, and into the singletrack. I waited to pass people until we popped out onto the road again, where I took advantage of the big (for the course) climb to catch up to Eric (our driver) and pass him right before we entered the first long section of single track. I made a few more passes on the newly cut single track (which turned into a mudslick by the second lap) and was alone for most of the remainder of the lap. I was feeling pretty good and in the top fifteen as I finished my first lap, and then I felt a bit of a wobble in my pedal stroke. I figured I could most likely finish the lap and be done, but I was mistaken. Half way through the final lap my crank arm on the drive side decided it was done and started to point toward the ground, just like the non-drive crankarm. I hopped off the trail and waited for Eric, who was nice enough to throw me his multi tool. I retightened and kept going, hoping to make it home. Unfortunately, I had to tightened the crank arm at the top of most of the climbs, about six times total. I finished in 18th and immediately downed a few hotdogs and some mighty tasty terrapin ale. I would go to Georgia just for more. I was kind of bummed at the end of the race, but overall it was a great time and I got to meet Dejay Birtch after. He even gave me a sticker, making this trip wicked frickin' good.

Tapering is hard.

It is really hard to stop riding as much as I want. This weekend is the first race of the season, and I am finding it hard to limit my riding and want to jump out of the car and tackle people I see out riding while I have to be "smart." Last night I went for a ride anyway. What was going to be quick and low key, turned into an 2 hour sprint. The trails near my house are open and there were tons of people out, even at 6 o'clock. I started my ride and had lots of people out enjoying the trails who I felt I had to pass. I guess I got my comeuppance, (I am reading lots of Dickens') and in the last mile of trail I passed a group, then got a stick caught in my spokes which snapped my UST valve stem in half. Not much I could do without a tube or pump, so I got to walk out.

Tonight will be the first ever meeting of my new school's mountain Bike club, we are going for a ride after school, and I hope to take some pics.

Pic-shurs

Jason, holding up that tree.
A little crash.

Trails so dry you can still read the letters.

The identity of this single speeder has been withheld for his safety.

Jason, picking his line.