TBF Mtn. Bike Series Championship by Rick White Sport 40-49 (1st) June 28
This past Friday night was the final race of the TBF MTB Race Series for June, 2009. As previously reported, I took first place in the first two races (Sport 40-49) of the series and was considered the series leader. Although the field size is smaller than the Prairie City Race Series, the competition has been just as intense on this amazingly different terrain. After leaving most or all of what I had on the PCRS course Wednesday night, I spun for an additional 45 minutes afterwards to reduce my lactic acid content and speed recovery. I managed to stay off my legs as much as possible on Thursday & Friday and as always timed my food and fluid intake perfectly. Secretly, I hoped and prayed that I'd have enough to secure the TBF Series Championship and although I really wanted to win the final race to punctuate my inevitable 2010 expert upgrade, I knew I'd race smart to secure the championship and only win it with "style" if the risks were manageable.
At 6:32 I was sitting on the start line and could here somebody behind me mention that "Mr. JBL" was here to which I turned and replied, "there's only one Mr. JBL and his name is Ron Rouse." At 6:33, the guy next to me asked when I planned on upgrading and I responded by explaining that only 6 months ago I was 33 pounds heavier and had been off the bike for over a year and that only through a lot of hard work had I managed to lose the weight, regain my cycling composure, and rebuild my confidence to put myself out there for the win(s). He replied by calling me a "sandbagger" which I'm not, but can understand why someone might feel that way without having walked or ridden in my shoes this year.
At 6:34 I lead the pack across the levy to the single track where I punched it and never looked back... until I heard some guy breathing hard behind me. No pressure, I've done 22 of these this season and there's usually somebody in front of me or behind me that is of reasonable concern but I generally don't over-react. About two thirds through the first lap I had finally settled in and shortly afterwards I heard "on your left." My guy rode past on the left and launched his first of over a dozen attacks. I noticed that he always attacked on the downhills and failed to carry much of his momentum on the uphills of this undulating course so I was effortlessly covering many of his initial attacks by getting gapped on the descent and sticking my wheel next to him on every climb. That had to be frustrating for him or at least that's what I hoped. At this point, we had ridden well off the front together and the pack was likely 1-2 minutes behind. On the final descent of lap 1 heading to the start/finish area there is a 1/4 mile of flat and smooth fast rolling pavement. He had gapped me on the descent, but I closed the gap on the pavement and knew tactically that if I could hold his wheel for lap two I could pass him on the final climb being that I'm the stronger climber or get him on the pavement for sure so that became my plan. I agreed to only ditch the plan if he faded or attacked hard enough to shake me at which time I would reassess the plan. I covered every attack on the second lap and kept him close and under constant pressure which required perfect shifting, breaking, acceleration, deceleration, feeding, watering, etc... there was absolutely no room for error considering that I was riding at or near threshold (LTHR). When we hit the pavement on lap 2 he had a 60-70 meter gap that I quickly closed to ride an inch or two off his wheel. He kept turning back for a quick look over his shoulder and I noticed that each time it was to the right which pushed him to the right so I timed his looks and patiently waited and the last time he looked back to the right I was accelerating hard and passing on the left. He tried to grab my wheel but my deliberate and violent swings across the road eliminated any chance of that. We hit the single track leading to the finish where slowing from 30+ MPH we had to negotiate a 110-130 degree right hander at which time I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted the final 100 meters to the finish... WINNING with him on my wheel. It was close but I was calm and confident and never once thought I couldn't or wouldn't win.
TBF Mtn. Bike Series by Rick White Sport 40-49 Series Leader - June 25
Three weeks ago marked the start of two 3-race series (one in June and one in July) promoted by TBF racing in Granite Bay. I won both the first and second race using completely different tactics. In race #1 I attacked off the front 60-90 seconds after the start and by the time I got to the base of the first climb I had a 150-200 yard lead. After settling in my lead was contested by one rider, but in the end I out-climbed him on the final long climb and then descended like a Russian bobsledder. Once I hit the flats I felt like I had more in the tank and wanted to punctuate my win so I buried myself eventually achieving a HRmax of 208, which I sustained for 45 seconds. Not bad for a 41 y.o. guy with a gut. The last time I searched for a HRmax was climbing from the American River confluence to the entrance of Lake Clementine on my System-Six… It was 196 bpm. As it turns out, I was the fastest Cat 2 (Sport) in the field of over 50 which made me feel REAL good. In race #2 I decided to ride only as fast as my fastest competition launching attack after attack until they blew. After the first climb there were three of us together and I was content to let them stay 1 and 2. By the 2/3 point of lap 1 the leader went off the back and it was down to the new leader and me. I held his wheel on the descents and launched attacks on every climb causing him to respond and it must’ve been exhausting. After crossing the start/finish area and heading out for lap 2 we pedaled straight into a headwind and I tucked in and watched him fade fast and hard before noticing that he was about to miss a sharp right hand turn. I screamed, “turn right, turn right, turn right!” He went straight and waived me on as he looked over his shoulder… I thought about waiting but having gotten the waive felt it was okay to go so I took off and never looked back. Currently, I’m the series leader for Sport 40-49 with the final race tomorrow night. I hope to add a “series win” to my 2009 race resume.
