Off Road Mileage / Race Prep

Been trying to put in some mileage on the MTB in prep for possible participation in the Firecracker 50. Done pretty well the past week.

Wednesday 45 miles
Saturday 13 miles
Sunday 57 miles
Wednesday 45 miles

Total 160 MTB miles

Feeling pretty OK. Have to play the altitude factor by ear. We'll see.

Swooping into Missouri

Drove into MO to drop off the dog, get some riding in, and lounge at the lakehouse. 29 hours of driving but worth it just to see all the green of mid-Missouri.

Council Bluffs

The lake house

The road (that's Dallas in the distance)

Got ark?

Keeven, grab a towel and post some pics.

Another Perspective

Chubb Non Race Report

And some more.

Chubb NON Race Report

As written so eloquently by Casey Ryback, staff writer for local MTB superstars Team Seagal.

Essence of riding

Anybody racing this weekend?

Ben sent me a video of some riding he did outside of Tokyo. He's the one in red.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA63KRWlguk&feature=related

KC Cup Report

As told in pics. Click pics to enlarge.

We drove down Saturday morning. Got a room at the Sheraton.



Jess went to the pool, Matt and I went and prerode the course. Landahl trails are awesome. Twisty, tight singletrack with plenty of tech sections thrown in. Preride went well. Went to Gates BBQ and picked up some great food. Lounged around, swam a bit, then went out to dinner at V's, an Italian joint with some pretty good food. Took a driving tour of KC, saw The Plaza, Downtown, Farmer's Market. Neat city.





Made our way to the race venue the following day. Lots of racers and spectators, most I've seen at a race so far. There were cars lining that road in the background all the way to and past the tree line, and twice as far the other way. It was fairly steamy. We got prepped.





There was a prerace meeting.





Scout was there to cheer us on.



We raced. Matt blew the doors off the SS class. I settled in to a great race for 1st with a guy named Zach, also from St. Louis. It was a really cool dynamic, how we helped one another open the gap on the rest of the field, at the same time we plotted our own one on one strategies. His proved better. I think I had a chance in the final sprint but I went in to the last turn too hot and almost left the course. Took out a course marker and had to jam on the brakes. Still ecstatic with a close second. Read Zach's report here.

Matt lapping.



Zach and I lapping. You can see my thrown bottle bouncing across the ground as I unclip to grab my backup.



Most fun I've had at a race yet. That's me, Matt, and Zach Brace discussing how much fun we had. It was great to chase Zach around, as I think he has a bit of experience and I got to pick up on some strategy type things. Super nice guy and great rider. Definitely read his report.

Results



The course after the race.





Matt loves his bike, and another impressive performance.



The beginner class podium looked like a bodybuilding podium.



This bike belonged to the guy in the blue shirt above. He bought it cheap to race it and it fell apart on him so he threw it away. He was all smiles though.



Expert 50+, there were more in the class, I guess they took off already.



Expert Overall, the guy who won was in the 40-49 class. Impressive.



Singlespeed (In case you were wondering, that is Matt on top)



Sport 30-39 podium. We took 1st and 2nd Sport Overall as well.



Thumbs up.



Post race fajitas. Dos Amigos. Guacamole was incredible. Avocados are definitely in.



Rolling home, The Bus in tow. I dozed off and on and Jessie drove.



My prize. Very nice. Definitely worth the entrance fee.



New garage decor.



Thanks Matt for making me try to keep up with you.

Extra special thank you to Jess as I wouldn't even get to ride my silly bikes if it weren't for her.

KC Cup

Results


Great writeup by the sport winner, Zach Brace.


Trip / Race report coming soon..........

Fixie Yet

I saw this in a pretty hip area of Tokyo.  Fixed gear bikes "saddled" up to a wooden saw horse outside a trendy thrift store.  Locks again are on the back wheel.  Nothing is locked to anything stationary.

Big Rock singletrack

Pics from today of the Texas hill country trails which continue to impress me...climbs, big downhills, boulder riding, rock steps and smooth dirt singletrack popping up here and there. All with consistently dry trails and the sweet smell of cedar in the air.

Japanese Ingenuity

Here you go Dave.  Great question, by the way.  You can see the locking mechanism, which works with a key.  This lock is attached to the bike.  When you insert the key and twist- then a small, curved metal bar moves away from the spokes.  Reverse the process to lock and then just leave wherever.  I've also seen some bikes with traditional locks, but very rarely.  Haven't seen any of them locked onto the racks themselves.  And yes, crime is really extremely low here.  I have seen some bikes sitting on the sidewalk with no lock at all.

