Month of Mud part #2

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Even after a long day of racing and traveling on Saturday I was pretty excited about racing the 2nd MOM race at Raccoon. This was going to be my first cross race of the year and I wanted to see if my practice would pay off. We didn't get home Saturday until like 10:00 and got cleaned up and I did some last minute bike preparations. Sunday morning came way to early as usual. The plan was to get to the park by 8:30 to do some pre riding so I could pick my final gear and also wanted to practice some dismounts on the Red Sled. But as usual left late and then to top it off 10 minutes into the drive I seen I forgot my helmet. Finally we arrived at the park at like 9:15 got registered and dressed that didn't leave much time for any pre riding. I asked a few other SSers what gear they were using and changed my to a 42x19 which was the easiest I had with me. I did manage to squeeze in a full and got to the line. The field had about 40 people in it and I was very happy to get a call up. Then it was off I had a good start and after a couple laps I found myself in third. Which I was pretty happy with but after about 30 minutes of this pace I popped and had to slow down. By the end 4 people passed me and I was glad that there wasn't anymore. I would have liked to done a little better but after a long race the day before 7th overall and 2nd SS will have to do.

Now it was time to hurry up again and get on the Red Sled to do a little practice. If you think dismounts and run ups are hard on a regular bike try it on a tandem sometime. After a few dismounts and remounts it was time to go. Mechanicals always suck but somehow we managed to pop our chain off in like the first ten feet. I want to say THANKS to the Shogrens our only competition for the day that waited until we were up and going before taking off. We stayed pretty close to them on the first couple of laps. It was amazing how clean they're dismounts were. I think on lap 3 is when we started to make up some ground. This is also when I realized that we had a big advantage over them big and wide tires. We were making up lots of time because we could almost everything and they were walking allot due to there skinny little tires. Then on the 4th lap we go around them and held them off to get the win. It was fun and pretty intense racing on the Red Sled and thanks to everyone that was cheering us on. I noticed that Gunnar is already onto us and looking for a different wheel for his sled. But maybe he needs to look a little closer at the pictures to see the big advantage. I never noticed it until I looked at the pictures was that our pedals were out of sync. Stay tuned for next week's rematch at Grove City. I also need to say thanks to the MOM crew and Gary Dugovich for the awesome job like always.

J

Revenge of the Rattle Snake

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Where should I begin? One thing I knew I had working against me from the start was the goal of by 6:30. We came pretty close and left at 7:15. It was wet, rainy, windy and chilly on the trip down. Almost seemed like the prefect storm for a race in Davis. The goal was to get to Davis by 10:00 for the 11:00 start and we were so close to making it. At 9:50 and only a 1/4 of a mile to go traffic was stopped at a 10:00 Ruth decided to jump on her bike and ride down to get us registered. Finally at 10:20 traffic started to move and I found somewhere to park and found out what the holdup was caused by. The Leaf Peepers Festival was a holding a 5K run with a huge turnout. So after a hectic scramble to get ready in the rain I was finally ready and headed down to the pre race meeting. That's when I heard something that I always hate hearing. " Make sure you take a map with you" we marked the course yesterday and you never know if anyone sabotaged it. I know it's hard to mark a course and when it's a 40 mile race it's even harder. So here's my problem the I have no map reading skills so if I'm off course I wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to get back on course. What I have learned in the past is always try to follow a local or at least someone that knows the way.

But at 11:00 on the dot it was race time and we were headed down route 32 for a little bit onto a gravel road. For the first 3-4 miles it seemed like a bad course for a single speed and I was wishing I had a little steeper gear. But finally I got into some single track and everything was going get until I realized that I was on Mountainside. If you ever rode this trail it's pretty hard to forget. I don't think it's to technical but it's a gentle downhill grade but it's littered with baby head rocks and just beats you up and without any rest until the end. Nearing the bottom I happened to see a couple of familiar faces TJ and Nick Waite were pulled over and fixing the flats together how special. Finally at the bottom I was looking forward to the long climb out. At the top of the climb was the first aid station and Matt said I was 5th. I was pretty happy cause up until then didn't have any idea where I was. This is were we turned onto Plantation trail another one of the world famous in Davis. At this point I was feeling pretty good. The trail was rocky, rooty and wet but for some reason I felt like I was riding pretty well. Funny thing is sometimes when you think your riding well your really not because you either get caught or dropped. But today at this point I was still catching and passing people. I passed three people and had the 4th in site and it turned out to be Rob Spreng after riding with him for a little I passed him. He stayed close and we passed someone hiking in the trail and he told us that aid station 2 was only about 1-1/2 away. I popped out on to route 32 and got to the aid station first and grabbed and fresh bottle and something to eat. As I was heading up the road I looked back and someone was right on my tail. I had to look twice because it wasn't Rob anymore it was Nick and Rob was right behind him. The three of us headed up the road together and then when the trail headed down I just was spun out and they were out of sight.