Prarie City Mountain Bike Series (Recap) 2nd Overall Rick White
;6/25/09
Last night was an interesting final race at PCRS. The start was a familiar downhill, off-camber, rugged one with a narrowing at the ? way point separated by large wooden posts on each side… I like to get through it first to avoid the bottleneck and reduce my potential for a wreck so that’s exactly what I did. Once through I took a commanding lead which I kept until finally being passed by my PCRS nemesis (7-time winner) on the final climb. I had plenty in reserve as I had trained smart this week, hydrated and timed my carbs well through the day as well as warmed-up perfectly. Once he passed I held his wheel for all of lap two until I got trapped behind 6-10 extremely slow riders through a ONLY-ONE-LINE section before the start/finish area… he got through ahead some how and completely unscathed. I stayed patient, re-fueled, and planned to ride smart and it paid off as I was closing the gap quickly by the 1/3 point of the final lap. So much so that I got onto his wheel and asked him if he was okay… he was seriously slow. He responded with, “I’m kinda okay…” Not wanting to win solely on attrition I gave him my wheel and insisted that he march on giving me a chance to take it fair and square once he had recovered. We proceeded to race wheel-to-wheel which really felt good as I have the utmost respect for this guy. Unfortunately, I got pinched in a corner by a slow but aggressive single-speed rider causing me to ride off the course where I dropped my chain then rolled it back on and began to pedal when I got severe chainsuck… first though, I should’ve re-lubed my chain after the warm-up and forgot (ask Robert what I said in the start chute)… second thought, I should have passed my nemesis and buried myself for the win… third thought, $%@#ing single-speeder! I literally had to clip out, crawl off and eventually stand on my chain to get it unstuck right before I took a handlebar to the ribcage by some chick that screamed out, “watch out… you’re not the only one loosing out here!” Thank you, miss! Well, now 30+ seconds down I managed to close the gap to 16 seconds and finished 2nd for an unofficial 2nd place spot on the series podium.
Prarie City Mountain Bike Series By Robert Goss (1st) (5/20/09)
Well guys, this email is more about a thank you than a race report. I owe thanks to several of you (Aaron, Ron, Mark, Curtis, Jeff, Steven, Rick, John, Matt and others) for the inspiration and substantial advice I have received about improving my riding and racing. Tonight I got my first win of any kind in a bike race (Prairie City Sport 45-49). I've raced mountain bikes off and on for years as well as some mtb duathlons, but never consistently over the course of a year, and no road racing or cross of any significance until this year. I've never been embarassed in a race, but then again, I've never won one either. I'm having a great time and you guys are making me a better rider. Thanks! I guess this is what being part of a team is all about.
The race:
I had a decent but not excellent start and was in 6th position at the first corner and the start of some technical trail. I gradually picked off the riders in front of me until only Dan Pollard of MadCat was in front of me. Dan is the series points leader in our division and has a lot of high finishes including several wins. I took 2nd to him a couple weeks ago. I caught Dan at the only significant climb on this course and decided to ride his wheel for a while to see how I felt. I felt decent (you never know in these "after work" races) and realized that while I was on his wheel, I was recovering. So, after some drafting off him over the last segment of the 1st lap and into the beginning of lap 2, I started looking for my spot. Just as we approached the start of the technical trail again, Dan let up so I attacked. I got by him and rode at a sustainable, but barely comfortable pace. These races are 45 minute anaerobic hammerfests - ugh. All was good through the balance of lap 2 and into lap 3. I thought I felt some pressure from time to time, but it apparently wasn't from my group. Taking Rick White's advice from past PCRS race reports, I rode into the final hill and up it as hard as I could hoping to put the final needed gap on my pursuers. This strategy seemed to work and a final segment sprint to the finish did the trick. The #2 rider was 1:20+ behind me, a DBC rider was 3rd, and Dan was 4th. Winning feels good...duh. ;o)
Thanks again for all the coaching, tips and advice. I'm listening! And, can't wait for cross season.
