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August 29 Ceasars Creek OMBC and Funtucky Combined Points RaceAnother Sunday, another Mountain Bike Race. Last weekend it was down to Cincinatti to race one of my favorite courses on the circuit, Ceasers Creek State Park. This trail is about 8 miles of very technical singletrack. Technical as in some rocks, many many tree roots, twisty high speed turns, down trees, numerous short but steep climbs and downhills just lined with roots in every direction, loose gravel that was like riding on marbles, sand pits, two stream crossings...one of them rather deep and very muddy, hike a bike climbs and even more.
I like this trail because it suits my strengths. I have raced it in both directions in dry and wet conditions several years in a row and have always had a good finish here. So when I arrived for the race Sunday my attitude was somewhat relaxed despite having heavy legs lately.
Off we went and I found myself in 4th place going into the singletrack with Walker and two other fast guys from Kentucky. Things were going good.
The air was hot and by hot I mean like an oven. I was not surprised that the pace we were going felt slower than normal, it would be nearly 3 hours out there in the heat and there was alot of racing to go. I was getting ancy after about 10 minutes of what felt like just riding...even though the 4 of us had a good lead on the other 16 racers. I convinced myself it would be a good idea to get into the lead and ride a little faster and after some battling and fumbling I finally got out in front and tried to push the pace up just a bit. Things were going great and I am still not sure what happened but my front dereailer became twitsted and at the same time I began getting some serious noise from my rear derailer as well.
I had to pull off of the trail to figure what the heck was happening. But nothing...everything looked fine in the rear but back on the bike and the chain was grinding hard into my front derailer, I could not tune it out with the shifter and decided to just go with it. Working real hard to get back into 2nd place and then I just bonked. I could not control my breathing or get my heart rate down. I had to slow down.
Normally I would recover quickly but I rode at what seemed like way slow for nearly the next hour, dropping back to 4th place. Meanwhile I used my heal to kick my front derailer into a more useful shape. And chugged about 4 bottles of water. I could not believe no other racers caught up with me, apparently I was not the only one affected by the heat that day.
Finally feeling good again into the 2nd of 3 laps I was able to pick up the pace some. I heard a time gap of 3 minutes to the 2nd place guy and thought I could possibly close that with an hour of racing yet to go. I gave the little I had to give and eventually passed the 3rd place guy standing along side the trail, another victim of the heat, and i limped in to finish 3rd, 10 minutes slower than my time last year on the same course. I even managed to crash in front of the crowd just before crossing the finish line...in the grass...a fitting ending to this race.
Half of the expert class and a total of 30 racers dropped out of the race, mostly from the heat no doubt.
Initially I was pretty bummed becuase getting beat by such a huge margin by Walker meant my hope of an OMBC championship had been lost. But a last minute change to the requirements means I am back in the running...at least for one more race!
Thanks to Al for all those icey water bottle hand offs, I don't want to think about where I would have been without em.
Nice job to Lindsey and Cristina too. They both got 3rd in their races as well.
