The Official Guide to the World between the Wheels

TW12 pt 2

So After pie on monday night with the locals I drove 25mins out of Madison to a park and rode with 3 Trek employees who invited me along, two of which currently race for the official Madison Store Mtb team. All 3 were very polite in showing me the course for the upcoming WORS event. The first thing I noticed was all 3 of them were riding 26" bikes? Whats up with that?? I tried to convince them to step up to an adult bike. Well the course here was extremely tight and twisty. Basically 8 miles of trails built in a Whole Foods Parking lot sized area! Coming fresh off of a Michaux Race this was a very hard adjustment for me. Those reading from the PA area will understand what I mean, Michaux is a 40 plus mile loop of the rockiest singletrack i've ever seen and its spread out using 40 miles of a huge 85,000 acre Forest. Well the course here in WI was fun fast and hard for me to keep up with Matt, Abby & Erik during the pre ride. With an extremely high heat index we only managed a lap and a half before we were all dry. I introduced Abby and Erik to the use of Peppermint Oil to reduce bugs and providing a cooling sensation to your neck.

We finished up and departed. back to the Hotel that I was calling home for 10 days and retired to bed. Wednesday morning was breakfast at IHop and then to the terrace to help assemble the Trek World Showroom floor. This is a job! Luckily I come from a construction background so its not hard for me to see the big picture of a finished job out of all the boxes and crates of material. I quickly got an assignment to assemble the bike display racks. A small group of us formulated a system and the racks came together quicker than you could imagine. 

I had to leave by 2:30 or so to head back to headquarters where i was meeting with the Pro Shop mechanics to see how they could help out with a creak i was getting on my Superfly. How cool was this? I rolled my bike into this secure workshop with pristine white walls and shiny floor. Bikes and parts for all the Pros rides were hanging and bagged neatly on shelves waiting to hit the next World Cup Race!

On the rack went my bike then I got asked several questions from 2 of the best mechanics. They  hit me left and right like i was on the lightning round of a game show. When all the questions stopped I was dizzy and somehow missed them disassembling most of my bike. They transitioned from questioning to answering almost immediately. Gosh Darn how did they do that??

Drop outs where off the bike and my ceramic bearing were laying on the bench.

"Here is your problem" they said

"your drop-outs got loose and wore off the edges and the bearing on the non-drive side is blown out" they continued

"Not a problem  just leave it here over night and everything will be complete tomorrow, and take this prototype bike to use on the trails"

Who was I to argue, so i took the full suspension 26" bike and left my bike in the Operating Room style Mechanics shops!

Sorry no pics allowed in the Pro Shop.

*stork

Curse of Dark Hollow

Last weekend I traveled out to the Gettysburg area to try my skills in the Michaux Forest at the Curse of Dark Hollow. Got up early saturday morning and drove into Pittsburgh to pick up my traveling partner Bob Myers. Somehow over the years we have migrated from a Rep/racer relation more towards being good friends. We travel well together and do a lot of carrying on while doing so. Since he's a civil war fanatic the trip to Gettysburg makes it easy to persuade him to go along. 

Rolling into Gettysburg saturday late afternoon left plenty of time to drive around the battlefields and even shop a little in the toy soilder stores. Then it was healthy steak dinner and retiring to the hotel where i made the mistake of introducing Bob to Angry Birds. I believe he played this game for 3 hours and clearly has become an addict.

Morning arrives and its off to find the race. The worst thing about the Michaux races is the real lack of info. Its difficult to find the start times and directions are poor on the site. Once you get on the right road you would think there would be a sign but not in this case. We watched no less than 4 cars pass the entrance and eventually do a U-turn searching for the lot. Come on guys throw a sign up!

The meat of the story

I quickly saw several competitors that were going to make this race tough and i'll admit the nerves started to shake things up a bit. I reminded myself that i've been riding a ton of long road rides with some intervals mixed in those miles and a 40 miler should be ok.

line up happened and today i took the younger class at registration so i could try to keep with the guys rather than chase them down." Why you ask?" did i decide this? Well my friend Brandon said the first 6 miles of singletrack was really tough and would take us 40 mins or so and i didn't want to be bottle necked behind a lot of people right from the start.