Cool Mountain Bike Race 19-29 8hr Solo (2nd)
I won't go into the description of the conditions, everyone has by now heard abound how "interesting" two days of continuous rain can make a mtb trail. I only have my single-speed (rigid), it has gotten me through every race I have ever raced in the past with no complaints. I was a little hesitant to race the age group division but didn't feel that I was quite qualified to race the ss expert field. The start was stupid, I wanted to start in the back, not the front. I wanted to ride a nice slow pace and not expend energy passing or getting passed. Didn't work that way and I ended up fighting people for 1/2 a lap. Total waste of energy, it's a 8hr/24hr right? Do seconds cost that much that I get run into a bush by some jerk?
Stopped a minute after my second lap to get some water and finish off my liquid fuel. Third lap started noting the braking issues plaguing others, walked a few more hills, calculated a hundred times how many laps I would finish. Didn't stop and got past the finish before I thought of quitting. Fourth lap was one of the best when it started raining harder and washed off my glasses. A few times I would overshoot a turn or downhill because my brakes had decided to quit before I said they could. At that point I started thinking like a trucker coming off the mountain and would only use the brake if I had too. Fourth lap finished me in 6:20 ish, thought about a fifth but was worried since my brakes were now useless. In the end the ss was a good choice, all the gearies were walking the same hills, I passed three gearies with broken chains, and my bike was clean after I sprayed it; good to go on another ride.
Took me awhile to get clean and dry. The mud was everywhere, I wore two shirts and I still found mud in my belly button! Today I was still finding mud in my ears and hair despite the two showers and I have a few new designs on my clothes in a mud splash pattern. Good times.
Cool 24hr Mountain Bike Race By Robert Goss
Well, it's now 36 hours since the finish of the Coolest (?) 24 Hour Race Against Cancer. Where does one start to describe such a weekend? I don't have any idea, but for now I'll start with some background and move on from there.
BACKGROUND
You'll all remember my email call for "interested" parties. I got several statements of interest, but it boiled down to Curtis, Rick, "Young" (Steven) Larsen and myself. Now, being new to the team, I didn't know any of these cats well at all. I've chatted with Curtis on a few rides; watched Steven smoke a lot of Cat 4's at crits; and read with interest Rick's mtb race posts about the Prairie City series. So, I figure this constitutes an e-race team...basically all formed and committed via email. All that said, this turned out to be a great bunch of guys. Everyone enthusiastically (?) committed to the cause, well maybe that's an over-statement, but at least committed to giving it a shot. There was no whining, no bickering, just committed effort and a substantial amount of jokes and laughter. What else could we do???
In the week leading up to the race, Steven volunteers in an email that he'll do two laps back to back at night to experience the "epicness factor." This became the theme for the weekend...withh statements like, "The epicness factor scale is broken; The epicness factor has gone to red line and is staying there; There is no epicness factor for what we're doing," etc. All statemenst were true and applicable.
SOME THOUGHTS
Luck - When I arrived at the race Friday afternoon (3:30ish), I could tell by the parking volunteer's body language that something wasn't right. I pulled up and he informed me that the RV area was full and was basically full before they actually opened at 1:00...they had a line-up way early. So, it was improvise time. With some good natured pleading, I convinced them I could pull the Rio Rig up onto a grassy knoll next to the entrance road and set up there. He relented and I went to work. After some jockeying around, I got the thing set...about 50 yards from the course return shute, on high ground, on mowed field grass, and with a clear view of all the goings on. What did this mean? We had virtually no mud from the Rio pit - the other RVers were parked in the multi-use parking area with a fair amount of horse crap strewn around, so it smelled a whole lot like a barnyard, and it's a gravel parking lot, so with each passing hour of rain, it got muddier and muddier, though eventually it rained so much it washed the horse crap away and it didn't smell anymore. We (I - for fear of the wrath of my wife) got really lucky on our parking space. The Rio Rig returned home with only a couple mud smudges on the carpet...wife happy. The tent campers??? Now that's a whole other story. Use your imagination...only the reality was much worse.
The Start - Curtis drew short straw and started the race. As we watched the rolling slosh through the mud, the three of us noted that Curtis got caught mid-pack...not a great place to be, but whatever, we're here for a day. In one of the start pics, you'll see Tinker in a lime green jacket and dreads flyin'. So, Curtis rolls in with a 1:15 first lap! With all the traffic and congestion clearly evident in the pics, that equates to a substantial effort.
