To say motivation to write has been "lacking" lately would be a bit of a misnomer. To be quote honest, there's been a number of times I thought about writing this post and wasted away the time doing nothing consequential. I just haven't felt like putting forth the effort. However, as the current vogue is to avoid the abject horror of writing about mind numbing hours spent on the trainer and instead write about happier times, I'm not one to buck the trend. So, without further adieu, I'll bring you my highlights from 2009 and what I would like to do in 2010.
Obviously 2009 was a special year in various ways for me both personally and on the bike. The birth of our daughter was the crowning achievement for the year overall. She's been such a sweet addition to our family and I feel like we're pretty well complete now. I'm excited to see her as she grows and forms her own personality. There were a number of other great things in my personal life, but as I've switched to mostly talking about biking and racing here, I'll leave those locked away.
This was indeed my breakout year. As my buddy Keith put it, I seemed to come out of nowhere. And, by all means, I pretty much agree with him. This was my first year doing any serious racing and putting forth a real effort to train as well. Somewhere about mid season everything just clicked for me and I was literally off to the races. I had support of a great shop, a very understanding wife, excellent friends and teammates to chase, and a healthy dose of willingness to suffer that came together and pushed me further than I ever expected. Winning the overall IMBCS series was a huge accomplishment and one I didn't even entertain when I looked at racing for this year. Finishing strong in a number of races from Ahquabi to Manawa during the series was almost beyond my comprehension. Additionally, being a part of the winning team at 24 hours of 7 oaks, just fulfilled about every dream I could think of last year. It was surreal to say the least.
I do think a big part of my late summer surge was partly due to the trip out to Breckenridge to ride. Riding out in Colorado put the Iowa terrain into a much different perspective for me. I quickly rode above and beyond my comfort zone starting on the very first ride out there and continued unabaited for the rest of the week. It was truly an amazing trip and one I hope to repeat with some great friends in years to come. Alternately, I really hit the dirt with gusto this summer riding hours and hours as often as I could escape. It all started adding up and fueled an even bigger desire to ride hard and race harder.
Looking forward to 2010, I can't help but think it will pale in comparison if I look strictly at how I finish in races. I'm planning to jump up to Cat 1 on the mountain bike. It puts me going head to head with the best our state has to offer. I don't really see how I'm in that league, but at the same time, it's a great motivator to keep working and training hard. I feel like I've been doing well thus far this winter, but I'm not really kidding myself either and just hope to be able to finish all my races and not be competing for DFL.
Something else I'm excited about this year is the team. I was approached about stepping into the role of team manager late last fall and was pretty excited about the prospect. There's a great group of guys that race under the Rasmussen flag and whatever I can do to help make this team better is something I am looking forward to. We've got some great kits for the upcoming year that will be debuting sometime in the next month or two. I can't wait to see what the guys can do this year. Unless money comes pouring from the sky, I'll be racing on pretty much the same equipment this year as last. I do plan on rocking some new team green grips from Ergon to replace my race worn ones. And I'll probably be rocking some new products from Specialized on my head and feet as well.
I look forward to seeing everyone out on the trail this year and enjoying some post race/ride beers as well!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Holiday Angst
I should be working right now. In fact, I should be cranking away on an estimate that is due Monday, but I have yet to really start because I'm a master at procrastination. Add in that I can start to feel a bit of angst creeping in amongst my bones and it's a perfect recipe for crapping away a bit more time this afternoon before hopefully, maybe working on what I should be doing.
A few years back, I came to the conclusion that exchanging a bunch of trinkets with everyone and their dog that you deem important in your life is a bunch of commercialized BS. Shortly thereafter, I convinced my wife of the same thing and we notified friends and family that we would no longer be exchanging our money for theirs through the intermediaries known as stores, malls, and online shopping. In short, we won't get you anything and please don't get us anything. We'd much rather enjoy your company over the holiday season than have you spend your hard earned money trying to find something you think we can't live without and vice versa.
My angst derives a lot of it's power from that decision. While I always have been a bit on edge about the holidays since I've been old enough to be aware of the trap we've laid out for ourselves when it comes to picking out gifts for other people, I've felt a bit more pressure in sticking to my guns with the new system in place. Mind you, this hasn't completely worked as we still give gifts to our kids and a few select friends kids that exchange with us becuase imposing our wills upon a child at Christmas time, just steps over one of those boundaries I'm not ready to cross. We also still receive a few gifts from our parental units, which I think is probably something that will never stop and truth be told, we do appreciate it as their gifts tend to be very utilitarian- gas cards, grocery cards, and the like. However, for the greatest part, it has worked out well and we don't receive a ton of gifts of varying value that add to the clutter of our daily trudge through life and for that, we're pretty thankful.