August 26 stolen blog Ok, so I took this from someone else's blog and no...I am not giving them any credit for it here. But I thought it was pretty funny and worth posting. BIKE FOR SALE ad from Craigslist: Manly Bike for SaleDate: 2008-07-22, 10:18AM PDT Bike for sale What kind of bike? I don’t know, I’m not a bike scientist. What I am though is a manly guy looking to sell his bike. This bike is made out of metal and kick ass spokes. The back reflector was taken off, but if you think that deters me from riding at night, you’re way wrong. I practiced ninja training in Japan’s mount Fuji for 5 years and the first rule they teach about ninja biking is that back reflectors let the enemy know where you are. Not having a rear reflector is like saying “FUCK YOU CAR, JUST TRY AND FIND ME”. The bike says Giant on the side because it’s referring to my junk, but rest assured even if you have tiny junk that Giant advertisement is going to remain right where it is. I bought this bike for 300 dollars from a retired mercenary that fought in both World War 1 and World War 2 and had his right arm bitten off by a shark in the Phillipines while stationed there as a shark handler. When he sold it to me I had to arm wrestle him for the honor to buy it. I broke his arm in 7 places when I did. He was so impressed with me he offered me to be his son but I thought that was sissy shit so I said no way. The bike has some rusted screws, but that just shows how much of a bad ass you are. Everyone knows rusted screws on a bike means that you probably drove it underwater and that’s bad ass in itself. Those screws can be replaced with shiny new ones, but if you’re going to go to that trouble why not just punch yourself in the balls since you’re probably a dickless lizard who doesn’t like to look intimidating. The bike is for men because the seat is flat or some shit and not shaped like a dildo. If you like flat seated bikes you’re going to love this thing because it doesn’t try to penetrate your ass or anything. I’ve topped out at 75 miles per hour on this uphill but if you’re just a regular man you’ll probably top it out at 10 miles per hour. This thing is listed as a street bike which is man-code for bike tank. The bike has 7 speeds in total: Gear 1 - Sissy Gear I only like gear 6 and 7 to be honest. Additionally, this tool of all immense men comes with a gigantic lock to keep it secure. The lock is the size of a bull’s testicles and tells people you don’t fuck around with locking up your bike tank. It tells would-be-thieves “Hey asshole, touch this bike and I’ll appear from the bushes ready to club you with a two-by-four”. Bike is for 150 OBO (and don’t give me no panzy prices) August 22 Fort Custer Time TrialFor some reason I felt as if I needed to attend a race of some kind last weekend. It had been nearly three weeks since my last event and I was itchin' for some competition. Soooo...I drove up to Michigan real quick like for an early morning Mountain Bike Time Trial. I arrived, entered in the Elite class and had just 20 minutes to preride the course and warm up.
Before I knew it I was flying down the trail racing only the clock. It was a nice change not to have to battle 20 other dudes...a bit more low stress than a typical race situation.
The trail was mostly flat and about 80% singletrack, completely dry and all sand. Dry sand is slippery but being such a well used trail the corners were slightly bermed which helped corning traction enough to keep speeds incredibly high. The underbrush was very thick limiting how far down the trail I could see. It took every bit of concentration to react to the many twists, dips, corners and logs that would suddenly appear as I went flying through the trees at speeds normally reseved for the road.
About 15 minutes into the race I began to catch a rider who had left one minute ahead of me. This actually made riding easier because I could see him ahead and this helped me to tell which direction the trail was heading and if there was an up or downhill approaching.
At some point I smashed my pedal into a rock and dislodged the engagement spring, causing my pedal to colapse, and as a result I could not clip into or put any real pressure on the pedal. My race was over....early.
I rolled back to the car, disassembled the pedal and made the repair. Then I began begging and I even tried to bribe the officials to let me start again...to no avail. They did agree to let me start between the sport and novice waves. But would not record my time or score me in any class. This was acceptable to me since what I really wanted was a hard workout. This 13 mile time trial was just perfect.
I started again and this time I had an advantage, knowing the first 4 miles of the course. But I also had a disadvantage...there were about 100 sport and expert class racers in front of me. I was constantly running up on groups of 2 and 3 racers...racers walking the hills...racers trying not to let me pass them...and then the end all was just 2 miles from the finish....I race head on into a group of equestrians on the trail! I came skidding to a stop just in front of them, dimounted my bike and tried to get around them as best I could without spooking the animals too much. I did sideswipe one horse and rider accidentally but they were well socialized and luckily the animal did not react.
My official time put me about an hour behind the last guy in the elite class, but my computer put me about mid pack even with the 50 passes and the horse incident. The course was fun and fast and the legs are still sore 4 days later...I think I rode hard enough.
Next up on the race scene is OMBC Ceasars Creek this Sunday.Which, by the way, kicks off 5 consequtive weeks of racing.
Gary Fisher updated their site with the 2009 Bikes. Some good lookin' stuff....actually the best looking bikes I have ever seen out of the Fisher factory.
The end
August 13 Blog update Blog update! Not much racing going on. We have a 3 week break in the Ohio Series which has allowed me to get some much needed work done around home. I have been working and training alot as usual...and loving it.
