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My first mountain bike race (ever) will be this weekend. On a singlespeed... with no suspension. And tall gearing.





Where do they hide the wheel pit in these things?

HOw'd it go?

It was interesting. Probably the worst conceivable WORS course for a surly 1x1 with fairly tall gearing, but I knew that going in.

Sadly, my race ended when I hit a tree trying to get out of the way of some faster riders. The first tree caused a bit of an endo which put me into another tree. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but as a result my front brake got jacked up and wouldn't open. I stopped two more times trying to open it, but couldn't. I still haven't had the heart to take it apart and see what's broken.

Here are some general observations, though:

1. Mt Bike racing is no more safe than road... the ambulance made at least 3 "takeaway" trips while I was there. If an ambulance carts people away from a crit 3 times, that race gets a fairly bad reputation as being dangerous. Seemed like business as usual there.

2. Equipment is a much bigger deal. It seems to be what dominated pre-race conversation... and the average price of a decent bike to keep you in the mix looked to be significantly higher than on the road. I, of course, was on a $600 rigid bike with super wide tires (some dude called me a masochist, which was only part true- I just wasn't going to buy another bike).

3. WORS has their stuff together. Day-of registration was the same as a chicago cross race and it seemed like there was a significant amount of money re-invested into the "infrastructure" of the series.

4. I'm not buying that the environment is more laid-back there. I think it's a matter of knowing people. I didn't know anybody there and didn't really find it any more hospitable than a road race.

Overall I had a good time and would consider going back (with gears and suspension).

I did a bunch of MTBing last year on a rigid SS.

Most common serious MTB injury seems to be busted ribs, from falling onto rocks or similar. The speeds are much lower so falling off is usually not such a big deal.

In MTBing you can buy speed, it's worse then Fatty Masters and TTing. The cost of equipment is enormous and it breaks a lot. The amount some of my acquaintances spend is more than any roadie I know. This puts me off.

With the advent of dual-suspension, the course are becoming more technical, because the average rider can now handle what only experts could safely handle a few years ago. This is bad for rigid SSers.

Most MTBers regard anything other than singletrack as sacrilege. I don't get this. Fitness isn't tested enough.

MTB racing is lonely.

MTBers are very suspicious of anyone who rides road, and are just as closed-minded as any other group.

I still ride my MTB now and then. Cornering hasn't improved much but my descending is way better.

Exactly. It seemed like a decently competitive bike for even the sport-level guys was in the $2500 range. Even some of the other guys on fully rigid bikes have very spendy carbon forks.

I found it a bit amusing that there were signs posted notifying us of upcoming "passing zones" when it opened into double track. This course had an extremely high percentage of singletrack compared to the other WORS races I've been to (watched a couple races at nine mile about a decade ago).

My first reflection on the race as I was dragging my bike back to the car was that Mt. Biking seems to be the exact opposite of road: The every-day riding and training on the trails would be an absolute blast, with the racing being a way to justify having all of that "fun". By contrast, training for road is a long and solitary affair that you slog though in order for the excitement of a race.

This is the part that was a bit surprising. I suppose this is why cross has taken off... it's a giant mix of mt bikers, roadies, and even the silly triathletes?

If you watched the interview videos on PelotonStar.Com you would have heard the top dogs say that they will only ride full suspension bikes.

Hey, also check out the All Midwest Crash - Special Edition out now on PelotonStar.Com !

Oh, I saw that. Those guys also wouldn't try racing up a ski hill on a steel Surly running a 32:16. I'm a stubborn fat guy, though. I can't help myself.

Pelotonstar has gone all Dirtrag on us! No mention of the $2k team prize for the Fall Fling. *cough*bicycleheavenwins*cough*

Just as importantly, bf.net power poster aham hammered out a pretty impressive win at a VERY difficult race on Saturday. It's been a long time coming for that guy!

i really love the Fall Fling. ABR and ABD do a great job of feeding us roadie junkies one more shot at glory.

thanks for the mention MJH2. i am still riding that winners high from Saturday.