I think my issues really kick in when I feel the want to get small trinkets for a select few people. In my mind, I used to think I had a pretty good knack for picking out gifts for people. That part of my brain still kicks in when I run across things I think would make particularly well suited gifts. Add in that I do enjoy giving things to people, but we also seem to be running a family budget defecit this year (in hopes my bonus comes through), and you've got a great recipe for mixed emotions when it comes to the season.
Anyone else fighting the angst of the season out there?
A few years back, I came to the conclusion that exchanging a bunch of trinkets with everyone and their dog that you deem important in your life is a bunch of commercialized BS. Shortly thereafter, I convinced my wife of the same thing and we notified friends and family that we would no longer be exchanging our money for theirs through the intermediaries known as stores, malls, and online shopping. In short, we won't get you anything and please don't get us anything. We'd much rather enjoy your company over the holiday season than have you spend your hard earned money trying to find something you think we can't live without and vice versa.
My angst derives a lot of it's power from that decision. While I always have been a bit on edge about the holidays since I've been old enough to be aware of the trap we've laid out for ourselves when it comes to picking out gifts for other people, I've felt a bit more pressure in sticking to my guns with the new system in place. Mind you, this hasn't completely worked as we still give gifts to our kids and a few select friends kids that exchange with us becuase imposing our wills upon a child at Christmas time, just steps over one of those boundaries I'm not ready to cross. We also still receive a few gifts from our parental units, which I think is probably something that will never stop and truth be told, we do appreciate it as their gifts tend to be very utilitarian- gas cards, grocery cards, and the like. However, for the greatest part, it has worked out well and we don't receive a ton of gifts of varying value that add to the clutter of our daily trudge through life and for that, we're pretty thankful.
I think my issues really kick in when I feel the want to get small trinkets for a select few people. In my mind, I used to think I had a pretty good knack for picking out gifts for people. That part of my brain still kicks in when I run across things I think would make particularly well suited gifts. Add in that I do enjoy giving things to people, but we also seem to be running a family budget defecit this year (in hopes my bonus comes through), and you've got a great recipe for mixed emotions when it comes to the season.
Anyone else fighting the angst of the season out there?
Monday, November 16, 2009
Du'in it to it
CITA put on the Dirty Duathlon this weekend. This was my final race on the schedule for the year. Sure, I know Jingle Cross is coming up in another 2 weeks, but I'm not planning on going unless it's to heckle for a day and I doubt that's even going to happen. With the somewhat anti-climatic ending to the IMBCS races due to the concellation of Sugarbottom, an indulgent October, and a rescheduling of the Du, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I toed the start line.
My original running partner in the form of Adam (the fit guy from Rassy's) was out due to a strained achilles a week or two before the original event date. That left me scrambling last minute to find a suitable replacement since I surely don't run. Through luck of the draw I hooked up with a guy name Jamie who happens to be a smokin' fast runner. We traded some emails back and forth and a couple calls. The plan was to hit it as hard as we both could and hopefully hold off the advances from other teams. Considering Cam and Kristy smoked the field the last few years running, it was going to be a pretty tall order for anyone to take them down. Jamie was a bit more confident than I, but stranger things have happened.
Yesterday definitely had a bit in the air with temps hovering right at 45 with a bit of windchill on top of that. I began to 2nd guess my choice of race kit in the form of bibs, long sleeve jersey, and an ultralight sleeveless base layer. I knew I'd probably do this, so I purposely avoided packing more bike clothing. I had done a couple recon laps the day before with a race pace lap at 19:45. I was hopeful to stick that time for 3 consecutive laps, but knowing the amount of climbing I'd be doing, it was a hope at best. I managed to find Jamie in the crowd of runners after a few harried minutes wondering if he was going to make it in time. He'd been out warming up and was ready to go, so all was good.
The starter lined the runners up and sent them on their merry way down the road to the pool before turning in to the singletrack. I nervously paced around hoping things would go as planned with Jamie coming in the top few runners as he was predicting. The first runner came hauling down the hill and it was Ryan who'd teamed up with Herb from the All 9 squad. Next up was Jamie about 30 seconds back. We tagged and I ran my back down to the pavement for a flying mount as I drilled it trying to catch Herb. I wasn't necessarily worried about Herb, but those lurking behind me definitely had me running scared. Just into the 2nd section of Hillside, Herb had dropped a chain and I rolled on by. I could see Neil coming up from behind and a few more bikes scattered behind him as I took the lead less than halfway into my 1st lap.
