Oh crap, CRUNCH!!! My latest race.
06-05-05, 11:53 PM
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Evil Genius
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Sumner, WA
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Bikes: '92 novara ponderosa, '74 schwinn le tour, Novara fusion, novara transfer, novara randonee(2), novara careema pro, novara bonita(2).
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My weekend summery
So I got of work at 8Pm fri hopped in my prepacked car and drove 150miles to the "Bavarian Bike and Brews" MTB race at the, set up camp at the organic farm that hosts it. Woke up on Saturday a bit tired but not bad registered and what not. Sunny, dry, great 80 degree day at this little farm tucked up in a Cascade foothills canyon.
The race.
The first mile is poorly maintained(ruts, water channels, etc) dirt road up hill, about 8% grade, it then turns into narrow hillside singletrack of smooth packed dirt for the next mile and a half[ish] still going up, always up, about 10%. Then some big water washes*(4ft high+-1ft) mixed up the rythym a bit at the climbing caontinued. About 3.5 to 4 miles into the race it leveled off to the 1-3% range for a half mile. THE PASS!(With water station!) Wicked fast single track downhill for three miles with with traps like sneaky, deep ditches that must be zig zaged around(about 3 of em) and lots of [not so hidden] 1-2ft water washes that kick up the rear wheel, followed a mile with 2 steep water crossings and fast(but not wicked) curvy 2-3% downhill. Then a second lap and a home stretch which was 1/4 mile of 7-8% down hill, good(maintained) dirt road. Basically the climb is 1,800 vertical feet, two laps =3,600 vertical feet; 4 miles up, 4 miles down per lap. Something like 250 racers this year! Last year was about 100. This is the race's 8th year and the first year of the indieseries. A high percentage were female racers too, not near 50% but compaired to many races very good.[I don't remember the number])
*What we call water washes are steep burms in the trail that stop water from running down the trail.(forceing it to run off into the valley far below).
About halfway down on the first lap(6miles in) I'm flat cruising, hitting every water wash just about the right speed and technique. So I see a largeish one(2ft) and slow a bit(Hit it just under 20mph, approx. I don't use computers in races.), I realised on the wash that it's shape was somehow different and sailing through the air my front drops and the rear goes higher, I say @&@&%*. My front touches and BAM! just that fast I've endoed(more flipped really)with the bike(clipless), landed square on my head, somersaulted, came detached from the bike when the rear wheel finally touched down and I still had enough momentum that I was stood upright when my feet hit dirt. The bike rested in the brush on the trail side about 40 feet from the wash and I was about 35 feet from the wash. So dazed I could barely stumble around finaly coming to my senses and starting to walk it off about a minute later another minute and I'm almost ready to ride. here come a guy hits it right says "You ok" I say "Ya" continues on, then this girl hits it, exactly like me same speed same style and lands it, just like me. Her bike landed across the trail from mine. A couple minutes later we both felt well enough to ride so we head down the hill, just a bit more cautious. Well I beat her down the hill by a bit as she became more cautious than I, but about a third of the way up on the second lap she just motored right on past me.
I finshed last in my class and category(sport[y] men 19-29) but only by a small (2-3minute) margin, with a race time of 2h 33m. The girl that crashed with me had a time of 2h10m I think; That's right, I got schooled by a girl that appeared to be about 15 years old.(junior expert I found out)
After the race live regae band, speed raffle(get up there in about 5 seconds or he picks again, got a kickass multi tool from specialized.) and $10 gets you all the microbrew you want, hoola hoops for those that liked to dance with them, and the Huffy toss (I tossed that 40lb pos 25.5ft for third place, first prize was a midweek, season pass at the local ski resort) followed by a night of campfire drum playing(1 set plus about 6 hand drums, just cranking it out none stop, good stuff) , more beer(for some folks), and some of the smoke(for some folks) after the bulk of the crowd went home. Sleep about 2am, woke up to rain, packed and took the scenic route home.
Right now I feel pretty good; tired, stiff neck, scraped knuckles and shoulder, bent rim, and deep scrapes on my hand(chainring in huffy toss), but my legs are in good shape and I have a full belly.