I competed in a road race at Lorain County Speedway last Thursday. This was the first road event I had done in about 3 years and I did it on my mountain bike with knobby tires! Wow it was hard! It was 3 races. I got dropped the first race, stayed in the pack for the second and shortest race, and got lapped twice in the longest final race.I did not have the gears or power to match the 30+mph sprints... No big deal...it was really a great workout, exactly what I needed
Lindsey's dad, Al made me this killer water bottle holder
Finally I set a new course record yesterday at Mohican State Park. This trail is the best! 25 miles of flowing singletrack set in the beautiful Mohican State Forest. The perfect training and testing ground for a cross country racer like myself. I try to get there at least once per week. New lap record 1hour 56 minutes and 32 seconds. ten seconds faster than my previous time! August 08 Le Lake Hope
I still had one teamate in the race (BEN) and we found ourselves in the lead from the word go. About 15 minutes into the trail we were passed by the current State Champion and he began to get a gap on us. That did not last for long though. First I noticed a saddle laying in the middle of the trail and just around the corner he was standing next to his seatless bike. Apparently the turbulance from his jean shorts blew the thing right off of his seatpost! Because of the high speeds I mentioned there were plenty of opportunities for drafting. Ben and I took turns at the front for the remainder of the race and worked together to grow our lead over the rest of the racers. We agreed to help each other until the final 800ft of paved climing which lead to the finish line. As we approached the last 10 minutes or so of trail leading to the finish I slowed way down in order to save my energy for the sprint finish, or to force Ben to come around me where I could then draft him. He stayed true to his word and stayed back until the pavement. Finally onto the pavement and climbing toward the finish Ben made the first move and I moved behind him until the steepest part of the climb where I felt I had the advantage. I stood up and sprinted as hard as I could for the final few hundred yards, passing Ben and staying ahead across the finish line. I only managed to put about 6 seconds on him but it was a huge win for me. Being a combined Ohio and West Virginia points race and all...my first West Virgina series win!
April showed up to make it a whole team for the first time in a while. She finished the race in record time despite a broken chain.
AND I certainly can't fail to mention that my teamate Dave Hall and his wife recently welcomed their first child into the world on JULY 22. A baby girl mountain bike racer! July 29 Cheap Light StrongI was looking forward to last Sunday's OMBC race in Columbus. The Alum Creek Course is on that I have historically raced very well at. Feeling great at the start I did more than my share of work on the 2+ miles of road leading up to the singletrack.
Approaching the trailhead I made a tactical error and attacked too early, relegating myself to 6th place going into the woods. My teamate Ben timed it perfectly and was out in front leading the race.
By the end of the first of 3 laps I had made all the necessary passes and was now in 2nd place chasing Ben, he was less than 10 seconds ahead of me and we had a lead of nearly a minute on everyone else.
The racecourse was dry and dusty the way I like it. Speeds were high and so was my confidence.
I had a minor crash in one of the dusty corners and was right back up on my feet...but as I jumped aboard the white rabbit I heard a "crackly crunch" and felt my seat fall from under my butt. My seatpost had broken at the seat clamp and I was out of the race.
This was bad...not only becuase I destroyed my light and cheap seatpost, and not just because I had yet another DNF to add to my resume...but until that moment I felt I had a solid shot at being the State Champion this year. I have been 2nd or 3rd every year for 4 years in a row, always beat out by one of my teamates....always runner up and never the champ. I have the fitness to do it this year but I can't seem to stay out of my own way. My teamate Ben now has the edge...one of us will be the Champ 3 months from now. At this point I have to finish all 6 remaining races near the top and Beat Ben at least half the time in order to clinch it. It's a long shot but I am not completely out of it yet. Oh the drama!
Ben ended up winning the race by the way...deservedly so.
Lindsay had a great race leading for over half the race and having her best finish of the year in 3rd place! Her little sister Kelly was a guest racer on our team in the kids race that day. Welcome to the team Kelly!
Our next race is at Lake Hope in Athens Ohio. It's a combined West Virginia and Ohio Points race so there will be a large field of racers for sure. Ben will likely clinch his title as West Virginia July 15 Pretty good weekendBack to back xc races...that was the plan for the weekend.
Vulture's Knob was extremely muddy with some hella deep puddles. By the time I had completed my 3 laps the brake pads were gone and my shift cables were no longer functioning. New pads, cables, and housing before bed and then it was off to S+S Trails in Zanesville first thing next morning.
