Blog no more. Running off to say less here:
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Friday, August 24, 2012
Rusty Ride and a podium left un-stood
Last year I did my first two 50 mile mountain bike races ever: the first annual Murphy Menace 50 and then the 11th annual Dakota 5-0. I lots of fun at both, and in different ways, but hadn't really planned on doing any endurance races this summer. If I ended up doing any they would just be off-the-cuff; I wasn't going to gird my loins for them like I did for the Dakota 5-0 last year.
One such event popped up this year: The first annual Rusty Ride at Cuyuna. It was called a "ride" but that can still mean it's a race, even though I'm sure calling it a ride means less people gets sceert. I was initially wishy-washy on racing it since 50 miles on the Cuyuna singletrack could make for a long day. Not that that's a bad thing; I still think maybe I can be good at endurance races. Steady consistency is an oft-successful tactic in endurance races and for whatever reason I can play that game.
A few friends/LGR types were doing the race so I decided to also race, if for no other reason than to ride with them. Since I have a bike whose purpose in life is riding Cuyuna and other gnarlier-than-normal trails, I decided to bring it. It's a Trek Remedy 9.9 and it has 150 mm of suspension travel. It also weighs less than most people's 29ers. It's my steed of choice when I feel like not paying attention to rocks and logs and such. The stuff you can get away with running into on that bike is amazing.
Since the trail crew in charge of the race course was indisposed with a lot of trail repairs this season after the big rains up there, they were coy about the course details. So much so that I didn't know what it was until I got to the race venue.
Unfortunately for me and others with big ass bikes, the course looked to be about 60% not singletrack instead of the other way around. This was not what I had in mind. But whatever, I was there and going to race it all the same. I made it my goal to show that such a monster of a bike can be raced with any other bike out there. The bike just isn't that important.
So off we went at about 20 mph on blacktop. Carnage almost straight off the line when the leadout police car took a 90° right hand turn without telling anyone. Somehow nobody crashed even though all of us were locked up in the tire department. Shortly thereafter we took a 90° left onto a straight, gravel/grass snowmobile trail. Road racing time. The front group started going around 20-25 mph again and I stayed in it without too much trouble. My little tiny obsolete 26" wheels could hang with the 29" ones! OMG!
It was not really my plan to start this hard, but LGR newbie/cousin Eric was up there and I figured I should stay up there too. He moved up a few wheels from me, but I was content where I was at. I like to stay below 100% effort in endurance races. You just don't know how many matches get burned until they are gone. So I stayed towards the middle of the lead pack and cruised along with it.
Then a flash of purple kit as Eric hit something and went down on his left side at speed. He was sitting about 6th wheel at the time, and about 3 or 4 riders behind him rammed into him/his bike. I was on LCR rider Rebecca Sauber's wheel at the time, and before I could avoid the melee her wheel was going skyward and hitting me in the arm. I unclipped and managed to scoot across the trail without going down. Unfortunately the leaders were gone. I and some others tried to get back but didn't quite get up there.
Into the singletrack we went. Finally in my element. But it was only a few minutes and we were on the blacktop again. So I did the aero tuck, put my elbows on the bars and TT'd my monster truck up to the next group. Unfortunately this group was made up mostly of single speeders spinning at 150 rpm. But props to them; it was a good speed so I sat on the back and recovered. Soon we were on snowmobile trail again. But this was the kind that was mowed about a day ago and took all your effort to go 10 mph. At this point I was ready to strangle the race organizer(s). But again, we all race on the same course so I calmed myself and just rode my bike. The irony is that the Remedy's plushness was great on the grassy bumpy crap. So in many ways it would turn out to be a great choice.
Eric appeared at my side around this time, apparently working to catch back up. His bike was making funny grinding noises so after he passed me on a climb he stopped to check it out. I figured maybe I'd see him later if he wanted to catch back up to me. At this point I was settled into my rhythm and didn't plan on going much harder. I forged ahead but kept an eye out for him on some of the two way traffic trails.
After getting stung by a bee in the right ankle, and after the feed zone at mile 12 it was back onto the blacktop road to get back to the single track. Again I got into the TT position and rode with a small group. Then to my surprise, Eric was up ahead. He had taken a wrong turn with a group and ended up in front of the race leaders. Obviously this was a problem, so he decided to wait for me, and on the second lap he would find out what he missed and ride it again. Sounded like a fair plan to me so we rode together for the rest of the first lap and half of the second.