Something else that happened very soon is when all the technical skills that I seemed to have disappeared. The trail was freshly cut and at some points it felt like I never rode a bike before. It didn't come soon enough but I came to the 3rd aid station and didn't even stop. But I felt allot more comfortable because this is where we got onto to the State Championship course which I've raced before. I heard someone saying that we would be riding Moon Rocks in the opposite direction. I was hoping that it was going to be a little more rideable in this direction. But I can found out quickly that I was wrong. But all I knew is that I had to be getting close to the finish and finally after 4 hours of riding there it was. Just like that it was over I finished 3rd overall and first SS .

It seemed to rain for the entire race but as soon as you finish and stop you get cold really fast. So I quickly headed to the car and got cleaned up and grabbed something to eat. I also decided to move the car to the other side of town so when Ruth finished she wouldn't have to ride as far. Just as I was parking the car I looked over and was surprised to see her riding down the street. What happened is Betsy and her both missed a turn early on in the race and had to back track and got to aid station after the cutoff and were sent down route 32 to the finish. We were hanging out under the tent and had some great food from Sirianni's Cafe and some awesome beer from Mountain State Brewing Co. That's when Gunnar and Betsy talked us into racing the Red Sled at the Month of Mud cycle cross race at Raccoon Park on Sunday. Stay tuned to see how it turns out. Thanks Blackwater Bikes

J

Month of Mud Part #1

Way back in the day my first bike race ever was a Month of Mud race at Brady's Run. Don't even remember where I placed but I do remember that I had a good time. So after lots of racing I still always try and put some MOM races on my to do list. Now that the Month of Mud is all grown up it even has it's own web site www.monthofmud.org Sunday kicked off with the time trial at Bavington, I think this format works great for the course. While I was waiting to go out I seen Shane go out maybe like third. I was very surprised to see him coming down the road that you cross over in the first mile. I thought maybe he was lost or something. But upon further inspection I seen he had I nice gash on his forearm. He went over the bars early and was coming back to get it fixed up hope you have a speedy recovery Shane.

Lately I've only been riding my SS so I decided to race it. It was my turn to go and I felt OK but no great. I don't ride at Bavington to much so I only remember some of the highlights. It seemed like I was riding fast but not to smoothly and was being pretty sloppy in the corners. When I crossed the road for the last time I knew the end was close. When I finished I looked at my time and it seemed a little bit shorter than last years. I finished first SS and 4th overall with a time of 40:43 only 16 seconds better than last year.

This weekend should be a good one too. Planning on going to the Revenge of the Rattle Snake on Saturday it's the last WVMBA Ultra of the season. Then Sunday off to the MOM cross race at Raccoon to test my cross skills. For some reason I like racing on back to back days the hardest of it for seems to be the traveling.


J

Peanut Butter Festival

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It's that time of the year again the days are getting shorter the leaves are starting to change. So here in Western PA that could only mean one thing it's time for bike racing season taking center stage with some great local events. Last week was the Tour De Strongland which didn't work out to well for me. The 14th annual New Bethlehem Peanut Butter Festival was on Saturday and the Month of Month starts on Sunday. In year past these races always seemed to be the last races of the year for but that has changed. I'm planning on racing cross in to early December and also have the La Ruta coming up quickly in November.


Not sure how many times I did the PBF race maybe 5 or 6. I really enjoy this race for lots of reasons it's close to home, has a pretty laid back atmosphere, I get to catch of with people I don't see to often, and there's not much going on in New Bethlehem so the Peanut Butter Festival always takes center stage. The course had a few changes for this year. The start had a longer stretch on the road to get an little more separation and some new single track was also added. As usual the start was fast and hard but I managed to be the first into the single track. I always seem to remember bits and pieces of the course and the new single track was nice. After coming out of the new single track I came to a very familiar section the tunnel. The only bad thing about coming to the tunnel was until this point in the race it was dry with only few small puddles. Then not long after that it was onto the long double track climb it's not steep but it seems pretty long. I was very surprised by how many puddles and mud bogs there were. When you finally get to the end of the double track that's when it gets steep. Up though a grassy field onto a road that seems like it's someone's driveway then across a black topped road onto a gravel road back into the woods. I knew I was getting close to the end when I got to the stream crossing behind the school. Then back onto the road for a short uphill finish. I was really shocked when I crossed the finish line and looked at my time 1:04:29. I was pretty happy with that time if I remember correctly my time from last year was about 1:15. Waiting at the finish I seen Ruth come across and seen she also won.