I also saw this sign and thought it was interesting.  Everyone to the left of the white line should be walking and everyone to the right should be riding a bike.  

Where to park my bike?

Okay. Some of you might be aware of this already, but those that aren't- I am in Tokyo, Japan for the month of June on a grant to paint and research at museums. I have to say this to give this picture some background story. I was walking to go somewhere else and saw this row of bikes. This is how the Japanese park their bikes, which are everywhere. It really is THE means of transportation, along with trains and subway. Look really closely towards the background to see how far this line of bikes goes into the distance. Crazy...

Tokyo Blog

Someone at work sent me this

Pretty scary

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24943229

Represent

Congrats to Stitz and the Keevenator.

Race Photos

These are from the Castlewood race a month ago. They just surfaced. I found a few of myself, couldn't find the man in white.

All Pics



Spot

The

Sultan

Matson Hill Race

Had been anticipating racing Sunday at Matson for a while. Friday night got slammed by rain and the Defiance area ended up with something like 2.5 inches of rain. Not good conditions for a trail about to be run over 100 times. We rode the course Saturday afternoon to get a feel for the conditions. It was damp and slick with a few good size mud pits and wet creek crossings. Legs also felt pretty bad. Wasn't very excited about showing up the following day. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, just like last time, went back and forth regarding whether or not to participate; then it started raining....hard.....for hours. Decided that was it, no race. Bedtime rolled around and checked the rainfall totals and the NWS showed just a trace of rain in Defiance somehow, so changed my mind, going to the race.

Woke up at 6AM with plenty of time to eat, pack, prep, etc. Rage Against The Machine's original self titled album has been the CD of choice for the drive to each of the three races participated in now. Got to the starting area around 8AM. Registered and dressed, ready to roll by 8:15. Did some riding around, up and down, to warm up. Paid closer attention to the start line this time and got a spot right in the front row. Knew, however, that it wasn't important as the race started with a half mile of relatively flat pavement, followed by a mile long gravel section with a steep climb, to another half mile rolling paved section before the singletrack. There would be plenty of time and space to move around and mesh in where you fit.

Go! Took the hole shot and was the first one out leading the group up the pavement, but kept my own pace and after 50 yards or so had been passed by 5 or 6 riders. That was fine with me, wanted to tuck in behind and draft until the climb anyway. The climb was tough, but not any toughter than the five times climbed it on Wednesday. Entered the woods mid pack and just stuck to the wheel of the two guys immediately ahead of me. The top three were definitely making time on us. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill there were riders behind me as well. Then the trail climbed for a bit and the second guy in our group was bobbling on the mud and wet roots. The first guy in the group was gone. It was a tough place to pass but the window opened when the guy in front of me dabbed his foot down for a moment. Accelerated past him and up the rest of the climb. The gearing on the bike (no granny ring, 34 tooth chainring, 29" wheels) gave me no choice but to climb hard. By the time crested that climb, the rider in front of me was gone, as was the rest of the group behind me. Continued on pressing to the next climb and was eventually passed by super friendly endurance racer Dwayne, he told me that we had opened a huge gap on the rest of the field. Relaxed a bit and just tried to maintain my own pace. The climb up to the lap/finish line was steep and brutal. Got up it at my own pace and felt OK at the crest. One lap.

All by myself for lap two until about halfway through passed a rider who had bent his wheel and was walking out. He was in my class but had been behind me and was done for the day. Had to stop and clean the mud out of my drivetrain and frame. It was like peanut butter, really heavy, thick , and resistant. Then came the brutal climb out where passed one of the women riders. We discussed briefly how killer that climb was and was on my way. Noticed that the trail was getting sloppier in the sloppy places and drier in the drier places. Crested the climb for the second lap and felt really good. Two Laps.

Still all by myself and hadn't seen or heard from anyone in my class. The trail descended, was all over the place, my technical skills were gone. Felt good, but my muscles must have actually been pretty fatigued. Pressed my pace on that lap and on the final climb actually got a glimpse of the rider ahead of me, but couldn't catch him. Finish.

Spent a bit of time wiping off some of the accumulated mud and talking to the other racers. Again, a really cool atmosphere and a fun time.

Since he won't say anything I will. Matt did an amazing job in his race. They started the Experts and the Singlespeeders together. Experts did five laps, SS three. Matt beat everyone (experts and SS) to the top of the King of the Mountain, and he was ahead of everyone (experts and SS) at the end of his third lap, by a couple of minutes. I have no doubt he could have ridden another two laps and taken the expert win as well.

Results