Off we go and the fire road start had most of the group riding reasonably. Then we hit the trail and gears were changing as the speed picked up. I was riding today with a plan which was to hang in there when they started turning screws. A few quick turns, some more road then a hard turn up a very loose steep climb. I watched Brandon and fellow team mate Mike Keefer break away and i got caught behind a guy named Rob. He was struggling with his line and as he zig zagged up the climb I got cut off and spun out in the rocks. He also rode away and caught up with the leaders. As I crested the climb they were just out of site. A turn or two and I saw my buddy Brandon preparing to change a flat (already!) well he's strong and he'll make up for it i'm sure. Another few turns and Mike is pulling a stick out of his wheel as I pass. I see him jump on behind me but i've got this good pace going and its feeling pretty comfortable for me right now. Next i've pulled clearly away from Mike.

It doesn't take me long and before 7 miles in I've caught the guy out front on a downhill. I can see by his pedaling and notice his braking that I should be able to hang back just a little and pull him in over a few miles. He seems to notice me behind him and it looks like he's attacking then letting off. There is no need to kill myself to bridge a small gap at 7 miles in with 33 miles left. However i don't want to let it increase any. Still riding a strong pace the gap disappears within the next 2 miles and i'm on his tire by the 10 mile water station.

This section of the race had us on rolling gravel roads which started taking us back up the mountain. So it was steadily climbing. Just my kind of  climb not hard but enough to tighten the screws and roll over the risers with some wattage to maintain a steady pace. I pass the other guy and he grabs my wheel but a few of these risers and we turn into single track where I notice he's fallen back a little. I sense his weakness is maintaining the speed on these rollers but we just went back into the woods where his full suspension and skills will help him. To my surprise the trail did the same thing as the road. Rolled up steady but now in loose rocks. I left the Superfly hardtail in the big ring and layed down the power trying to hold steady. Not going any harder but just trying to race smart and hold steady. It worked as I eventually saw the gap growing until he was no longer in sight. Now i asked myself can i maintain this pace?

I actually was feeling pretty good and tried to keep a steady thing going but the rocks were starting to fatigue me and I could tell I was slowing up.  Passing the 20 mile half way mark and I was still out front laying down an XC pace at a 40 miler. Oh don't kid yourself, i wasn't able to pull this off but i did a good job of trying.

Seems like the rest of the guys were being fed time gaps and they were wondering just who made me so mad and caused me to ride with a vengence. it was madness at all. I had a plan remember? Well since i was feeling this pace i committed to it and figured my best chances were to get as far as possible before they caught me. The closer to the end the better chance i had to finish well.

Somewhere around 30 miles in the course took a big climb in and here is where my legs started to tell me they wanted to slow down a bit. A few cramps which i got rid of quickly but Chris beck & Mike Keefer both pulled away from me on the climb. Halfway up my buddy brandon comes past yelling at me to put it in the Big Ring and climb. He knows me well from the dozens of training ride we did together at Blue Knob. Sadly i didn't have the Big Ring in my legs at this point. Cresting the climb and i was feeling better so i tried to get back into my original pace. Onward I went but the last 5 miles of this course were rocky and had dozens of downed trees across the trail. These proved to be difficult since you are already fatigued and now are trying to jump and stay upright in the rocks. I put a smile on for the challenge and continued in a forward motion.

Finally i crossed the line in 3hrs 52 mins and was less than 5 mins off of the winner (Brandon) with two other in between us in our class. I rode strong felt good handled the rocks and was still walking at the end! It was a success. Congrats to Brandon, Mike and Chris for reeling me in and kicking my butt! Good job guys.

The SRAM XX equipped Trek Superfly performed great. I had used the Bontrager 29.2 tires wrapped on XXX carbon wheels. yes I said Carbon Wheels at Michaux! they track very nicely in the rough stuff, i'm a big fan of them.

Thanks to Bob Myers for helping out and going along and to Mr & Mrs Draugelis for the encouraging words on the course. Its always a pleasure to see them and Jocelyn.... Brandon has a great family for sure!

(photo by Joe D.)

 

Stork

6 Hours of Power

Recently my friend Daryl built himself a Superfly equipped with SRAM XX drivetrain and a full complement of Bontrager carbon parts. He rode it a few times and then i asked him to race a duo with me at the 6 Hour of Power. Now this is nothing new to him seeing as we used to race this event a few years back when he was still mountain biking. You need to understand that he and I have traveled a lot together to races and have some pretty good stories to go with the travels. This weekend would be no different.

