I think is best to write race reports right after the race. As time passes, details are forgotten. Here is the deal with Iron Hill. I went out hard, I pulled away from most of the others pretty easily. I rode tempo a bit when I should have been going harder, I held off the 4th place rider in the hardest part of the course only to let him pass in an easier section, let him get away, realized what was happening, and then took chase and gained a lot of ground between us, but not enough to pass him or even to catch him. I let him escape for about 20 seconds and pulled 12 of those back in the last 1/4 mile. I am pretty sure I could have taken the sprint if I was just smart enough to stay on his wheel when he went by. Push off the podium by the same rider who pushed me off the podium at Granogue.
Tour De Tykes
I was disappointed to be the only Allied Milk rider at this race, other than Seth who did not race but provided moral support out in the woods. Race started on a very long climb and I managed to blow myself up before the top, sat in, and took about two miles to recover. Once I got moving like I knew I could, the course started going downhill and I was left to just ride the brakes on the steep, loose terrain. It went this way until the second loop of the course. I saw fellow rider and friend Mark Sanford up the trail, so I took chase. We were climbing a long climb and it appeared he was in granny (I later found out his shifter cable broke and all he had was granny, although on this course, one could get by with just the little chainring). So I worked my way though a couple riders and got on Mark's wheel. He immediately offered me the chance to pass, but I told him it was me and that I would not pass until I earned it. He let me by anyway and I thanked him. I worked hard to put a gap between us and shortly came up on Tom Snook. I played the same game, passing the riders between us, was offered the chance to pass, and identified myself and told him I would earn the pass. He agreed. I was able to pass him shortly after that, and worked to put a large gap between us, not large enough as I would find out later on. At this point, I was riding pretty good and other riders were falling off the pace. I saw another "V1" on a calf and made chase. We were in the last mile or two of the course and I really tried, but was unable to pass this last rider. I would get close and he would pull away. An Expert rider was between us (they started before us and rode a longer loop). The Expert rider would bobble and allow the V1 Sport rider (another BikeLine rider named Chris Doocey) to gap me. The last 1/2 mile of the course was cruel. The course would head downhill and you would think you were done, then it would turn right back up the mountain. It did this at least four times. I kept my eye on the Bike Line rider (Chris) and would watch as Tom Snook was behind me, but not able to pass me.
We finally came out on the road and I sprinted for all I was worth to the finish line. I should have sprinted a little more, 2 second faster to be exact. You see, the race used a timing mat at the beginning and at the end. Remember in American Flyers when the Russian, David, and 7 Eleven guy were racing along and 7 Eleven guy said "You are in front of me, but I am 10 seconds in front of you?". It was the same with Tom Snook. He had a 10 second cushion on me, because he rolled over the timing mat 10 seconds behind me at the start. Even though I gapped him and fought hard to stay in front, he was awarded the 5th place finish because it took him 2 seconds less to cover the course. There was so many places I could have pulled back those 2 seconds, but I had no idea. Rich Bilson finished on the podium about two minutes up on me, but I do not even think he hung around to get his medal and prize.
The climbs in this race, combined with conversations with Nathan Diebert had me thinking a 26 is a good choice for certain courses. I "think" I would have climbed better with the smaller wheel and the course was technical, but not that technical that I would have needed the 29er. The flatter rolling courses are where 29er is king (not to mention the rocky venues too), but 26 climbs better than a 29er when one is in granny and the course offers 180 degree turns followed by more granny climbs. I was definately taking inventory of my parts after this race, seeing if I had enough to put together a race worthy 26 from the parts I have in the basement. I think I am pretty close.
So even though I have failed to earn one this season, I am still in the game for a podium shot. The guy who keeps me off the podium, Chris Y from D and Q? He finished up in 2nd place at TdT - good for him. I knew he was serious when I was getting dressed and he was warming up on his trainer with his road bike.