S+S is one of the most fun venues on the schedule and takes place on the property of fellow racer Chris Skinner. He always lays out a huge spread of food after the race, brings out some locals to compete and even more to spectate. Racers come from far and wide just for the atmosphere (and the free beer).
AND of course we got a healthy dose of rain just before the start, like almost every race this year. I was not sure what to expect from myself, but I was there to try for a win.
For some reason the race director had us line up for a lemans style start. We would run about 150 feet to our bikes, then jump on and go! In all my year racing this series, this was a first. I am not a runner and running in biking shoes is especially awkward.
There was much elbowing and shoving as we sprinted down to the dirt road and back to where our bikes were randomly staged, but it was all in good fun...I think.
I entered the woods in 6th position where I would sit for a couple of minutes on the wheels of 5th and 4th.
The trails were uber muddy this time. Definately among one of most muddy races I have experienced and we were all sliding around and fighting for traction.
5th place crashed and I took his spot in line just as we hit the first downhill. The downhill turned uphill before long and I could see 1st and 2nd getting a gap on us. That was not a problem for long as 3rd place crashed and I was free to chase after the leaders.
They were moving at a pretty good pace and although I kept them in sight it took me about 10 minutes to finally catch them. We had just started the longest climb of the race and as we began to ascend I noticed they both appeared to be working a bit harder than I was.
The wide trail meant plenty of passing opportunities so I put the hammer down on the first steep switchback and got around both of them. I kept the pressure on full for the rest of the climb and got a pretty good lead on them by the top. I kept cranking at all out effort for the remainder of the 30 minute lap and when I finally looked back there was no sign of anyone.
I spent the second lap running scared, hitting the uphills hard and resting on the flatter sections. By the end of that lap I got word I was in the lead by several minutes.
The 3rd lap hurt the most, I was starting to pay for my earlier efforts. I tried my best to keep the pace up on the many uphills. Some were unrideable at this point and I did alot more running through the mud this time around.
Starting my 4th lap I realized I was probably going to win if I could just keep from crashing so I rode a little more conservative and kept an eye out behind me. Finally crossing the line for my second win of the weekend, and my second OMBC win in a row! Swaeeet!
Previous to this day I had never had a good race at this venue, so it was a bonus to slay that ghost as well!
Lindsay had a great race as well! Click her and read all about it! It was yet another bonus for me to see her hard work finally paying off for her.
July 11 DINO AMBC National QualifierThere were about 20 Pros and Semi-Pros on the start line for last weekend's race. It was to be the race that qualified me to race in the National Championships in Vermont next weekend...I just needed to finish mid pack or better.I got a bad spot at the back of the starting grid but was not worried too much. The race would be long and there were alot of opportunities to pass.
I got a pretty good start and entered the trail in about 9th place and quickly moved up to about 6th by the end of the first of five laps.
Early in the second lap I moved into 5th behind Ray's teamate Dirty Dave Walker. He quickly crashed out on a super slick wooden bridge and I moved into 4th on the wheels of 2nd and 3rd. I was feeling good and over the course of the next lap even moved into 3rd for a short period of time.
Beginning the 3rd lap I decided to take it down a notch and get some fluids down. It was warm and muggy and the trail was very wet and muddy, making for extra strenuous conditions. I was feeling good and moving right along when I encountered the big log pile at the bottom of a downhill. I had jumped and cleared it the previous two laps, but was concerned with the hard landing on my delicate race bike. I decided I would save myself another 5 seconds and jump it yet again...only this time I promised my bike I would land it as smoothly as possible.
As I touched down from about 3+ feet of air at high speed my rear wheel flexed so much it swallowed my rear derailer, sucking it into the spokes and tearing it from the bike, shooting a spoke through the rim and flattening my tire as well. My day was officially over....and I was not going to Nationals this year. It was a long walk back to the car as I retraced my mistake in my head. How stoopid it was of me to sacrifice the entire race just to save a few seconds off of my time. And expensive. I was able to salvage this derailer, but the top secret feather light plutonium hydride race wheel with bearings made out of synthetic air is out of commision for a few weeks.
Cristina suffered a fate similar to me in the mud. Falling and bending her derailer into her wheel where it was then ground into derailer mulch.
