dminor 

A good weekend at NW Cup Round 3 in Port Angeles, WA. Pro/Cat 1 course was properly steep and gnarly but no real high-consequence features. Lots of trees to run into, though - - which I did a couple times in practice .

Made all my mistakes in Saturday’s practice and my two final practice runs Sunday, fortunately. It all came together on my race run - - finally nailed the double mid-course with the sketchy run-in (I wasn’t the only 40+er that it gave troubles to). I know there were parts that I didn’t do fast enough; but there were other parts that I cleaned and faster than I ever had. So all-in-all, it was a good run - - just not fast enough to get on the podium in a hot 40+ Cat 1 field. My friend Chris got third; I got seventh, just behind the cluster of 4-5-6 finishers.

Pics from the day, courtesy of Carl Warren:





Last race on the trusty Blindside >sniff<. I start tearing it apart tonight to pirate needed pieces for the Yeti.

never

Good job D...but to podium, do you need me to ride behind you yelling "go faster!"?

craigcraigcraig

to podium he probably needs more white on the bike. great "daily ride/race report" !

never

The new bike will be less white...does that mean he'll be further off the podium?

dminor 

I think maybe yelling "Pedal, you lazy #$@%$&^&^! Pedal!" might help. You would have to stay close enough for me to hear you though.

It will make up for it with just the right amount of 'Desert Turquoise' .

never

Crap, I guess that would mean that I couldn't sit down and just be lazy.


Chris is a colour expert and he said that's the slowest colour out there!

dminor 

He may be a "colour expert;" but that means nothing when it comes to evaluating colors.

Dannihilator

You kidding that Blindside was slowing you down. You'll win the rest of them once you get the yeti built.

mzeffex 

Hey D - downhill looks like so much fun.

A guy brought in his transition to the shop the other day, it was really cool.

never

What's a color?

scrublover

A couple days worth.

Last week at Miller's Pond.


Monday at Trumbull.



Today at Blue.


Tomorrow: pedaling to Huntington from home, planning to hit/explore some local stuff (new to me) discovered along the way.

never

As usual, cool riding pics scrub!

dminor 

I have a lot of fun at it. It gives me the same adrenaline rush that racing flat track and motocross used to while being more socially acceptable .

Plus every course is differentl so there's always a new challenge - - something different to get the nerve up to hit . . . or a gnarly section to work on . . . or just working on focusing and concentrating to get faster. It's occasionally-scary and exhilarating at the same time to stretch your limits.

A short vid of the course from saturday's practice, courtesy Kevin and the crew at Transition:

https://www.pinkbike.com/video/143450/

4evrplan

You should race on a tandem then so your cheerleader is always right behind you.

Something tells me it could be just as expensive though.

dminor 

Actually, I'd be more worried about never dosing off and crashing while waiting for me to HTFU.

That's a fact.

never

I think being on the back of a DH tandem would keep me awake. It'd be fun trying the rock features and jumps on Beacon. And by fun I mean sketchy and nuts!

4evrplan

Congratulations, that's my new sig.

dminor 

How 'bout a downhill sidehack rig? Beacon would be totally sick for that! Imagine something like this but with a full 8 inches of travel . . .

4evrplan

I needed that.

craigcraigcraig

the sidehack is one of the finest invention of cycling. just like the turn coordinator of a rally car.

emayex

Googled sidehack ... and look what I discovered:



Available at your friendly neighborhood walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/20-Impakt-...cycle/12554957

"The Impakt Sidehack is made to Today's Park-bike spec., out of high-performance steel and comes equipped with a brake cable rotor, so 360 degree rotating handlebar tricks are just a bar spin away. If your looking for the coolest way to bring along a buddy as you rip from place to place or just a good way to make a Monkey out of anyone brave enough to ride co-pilot at your local skate park. The Impakt Sidehack is for you! It's affordable, yet built to take a licking and it's Fun Factor is the stuff of Legend"

4evrplan

dminor, you're a welder right? And you just got a new Yeti; so...

never

But who rides and who is on the side? There's no way we could get down 257 on one of those!

dminor 

Haha! Alas, my skillz and equipment are on the steel side of things. I'll add it to the project list, though .

Now, a ride report: Did my second Wed. Night XC series race last night. This course was supposed to be around eight miles so I heard (I once again signed up with the 40+ one-lappers). Felt stronger and faster last night; actually reeled in some people who got away from me earlier in the lap and finished second. Moving up. One more race left; dang, I'd kinda forgotten I actually like this XC racing stuff.

dminor 

Tht's why I was thinking Beacon - - lot more wide open. Wonder how we'd hip the Twisted Sister on a sidehack rig though?

You could pilot; I'd like to try my hand at being monkey.