Lap Times - After Curtis, I did lap #2. I tried to keep the effort to about 90% and turned in a 1:15 (not a good measure against Curtis', I didn't have much traffic). Rick was #3 and he turned in a 1:14 - very respectable. Steven went 4th and made us old guys feel, well...old. With all the constraints to fast times, he turned in a 1:10. Bravo - fast team lap time! It was downhill from then on. Notable later times were Rick's 1:20 at night, as well as my 2nd night lap recorded at somewhere around 2 hours...more on that later. On what turned out to be the final lap of the race and my 4th, because of the State Parks course closure, in a deluge I turned in a much more respectable 1:23...I needed some redemption.
Maintenance - After each lap, it turns out that 60 - 90 minutes of bike maintenance was needed. From brake pad replacement, to drivetrain / shifting system maintenance, this single task probably cost us more stress and sleep than anything else. I didn't have the chain suck problems of the other three, my SRAM X-9 wouldn't shift to higher gears when I crested climbs. I'd start to spin out, hit the shifters and nothin' would happen. A well placed right heel and a push on the derailluer would make the shit happen, but that's no way to ride fast. Back in the pit, after lap #1, I got the shifting working a little better, but it took John Matoba and some more chail lube on the cable to free things up to operable condition again. Thanks John!!! A word about fenders...they work! After our first joke laps with none, we began adapting in the pit, and seconds before Curtis arrived and I would have started my night laps, Steven scrounges up some makeshift (but very effective) fenders. We needed new zip ties so he takes off back to the rig, grabs some ties and runs back. Meanwhile, Curtis comes in, misunderstands that I'm going to wait for the ties and put the fender on and he says "There's no way I can do another lap. I have no brakes and had a designed crash." Not to worry, Steven and I got the fender attached and I was on my way...maybe a 2 minute loss of time but WELL worth it. I got only half as muddy and could see a lot more.
Body Maintenance - From the pictures of me, you can see the effects of the mud. I rode with a Camelback, but the mouthpiece was unusable in the first 10 minutes. Consequently, I took only one sip of water during the first lap. For 1:15 ride, this wasn't a big deal except for the fact that I got totally distracted by the need for bike maintenance when I got back and got cleaned up, that I didn't re-hydrate...it just plain slipped my mind. Before starting my night laps, I noticed at a pee break that my urine was dark...uh oh. I started slamming the fluids, but you all know it takes a while for your body to rehydrate. I didn't do it in time. Lap #2 at night saw me dismount twice to stretch out cramps...my own damn fault...plus plenty painful.
Records? - After being home for a while, the phone rang and it was my mom, wondering if I had survived. I assured her so. She reported that the rain for this weekend was a 100-year record for the date...great, thanks for the news Mom. I talked to the promoter during the race and he said the 24-hour race had never had anything close to this kind of weather and conditions...great.
Night Riding - Having only ridden significant miles at night commuting on the Am. River Bike Trail, mtb racing at night was a completely new experience. Turns out, good lighting makes for lots of fun, interesting and relatively fast riding. I was first on the team to ride at night and we all agreed we needed to back off a little bit, ride safely and return home in one piece. I took this strategy to heart and rode totally aerobically at night and my lap times showed it (ugh). The upside was I truly enjoyed it. Sure, traction was a joke, but the mere action of taking the edge off the pace made it fun experience for me. I had great night views of either Auburn or Rocklin city lights (I have no idea which one), I saw the moon for about 10 minutes (though we never saw the sun the whole weekend), coyotes were howling, and the frogs ribbitting a chorus. It was very Cool.