I am looking forward to the next races in July. That allows me a good training period to get ready for the races and I have a plan in place. Hopefully by the end of July, I will have the chance to stand on a MASS podium. Racing has been good to me this year and I have some really good finishes, just not quite what I am looking for. Season is not even half over yet though and there are plenty of opportunites for improvement.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Iron Hill - -- Arrgh$&^@#&*^
Like the name of this blog, I have spent the entire year chasing the podium and while I have failed 100% of the time to get up on the box, 75% of the time I finished up just below the podium, missing it by one place and at Iron Hill, by 10 seconds. To make matters worse (or perhaps to fuel the training fire more), I was the podium presenter at two of these events. It was bitter sweet to be standing behind the podium as the top three in my class stood on the podium.
As I was leaving my house, the skys opened and rain began to pour. YES! I love the days with rough conditions as I think it brings out the true mountain bike racer. Muddy courses require fitness, bike handling skills, and a good mindset. Technical courses like Iron Hill even more so.
Arrived on site and helped the promotors with registration. They decided to take a different route with the timing chips and I think the Sport lines may have been a little longer than those at Granogue. The timing guy is new this year and we are all learning. Here is a message to other promotors using the time. Split up your chips by beginner, sport, and expert so that you do not have to sort through hundreds of chips at a time.
Mark Sanford and I went out on a little pre-ride to scout out tissue hill and slime hill. Tissue hill went straight up the hill this year (down by the parking lot) and the angles were a little different. On to slime hill to see if it would be ridable. It was not, but we talked about where to run up (left or right). Left was King here. We got to see some 8 year old boy become totally frustrated here, falling down over and over again. He started to cry a little bit, then Mark picked his bike up and got him up the hill. It was a very nice move on Mark's part as the boy stopped crying and started racing his bike again.
The race start was not too fast and furious. I think all of us in Vet 1 are content with a cival starting pace, at least everywhere except Fair Hill and I can thank myself for that start. Chris Arterburn was leading us once we got into the woods, followed by Damon, Paul, Me, and Mark Sanford. Poor Chris went down on the first wooden bridge and his wreck was not bad, but he was on the right side of the bridge and his bike was on the left, so he had to wait to get back to his bike. Order was now Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. Paul was the next to go down, so order was Damon, me, Mark, Paul recovered and came around to make it Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. I let Mark by and the four of us just pulled away from everyone else. I fell off the pace, but passed Mark on Boneshaker as he crashed hard and was pretty shaken.
I remained in third from Boneshaker until almost the end of the race. Riding along, passing lots of folks from other classes, feeling the build-up in my legs, but feeling pretty fresh the entire time and attacking sections of the course. I was a little surprised at how easy it felt, but my legs were telling me we were putting out some efforts.
(MORE TO COME)
As I was leaving my house, the skys opened and rain began to pour. YES! I love the days with rough conditions as I think it brings out the true mountain bike racer. Muddy courses require fitness, bike handling skills, and a good mindset. Technical courses like Iron Hill even more so.
Arrived on site and helped the promotors with registration. They decided to take a different route with the timing chips and I think the Sport lines may have been a little longer than those at Granogue. The timing guy is new this year and we are all learning. Here is a message to other promotors using the time. Split up your chips by beginner, sport, and expert so that you do not have to sort through hundreds of chips at a time.
Mark Sanford and I went out on a little pre-ride to scout out tissue hill and slime hill. Tissue hill went straight up the hill this year (down by the parking lot) and the angles were a little different. On to slime hill to see if it would be ridable. It was not, but we talked about where to run up (left or right). Left was King here. We got to see some 8 year old boy become totally frustrated here, falling down over and over again. He started to cry a little bit, then Mark picked his bike up and got him up the hill. It was a very nice move on Mark's part as the boy stopped crying and started racing his bike again.