Pretty quickly I could see/feel someone coming up behind me. Thinking Neil had caught me, I was pretty surprised to see Jedi Jed flying past as I let him by. I picked up my pace for a minute or two trying to hold his wheel, but knew that pace would cook me so early in the race and most likely cause me a crash or two as well. I let him go and concentrated on riding as fast as I could without blowing up or blowing chunks. I was holding or eaking out a bit more gap on the riders behind me and at certain points I could see massive amounts of riders hitting sections of trail mere minutes back.
Rollercoaster creek crossing
As I hit the switchbacks going down Rollercoaster, it was great to hear people cheering for me and again as I headed up the gully climb into the meadow before dive bombing back to the finish. I poured it all out on the climb knowing that Cam and others would be eating me up on the climbing legs. As I hit the downhill to the finish, I stayed on the gas clipping through the start finish a shade under 19 minutes. I'd knocked off 45+ seconds over my race pace lap from the day before! Still sitting in 2nd as I headed off into my second lap, I wondered how long I could hang on at this pace. I still felt pretty good so I just tried to maintain my effort without going too far into the red.
With traffic pretty much a non-issue at this point, I was free to bomb through a good portion of Hillside. I was surpised though that I started catching people partway through my second lap. Most everyone I passed were great about moving to the side or even stopping all together as I worked up to them. I could start seeing Cam at this point and knew it wouldn't be too long before he was lapping at my heels. As we worked to the last section of fingers on Hillside he called for the pass and slid on by. Again, I upped my pace for a minute or two trying to hold his wheel, but knew the result was going to be the same as with Jed. I settled back down determined not to let myself slip any further back if I had any say in it. I could still see a few chasers, but it appeared I had close to a minute gap on anyone else at this point.
Another round through Rollercoaster with the crowds cheering on the racers and encouraging me to play catch up helped to keep my energy level high. I sprinted back down the hill, across the line, and headed out on my final lap with around 19:15 clocked off this time. I was still moving well, but I could tell the effort was catching up with me. Knowing I had less than 20 minutes to go, I poured everything back out one more time. I was climbing a shade slower and standing more on the short steeps, but I was still rolling well. I made it through Hillside still setting in 3rd and hit Rollercoaster for the final time.
I grunted my way through Rollercoaster making my way to the final climb. I'd been passing riders at regular intervals for a while, but now I'd caught a couple riders walking up the steep grade to the meadow. I called out that I was riding and they needed to move. Unfortunately, the gal was a bit confused on where to go and managed to go nowhere. I hit a root about the same time and spun my back tire drawing a few gasps from the crowd watching the sufferfest on the hill. I kept my momentum and climbing the side of the wash riding up and around the rider making that one of my highlights. Still holding a firm grasp on 3rd I raced to the transition area and tagged Jamie for his final run.
At this point, I figured we were pretty well set for 3rd place. I knew Jed was a long ways in front of me and figured Cam had gotten pretty close to or had chased him down. I spotted Jed in the crowd and he confirmed that he'd beat Cam in to the transition. Now it was time to wait. I don't think anyone saw Jed's runner come in, including Jed, but he pulled through in 1st place. Now we were waiting for Kristy to come in. I looked up the hill and couldn't beleive what I was seeing. Kristy was hauling the mail down the final hill and Jamie was somehow flying past her. With a scant few seconds separating them at the finish, we'd clinched the 2nd spot. I've definitely got to hand it to Jamie, he knew what he was capable of and put on a superb race.
Rassy's took the top 3 overall positions with the relay teams and in addition we took the top 3 men's open with Louis, Kent, and Nate taking those honors. Our very own Teri Sue showed the way in the women's open taking the win and hopefully stamping her come back to doing some more racing. Congrats to all my team mates! A huge thanks to CITA and the Capital Striders for putting on a great event with their volunteer work forces.
Thanks to Doug for the photo.
My original running partner in the form of Adam (the fit guy from Rassy's) was out due to a strained achilles a week or two before the original event date. That left me scrambling last minute to find a suitable replacement since I surely don't run. Through luck of the draw I hooked up with a guy name Jamie who happens to be a smokin' fast runner. We traded some emails back and forth and a couple calls. The plan was to hit it as hard as we both could and hopefully hold off the advances from other teams. Considering Cam and Kristy smoked the field the last few years running, it was going to be a pretty tall order for anyone to take them down. Jamie was a bit more confident than I, but stranger things have happened.
