Wednesday, March 17, 2010

18th annual Cool XC race!

Well as usual it was muddy. I will leave it at that. It was, however, gorgeous weather. Looking back I have one question....not really sure there is an answer.

On a course I have ridden soooo many times, I mean a lot, why is it all I can obsess over is gears? Well, 2 in particular. What' funny, I ride a single speed. So at 9:00pm Saturday night I made my gear choice.

Truth be told, with the down pours we got Friday before the Sunday race I was pretty sure I was going to gear down a tooth for this one. I was coming off a hard week with tired legs and I did not want to do laps at Cool kicking myself for not gearing for the mud.

Long story short, the race starts fast - spin spin spin- keeping the leaders in sight to the top of the first climb. As usual, it dawns on me that I need to race MY race and tone it down a bit. As I jog a portion of the climb out of Salt Creek after a geared bike unclipped in front of me, I hear Marja behind me lovingly yell something like, "Oh Come On Brad!!" And of course I mount CX style on the steepest pitch just to shut her up!! :) The reality was, that was a bad idea as it hurt all the way to the road after the next good up. Male ego strikes again.

Drop down Knickerbocker, play in the creek and start my way up w/o taking a swim and Mike Mathis cruises by....he was on it Sunday! The end of lap #1 was spent battling with the geared riders who started somewhere around 2 minutes ahead of us. Many just don't want you to get by even when they are moving like molasses.

On to lap #2, feeling good bringing back more SS riders with each pedal stroke. The climb out of Salt Creek I spin a bit and jog to the top of the short but steep pitch right after the crossing. The lead kid (that's the 35 and under SSers) slowly comes by and tells me to "hang in there.." I think I responded "no worries" as I caught him by the top of the next climb and chatted with him while we descended to the climb up to the road crossing. He asked how old I was, and told him where he lets out, "sweeeet, your an old guy!" That's when I told him to have a good race and left.

Now that might seem cocky, but he seemed cooked and after his "hang in there" comment I had to respond, and I don't like smack-talking.

At one point on the top of the course I am sure I saw Dean in front of me and hoped I could catch him...but alas, when you gear down for the muddy climbing you sacrifice a bigger gear to push through the rollers. All in all I think my gear obsession paid off for the day.

The end of Lap#2 I was passing a Sho-Air rider (man) and the lead pro-woman, both started a few minutes a head of the SSers. Neither took too kindly to my pass uphill, and only after placing my hand on the Sho-Air riders hip as he tried to drop down onto me in the single track leading into the final mudbogg was I able to get around him and drop him on the short little rise to the finish. That's when, in the finishing shoot with my hands off the bar, said lead pro-woman clipped my bars to pass me literally on the line. Wee bit agro for me, but whatever floats your boat, especially that on the clock I was a few minutes ahead of her anyway.

Another lap would have been great. Usual XC race for me, 1 lap is brutal, second is good and feeling better. Ended up 7th. The "official" results have a couple guys a head of me that I am certain I beat by 4 minutes and 14 minutes respectively. Rumor is they protested the finish for some reason and got themselves moved up. I am certain it will pan out.

Considering its March with the longer events to come, I am really happy with my race. You always want to do better, but I wanted to be w/in 10 minutes of the winners and I was right there. Hopefully its a good sign that I am on track for the 24hr races soon to come. A little speed never hurt anyone. Especially when your an "old-guy." :)

Marja won the expert women and finished 5th woman overall. With a strong start I am comfortable saying she would have been easily on the podium with the pro women....sad to say she got robbed by a SSer on the first steep muddy climb, unclipped right in her path and she was left to hike it...

Next stop, Boggs 8hr.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Poor Rocky!?!?

Usually the best part of my day is the time I get to spend riding my bike. Yesterday I got to ride with Marja for a few hours and it was a fantastic change from riding solo during the week.

So as we roll along, a wee bit chilly from the wind and the clouds, I notice a squirrel frolicking along the bike trail. And, as they usually do, this one decides at the very last minute to turn left, rather than right. As you can guess, his left turn took him directly into the path of my front wheel.

Lucky for Rocky I was diligent and bunny hopped him as our paths crossed. Marja, on my left, unfortunately did not attempt to avoid said squirrel. Now to Marja's defense, she did not swerve or do something stupid like so many people do. She held her line and rode through the ordeal.

What of Rocky?

Well, he caught a ride on Marja's spokes in her front wheel and was thrown into her fork where, lucky for Marja, he then ricocheted off of Marja's right foot and flopped in the middle of the trail. Flopping violently.

Now I have to explain, that if you ride the trail enough, you will either take out a squirrel during the daylight, or if riding at dawn, you will do the same to a cotton tail. Its unavoidable.

So back to Marja's "first kill." Looking back, this was Marja's time to become one with nature. In Deer Hunter fashion she should drink the blood of her first kill! Okay, that's a little intense, maybe if we were back in Arkansas or something. What needed to be done was put the guy out of his misery.

Well you can all guess who that duty fell upon.....

I ride back to the scene, the little guy was able to drag himself off the trail, but needed to be "finished off." He was in bad shape. So I found a large rock and was able to do it. Now I don't particularly like squirrels, but man that put me in a horrible mood. Somehow a serious bludgeoning puts a damper on a good ride. I didn't talk to Marja for a little while.

On that happy note, maybe I get to kill a deer or a coyote tonight riding the trails....we'll have to see whats in store... Thanks Marja!! :)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cross vs. Road Bike?

Background: after cracking my Redline CX frame, the situation has finally been resolved and Pete built up the warranty frame they sent me. I am running some slicks on it to commute for some road miles.

Below is an actual Conversation that occurred this morning in the bike locker room:

coworker
in bike room: "Hey Brad, didn't know you had a road bike?"

Me: "I don't, its actually my cross bike"

coworker: "Cross bike?"

Me: "I can fit knobby tires and the geometry is a little bit different than a road bike"

coworker: "Why would you want knobby tires?"

Me: "For riding on the dirt..."

coworker: "Wait, whats the difference between a road bike and a cross bike" (as he looks closer at it)

Me: "The difference? Me"

coworker: "huh"

Me: "I like to ride on dirt, you like to ride on the road..."

coworker: "I don't get it!?"

Me: "I know...."

...then I explained to him "Why"....

:)