The race start was not too fast and furious. I think all of us in Vet 1 are content with a cival starting pace, at least everywhere except Fair Hill and I can thank myself for that start. Chris Arterburn was leading us once we got into the woods, followed by Damon, Paul, Me, and Mark Sanford. Poor Chris went down on the first wooden bridge and his wreck was not bad, but he was on the right side of the bridge and his bike was on the left, so he had to wait to get back to his bike. Order was now Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. Paul was the next to go down, so order was Damon, me, Mark, Paul recovered and came around to make it Damon, Paul, Me, Mark. I let Mark by and the four of us just pulled away from everyone else. I fell off the pace, but passed Mark on Boneshaker as he crashed hard and was pretty shaken.
I remained in third from Boneshaker until almost the end of the race. Riding along, passing lots of folks from other classes, feeling the build-up in my legs, but feeling pretty fresh the entire time and attacking sections of the course. I was a little surprised at how easy it felt, but my legs were telling me we were putting out some efforts.
(MORE TO COME)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Iron Hill Week
Iron Hill is scheduled for this Sunday. Iron Hill is the place where many of the Delaware/MD/PA riders go their start, either racing or just riding MTB. For a small park, the place offers a lot: Challenging climbs, rocky trails, rock gardens, whoops, fast descents, and just a really fun place to ride. Many of the trail names are known to the local riders and some are as colorful as the place once was. I got to ride a fast lap on Sunday with a local Jedi and then two more fast laps on Monday, pretty much have the course dialed in. Expectations are high for this weekend. Hopefully the rest of my Allied Milk teammates will be in attendance this weekend as well and we can take a big chunk of the small team competition points.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Fair Hill Race Report
The day started a little earlier than average. Up at 5:30, breakfast and coffee made, eat as much as possible and drink as much water as possible. Arrived at Granogue around 6:30 and made my way to registration. Lauri Webber had a great system set up and I trained the other early 
workers and got ready to register the 32 pre-registered marathon racers. Around 8:00 or so, I left registration to get ready for my 9:00 race. Warmed up on the road a little bit, dumped my vest and arm warmers, and took my place in the staging pens.
Before I knew it, my group was at the starting line and next to go. Fat Marc set us off and I fight my temptation to go hard off the front. I still find myself at the front, but decided to just sit in and not get too excited. Former Fort Mate Richard Bilson and his C3 teammate start to pull away from the rest of us towards the tower. I sit back and wait for someone else to chase, but after about 5 seconds of this, I decide to bridge up to their wheels. Rich led us up the Tower Climb and we hold formation to the top. Once on the other side of the tower, a few folks get around me, and then slow me up big time on the singletrack climb out to the cross-roads. Into the new singletrack section and through Deputy’s Woods, I am definitely in the wrong place and get held up a lot. I found it faster to just get off the bike and run around some of the riders who are slowing me up. By the end of Deputy’s Woods, things are more open and I start to move forward. I also pass the last place singlespeed rider right after the road crossing. The trend of passing the singlespeed riders continues for the rest of the race and I pass all but the top three SS racers by the end of the race.
The rest of the race was mostly uneventful except for my exchanges with Chris Y from D and Q. He and I start exchanging positions about halfway through the first lap and thi
s continued to almost the end of the race. He had more power than me on the open sections, like the road climb, and was a much better descender. I rode uphill a bit better and ran better. I casually mention we could wait until the end to fight out who would finish first and he replied “Or we could just continue to sort it out now”. He got away from me at the end of the first lap and I did not see him again until the river trail, where he stopped to clean his bike. I told him I was going to go ahead and attack him and he said fine. He jumped on his bike and hung with me for the rest of the lap. I asked him if I thought we were close to the top ten and he told me we were in the top five, which turned out to be true. We both advanced forward, but never caught anyone from our class. He did have two teammates up ahead and we saw one of them at the top of the last singletrack climb. Chris attacked me on this section and got away. I never saw him again. It was about this time that my rear shifter crapped out, leaving me with two front rings and only a 34 in the rear. I switched to the big ring and stayed there until the end of the race, ending up in 6th place for the day. One place away from the podium.
