Race Report - Smithville Lake

I've been a bit hesitant to write a race report on the race I attended a few weeks back because...well, cus it kinda sucked. The race I'm speaking of was the Bone Bender which was rescheduled from a rainout that happened a couple months back. I am appropriately going to rename this race Bike Breaker, for reasons that will be clear.

The race was in Smithville, actually it was in a little town called Paradise, no joke, which is about 45 minutes north of Kansas City, I left Columbia Friday afternoon, and made my way to KC to stay with a good friend of mine that lives downtown. Friday evening we went out and enjoyed some pizza at a bar/restaurant in Westport, and headed back to his place to relax since I had to get up early. The rain had been beating down Smithville for most of the latter part of that week, but the race directors(Cowtown Cycles I think) decided that the show must go on regardless of the weather. I decided to make my decision on Saturday morning.

Morning rolls around, I feel good, pretty well rested for having slept on the floor, and sure enough, look out the window to see a wet street. The rain had been on and off through the night, and was taking a break at the moment.
I paced the apartment for a few minutes, and finally said f*** it, I came to race, I'm gonna race. So I packed up and headed north, getting beat down by rain the entire time. After arriving at the lake, I checked in and sat in my car for about 20 minutes to avoid the wet. Once it stopped, myself and most of the other racers got out and started getting prepped. After a brief racer meeting, the bikes were staged for a Lemans(sp?) style start, and I headed to the start line and hung out there with a friend of Chris's from Momentum Cycles.

Gun shot, race on, starting through some grassy stuff before entering the single track. The racers shot into the woods and I started feeling pretty good, just following the guy in front of me, getting passed by a few guys that belonged in the front, but having a pretty good time just following the pack. The trail was soaked and we were all getting muddy, but so far the mud hadn't kicked me off my bike, and I was keeping up pretty well. After about a half mile of this(in an 11.2 mile loop) things took a bad turn. Once one person dismounts, many people dismount, and soon enough it was a line of people struggling to carry they're now 60-70 lb bikes across muddy, munched up, nearly impossible to ride terrain. I felt somewhat lucky to have a singlespeed drivetrain, but I still had issues.

Lets skip ahead. There was alot of walking, and if I had to guess, I would say that at least 80% of my race was spent off the bike. There were plenty of times throughout the race where I would stop walking and clear off the mud and ride for a bit, but through most of the trail the mud was the kind that just stuck to everything, and built up really quickly. There were trail intersections where many racers bailed out, but I had told myself that I didn't want a DNF next to my name no matter how bad it got. After 3 hr and 26 minutes of trudging through boot sucking mud, pushing a 60 lb bike with a locked up rear wheel, I finally got near the finish, onto paved path, and I knocked the mud off my bike, hopped on and rode to the finish as fast as I could,trying to look pro, like I was really fast and not pissed at all.

Looking back I think I could've done much better with more training beforehand, because most of the guys that did really well were on singlespeeds and just plain strong. I saw many trashed deraileurs, and busted chains, and 1 guy whose middle chainring was missing a chunk, but overall happy attitudes. Personally, I don't think the race should've happened, because the trails are really, really messed up now, but I chalked up quite a few mental victories that weekend, and it got me excited to do some more races, and gave me a new appreciation of fully functioning bicycles.

Myself and Chris's buddy from Momentum Cycles in front of me, can't remember his name, nice guy. He found me.Already winded coming up the grass hill, bit nervous at that point, but I settled in, until the mudfest started.Pro Finish

Dingleberries

New Gear

A buddy at work brought me a few pieces of his old cycling gear that he used to wear circa early 80s. Pimpin. I'm wearing one of the jerseys tonight.

Thanks Dennis!

Check it

For those who haven't yet, you must ride Middle Fork.

Where it all began.....

Jeremy was in town last weekend for his sister's wedding so Jess and I planned to meet him in KC and race the Bone Bender Saturday, drive to Neosho, sleep, race Le Tour de Tick Sunday, then spend some time in Springfield with Zach and Erin. Jess had to bail at the last minute due to school conflicts. We were all a bit disappointed as her presence always brightens things up, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Plans were also altered a bit as the weather didn't exactly cooperate. We skipped KC and the Bone Bender and just met in Springfield instead. I met Jeremy at Sac Saturday afternoon and we spent about 2 hours refreshing our memories of the trails and rides there. Got a bit muddy, but did no damage, drank a wonderful German lager, suggested by the world traveler himself, then headed to Zach and Erin's.