The rest of the lap was basically singletrack except for more blacktop back to the start. There was some decent climbing in the singletrack so it was all about moderating effort on those (I ended up with about 1250 feet of climbing per 25 mile lap on the Garmin). We made it through the singletrack without issue.
Grabbing new bottles at the start/finish area, we headed out for lap two. We took up a reasonable, conversational pace through the snowmobile trail and tarmac. In hindsight we should have been hitting it harder on these parts, but at that point we were both just riding to ride. Didn't figure we were doing that well just then.
After riding extra hard through the bee's nest areas we got to the point in the bumpy grassy trail that Eric had missed on lap one. Turn the race switch to "on." At this point Eric wanted to catch back up to me and I wanted him to not. We saw each other on a two way road about 5 minutes later. We both sped up. There is rivalry there no doubt. Onto the road, I pushed the pace but was alone now. Back to the singletrack, a glance backward showed no signs of him but I picked up the pace as best I could.
After a couple of climbs, getting stuck behind a toiling 100 mile racer and a missed turn I saw him. I was going down and he was climbing up the hill I just did. I had probably 2 minutes tops. I hit the gas, but really I couldn't go much faster. The legs were getting heavy and the bike was even protesting with a rhythmic creak. But I forged on alone.
After the toughest climb of the entire trail system, it was down Easy Street and onto the tar. I raised my seatpost an inch and TT'd as hard as I could to get to the finish. I looked back as I entered the park where the finish line was. No Eric. I crossed the line in 3 hours, 50 minutes.
I sat under the shade of a massive pine tree for a while and wondered what happened to him. I figured he either bonked spectacularly or had an mechanical issue or a flat. After a while he came in sight with two other racers pushing him by hand. Broken chain.
It would've been fun to really battle it out for the line like I know we would've if he still had a chain, but that's bike racing.
After the rest of the crew finished it was clear that flat or burped tires was a theme of the race. I had good luck that day and made it through unscathed. We hung around the race and complained about stuff for a while. Then as tradition dictates, we went to DQ. After that we went to my favorite place in the world (Cross Lake) and freshened up for a game or two of mini golf. I won by a few strokes, but the Shot of the Day goes to Mark. Ridiculous off-the-spiral-rocks to a near hole-in-one.
We wrapped up the night with some beers and nachos at Zorba's. After attending the awards ceremony, Ian and Martin informed me that I got 3rd in the 18-38 age group. I figured that was a typo since that's the age group of nearly everyone that races bikes. But it was true. I was 9th overall in the 50 mile race out of about 80 starters. Not all of them were racing, but some were and I'll take it.
It was great fun and I'm glad I raced it. I hope the course gets a little more thought next year to avoid some of the wrong turns and confusion. Maybe a little more singletrack would do the trick too. All in all I hope the race grows and more people attend. I will be back next year for sure; many aspects of the trip might become traditions!
One such event popped up this year: The first annual Rusty Ride at Cuyuna. It was called a "ride" but that can still mean it's a race, even though I'm sure calling it a ride means less people gets sceert. I was initially wishy-washy on racing it since 50 miles on the Cuyuna singletrack could make for a long day. Not that that's a bad thing; I still think maybe I can be good at endurance races. Steady consistency is an oft-successful tactic in endurance races and for whatever reason I can play that game.
A few friends/LGR types were doing the race so I decided to also race, if for no other reason than to ride with them. Since I have a bike whose purpose in life is riding Cuyuna and other gnarlier-than-normal trails, I decided to bring it. It's a Trek Remedy 9.9 and it has 150 mm of suspension travel. It also weighs less than most people's 29ers. It's my steed of choice when I feel like not paying attention to rocks and logs and such. The stuff you can get away with running into on that bike is amazing.
Since the trail crew in charge of the race course was indisposed with a lot of trail repairs this season after the big rains up there, they were coy about the course details. So much so that I didn't know what it was until I got to the race venue.
Unfortunately for me and others with big ass bikes, the course looked to be about 60% not singletrack instead of the other way around. This was not what I had in mind. But whatever, I was there and going to race it all the same. I made it my goal to show that such a monster of a bike can be raced with any other bike out there. The bike just isn't that important.