Yesterday definitely had a bit in the air with temps hovering right at 45 with a bit of windchill on top of that. I began to 2nd guess my choice of race kit in the form of bibs, long sleeve jersey, and an ultralight sleeveless base layer. I knew I'd probably do this, so I purposely avoided packing more bike clothing. I had done a couple recon laps the day before with a race pace lap at 19:45. I was hopeful to stick that time for 3 consecutive laps, but knowing the amount of climbing I'd be doing, it was a hope at best. I managed to find Jamie in the crowd of runners after a few harried minutes wondering if he was going to make it in time. He'd been out warming up and was ready to go, so all was good.
The starter lined the runners up and sent them on their merry way down the road to the pool before turning in to the singletrack. I nervously paced around hoping things would go as planned with Jamie coming in the top few runners as he was predicting. The first runner came hauling down the hill and it was Ryan who'd teamed up with Herb from the All 9 squad. Next up was Jamie about 30 seconds back. We tagged and I ran my back down to the pavement for a flying mount as I drilled it trying to catch Herb. I wasn't necessarily worried about Herb, but those lurking behind me definitely had me running scared. Just into the 2nd section of Hillside, Herb had dropped a chain and I rolled on by. I could see Neil coming up from behind and a few more bikes scattered behind him as I took the lead less than halfway into my 1st lap.
Pretty quickly I could see/feel someone coming up behind me. Thinking Neil had caught me, I was pretty surprised to see Jedi Jed flying past as I let him by. I picked up my pace for a minute or two trying to hold his wheel, but knew that pace would cook me so early in the race and most likely cause me a crash or two as well. I let him go and concentrated on riding as fast as I could without blowing up or blowing chunks. I was holding or eaking out a bit more gap on the riders behind me and at certain points I could see massive amounts of riders hitting sections of trail mere minutes back.
Rollercoaster creek crossing
As I hit the switchbacks going down Rollercoaster, it was great to hear people cheering for me and again as I headed up the gully climb into the meadow before dive bombing back to the finish. I poured it all out on the climb knowing that Cam and others would be eating me up on the climbing legs. As I hit the downhill to the finish, I stayed on the gas clipping through the start finish a shade under 19 minutes. I'd knocked off 45+ seconds over my race pace lap from the day before! Still sitting in 2nd as I headed off into my second lap, I wondered how long I could hang on at this pace. I still felt pretty good so I just tried to maintain my effort without going too far into the red.
With traffic pretty much a non-issue at this point, I was free to bomb through a good portion of Hillside. I was surpised though that I started catching people partway through my second lap. Most everyone I passed were great about moving to the side or even stopping all together as I worked up to them. I could start seeing Cam at this point and knew it wouldn't be too long before he was lapping at my heels. As we worked to the last section of fingers on Hillside he called for the pass and slid on by. Again, I upped my pace for a minute or two trying to hold his wheel, but knew the result was going to be the same as with Jed. I settled back down determined not to let myself slip any further back if I had any say in it. I could still see a few chasers, but it appeared I had close to a minute gap on anyone else at this point.
Another round through Rollercoaster with the crowds cheering on the racers and encouraging me to play catch up helped to keep my energy level high. I sprinted back down the hill, across the line, and headed out on my final lap with around 19:15 clocked off this time. I was still moving well, but I could tell the effort was catching up with me. Knowing I had less than 20 minutes to go, I poured everything back out one more time. I was climbing a shade slower and standing more on the short steeps, but I was still rolling well. I made it through Hillside still setting in 3rd and hit Rollercoaster for the final time.
I grunted my way through Rollercoaster making my way to the final climb. I'd been passing riders at regular intervals for a while, but now I'd caught a couple riders walking up the steep grade to the meadow. I called out that I was riding and they needed to move. Unfortunately, the gal was a bit confused on where to go and managed to go nowhere. I hit a root about the same time and spun my back tire drawing a few gasps from the crowd watching the sufferfest on the hill. I kept my momentum and climbing the side of the wash riding up and around the rider making that one of my highlights. Still holding a firm grasp on 3rd I raced to the transition area and tagged Jamie for his final run.
At this point, I figured we were pretty well set for 3rd place. I knew Jed was a long ways in front of me and figured Cam had gotten pretty close to or had chased him down. I spotted Jed in the crowd and he confirmed that he'd beat Cam in to the transition. Now it was time to wait. I don't think anyone saw Jed's runner come in, including Jed, but he pulled through in 1st place. Now we were waiting for Kristy to come in. I looked up the hill and couldn't beleive what I was seeing. Kristy was hauling the mail down the final hill and Jamie was somehow flying past her. With a scant few seconds separating them at the finish, we'd clinched the 2nd spot. I've definitely got to hand it to Jamie, he knew what he was capable of and put on a superb race.