Sac.






We arrived to the smell of the Fry Daddy. Zach, being the hospitable gent that he is, was frying up some White Bass and Crappie that he had caught, Morels that he had hunted, and some fries. All of it, scrumptious. That night we headed out to Patton Alley Pub in dtown Springfield for a few more beers and such. It was a low key night as we wanted to be in decent shape for the race the next day.

It didn't really rain on us on the trip from Spr to Neosho, but NOAA said that they had received 4+ inches of rain. We arrived at the race spot, registered, and warmed up.




The race went well. I felt good, I think Jeremy did as well.



It was extremely wet out there but the mud didn't stick whatsoever.




We both finished respectably. Big props to Jeremy for a great finish in the sport pack in his first solo race.

Results



I took home a t-Shirt, a gold Tour de Tick cowbell, a patchwork Tour de Tick blanket made from previous Tick t-shirts, and a new CO2 shooter. What a day.

When we got back to Springfield we were greeted with Big Sky Brewing beers and homemade manicotti. Thank you Erin, best I've ever had. Seriously.

Sunday night we just hung around the house and had a few beers, almost made it out, but we just didn't quite have the push.

Thank you so much Zach and Erin for putting us up and putting up with us, the beers, food, bike wash, bed, etc.

Hit Buckingham's on the way out of town.



Ben? David? You're up.

Here We Go

Fellas, hopefully you can open this to read it. It is official- MTB United will be represented on the East Coast for the first time. I'm racing tomorrow in the first local race of the season. The format - most laps completed in 2 hour time. The laps are roughly 4 miles and the trail system has been my regular stomping grounds. I'm stoked.

Finally

The weather up here has been pretty treacherous and very cold. Up until about 2 weeks ago, we still had high temperatures in the 40's. We still have lows at night in the 30's. Needless to say, I haven't been able to go mountain biking because of trail conditions. I finally went Wednesday, with temperatures now in the 60's. Man it was great to finally be back in the saddle. The trails were in decent shape, definitely ridable for the season.

To preface a bit, I did a little 'upgrading' during the offseason. I was on the fence about getting a new rig and decided against it for a number of reasons, namely that I have some exhibition expenses coming soon. Along with a big gift certificate from family for my birthday, I pulled some money together and found some killer deals on a few "big-ticket" items.

Upgrades:

Wheels- WTB Laserdisc Hubs/Mavic XC 717 Rims

Tires- Maxxis Ignitors

Saddle- Used WTB Rocket V (from Stitz)

Needless to say, all of the upgrades were freaking amazing. First off, the wheels felt smooth and responsive. I, at first, couldn't really notice much of a difference. But, once I got going; I could really feel a difference in weight and 'roll' (if that makes sense). They just felt super smooth. The tires were absolutely sick. Super sticky and grippy. I felt like a fly on a window or something, completely amazing. I also felt like I gained an inch in my fork suspension with a lower psi adjustment, recommended by Stitz. I also felt the difference riding with the saddle I picked up from Stitz. Really nice, but I couldn't help keep thinking how much nasty chamois butter residue is on there. (Even after sanitizing it) I also just picked up some new polarized sunglasses. I felt like I could see the ass hair on a spider.

The other big difference I noticed had to do with my off-season training/lifting. This is new for me this season. I've been lifting 2-3 times a week and 2-3 times a week single-speed road riding. I've been building up my leg strength and lung capacity, in particular. On my recent MTB ride, I felt strong and not out of shape at all. I need to work up my endurance. But, otherwise a big difference with my leg strength and lung capacity. Every season prior to this, I've always had that "first ride of the season" syndrome. Where I can't do much. My lungs and legs burn and hurt. This time, it was as if I never stopped riding. I rode longer and harder than I have at any beginning season. As much as it pains me to say, I haven't ridden the mountain bike in 3 months. The weather conditions up here are so bad, we've had snow on the ground from end of November until mid-March. No joking.

But, with my new upgrades I'm now keeping my old wheels and tires and making studded snow tires this summer to prepare for the winter season. We'll see if it makes a difference.

I'm stoked to get back into riding on a regular basis, but all in all- I'm happy with my progress, even though on some accounts, it isn't much- it is a lot for me. More to come later.