When the Epicness Factor Chart went up in FLAMES - It was my second lap at night (#3 for me) and after the "cramp boy" had worked things out, the speed picked up a little and I passed a guy going up a climb with about 4 miles to go. We were a full lap ahead of his 5-man team. I crested the hill and began picking up speed down the other side. I was near the bottom, probably going somewhere between 15 and 20 mph when my world went black. When I say black, I mean black. I was under full tree canopy, in a ravine and my bar light went out like someone had hit the bedroom light swithch. My helmet light had gone out some time earlier, but it was a planned and expected failure. The bar light wasn't. I "thought" I had read that my light would run 5 hours on high. I was wrong. It ran about 3 hours 15 minutes on high. After skidding to a stop, lots of cussing, then feeling bad that I was about to let the team down, the guy I had passed on the climb came down the hill. I stopped him and asked if I could ride his wheel back and he agreed. He was Brandon from Rocklin. Brandon was somewhat slower than me, but it all worked because on the climbs I could stay right on his wheel and see what was going on; on the flats and a wide trail I could ride next to him and see what was going on and have a conversation; and on the decents...OMG! He would instanlty gap me. The void between us might as well have been a black hole...no light escaped in or out of it. I could see nothing!!! On the first one I was worried that he would drop me and just say sorry sucker and pedal on, but he did ease up a bit, and I would move all my weight back on the seat, let the bars bounce around in my hands and watch his line for anything peculiar. The result was no crashes, but I can't remember ever actually being that scared on a bike before. Maybe I should have written this note under the heading "Lucky?"
Brandon from Rocklin - A note about Brandon. Brandon decided to join the race at 11:00 pm on Friday night! He was on the MTBr website, when a team reported that a member had bailed due to the weather (smart guy). Brandon agreed to join a team of people he didn't know on the promise of no race fee, all the food he could eat and some "epic" conditions. What a guy. Brandon saved my bacon. Thank you!
Memory Mile - This race was also a fund raiser for adult cancer victims and their dreams...like the Make a Wish Foundation. This had meaning for me on two fronts; 1) I'm a cancer survivor; and 2) A friend at work passed away last fall from cancer. His family formed a team and rode the the 8 hour race. On the short section of pavement up to the aid station they promoter laid out Memory Mile...large pictures of friends and family members of racers that people were riding in memory of. Mark's picture was there. I said "hi" to him each time I rode by. Because we formed our team late I didn't want to bring up the fund raising aspect, so I made a donation to his team on behalf of our Rio team.
Finish - When I started what was to be my 4th and final lap, I jokingly said to Rick "I have but one goal...to ride fast enough to finish with enough time to make you gear up and go out again!" :o) Ultimately I did, but for the fact that the race was called at 10:00 Sunday morning. My last lap was done at 9:00 am and with Rick riding strong and Steven too, I have no doubt we could have recorded our 15th and 16th team laps before the 24 hour end of the race. So, in the end Team Rio was posted as the winning team in the 4-man Sport 24 Hour Division. Lap counts were screwed up across the board, but everyone else seemed to be satisfied with the finishing orders. I think we're good!
My final thought is, that I'm really enjoying riding with Rio Strada. You've inspired me to ride more and faster. It's a great bunch of guys and my three teammates proved that terrifically this weekend. I'm hoping they'll be up for defense of our title, and I hope the posts have inspired some of the rest of you to check out the "epicness factor" of a 24-hour mtb race. Beating us won't be easy! ;o)
Cool 24hr Mountain Bike Race By Curtis Fowler
Epic? Hardly. I have been on many-o-epic rides in my time; many of witch start with something like “I know a short cut”, “its around the next corner”. (or my favorite) “its only a 2 hour ride”. Usually the ride degrades and you finish tired, hungry, glad to be done with it, but in a sadistic way happy you where there. They are usually the rides that even your hard core cycling buddies shake there head and think a silent “idiot”…..At the end of the ride I asked all the guys if they would do it again….It generated many pauses and contemplative stares.So what is beyond epic? I suggested “heroic”. I mentioned it to the guy who won the 24 hour solo single speed division; he modified it to “horrific”. I think that is a better description. I have had as of 8pm Sunday….a grand total of 3.5 hrs of very broke sleep. 4 laps of 12 miles with 1800 feet of climbing. 12 miles that took from between 1hour 10min to almost 2 hours. This weekend has gone as follows:
1. I was the opener for our group, and was very surprised to find that the “chance of rain” was turning out to be a downpour. Instead of a le mans start they started the solo riders, and 1 min later all teams. It turned into a cluster-fuck where we all went together. I assumed the start would be WAY down the road to give riders a chance to spread out prior to several obstacles in the first mile (that would be sure to cause bottle necks). So I warmed up and waited down the r oad….finally rolled back to the staging area only to find a mass of riders….bummer. Bad position. First lap I burned a lot matches passing riders, in hind site it was a waste of energy, given that it spread out so quickly. Course was wet, muddy, but really pretty fun!