The next MTB race in the MASS is not until the end of this month. This is the Iron Hill race, an event that I am looking forward to competing in.
Major props to Rich Bilson, who ended up 2nd in Vet I and had a blazing first lap time.
Pictures by the uncomparable Dennis Smith
workers and got ready to register the 32 pre-registered marathon racers. Around 8:00 or so, I left registration to get ready for my 9:00 race. Warmed up on the road a little bit, dumped my vest and arm warmers, and took my place in the staging pens.Before I knew it, my group was at the starting line and next to go. Fat Marc set us off and I fight my temptation to go hard off the front. I still find myself at the front, but decided to just sit in and not get too excited. Former Fort Mate Richard Bilson and his C3 teammate start to pull away from the rest of us towards the tower. I sit back and wait for someone else to chase, but after about 5 seconds of this, I decide to bridge up to their wheels. Rich led us up the Tower Climb and we hold formation to the top. Once on the other side of the tower, a few folks get around me, and then slow me up big time on the singletrack climb out to the cross-roads. Into the new singletrack section and through Deputy’s Woods, I am definitely in the wrong place and get held up a lot. I found it faster to just get off the bike and run around some of the riders who are slowing me up. By the end of Deputy’s Woods, things are more open and I start to move forward. I also pass the last place singlespeed rider right after the road crossing. The trend of passing the singlespeed riders continues for the rest of the race and I pass all but the top three SS racers by the end of the race.
The rest of the race was mostly uneventful except for my exchanges with Chris Y from D and Q. He and I start exchanging positions about halfway through the first lap and thi
s continued to almost the end of the race. He had more power than me on the open sections, like the road climb, and was a much better descender. I rode uphill a bit better and ran better. I casually mention we could wait until the end to fight out who would finish first and he replied “Or we could just continue to sort it out now”. He got away from me at the end of the first lap and I did not see him again until the river trail, where he stopped to clean his bike. I told him I was going to go ahead and attack him and he said fine. He jumped on his bike and hung with me for the rest of the lap. I asked him if I thought we were close to the top ten and he told me we were in the top five, which turned out to be true. We both advanced forward, but never caught anyone from our class. He did have two teammates up ahead and we saw one of them at the top of the last singletrack climb. Chris attacked me on this section and got away. I never saw him again. It was about this time that my rear shifter crapped out, leaving me with two front rings and only a 34 in the rear. I switched to the big ring and stayed there until the end of the race, ending up in 6th place for the day. One place away from the podium.The next MTB race in the MASS is not until the end of this month. This is the Iron Hill race, an event that I am looking forward to competing in.
Major props to Rich Bilson, who ended up 2nd in Vet I and had a blazing first lap time.
Pictures by the uncomparable Dennis Smith
Monday, May 4, 2009
So. Darn. Close.
More later, but I was so close to hitting the podium yesterday, I could taste it. During the race, I was actually in a podium spot, only to lose it in the last mile of the race. Great course. Awesome MTB conditions, and an interview on http://www.cyclingdirt.com/ right here.
I will post my race recap tomorrow, but suffice to say I was pleased with my finish. I also figured out that I blew my Fair Hill Result in the first 60 seconds of the race. The rider who finished directly in front of me at Fair Hill commented when he saw me at Granogue about how fast the FH start was. In pictures, he was right behind me in the starting line sprint. At Granogue, he finished up in 3rd or 4th position. I did not overcook myself at the start of Granogue and was able to do much better as a result. I was stupid at Fair Hill, drew other riders out in my stupidity, and they suffered a similiar fate. Lesson learned. No more sprint starts for me.
Big thanks to this guy and a well timed comment about my race performance. Your words made a lot of sense Travis and when I read them last Thursday, I started feeling good about my chances at Granogue. Your advice, as small as it may seem to you, continues to help me get where I want to be. Knowing you were here before and seeing where you ended up helps a lot, like when Julian Michaels on the Biggest loser pulls out her fat pictures!
Race Recap will be posted soon.