We rolled into Holiday Valley where the race is held and got prepared to pre-ride the course around 5 p.m. Off we went up the mountain. Daryl has just upgraded to 29" wheels with this bike and he commented a few times over the past week that its almost like cheating because it rolls over stuff so well. (something i'm very aware)

Single track was dry and fast and the two of us kept a conversational pace as we pedaled through the trees. Now we knew we had no chance of winning the event but clearly we were going to be the team to have the most fun. Somewhere less than 5 miles into the 8.5 mile course Daryl takes a log jump a little to fast and just lets his rear tire bounce off the downed tree. This sends his bike up and over his head and I turn around just in time to see him hit the "floor" face first. I immediately can see he's knocked out cold as he & his bike slides down the bank on the left of the trail. I start yelling at him as he's sliding and run over just as he comes to a stop against a tree. As i'm pulling the bike off of him he regains consciousness and asks "what are we doing?"

A quick look at him tells me he's really out of it but besides his eye he's ok everywhere else. Nothing looks broke and hes sitting beside the tree. I help him up to the trail and get him to rinse the dirt out of his face with his water bottle while I continue to ask questions and look everything else over better. This only takes a couple seconds for me to realize his head is like a snow globe at the moment. Everything was there but he couldn't put anything into the right order. I then decide we need to get back to the resort and get him to a hospital. We start walking and he continues to ask questions which I answer in detail. Next thing I look back and he's riding, so we decide to ride back while he is still asking questions. I knew it was a hard hit since he was knocked out and because he asked stuff like "who's bike am I riding?" and he repeated several questions over and over.

The closer we got to the resort the better his memory became. As i would start to answer his questions he would finish the answers himself. Seemed to me that his brain was scrambling to put all the facts back in  place and I was simply helping to sort it out. Arriving at the car he even remembered the combination to the keyless entry....a good sign.

Off to the Hospital which had no shortage of humor during the visit. In fact the Nurse cleaning his cuts asked for Dr Kumar and Daryl asked if "Harold" was coming with him. She did not find this funny but Daryl & I laughed. Finally at 1 a.m. we were released and he was given the ok to drive ride race or do anything else he wanted. Nothing broken just a badly wreaked face and a mild concussion.

Wow what a story! I'm laughing at this as I type it. So we show up in the morning and Daryl is up for racing. But no one there can believe it. Never the less we set up and and raced all day having a blast and surprising everyone there. Heck he cranked out very respectable lap times and even did 4. I think his biggest problem was vision due to one eye being limited by the swelling.

No we didn't win annd we didn't even place top 3. But we did beat several other teams and we did have a load of FUN! What a good time for sure and an awesome story. On the drive home Daryl made the comment "I doubt we'll forgot this event will we?"

stork

REMINDER- always wear a HELMET

Subaru Cup Pro XTC (Heart Attacks Remix-radio edit)

Last week i got a few messages inviting me to travel to WI from one of my training friends Brandon who recently joined the Team CF Team. It didnt take any time for me to answer with a yes. Plans were solidified to travel from my place on friday to Wautoma WI to pick up our race packets then crash with a few friends Carolyn (his teammate) and Sarah. Race saturday and return on sunday.

The weather was pretty good when we arrived and the pre-ride gave me a look into my first true Pro USCA race course. I was actually very impressed and excited after riding the less than 4 mile loop. Sure it was short and I hate races that go more than 3 laps (this was a 6 lap race) but i understood for spectator friendliness and to make it easy for course Marshalls to monitor any shortcutting or cheating. Each lap had a little less than 500' of climbing and everything was smooth turns, rocky, and punchy little climbs littered with switchbacks even up the open slopes. FUN!

Saturday came and Brandon was a little nervous I, on the other hand, was pretty calm. I had seen the call up sheet and I was slated second to last to be called up so I really had nowhere to go and could only lose one spot if i were to slow. We arrived at the event and I ran into a few Trek friends and was suprised to hear they had raced the Cat 1 event earlier which meant that I was in over my head! we laughed and I asked if iI would get lapped by the 3rd lap. Scott said no i'll give you 4 laps sos i felt better with that. I really just didnt want to get lapped but it was going to hard with a line up of over a dozen top Pros.