Rassy's took the top 3 overall positions with the relay teams and in addition we took the top 3 men's open with Louis, Kent, and Nate taking those honors. Our very own Teri Sue showed the way in the women's open taking the win and hopefully stamping her come back to doing some more racing. Congrats to all my team mates! A huge thanks to CITA and the Capital Striders for putting on a great event with their volunteer work forces.
Thanks to Doug for the photo.
Monday, November 02, 2009
October and out
No, I'm not giving up on this lame ass blog. So quit your rejoicing and get back to reading! With the birth of our little one the last day of September, the last race of the year being cancelled out, some sickness hanging around, and enough other crap going on, it was time to fully imbibe in the off season lifestyle. Ride when I want, however slow I want, and imbibe as many carb laden goodies as I can.
I took full advantage of the entire month, though I did have one small setback and participated in a single cross race. I was quickly rewarded with a whopping 9th place in the cat 4's. Considering my expectations and goals, I was completely fine with that result and pretty much swore off any other races for the year with the exception of the Dirty Duathlon. I raced the du last year and had a blast teaming up with Heather from the PRC squad since I don't run.
Suffering at Altoona Cross:
I took full advantage of the entire month, though I did have one small setback and participated in a single cross race. I was quickly rewarded with a whopping 9th place in the cat 4's. Considering my expectations and goals, I was completely fine with that result and pretty much swore off any other races for the year with the exception of the Dirty Duathlon. I raced the du last year and had a blast teaming up with Heather from the PRC squad since I don't run.
Suffering at Altoona Cross:
Enjoying last year's Du:
Beyond that, Cranksgiving is looming on the horizon as one of my favorite annual events. Squirrel will also be hosting one of my other favorites in the Turkey Day ride. Last but not least, we had the annual Spooky Woods ride this weekend. While the weather put the kybosh on any off road fun and frivolity, a hearty dozen souls gathered together for a little black label action instead. The original plan was to creep our way out of Orlondo's whenever we felt like it, score some tunnel party action down the trail, and eventually roll into the Cumming Tap for beer laden good times. Squirrel, being the master planner he is, threw the plans out the window and had us a little bonfire set up at an undisclosed location just a scant jog away from the start. We partied with good friends, good beer, and good tunes for several hours. We thinned out some of the surrounding deadfall to feed our fire, and partied the evening away. We even turned in relatively early with most of us rolling off around 11pm. What we lost in quantity this year, we more than made up for in quality.
That pretty much finishes off my year. I'll probably try to piece together a recap of some of my personal highlights, but all in all, its been a great year on the bike and I'm really looking forward to starting fresh for next year.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The life circle starts again
If you'll look closely at the date of my last significant post, you might be surprised to find I've been conspicuoulsy absent from my duties of blogging for the past couple weeks. It definitely hasn't been for lack of exciting and momentous occasions.
After Manawa, I was pretty geared up for the final showdown at Sugarbottom with my buddy Keith. Considering my finish at Manawa had boosted me into a slim points lead for the IMBCS series, I knew he'd be gunning for me. Add in that Sugarbottom is a place he's familiar with, I've never ridden there, and we were both coming down with colds and we had all the ingredients for something epic. As the week rolled on, a more pressing matter came into focus. We welcomed the birth of our daughter, Emery Lynn, the last day of September. She came into the world just before 5 in the afternoon, born at home, weighing in at 9 lbs and 22 inches long. To say we were ecstatic would be just slightly erronious.
Emery
I can hear some of you now saying, "well, I guess that means his final race of the season is out." Well, you'd be wrong. You see, we've been expecting another bouncing baby to grace our family early in October. My lovely wife has been gracious enough to let me postpone and miss a number of things, but there was no way I'd be going racing if impending babydom was upon us. However, with Emery being born mid-week and both grandmas plus our friend Erica being available to help out, it was determined that I could still challenge for the points series. Now that is one awesome family!
However, the weather had other ideas for us. The rain blew out the original race date and things were postponed for a week. I was both happy and nervous about this set of events. Now I'd be able to spend more time with my newest family member and hopefully get closer to 100% health wise, but I'd also have to sweat another week of wondering how things were all going to fall out. After another week of cruel winterish weather, the race was cancelled all together. I'll get around to recapping my season another time, but for now, I'm excited to be a new father again. I have 2 wonderful, beautiful girls, an awesome wife, and a pretty kickass life right now. I've been blessed for sure this year.
