Win Some, Break Some
WTF, I just typed this all out on my iphone and saved it, and now it can’t be found. These is going to be a bit briefer……
Since I dropped out of the Hardcore 24 last weekend, I was still fairly fresh and decided to hit up the GROC Fest XC at Dryer Rd. Ripping around on my old stomping grounds where I’ve put on plenty of miles was going to be fun. Though it was going to be a tough course with all the twisties and narrow trails, it was gonna be plenty of hurt.
I took the holeshot off the start and around the fields, heading into the woods. Up the steep gravel climb, I was pulled in and settled into 2nd. Heading into the woods was comfortably on the wheel and then right down the wrong trail a few of us followed. After realizing it, I ran back up the hill and jumped back on the trails. I was now in 6th or 7th place behind a long line of riders in some super tight trails unable to pass. When and where I could, I clawed my way past riders into 2nd place. Coming out of the woods and onto the perimeter I jumped off the front and rolled into the next lap in 1st.
I relinquished the lead up the gravel climb and took 2nd heading into the woods again. I was able to overtake the lead though, heading into Owl’s maze and hold it. I was putting the gaps into 2nd on the perimeter (he was on a SingleSpeed). The 3rd lap, heading into the woods with a comfortable lead, but 2nd and 3rd were hot on my heels. I knew that they wouldn’t make a pass in the woods and would have to make it on the perimeter before the final downhill. But I had opened up a huge gap each time once I hit the perimeter and the final time was no exception. I floored it and headed into the final descent with a comfortable lead of a solid 10 seconds or so. Crossed the line and finally got the coveted “W”. Legs felt great during the race and was super happy with the performance.
Sunday after feeling good on Saturday, I decided to head down to Ellicottville for the 6 Hours of Power. From the half mile LeMans start into the 1 mile opening climb, I knew I didn’t have much after racing so hard Saturday. Oddly, as soon as I hit the woods my front brake lever was flopping all over the place, causing it to be a little hard to shred on the super fun singletrack. I managed to zip tie it up for the 2nd lap, but that lap was just as tough as I broke 2 spokes. After figuring out how to wrap em up and get rolling again, the fun factor was dwindling. I decided to ride a 3rd lap for fun and fitness then head home and spend the day playing with Lake. It was a wise decision.
In the end, I was quite happy with Saturday’s race. However, I keep breaking bike parts! WTF, I’m just a poor amateur…. it’s getting ridiculous the amount of stuff broken this season and it’s all been without actually crashing. Maybe I need to hire a competent mechanic? (I do my own wrenching, and the breaking has all been total failures, not mechanical) Quite odd, but that’s what happens when you ride and ride hard.
Thankfully, I’m in the middle of a full on mid-season break. Will give me plenty of muster so I can rocket come September/October. There’s not much going on in August as I’m taking it low key and will get some training done.
On a side note, more training, means a less hectic schedule and that means more time to blog and have fun. I promise the pictures and videos and many more entries are coming over these next few weeks! Until then..
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:45 pm
You ride too much. I’m way bigger than you, and I haven’t broken anything (yet) this year. Now that I’ve said that, I’m going to taco both of my wheels and break my frame at the big bear ultra next weekend. 50 miles of single track – you should come on down.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
“There’s not much going on in August as I’m taking it low key and will get some training done.”
Hopefully you’ll reconsider and come out to MtSnow and Windham to hit the August stops of the US Cup here in the Northeast. I took the single-speed out on the Root66 series race at MtSnow yesterday, using the same course as is intended for the US Cup in a couple weekends. Quite different than year’s past. Staying lower on the mountain, never climbing above the snow-making pond with instead a couple extra climbing sections thrown in on the open ski trails of the lower mountain. The initial climb right out of the start has been changed back to what it was before last year, with the upper parts of that warmup descent now back in the woods. Word is Windham’s course is getting shortened up this year too, in prep for next year’s UCI race.
Enjoyed your new pics of Finger Lakes road riding, really nice!
Cheers-
t
July 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Terry, Glad to hear the course is slightly new and loads of fun. I’m not sure about either race, though I’d really like to go. Currently form is low (lots of travel) and need to put some time into the family as we may go on vacation one of those weekends. Putting my focus into the Shenandoah 100 and El Reto de Quetzal Stage Race. Windham is more a possibility than Snow, may just do a quick day trip for that.
July 28th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Good luck with the Shenandoah100 training, it will be interesting to see the Wilderness101 results this coming weekend…