So off we went at about 20 mph on blacktop. Carnage almost straight off the line when the leadout police car took a 90° right hand turn without telling anyone. Somehow nobody crashed even though all of us were locked up in the tire department. Shortly thereafter we took a 90° left onto a straight, gravel/grass snowmobile trail. Road racing time. The front group started going around 20-25 mph again and I stayed in it without too much trouble. My little tiny obsolete 26" wheels could hang with the 29" ones! OMG!
It was not really my plan to start this hard, but LGR newbie/cousin Eric was up there and I figured I should stay up there too. He moved up a few wheels from me, but I was content where I was at. I like to stay below 100% effort in endurance races. You just don't know how many matches get burned until they are gone. So I stayed towards the middle of the lead pack and cruised along with it.
Then a flash of purple kit as Eric hit something and went down on his left side at speed. He was sitting about 6th wheel at the time, and about 3 or 4 riders behind him rammed into him/his bike. I was on LCR rider Rebecca Sauber's wheel at the time, and before I could avoid the melee her wheel was going skyward and hitting me in the arm. I unclipped and managed to scoot across the trail without going down. Unfortunately the leaders were gone. I and some others tried to get back but didn't quite get up there.
Into the singletrack we went. Finally in my element. But it was only a few minutes and we were on the blacktop again. So I did the aero tuck, put my elbows on the bars and TT'd my monster truck up to the next group. Unfortunately this group was made up mostly of single speeders spinning at 150 rpm. But props to them; it was a good speed so I sat on the back and recovered. Soon we were on snowmobile trail again. But this was the kind that was mowed about a day ago and took all your effort to go 10 mph. At this point I was ready to strangle the race organizer(s). But again, we all race on the same course so I calmed myself and just rode my bike. The irony is that the Remedy's plushness was great on the grassy bumpy crap. So in many ways it would turn out to be a great choice.
Eric appeared at my side around this time, apparently working to catch back up. His bike was making funny grinding noises so after he passed me on a climb he stopped to check it out. I figured maybe I'd see him later if he wanted to catch back up to me. At this point I was settled into my rhythm and didn't plan on going much harder. I forged ahead but kept an eye out for him on some of the two way traffic trails.
After getting stung by a bee in the right ankle, and after the feed zone at mile 12 it was back onto the blacktop road to get back to the single track. Again I got into the TT position and rode with a small group. Then to my surprise, Eric was up ahead. He had taken a wrong turn with a group and ended up in front of the race leaders. Obviously this was a problem, so he decided to wait for me, and on the second lap he would find out what he missed and ride it again. Sounded like a fair plan to me so we rode together for the rest of the first lap and half of the second.
The rest of the lap was basically singletrack except for more blacktop back to the start. There was some decent climbing in the singletrack so it was all about moderating effort on those (I ended up with about 1250 feet of climbing per 25 mile lap on the Garmin). We made it through the singletrack without issue.
Grabbing new bottles at the start/finish area, we headed out for lap two. We took up a reasonable, conversational pace through the snowmobile trail and tarmac. In hindsight we should have been hitting it harder on these parts, but at that point we were both just riding to ride. Didn't figure we were doing that well just then.
After riding extra hard through the bee's nest areas we got to the point in the bumpy grassy trail that Eric had missed on lap one. Turn the race switch to "on." At this point Eric wanted to catch back up to me and I wanted him to not. We saw each other on a two way road about 5 minutes later. We both sped up. There is rivalry there no doubt. Onto the road, I pushed the pace but was alone now. Back to the singletrack, a glance backward showed no signs of him but I picked up the pace as best I could.
After a couple of climbs, getting stuck behind a toiling 100 mile racer and a missed turn I saw him. I was going down and he was climbing up the hill I just did. I had probably 2 minutes tops. I hit the gas, but really I couldn't go much faster. The legs were getting heavy and the bike was even protesting with a rhythmic creak. But I forged on alone.
Photo by pyrodogg.com
After the toughest climb of the entire trail system, it was down Easy Street and onto the tar. I raised my seatpost an inch and TT'd as hard as I could to get to the finish. I looked back as I entered the park where the finish line was. No Eric. I crossed the line in 3 hours, 50 minutes.
I sat under the shade of a massive pine tree for a while and wondered what happened to him. I figured he either bonked spectacularly or had an mechanical issue or a flat. After a while he came in sight with two other racers pushing him by hand. Broken chain.
It would've been fun to really battle it out for the line like I know we would've if he still had a chain, but that's bike racing.