After Manawa, I was pretty geared up for the final showdown at Sugarbottom with my buddy Keith. Considering my finish at Manawa had boosted me into a slim points lead for the IMBCS series, I knew he'd be gunning for me. Add in that Sugarbottom is a place he's familiar with, I've never ridden there, and we were both coming down with colds and we had all the ingredients for something epic. As the week rolled on, a more pressing matter came into focus. We welcomed the birth of our daughter, Emery Lynn, the last day of September. She came into the world just before 5 in the afternoon, born at home, weighing in at 9 lbs and 22 inches long. To say we were ecstatic would be just slightly erronious.
Emery
I can hear some of you now saying, "well, I guess that means his final race of the season is out." Well, you'd be wrong. You see, we've been expecting another bouncing baby to grace our family early in October. My lovely wife has been gracious enough to let me postpone and miss a number of things, but there was no way I'd be going racing if impending babydom was upon us. However, with Emery being born mid-week and both grandmas plus our friend Erica being available to help out, it was determined that I could still challenge for the points series. Now that is one awesome family!
However, the weather had other ideas for us. The rain blew out the original race date and things were postponed for a week. I was both happy and nervous about this set of events. Now I'd be able to spend more time with my newest family member and hopefully get closer to 100% health wise, but I'd also have to sweat another week of wondering how things were all going to fall out. After another week of cruel winterish weather, the race was cancelled all together. I'll get around to recapping my season another time, but for now, I'm excited to be a new father again. I have 2 wonderful, beautiful girls, an awesome wife, and a pretty kickass life right now. I've been blessed for sure this year.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Furnace Creek 508
Nope, I'm not doing it (yet...), but it's one of those things that is way out on my radar as something to possibly aspire to when I've finally lost all my marbles. However, that hasn't stopped my buddy George from signing up for his 4th time riding the event. He's hoping his crew can do some live blogging on his site during the race- Epictrain.blogspot.com If you want to check out the main race site, you can follow some updates on there as well. His racing totem is "Red-Eyed Vireo". Good luck out there George.
Monday, September 28, 2009
IMBCS #10 Lake Manawa race report
The race season is nearing its end. As I type this, we have one solitary race left to savor until the 2010 season fires back up. However, that's skipping ahead a week. This weekend left me headed over to the wilds of Council Bluffs to race at Lake Manawa for what is somewhat deemed as a border battle between the Iowegians and the Nebraskanites. I wanted/needed to do well in this race. Never having been to any Nebraska races or this venue, I had to base my anticipations on hearsay and a few old race reports. Seeing as how Cam tends to have some pretty epic battles over there and a few other friends have reported some really strong riders out that way, I knew I'd be in for a pretty hard fought day if I was going to finish well.
The course recon info I gathered ranged from very Denman's like, to sandy, to technical with very limited passing. All of this had me primed for not knowing what to expect and as such, I drove myself about half batty during the week trying to figure out how to race it. Nate and I car pooled over to the race leaving enough time to hang out a bit and still get a full recon lap in. We took off with Cam and Julie to get the lines figured out. Cam does what he does and motored away for the most part even during warm up as I tried to hang on as best I could and not start breaking out any real effort that I'd need later on. By the end of the first section he was pretty much gone and I just wound my way along on my own. On the back section of trail I had my worst run in of the day catching my left shoulder pretty hard on a narrow section between 2 large trees. At least this was the recon lap.
As time wound down, we worked our way to the line. Different from the Iowa races I've been in, they started each category in a wave based on open or age group so you were only racing guys in your class at the very start. I liked this aspect of it as it really pushed me to go hard right off the bat as I could see exactly how much work I had to do to finish where I wanted. 11 of us towed the line for the open class which I found odd considering the +35 and +45 age groups seemed to have much larger contingencies. The starter rang the siren and we were off to a sprint for the singletrack entrance a scant quarter of a mile down a paved park road. The start to the singletrack was cordoned off by 4x4 posts spaced 3-4' apart making for some interesting lines as everyone was flying through them. I was sitting 3rd wheel as we came up on the posts and the 2 guys in front sat up slightly so I followed suit. That wasn't the smartest move as I got pushed back 2 more spots to 5th wheel by a couple guys who stayed on the gas. Starting off the first lap I had 3 Nebraskans and an Iowa guy leading the charge in front of me.