Dave Hall made the podium in the men's expert class. He finished 4th overall in a huge field of experts and 1st in his age group!! It's good to see Dave's fitness coming around again after a 10 year hiatus from racing. He has been training hard for over a year now and it's finally paying off.
This weekend is going to be tough. I am doing back to back cross country races Saturday night and Sunday morning...should make for some good stories if nothing else!
....oh yeah, and here are some dog pics from my summer Tower House job, more on that later.
Fat Tire Challenge updated pics Photo update, June 22 Fat Tire Challenge
June 30 OMBC #4 East Fork State Park As teamate Dave Hall and I were warming we devised a race strategy. Last year at this race, the miles of road leading to the singletrack meant the roadies got into the woods first, clogging the trail like turds in a urinal. I wanted to avoid that if possible this time around. There were several new faces on the start line and they looked and smelled like roadies....strong ones.
The race started down by the beach and headed up a significant paved climb followed by several miles of rolling road before entering the trail. Our plan was Dave would nail it up the climb and I would draft him until the singletrack, where I would then pass him and get a gap on the rest of my competition.
We definately caught the rest of the field off gaurd by Dave's massive acceleration at the bottom of that climb, I had to stand and really sprint hard to stay with him at first...
we had a good gap for a while but before the woods another 3 guys had crept up on us, I came around Dave a couple times to try to push the pace but it was too late and all 3 passed us just before the woods. I entered the woods in 4th position and quickly moved into 3rd.
I was anxious to pass but forced myself to relax and be patient. Eventually the leader crashed out and I made a move to pass them both...the stranger in second did not give up easy and there was a fair amount of contact as I fought my way past him, I felt his tires rubbing my frame as I moved back onto the trail now in 1st.
I attacked hard...the trail was actually dry and very fast, with lots of fast corners, very little climbing. I could hear my knobs humming like it was the road, the kenda karmas were hooking up like crazy and I was gaining time in every corner on this guy. Zoom down the trail, brake real hard, rail the turn, sprint back up to speed, repeat....
Coming out on the 2 mile road section at the end of lap one I could see I had about 30 seconds on my chaser. I time trialed into the wind but was no match for his roadie-ness and he gained about 20 seconds on me before we hit the trail again.
I settled into a more comfortable pace now as I was drained from the long road section, and was again gaining time. Soon I could no longer see anyone behind me and would complete my second and third laps all alone. The bike felt absolutely perfect for this terrain and I just flowed over every bump and around every corner.
I was so happy finish and hear my number announced as "the winner". This was my first OMBC race win ever and a goal of mine for over a year now. I finished over 2 minutes ahead of second and 3 place.
Dave Hall unfortunately had a couple flat tires and ended up mid pack.
Ben Ortt was punked at the finish line for 6th place.
Cristina Frentiu suffered another mechanical and finished 5th of 7.
Congratulations to Amanda on her win!
Thanks to Jeffrey Jakucyk for the photos
June 25 Flat Tire Challenge Vultures Knob Groovy Series #3....the start was delayed for 45 minutes due to a last minute lightning and thunderstorm which turned the super dry course into a mud bog. I got a great start and was first into the singletrack only to suffer a flat tire immediately. I installed my spare innertube which happened to have a hole in it. I was unable to finish....my first DNF of 2008. I was all rested up for this race and anxious to get in a good hard workout so... I changed my tire around midnight that night and got a quick 3 hour nap before waking up to race in The Fat Tire Challenge in Pennsylvania on Sunday. For me it was a flat tire challenge as I suffered my first flat tire only 4 miles into the race. I struggled to keep it rolling the entire race even changing my tube twice and walking part of the trail until someone loaned me a tire pump. All together I stopped 4 times to work on my tire and eventually finished the race in 5th place. I felt great and got the hard workout I was looking for...and was surprised to find out I finished 1st in my age group! Unfortunately it was a very rocky, muddy course and I damaged my back wheel and tire beyond repair. Upon installing my new wheel and tire yesterday I discovered the problem that plagued me all weekend....a faulty tubless valve stem. With the new valve stem installed it seems my tire woes are over for now...several hundred dollars later. I am constantly reminded how important preparation is in mountain bike racing. Next week is another OMBC race....I sure hope it's dry. I am not sure how many more muddy races my bike can take this year! June 21 Funny bike pics
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