So I got of work at 8Pm fri hopped in my prepacked car and drove 150miles to the "Bavarian Bike and Brews" MTB race at the, set up camp at the organic farm that hosts it. Woke up on Saturday a bit tired but not bad registered and what not. Sunny, dry, great 80 degree day at this little farm tucked up in a Cascade foothills canyon.
The race.
The first mile is poorly maintained(ruts, water channels, etc) dirt road up hill, about 8% grade, it then turns into narrow hillside singletrack of smooth packed dirt for the next mile and a half[ish] still going up, always up, about 10%. Then some big water washes*(4ft high+-1ft) mixed up the rythym a bit at the climbing caontinued. About 3.5 to 4 miles into the race it leveled off to the 1-3% range for a half mile. THE PASS!(With water station!) Wicked fast single track downhill for three miles with with traps like sneaky, deep ditches that must be zig zaged around(about 3 of em) and lots of [not so hidden] 1-2ft water washes that kick up the rear wheel, followed a mile with 2 steep water crossings and fast(but not wicked) curvy 2-3% downhill. Then a second lap and a home stretch which was 1/4 mile of 7-8% down hill, good(maintained) dirt road. Basically the climb is 1,800 vertical feet, two laps =3,600 vertical feet; 4 miles up, 4 miles down per lap. Something like 250 racers this year! Last year was about 100. This is the race's 8th year and the first year of the indieseries. A high percentage were female racers too, not near 50% but compaired to many races very good.[I don't remember the number])
*What we call water washes are steep burms in the trail that stop water from running down the trail.(forceing it to run off into the valley far below).
About halfway down on the first lap(6miles in) I'm flat cruising, hitting every water wash just about the right speed and technique. So I see a largeish one(2ft) and slow a bit(Hit it just under 20mph, approx. I don't use computers in races.), I realised on the wash that it's shape was somehow different and sailing through the air my front drops and the rear goes higher, I say @&@&%*. My front touches and BAM! just that fast I've endoed(more flipped really)with the bike(clipless), landed square on my head, somersaulted, came detached from the bike when the rear wheel finally touched down and I still had enough momentum that I was stood upright when my feet hit dirt. The bike rested in the brush on the trail side about 40 feet from the wash and I was about 35 feet from the wash. So dazed I could barely stumble around finaly coming to my senses and starting to walk it off about a minute later another minute and I'm almost ready to ride. here come a guy hits it right says "You ok" I say "Ya" continues on, then this girl hits it, exactly like me same speed same style and lands it, just like me. Her bike landed across the trail from mine. A couple minutes later we both felt well enough to ride so we head down the hill, just a bit more cautious. Well I beat her down the hill by a bit as she became more cautious than I, but about a third of the way up on the second lap she just motored right on past me.
I finshed last in my class and category(sport[y] men 19-29) but only by a small (2-3minute) margin, with a race time of 2h 33m. The girl that crashed with me had a time of 2h10m I think; That's right, I got schooled by a girl that appeared to be about 15 years old.(junior expert I found out)
After the race live regae band, speed raffle(get up there in about 5 seconds or he picks again, got a kickass multi tool from specialized.) and $10 gets you all the microbrew you want, hoola hoops for those that liked to dance with them, and the Huffy toss (I tossed that 40lb pos 25.5ft for third place, first prize was a midweek, season pass at the local ski resort) followed by a night of campfire drum playing(1 set plus about 6 hand drums, just cranking it out none stop, good stuff) , more beer(for some folks), and some of the smoke(for some folks) after the bulk of the crowd went home. Sleep about 2am, woke up to rain, packed and took the scenic route home.
Right now I feel pretty good; tired, stiff neck, scraped knuckles and shoulder, bent rim, and deep scrapes on my hand(chainring in huffy toss), but my legs are in good shape and I have a full belly.
06-06-05, 05:13 AM
#3
the dog ate my earbuds
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thanks.
enjoyed the read here this morning.
enjoyed the read here this morning.