Neal (the Iowa guy) was sitting directly in front of me and staying hard on the wheel immediately in front of him. They'd both hammer the open straights and pull me slightly until we'd hit more technical sections where I could latch right back on. This lasted for about a mile and we could see the first two guys opening a decent gap over us. The guy in front of Neal took a few bad lines slowing us down, but we were in a pretty bad area to pass. At the next logover Neal decided it was now or never and took a faster yet higher risk line straight over the log in lieu of just to the right which was only a couple inches tall versus 6-8" tall. I was hot on his heels going straight as well. Neal didn't stick the landing. Or more accurately stuck the landing a bit to well and burped the air out of his tire which was slightly cocked and went ass over appetite. I somehow managed to avoid him while making a quick check to make sure he wasn't dying on the trail as I tailed it up to 4th place.
I knew we'd be hitting a few more open sections where passing would be possible so I sat on the wheel of 3rd place until I could punch it again. I stuck the pass and as we hit more technical areas I opened a gap slowly. The first 2 riders were basically out of site at this point and we were only half way through lap 1 of 3. I kept the wick turned up and figured I would either catch someone or end up being caught if I tried to mellow out my pace any. As luck would have it (for me), near the end of lap 1 I could see another rider up in front of me. I pushed a bit harder, caught him in the twisties, and tailed him through the start/finish area. I sat in on his wheel for the first part of the open section on lap 2 drafting and catching my breath before cranking on it one more time and passing him just before we hit the maze of trees again.
The pass stuck and I was sitting in 2nd place halfway into the race. The 1st place rider was nowhere in site so I stuck to my plan of keeping the hammer down lest I be caught from behind. As I worked into the back section on lap 2 I passed an expert rider on a Superfly singlespeed that was slowly working his way down an open section. I never looked back, but when we hit the twisty section, I could tell I had someone closing in. He was gaining quickly on me so I tried upping my pace in the tight areas. That didn't go quite as planned as I now started pushing beyond my pay level of skill and nearly went down twice. I ushered him back by so as to hopefully grab his wheel and keep myself upright in the process. About a hundred yards later, he laid it down on a slick leaf covered corner and I went right back by. Ahh well, at least I tried to show some good camaraderie.
Lap 3 started with Mr. singlespeed right back on my butt and passing me into the open area. I hopped on his wheel for a draft as he pulled us along at over 20 mph. Sweet! As soon as we hit the tech sections he opened the gap and never looked back again. Thanks for the ride. I was riding well at this point and put together a quick game plan in my head. I pushed the open easy sections as hard as I could and I dialed back the tech areas just enough to make sure I wasn't going to bite it. I couldn't see anyone too close behind me so I thought I was pretty safely in 2nd at this point. I held my game plan together through to the finish and latched onto my placing permanently. As I looked back, a scant 20 seconds back came 3rd place so I definitely needed to keep that hard pace I'd been pushing.
Those Nebraska boys can definitely ride. A full clean race is what I attribute to hold onto my placing. I know the 3rd and 4th place riders each had at least one fall apiece where I only came close a few times. The first place rider had over a minute on me. All in all, I was pretty ecstatic as I went into the race hoping for a top 5 finish and came out much better.
As far as the course goes, the first 2 laps were a bit wet, but by the 3rd lap it had dried pretty nicely. I was running more cautious by then though so it really didn't give me much of a boost. Overall, I liked the course and it seemed to suit my skill set. I wasn't the fastest on the open hammer sections, but I had enough technical skill and strength to close it up on the tight, twisty areas. The overall feel was a lot like Denman's in that you could really use the flow if you knew the trail well enough, but the open sections would allow for some fast riding if you needed to hammer and go as well. I didn't find passing too difficult as long as you played your cards right. If you were gassed going into the open sections, it would be difficult to pass, but otherwise you could find a spot pretty easy as long as you weren't in the woods.
I know there were a few photographers on hand so I'll try to find some pictures to post.
The course recon info I gathered ranged from very Denman's like, to sandy, to technical with very limited passing. All of this had me primed for not knowing what to expect and as such, I drove myself about half batty during the week trying to figure out how to race it. Nate and I car pooled over to the race leaving enough time to hang out a bit and still get a full recon lap in. We took off with Cam and Julie to get the lines figured out. Cam does what he does and motored away for the most part even during warm up as I tried to hang on as best I could and not start breaking out any real effort that I'd need later on. By the end of the first section he was pretty much gone and I just wound my way along on my own. On the back section of trail I had my worst run in of the day catching my left shoulder pretty hard on a narrow section between 2 large trees. At least this was the recon lap.