Race starts and there are people everywhere around the course and i mean everywhere! screaming, cheering, drinking, ringing cow bells! We race up a good open climb but this immediatly goes into a tight singletrack that has all of the men bottlenecked and i mean stopped waiting to "merge" into the singletrack. It felt like a summer drive on I79 into Pittsburgh, if only there were orange cones and jersey barriers along with a flashing arrowing. I watch the leaders riding a few turns ahead already. Oh well I'm just trying not to get lapped. A solid line of riders as far as i can see ahead and behind me. WOW this is a Pro Race. No quick seperations and i ride with a line of riders for the first lap before things start to thin out.

For my first two laps i climbed the switchbacks using the 28T ring but realized i was going to slow up them and switched to the 42T for the next 3 laps. The open ski slope climb was the only climb that required the smaller ring each time. I was happy with the SRAM XX drivetrain and my choice of the 11/32 cassette. Ripping off 20 mins laps felt fast but hearing the real Pros were doing 16 something had me worried they would catch me. Going into my 5 lap I got tied up with another rider on a slick little climb and was forced to dismount but doing so in a crazy way caused my right leg to cramp from the quick abnormal movement. I ran for a short bit and worked the cramp out. Remounted and rode easy for a little to make sure i was past the cramp. This was a mistake i would realize soon. Thinking i was ok with out getting lapped (which was true) i came into the start line without any leaders in site behind me and assumed i was going to get all six laps. Denied! Seems that UCI has some time rule that they enforce even at the last lap of a short course like this. Something like if you're lap time isn't within a certain time of the fastest lap then you get pulled...even when i can see the finish line 200 yards away and the leaders are still over 5 mins behind me. I mean i would be going out for a final lap and they would cross the line and be done! Successfully leaving me un-lapped for the race!

So i got pulled because of my last lap time along with many others and some of them had been pulled a lap or two before that. Oh well I still had fun fast laps and didn't get lapped so i was Happy!

I really enjoyed being on course with such talent and had many friends from Trek there cheering me on! My extended family (Chris Tricia & Maddy) was there and Maddy worked the feed zones for me while adding encouraging words such as "Go Grandpa, they are catching you". I loved it!!

With this being only the second time I had ridden the naughty twin (Superfly Elite 2011 SRAM XX & Black Reba) i was nothing less than overjoyed at how smooth she performed railing the course and only wish i could have given her the power she deserved.Freshly wrapped Race XXX lite carbon wheels with all the crisp shifting cables and SRAM components made the race an exercise in enjoyment.

*stork

Oct 28, 2010

I think it's time for a change. Thinking this year may have been my final year with the Month of Mud Moraine race. To much to deal with.....I should have been riding instead.

Moraine MOM

Finally the race is finished. I think everyone enjoyed the race course. I will take this quick moment to thank:

Michelle Johnson for help taping and marking the course after dark saturday night & to her & her crew for helping with the course today.

Anna-Lena Kempen for Pointing the racers to the Power line. Thanks babe

Jeremy Rekich for all the assistance and help that the State Park provided which was above and beyond. Very grateful for their help with the trails and for granting us permission to "overrun" the park with spandex.

Deans for giving us the Ultimate Chocolate Milk & tea

All my friends especially Blockhead, Jordan, Gunnar, Betsy & JR who came and raced. Sorry I didn't get time to ask how you did but you understand. It's great that you took the time to come see my course.

Bob Myers the best bike rep out there for driving over to spectate a race that I wasn't actually racing in. You're the best!

MOM board members, registration help & timing. Very well organized for such quick growth of a little series.

Lastly to all my Sponsors especially Trek! The absolute best bike company! I truly feel like family with them.

Jun 30, 2010

S&S trails on sunday. It was hot and the trails were fast! Thankfully I piloted the superfly hard tail to victory in the heat. I've been using the carbon XXX wheels and Bontrager 29.3 skinny tires. Both have proven themselves well.

Jun 26, 2010

Yellow Creek Monthly hanging with Jordan.