After the rest of the crew finished it was clear that flat or burped tires was a theme of the race. I had good luck that day and made it through unscathed. We hung around the race and complained about stuff for a while. Then as tradition dictates, we went to DQ. After that we went to my favorite place in the world (Cross Lake) and freshened up for a game or two of mini golf. I won by a few strokes, but the Shot of the Day goes to Mark. Ridiculous off-the-spiral-rocks to a near hole-in-one.
We wrapped up the night with some beers and nachos at Zorba's. After attending the awards ceremony, Ian and Martin informed me that I got 3rd in the 18-38 age group. I figured that was a typo since that's the age group of nearly everyone that races bikes. But it was true. I was 9th overall in the 50 mile race out of about 80 starters. Not all of them were racing, but some were and I'll take it.
It was great fun and I'm glad I raced it. I hope the course gets a little more thought next year to avoid some of the wrong turns and confusion. Maybe a little more singletrack would do the trick too. All in all I hope the race grows and more people attend. I will be back next year for sure; many aspects of the trip might become traditions!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The season begins, but not before I rant about 29ers first!
The mountain bike wheel size debate rages on. Actually there isn't much of a debate, it's mostly people accepting whatever the marketing types tell them is better. I'm okay with this as long as the bike companies keep making 26" mountain bikes for dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeons like me. This is actually a real concern of mine. First-world problem, I know.
Really, I don't care what size wheels other people like. The part that ruffles my feathers is when people try to tell others what wheel size they should like.
The short story is: I like 26" bikes because they are fun to toss around. They aren't better than 29" bikes, but they aren't worse. People have this fascination with what is "better." Nino Schurter just beat the tar out of everybody at the World Cup on a 650b bike. That pleases me to no end. I can't wait to see how many people jump on the 650b bandwagon (I might). Julien Absalon won the previous round of the World Cup on a 26" hardtail. That pleases me even more. The bike that VeloNews declared as "dead" two years ago just won a World Cup. Or maybe Julien Absalon just won a World Cup.
This was inspired by Geoff Kabush's blog post, which I think is refreshing, although I wonder if he's telling the whole story. Most of his points are valid but I'll bet there's either pressure from Scott for him to ride their latest and greatest 29er or it's keep-up-with-the-Joneses. Still, I think Kabush might be the first big-time pro to be honest about the whole thing and I agree with most of what he says.
Anyway, the race season has started and I'm feeling decent on the bike. I've raced a Buck Hill Thursday night race and the Spring Fling at Hillside. Both are very fun, laid back races. I had middling results but as the Euros say: the sensations are good. I think the Little Guy Racing team is going to be strong this year on the mountain bike scene. Guys are motivated and ready to rip. I'm looking forward to racing with them this season.
Really, I don't care what size wheels other people like. The part that ruffles my feathers is when people try to tell others what wheel size they should like.
The short story is: I like 26" bikes because they are fun to toss around. They aren't better than 29" bikes, but they aren't worse. People have this fascination with what is "better." Nino Schurter just beat the tar out of everybody at the World Cup on a 650b bike. That pleases me to no end. I can't wait to see how many people jump on the 650b bandwagon (I might). Julien Absalon won the previous round of the World Cup on a 26" hardtail. That pleases me even more. The bike that VeloNews declared as "dead" two years ago just won a World Cup. Or maybe Julien Absalon just won a World Cup.
This was inspired by Geoff Kabush's blog post, which I think is refreshing, although I wonder if he's telling the whole story. Most of his points are valid but I'll bet there's either pressure from Scott for him to ride their latest and greatest 29er or it's keep-up-with-the-Joneses. Still, I think Kabush might be the first big-time pro to be honest about the whole thing and I agree with most of what he says.
Anyway, the race season has started and I'm feeling decent on the bike. I've raced a Buck Hill Thursday night race and the Spring Fling at Hillside. Both are very fun, laid back races. I had middling results but as the Euros say: the sensations are good. I think the Little Guy Racing team is going to be strong this year on the mountain bike scene. Guys are motivated and ready to rip. I'm looking forward to racing with them this season.
Photo by Griff Wigley
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Too cool for gloves and other miscellany
I understand and often embrace the benefits of riding bikes without gloves on. It's easier to operate the shifters and brakes and the bars feel less mushy and disconnected. It feels better in hot weather. It seems to have started a couple seasons ago when some of the top US CX pros popularized it, although BMXers have been doing it for a long time.