I will post my race recap tomorrow, but suffice to say I was pleased with my finish. I also figured out that I blew my Fair Hill Result in the first 60 seconds of the race. The rider who finished directly in front of me at Fair Hill commented when he saw me at Granogue about how fast the FH start was. In pictures, he was right behind me in the starting line sprint. At Granogue, he finished up in 3rd or 4th position. I did not overcook myself at the start of Granogue and was able to do much better as a result. I was stupid at Fair Hill, drew other riders out in my stupidity, and they suffered a similiar fate. Lesson learned. No more sprint starts for me.
Big thanks to this guy and a well timed comment about my race performance. Your words made a lot of sense Travis and when I read them last Thursday, I started feeling good about my chances at Granogue. Your advice, as small as it may seem to you, continues to help me get where I want to be. Knowing you were here before and seeing where you ended up helps a lot, like when Julian Michaels on the Biggest loser pulls out her fat pictures!
Race Recap will be posted soon.
Friday, April 24, 2009
A look back at Fair Hill
The Short Story
I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. The End.
The Long Story
I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. On the day of the race, I felt that I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. At the start, I put out a cyclocross type effort and made it to the top of the starting incline in first positon. There was a large crash directly behind me, where two riders tangled bars. I heard that one of the rider’s bikes flew up in the air, like a wheel was at head height. To me, it sounded like the entire field went down, so I took it up a couple more notches, hoping I could get a little further down the trail before the affected riders could get back on their bikes. Dan Conrad told me he the crash was directly behind me and he was surprised I did not go down as well. So I dug deeper, crossing the bridge and into the downhill portion of the course fully taxed from my efforts by the time I hit the flat section. Then I got passed. Again and Again. Breathing was labored. I went too hard for the start. AGAIN. And I would spend the next mile unsure about when I would be recovered from that effort. I felt weak and was unable to attack the other riders as I planned, because I was stupid and went too hard at the start. About ½ way into the first lap, I was able to push myself again and started to pass people. I also wasted some time here and there by not passing people in the singletrack when I came up to their wheels, instead I waited for an opening. The trails at Fair Hill are tight and twisty and I should have been more aggressive.
I was also confused at the results trailer, because I was able to determine where I finished up and I knew where I was overall in Sport (61st), but had no idea where my peers finished. On Tuesday, results by age class were posted and I found that the winner of my race was 4 minutes and 30 seconds up the trail. Compared to previous races, that was not too bad. I also found that 90 less seconds would have earned me a single digit finish, which is my goal for all of the XC races I do this year. I am pretty sure I lost 90 seconds between the start effort and not being super aggressive in the singletrack with my passing. I did pass a lot of other riders, some in my class and some in other age classes. So seeing the actual results put a positive spin on this race for me. Conditions were faster this year, but I cut 10 minutes off my 2008 time - - which is a pretty large chunk of time. I have a lot more work to do before I will be back up on the podium, but I am working hard on it and will be standing up there soon.
Major props to my Allied Milk teammates. Team Captain Dan Conrad won the 19 – 34 Expert race by about a minute or so – considering the course and the competition, that is a pretty sweet finish. Joel upgraded to Elite Open and finished in the money for the day, while the rest of my teammates finished Top Ten in the Expert rankings. Fellow Sport racer Seth had a good race and it was great to see him there, rocking the fully rigid single speed!
Bike Changes
While waiting to see the race results, I noticed a small crack in my frame. It is on the way back to the manufacturer for warranty replacement and in the meantime, I will be training and racing on my singlespeed, in the Singlespeed Sport class. I was really having a hard time deciding if I would race Age Cat or SS Sport this year and instead of having to decide for myself, my frame just made the decision for me. I am not disappointed and based on previous seasons and my love of singlespeeds, I know I will do just fine on my singlespeed. The one good thing about racing a singlespeed is the gearing provides me with a rev limiter at the start of the race. I am able to push a respectable gear (34-19 on a 29er, sometimes 34/18). Last year, my results in Age Cat Sport were about the same regardless of gears versus SS, so the biggest difference will be different racers in the SS class. I will have a teammate in the class with Seth and hopefully he does not knock me over when he passes me!