Jun 3, 2010

Stage 3 of the TSE started & ended in camp. It was slightly wet out for the start which was neutral for the road way up to Bald Eagle State Park. This stage was described as mostly fireroads and fast. When the neutral start ended all gas was on & the group really pushed it immediately. Since Chris Eatough, Chris Beck & myself were not officially racing we hung in with the group but were careful not to get in anyone's way. As the first log obstacle came upon us the group piled up due to a few people shouldering their bikes for the 8" hardwood. My mind was flooded with disbelief! Onward which was upward at this time. The rain was coming down lightly and I was now following Jeremiah Bishop for a solid look at the front group of guys. We crossed a road and descended thru the rocks and into singletrack at which time Jeremiah had made a few moves forward. Down one more fast descent and onto the fireroads. Here we regrouped & formed the leaders group. Quickly we separated from the main group as the rolling fireroad took it's toll on the other riders. Evan Plews, Jeremiah Bishop, Christian Tanguy, Alex Grant, Brandon Draugelis, Drew Edsall, Garth Prosser, Mike Festa, Chris Beck, Chris Eatough & Myself (i'm missing one or two others that were in this group) all made the break and settled in for the fast pace. Some trail called Fishermans path or close to that was the point at which our little group spread out. Again a few guys shouldered bikes for the roots. Brandon & I were laughing as we witnessed the struggle some guys were having all the while trying to keep upright and on the pedals as we were unable to pass. The two of us actually heckled the other riders a little saying this was a mountain bike race not cyclocross, jump that stuff! All in good fun of course. This dumped us out to Old Mingle Road which is part of the Wilderness 101. Here the group stretched out as the ascent continued. Down the otherside & again we had regrouped before the rails to trails. Our group stayed intact until the long climb up to Penns View at which time we broke. Not sure (cause I was dropped) buy I believe it was Christian, Brandon & Jeremiah leading. I made the climb with Chris E and Beck was waiting for us. The 3 of us rode several miles before Beck took off leaving Eatough & I. I hung with him to the final single track climb where I cramped up and faded back. I was happy with my riding. Holding the lead group for over 30 miles wasn't easy! I had a great time and getting to spend upwards of 3 hours wheel to wheel  & conversing with my coaches was wonderful. I learned a lot about what goes on at the front and it was pretty exciting. Now i just have to work on maintaining that pace just a little long to hold on. Never the less I wasn't officially racing and i still finished right around 10th. Not bad (below is a photo of our lead group I'm mixed in the center talking with my buddy Brandon Draugelis)

Big Bear XC 2010

Last sunday i woke up early enough to make the drive to Hazelton WV for the WVMBA season opener. Temps were cold and it even snowed lightly during the 2 hour race.

As most people who are familiar with Big Bear know, the course is usually brutal with the combination of altitude change and rocks. If your not going slightly up then your traversing rocks and lots of them. Thankfully i took the new SRAM equip'd Fisher Superfly 100. This thing could easily replace the cars used by the famous bootleggers to out run the law while hiding a flask of shine in the bootleg. It climbs well, handles turns with precision and smoothed out the rough sections making it feel like i was riding freshly rolled Tarmac. 

I have the new 39T/26T 2x9 crank up front and with the rocks and logs the little extra clearance offered because of the 39T was appreciated. (On my normal Superfly Hard Tail i have the 42T/28T set up). The XX fork gives nice tun-ability and the hydraulic lock out is fantastic although there wasn't anywhere on this course that i utilized this feature.

I also opted for the slightly heavier Rhythm Pro Wheelset from Bontrager wrapped with XDX tires. The wider rims and larger tires gave me extra traction and provided superior flat protection even while running pressures under 29 psi.

The race started out pretty fast with a few locals ramp'n up the pace immediately. Since it was the first race there are always doubts as to how long you can hold a heart rate and i was concerned very quickly that i didn't have this pace for 2+hrs of riding. Never the less i hung on as the leader pulled us forward creating a gap almost immediately. Entering the singletrack we had already pulled away from the others and i was hoping to maintain with the leader. Somewhere around 4 miles in he slowed up a little and sensing that he wanted me up front i went around him and took charge of the pace. Looking back a few minutes later i saw that he had dropped off also.

Oh no (i thought) i just ripped off with someone who is a sprinter and now i've probably just got myself all worn out and the group will surely catch me! I settled in turning up the mp3 player (shuffle with headphone controls-NICE) and figured i can only do what my legs & lungs allow.

I managed to maintain the lead and only saw someone bridging the gap at the start of my second lap which lighted the fire in my my legs to pick it up. Shortly i again looked back but to my liking there wasn't anyone back there. Good lets keep it that way.

The rest of the race went smoothly and the 100 eat up everything Big bear had to offer. I was extremely pleased with the shifting and precision of the SRAM 10 speed stuff and look forward to racing this stuff all season long.

stork