As time wound down, we worked our way to the line. Different from the Iowa races I've been in, they started each category in a wave based on open or age group so you were only racing guys in your class at the very start. I liked this aspect of it as it really pushed me to go hard right off the bat as I could see exactly how much work I had to do to finish where I wanted. 11 of us towed the line for the open class which I found odd considering the +35 and +45 age groups seemed to have much larger contingencies. The starter rang the siren and we were off to a sprint for the singletrack entrance a scant quarter of a mile down a paved park road. The start to the singletrack was cordoned off by 4x4 posts spaced 3-4' apart making for some interesting lines as everyone was flying through them. I was sitting 3rd wheel as we came up on the posts and the 2 guys in front sat up slightly so I followed suit. That wasn't the smartest move as I got pushed back 2 more spots to 5th wheel by a couple guys who stayed on the gas. Starting off the first lap I had 3 Nebraskans and an Iowa guy leading the charge in front of me.
Neal (the Iowa guy) was sitting directly in front of me and staying hard on the wheel immediately in front of him. They'd both hammer the open straights and pull me slightly until we'd hit more technical sections where I could latch right back on. This lasted for about a mile and we could see the first two guys opening a decent gap over us. The guy in front of Neal took a few bad lines slowing us down, but we were in a pretty bad area to pass. At the next logover Neal decided it was now or never and took a faster yet higher risk line straight over the log in lieu of just to the right which was only a couple inches tall versus 6-8" tall. I was hot on his heels going straight as well. Neal didn't stick the landing. Or more accurately stuck the landing a bit to well and burped the air out of his tire which was slightly cocked and went ass over appetite. I somehow managed to avoid him while making a quick check to make sure he wasn't dying on the trail as I tailed it up to 4th place.
I knew we'd be hitting a few more open sections where passing would be possible so I sat on the wheel of 3rd place until I could punch it again. I stuck the pass and as we hit more technical areas I opened a gap slowly. The first 2 riders were basically out of site at this point and we were only half way through lap 1 of 3. I kept the wick turned up and figured I would either catch someone or end up being caught if I tried to mellow out my pace any. As luck would have it (for me), near the end of lap 1 I could see another rider up in front of me. I pushed a bit harder, caught him in the twisties, and tailed him through the start/finish area. I sat in on his wheel for the first part of the open section on lap 2 drafting and catching my breath before cranking on it one more time and passing him just before we hit the maze of trees again.
The pass stuck and I was sitting in 2nd place halfway into the race. The 1st place rider was nowhere in site so I stuck to my plan of keeping the hammer down lest I be caught from behind. As I worked into the back section on lap 2 I passed an expert rider on a Superfly singlespeed that was slowly working his way down an open section. I never looked back, but when we hit the twisty section, I could tell I had someone closing in. He was gaining quickly on me so I tried upping my pace in the tight areas. That didn't go quite as planned as I now started pushing beyond my pay level of skill and nearly went down twice. I ushered him back by so as to hopefully grab his wheel and keep myself upright in the process. About a hundred yards later, he laid it down on a slick leaf covered corner and I went right back by. Ahh well, at least I tried to show some good camaraderie.
Lap 3 started with Mr. singlespeed right back on my butt and passing me into the open area. I hopped on his wheel for a draft as he pulled us along at over 20 mph. Sweet! As soon as we hit the tech sections he opened the gap and never looked back again. Thanks for the ride. I was riding well at this point and put together a quick game plan in my head. I pushed the open easy sections as hard as I could and I dialed back the tech areas just enough to make sure I wasn't going to bite it. I couldn't see anyone too close behind me so I thought I was pretty safely in 2nd at this point. I held my game plan together through to the finish and latched onto my placing permanently. As I looked back, a scant 20 seconds back came 3rd place so I definitely needed to keep that hard pace I'd been pushing.
Those Nebraska boys can definitely ride. A full clean race is what I attribute to hold onto my placing. I know the 3rd and 4th place riders each had at least one fall apiece where I only came close a few times. The first place rider had over a minute on me. All in all, I was pretty ecstatic as I went into the race hoping for a top 5 finish and came out much better.
As far as the course goes, the first 2 laps were a bit wet, but by the 3rd lap it had dried pretty nicely. I was running more cautious by then though so it really didn't give me much of a boost. Overall, I liked the course and it seemed to suit my skill set. I wasn't the fastest on the open hammer sections, but I had enough technical skill and strength to close it up on the tight, twisty areas. The overall feel was a lot like Denman's in that you could really use the flow if you knew the trail well enough, but the open sections would allow for some fast riding if you needed to hammer and go as well. I didn't find passing too difficult as long as you played your cards right. If you were gassed going into the open sections, it would be difficult to pass, but otherwise you could find a spot pretty easy as long as you weren't in the woods.
I know there were a few photographers on hand so I'll try to find some pictures to post.
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