So my next race is Granogue. Here is registration and do not forget the HERA raffle.
I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. The End.
The Long Story
I finished in 15th position at the Bike Line Fair Hill race. On the day of the race, I felt that I did poorly and was utterly disappointed in my finishing position. At the start, I put out a cyclocross type effort and made it to the top of the starting incline in first positon. There was a large crash directly behind me, where two riders tangled bars. I heard that one of the rider’s bikes flew up in the air, like a wheel was at head height. To me, it sounded like the entire field went down, so I took it up a couple more notches, hoping I could get a little further down the trail before the affected riders could get back on their bikes. Dan Conrad told me he the crash was directly behind me and he was surprised I did not go down as well. So I dug deeper, crossing the bridge and into the downhill portion of the course fully taxed from my efforts by the time I hit the flat section. Then I got passed. Again and Again. Breathing was labored. I went too hard for the start. AGAIN. And I would spend the next mile unsure about when I would be recovered from that effort. I felt weak and was unable to attack the other riders as I planned, because I was stupid and went too hard at the start. About ½ way into the first lap, I was able to push myself again and started to pass people. I also wasted some time here and there by not passing people in the singletrack when I came up to their wheels, instead I waited for an opening. The trails at Fair Hill are tight and twisty and I should have been more aggressive.
I was also confused at the results trailer, because I was able to determine where I finished up and I knew where I was overall in Sport (61st), but had no idea where my peers finished. On Tuesday, results by age class were posted and I found that the winner of my race was 4 minutes and 30 seconds up the trail. Compared to previous races, that was not too bad. I also found that 90 less seconds would have earned me a single digit finish, which is my goal for all of the XC races I do this year. I am pretty sure I lost 90 seconds between the start effort and not being super aggressive in the singletrack with my passing. I did pass a lot of other riders, some in my class and some in other age classes. So seeing the actual results put a positive spin on this race for me. Conditions were faster this year, but I cut 10 minutes off my 2008 time - - which is a pretty large chunk of time. I have a lot more work to do before I will be back up on the podium, but I am working hard on it and will be standing up there soon.
Major props to my Allied Milk teammates. Team Captain Dan Conrad won the 19 – 34 Expert race by about a minute or so – considering the course and the competition, that is a pretty sweet finish. Joel upgraded to Elite Open and finished in the money for the day, while the rest of my teammates finished Top Ten in the Expert rankings. Fellow Sport racer Seth had a good race and it was great to see him there, rocking the fully rigid single speed!
Bike Changes
While waiting to see the race results, I noticed a small crack in my frame. It is on the way back to the manufacturer for warranty replacement and in the meantime, I will be training and racing on my singlespeed, in the Singlespeed Sport class. I was really having a hard time deciding if I would race Age Cat or SS Sport this year and instead of having to decide for myself, my frame just made the decision for me. I am not disappointed and based on previous seasons and my love of singlespeeds, I know I will do just fine on my singlespeed. The one good thing about racing a singlespeed is the gearing provides me with a rev limiter at the start of the race. I am able to push a respectable gear (34-19 on a 29er, sometimes 34/18). Last year, my results in Age Cat Sport were about the same regardless of gears versus SS, so the biggest difference will be different racers in the SS class. I will have a teammate in the class with Seth and hopefully he does not knock me over when he passes me!
So my next race is Granogue. Here is registration and do not forget the HERA raffle.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
XXC is out!
Check it out on the web - - - > http://xxcmag.com/XXCIssueOne.pdf Jason Mahokey (AKA Jason Dean) did a great job pulling together the first edition. Get it now - - > it is free and packed full of good stuff.
Anyone else tired of the cold rain we have been getting? I know I am.
Five days until Fair Hill. Register here --> http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=8103
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