It seems the fad is catching on, especially with the road pros. Add it to the list of the essential Pro look. But when it's cold enough to need a jacket, leg warmers and a neck gator, it's cold enough to wear gloves. Silly roadies.
I think once people start crashing on the road with no gloves on, the fad will fade a bit. Although I predicted the Oakley Jawbone fad would also fade, but much to my chagrin it hasn't. They are still among the ugliest and least practical sunglasses in cycling. Just watch how many Oakley-sponsored pros start with the ever fashionable Jawbones, then mysteriously switch to the classic Radars soon after (J-Pow for example). Whose idea was it to put the frames under the eyes? The whole point of cycling sunglasses is to not have that.
As much as I dislike Jawbones, the sunglasses Saxo Bank and Lampre wear are certainly uglier. They are flipping huge. Don't get me started on the Specialized helmets, which have been ugly since they introduced them in like 2002 and left them unchanged since. To be fair, if it's not a top-end Bell, Giro or Lazer I tend to think it's ugly. Exception to that is the Giro Prolight. Ugliest helmet ever, and it cost $200. It occurs to me that Contador is always stuck with ugly helmets:
Also, that new Team Type 1 kit above is the ugliest I've seen since the Footon-Servetto days. Skin-colored Lycra again? It's just wrong. If the UCI is going to do their usual over-regulation, they should regulate the use of that color.
Enough bike fashion policing. In other news, I've decided to ride my road bike more this year, relative to last year's volume anyway. In years past I did more of it and it seems to help. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.
To pique my interest in riding the road bike, I've ditched the SHAM Force/Rival and have made the reverse leap to Shimano Ultegra Di2. I have ridden a lot of different groups and completely adopted SRAM drivetrains for a while. But I went back to Shimano on the MTBs and am thrilled with it. So, after SRAM did their completely lame and beyond-annoying Twitter mass-marketing of the "new" (but barely any different) 2013 Red details, I jumped ship completely and embraced the awesomeness that is Shimano (for the record, I still really like Rock Shox forks, but we can turn the other way and think of them as a separate company for convenience).
I have the Ultegra Di2 set up and really like it. It's heavy but the shifting is great. You can use any gear combo you want since the front derailleur moves with the rear automatically. Plus it never needs to be adjusted. While it will be nice on the road bike, it's going to be downright amazing on the CX bike. If Shimano comes out with XTR Di2 my mind will be blown, and I will go bankrupt.
It seems the fad is catching on, especially with the road pros. Add it to the list of the essential Pro look. But when it's cold enough to need a jacket, leg warmers and a neck gator, it's cold enough to wear gloves. Silly roadies.
 |
| from cyclingnews.com |
As much as I dislike Jawbones, the sunglasses Saxo Bank and Lampre wear are certainly uglier. They are flipping huge. Don't get me started on the Specialized helmets, which have been ugly since they introduced them in like 2002 and left them unchanged since. To be fair, if it's not a top-end Bell, Giro or Lazer I tend to think it's ugly. Exception to that is the Giro Prolight. Ugliest helmet ever, and it cost $200. It occurs to me that Contador is always stuck with ugly helmets:
 |
| from cyclingnews.com |
Also, that new Team Type 1 kit above is the ugliest I've seen since the Footon-Servetto days. Skin-colored Lycra again? It's just wrong. If the UCI is going to do their usual over-regulation, they should regulate the use of that color.
Enough bike fashion policing. In other news, I've decided to ride my road bike more this year, relative to last year's volume anyway. In years past I did more of it and it seems to help. Otherwise I wouldn't do it.
To pique my interest in riding the road bike, I've ditched the SHAM Force/Rival and have made the reverse leap to Shimano Ultegra Di2. I have ridden a lot of different groups and completely adopted SRAM drivetrains for a while. But I went back to Shimano on the MTBs and am thrilled with it. So, after SRAM did their completely lame and beyond-annoying Twitter mass-marketing of the "new" (but barely any different) 2013 Red details, I jumped ship completely and embraced the awesomeness that is Shimano (for the record, I still really like Rock Shox forks, but we can turn the other way and think of them as a separate company for convenience).
I have the Ultegra Di2 set up and really like it. It's heavy but the shifting is great. You can use any gear combo you want since the front derailleur moves with the rear automatically. Plus it never needs to be adjusted. While it will be nice on the road bike, it's going to be downright amazing on the CX bike. If Shimano comes out with XTR Di2 my mind will be blown, and I will go bankrupt.
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