BH showed up in numbers, talent, and on the podiums. well done. you got some really good guys on your team. later.

Well, I was just informed we didn't win the team title. Upon recount, we lost to a team that seems to be scared to upgrade guys out of cat 4, and employed suspicious tactics. Hooray for them.

Aham, you closed the season off on a high note. winter training will be that much easier. I'm with you... Love the fling!

Really enjoyed Sunday. Not sure where all the Tower guys come from. They sure don't show up at other races. Nevertheless, they were super-organized, had a plan and executed.

I can only recall one Tower guy upgrading in the past couple of years, that was only after winning both State RR and Crit jerseys.

That guy is legitimately strong and a gifted racer. Beyond that, I believe they have two cat 3's (one of whom migrated there), and no 1/2's. And, they don't really race a lot... which is why they can load up the masters 4/5 with guys who have been riding a lot. We (like most teams who race) actually try and get guys to upgrade...

It's a shame we couldn't have pulled 4 more points to tie it up. A team vs. team scratch race would have been fun. I like our chances.

^^^^ so true. i have ridden with the guy you refer to a couple times this summer and he is a class act. soon to be a cat 2 class act. the rest of them, not so much.

BH was the class of Fall Fling no matter who got the check. later.

If I remember correctly, there was this lawyer type dude in a BH kit that told me and it was passed on, not to hand out the award just yet. Suspicious tactics? You mean like locking up the brakes on the front to make everyone check up while they send a couple guys off the front? I have a brand new gp4000s with a really large flat spot because of them dicks. You would think once would be enough, but it wasn't, they decided to do that **** again on the crest of the hill right past start/finish on the bell lap. Because of that I dropped my chain. Seems shifting and locking up the brakes don't work to well.

I will say though that this Fall Fling was a lot of fun. I had a lot of respect for BH riders, but after riding wheel-to-wheel for 2 weekends straight made me respect them even more. Very clean riders and if they make a mistake they are quick to apologize and get back to working together. On this past Saturday we (ABD & BH) were working together fairly well for pretty much the entire race. ABD did have one sketchy youngster that not only scared the **** out of us ABD riders but I know made a few BH'ers pucker up a bit as well. ABD & BH, the only 2 teams pointing out any type of hazards during the race. Well done.

Also PSIMET rocked the house. Aaron kicked some ass, and congrats on that dude. Also we had a bad accident on Saturday and Tim Speciale showed just how good of a dude he really is. He stuck right there with the severely injured rider while he was injured himself. Thanks Tim, even though I am pissed you didn't give me one of those big chocolate donut things you were chomping on while you were leaving.

Speaking of the injured rider, here is a bit of an update. He was placed into a medically induced coma and went through surgery where they removed a large section of his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain. They did x-rays and it looks like there were no neck or spine injuries. ABD has been in touch with both CDH & the rider's wife and she is saying that he is responding to the tests that they do. The first day it wasn't looking good on survival, but today it looks like he should pull through. Of course he still has a long road ahead of him and hopefully no complications arise. ABD just asks that everyone keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks everyone for coming out. It was a blast, and it is cool to see that Farrell wants to do this team thing at every race. I think we need to come up with a championship belt that the winning team holds on to until they lose it

Oh, I forgot to add. My all time favorite team is the one who is stacked with former pros from another country. You know, the ones who dominate the 4s and slip in the 5s when the officials aren't looking? Still don't know who I am talking about? The ones who setup their own feed zone for the 4s on the back of the course where the officials can't see? Still don't know? The ones at the Winfield crit (sunday course) that were pissed that the ambulance wasn't moving fast enough for them and they were in a hurry to get back to racing before their chemicals wore off. Ahh, now you know who I am talking about. Well, I can't stand a single person on their team. They allow the stereotypes to live on.

Don't get me started on those guys. Totally suspect. First hand experience - All negative. Got so embarrassed that I refused to race in the same field anymore. I'm amazed that it took several months before people copped on to them.

Hope to God that rider recovers well. After Randy Gillespie I can't bear the thought.