We got cleaned up and headed over to Gumtown Park for the festival and to get something to eat. This was also the final race for the Bike the Wilds series too. When my name was called I was very surprised because they announced that my time was the new course record. Not sure what the old record was but I was very excited to break it. More good news was to follow too I came in third in the Bike the Wilds series and Ruth was second. If that wasn't enough fun for the day I planned on riding home after the race. I've always talked about doing this but never did it was 58 miles and about 3:30 hours. I think 2 hours would have been prefect I seemed to struggle a little more than I wanted too for the last hour and a half. I just want to say thanks to everyone involved for the good time.

Check out all the action here www.pbfmtbrace.com and www.fattirechallenge.com Next year the rumor is the Bike the Wilds will be a five race series including the Dash for Cash

J

Strongland and Weaklegged

It's the week after Labor Day so that means it's time for the Tour De Strongland. Finally a race that's only 20 miles from my house yippee. But for some reason I have to get up just as early as a race that's 150 miles from my house bummer. The short trip turned out to be my highlight of the day. This was one of the first races I ever did, way back in the day. I liked it then and still, do the course has changed allot since then for the better. I was feeling a little under the weather and even considered not going. But figured I already registered so I might as well go. I managed to get a great start and was the first into the single track but that didn't last to long. After about 5 minutes I felt really bad and was going to quit but figured I should at least finish because quitting sucks. This was one of the few races I did that I didn't even bother to look at the results or where I placed. Guess I'll file this race under a "Bad Day" and move on. Sunday was the Tour De Strongland road race. I pre registered for it to but felt really bad on Sunday morning so I opted to stay home glued to the couch. I hope it pays off.

J

Not Much

Funny thing about the Shenedoah 100 this year for is I did it did OK and don't have much to say about it. But here it goes anyhow. Ruth and me got to Stokesville Campground much later than we planned on Friday night it was close to 9:30. After driving around through the woods and finding several deadends we picked a spot out and setup camp. Then Saturday morning after some walking around in the daylight and some long and hard consideration we decided to pack up and move camp to a better location. After that we planned on going for about a 2 hour ride, then get a shower and head to Snowshoe for JR and Gina's wedding. But as it turned out that plan would soon change. Thinking that the wedding started at either 4:00 or 5:30 and it was about a 2 hour drive we have to leave around 2:00. We forgot the invitation at home and was calling some friends to confirm the time and guess what? We found out it started at 2:00 and it was already 12:30. We deicided to cut our ride short and get there as early as we could. I think we got there around 4:00 just in time to see everyone leaving the church and heading over to the reception. We had a good time at the reception and was very suprised by how nice JR looked all cleaned up. Unfortantly we planned on racing at the SMT 100 so that ment no beer for me or very little. But it still was allot of fun and our group which constied of the Shogrens, Chrissy McGill, and Ruth decided to leave around 7.

The trip back to Stokesville took a little longer back thanks to Hank. We got back and after talking to several people I decided to change my gear from a 32x19 to a 34x20 this turned out be almost a very smart decision. Going to bed I knew my biggest challenge of the day was going to be getting up and being ready for the 6:30 start. This goes back to my reasoning that it's not healthy to get up this early. This is confirmed by the fact that humans dont have good nightime vision. So we should be left sleeping until the sun comes out. But enough about that with about 7 minutes to go Ruth thought her front tire was low on air so when pumping it up the vavle broke and we hurried up and put in a new tube with 3 minutes to spare.

Wow we I rode up to the start I couldn't believe just how big of a pack 500 plus racers make. I found the best stop I could and squezed in. Then we were off and it was a pretty skechty start but I managed to stay out of trouble. Everything seemed to be going OK I felt pretty fresh and the bike felt OK too. I did this race once before in 2006 but for some reason couldn't rememeber to much of it. But just like in the Wilderness 101 there was plenty of back and fourth. I'd catch the same people in spots only to dropped or pass them only to regroup later. Finally when I the end was near I had some bike issues and ran in the last 2 miles or so. I was happy with a 5th place SS and 36 overall placing with a time of 8:32. That's all I got.

J