OK, I have another update on Charles directly from Mary Lee who went and visited him in the hospital today:

This is awesome news!

We don't want something we didn't earn. Don't hate me for being honest! Nobody on the BH is upset with ABD. We had an absolute blast and are all grateful you guys went through the effort do put the Fling on like you did.

By my count, only two of their riders registered (both current and expired) on USAcycling.org have had licenses shorter a couple of the guys on our Cat 3 team. So, they've had about 30 guys who have been racing longer than our 3's. Many have been licensed longer than me (in my second year as a three... and I didn't get there quick). Yet they scored about 80% of their points in the masters 4/5, Cat 4 and 5's.

They can either move more guys up to the "big boy" races, learn to race bikes and gain proper respect as a "racing" team, or keep mobbing masters 4/5's fields with questionable tactics 3 times a year. At least the latter allows them to brag about all of their "big" race wins at the rest stops for whatever the next organized century they do next. That's my opinion, anyway.

No doubt, man. I know Tim has been banned on here about a zillion times. He's a decent guy. He had/has a hole in his leg the size of a quarter.

Notwithstanding that, I tried to steal the donut, too (seriously).


I'm really encouraged to see that latest update on Charles. He put in a hell of a ride. That could have been any of us.

Wish I had been at Fling. I love that series, but honestly - I really wish I was just riding a bike right now. I seem to only pull it out once a week to ride it for 1/2 an hour with a number pinned on.

Obviously I missed all the action and apologized to arron in advance for not having a team there for him. The 3 soon to be a 2 on Tower is looking around to move on. Tired of racing alone no doubt. That's from one of the other guys on his team....who recently downgraded from 3->4.....in cross.

Hopefully arron doesn't get tired of racing alone.....

I know you guys hate it but cross has been in full swing for a while. Been selling mainly cross wheels for a couple of months now and with the 2 races I am promoting on the horizon....just lost the time for road late in the season. Embarrassed to admit that I don't even have a road bike in ride-able shape right now...

I knew that wreck was a bad one though when twitter started blowing up and then Tim called and talked. I could hear that not all was right in Tim's voice. Wasn't surprised when I got the update from Nixternal.

Miss you guys - hope you'll come out to cross at some point. I'll miss this week because some silly bike racer (Raviv) decided to get married.

i wish you were riding more mr psimet, for your well being mainly. i think back to Evanston when you were hammering through the BK Stacker with me hugging your wheel. that should be a regular event. one that takes place on the last lap as we approach the finish. on the front and in control.

no apologies needed about the Fling. its cross season after all! anyway teamates in CAT 4 never really "add" up to anything. we know all the classic reasons or excuses for this, but for me its the lack of camaraderie. i dont know them and they dont know me. so, what does it mean when they say; "I'll lead you out if i am there."

this past weekend was something. many a training miles has lead to the trust & friendship between BK & I. as a result i got a win on saturday and finished last on sunday. this may come across as arrogant, but i had great legs on sunday and could have been on the podium again. it wasnt my day though. i set a couple new power PRs tyring to help someone else make it his day. as a 38 year old Pro CAT 4 lifer i cant ask for much more out of a weekend of racing.

the day i dont race for PSIMET is the day i dont race.

now, where did i put that cross bike???? later.

I will be out at Sunrise for sure and then start hitting up the cross scene on the weekends. I am flat broke this time of year, so make sure you all toss me a beer or 2, or 4, or 6 As for that Tower rider looking to move on, he talked to I think Farrell, but I think he is looking at South Chicago because they are closer to him.

As for cross, I am trying to sell a bike or 2 so I can pick up a cross bike.

He's talked to a lot of people. Good for him. He's a class act and a talented rider. You guys know me though - class act goes much further with me than talent does. If you have talent then Wayne gets you. If you have class then I get you.

This explains why you're still on ABD though Nixternal....no......class...... - you know I love ya.

The reason I am still with ABD is because I can't find a team that is as good to me as they are, though I haven't looked. As for class, who needs that crap anyways? Class doesn't make you win races, though neither does all the beer and food I consume