2. Cleaning a bike in these conditions sucks. I cleaned, got warm, and decided that I needed my camel back as our next rotation was going to be for 2 laps instead of 1. On the way down to my truck I noted that the front brake was not working well. After a troubled attempt by Robert and I to change the pads I got some help from John Matoba, and the cast of characters at mad-cat. 3.My next 2 laps started great. I was feeling pretty good…then developed the dreaded ‘chain suck’ (it might have happened on the fisrt lap but my brain is cloudy). Not cool, but I could live with pushing a bigger gear than I wanted, so I am tooling along and about to hit the first scary-rocky-technical-downhill. What happens next you ask? I grab a fist full of brake and get nothing…….I am accelerating into what I assume will be a major injury. I make the hard choice and dump the bike into some grass (harder than I expected). I regain my senses- tighten the adjusters, and head out. I will eventually in the 3 hour period need to stop and adjust 3 times. Not only that, but now the conditions have deteriorated so bad that most of the trails look like rivers, the climbs have the consistency of oily peanut butter, and even the flats are stroke after stroke of soul-crushing resistance. I finished wet, cold, sore, and nervous about my chances of contributing to the effort. I ended up at the tent of the neutral mechanic: pads fried. I had 1 set, and needed 2. Pulled the original ones that had been removed after lap 1 from the trash. The mechanic worked his voo-doo and made them work. Prior to that I was running around the tent-compound begging for pads……somebody could have made a fortune selling them out there. Steven then checked his, and made a late night trip to a friend’s house to borrow pads.4.I somehow lucked out (???) and did not end up doing laps at night.5.Last lap. I didn’t think a trail could degrade so much. Slippery, sticky, brakes failed again. Yet despite having to run DOWN hills to conserve my pads, my legs where the best they felt the whole race. When I finished I was informed that they where calling the race 2 hours early. They where worried for the safety of the riders. Conditions where so bad that the quads could not make it through the mud (give you an idea how bad it was?) and that life-flight couldn’t make it in for a rescue either……..My favorite memories (in my tired state):1.Finishing my 2nd and 3rd laps, and in my panic to get my bike repaired and cleaned not taking time to eat-change- etc. Steven and Rick basically spoon fed me.2.10ish at night, Robert showing up at the “rig” with a huge smile on his face..saying something about how fun it was out there….I was eating, I didn’t hear the rest ;)3./ SPAN>Rick excitedly telling the tale of passing Tinker!!!! And steven’s deadpan “who is tinker?”.4.Standing next to some kid, who was about to go out for his last 2 laps. His front pads where shot, and to avoid tearing the side of his rims apart had disengaged his rear v-brake. I saw him after the race assuming he would have dropped- he beat me by about 20 minutes on that lap?5.The rig. Hot shower and bed to lie in. stove to cook on. ahhhhhh
6.Finishing, getting home, and Roberts voice mail that we had won (pending confirmation)
Cool 24hr Mountain Bike Race
Mechanics Perspective:
I spent all day (noon to 7pm) yesterday helping friends, Rios and Madcatters. Everywhere was mud. Peanut butter mud to soupy mud to slimy mud to slippery mud to ... all shades of mud. As riders crossed the start/finish line for every lap, I got see tons of mechanical failures due to mud and extreme abuse. Forget about your shimano warranty. Lots of riders crossed the line with their chain clasped to their hands. Guys complaining that they didn't have front brakes (lap #2). I brought my singlespeed as a parts supply store and gave away the front brake caliper to Sweetcheeks (best man at my wedding). When I saw Rick White lining up at the start line for lap#3 with Steven Larsen providing "rockstar" flanking security patrol, I decided to join them. We waited at the line for Robert Goss to finish his lap. We stood there, twidling our thumbs, and eventually, some guy was screaming at Rick to go from 50 feet away. I dunno who he was. But, he kept screaming in our direction, "Rick Go! Rick Go!". We all stood their wondering who this freak guy was. He had covered in mud from helmet to toes. Sort of looked Asian. I couldn't identify him. So, I kept looking elsewheres. Eventually, this screaming guy was just 5 feet from us. And, then, we sorta recognized him. It was Robert Goss. Tons of mud hanging from his mustache. Good times.... Carnage was another problem. Lots of guys with messed up knees from crashing. One of my friends couldn't make the right turn, so, he used the tree to stop him.
Prairie City Race Series #4 on 04/22/2009 By Sean Odom
My first Mountain bike race since last year at the PCRS. I did the SPORT Single Speed division. Well, I timed it perfectly - This course was very technical and some screaming downhill sections. There were a lot of crashes as well. The only thing I remember more than anything, was a ate about a pound of dirt from everyone in front of me.... My legs were burning from the on slaught of the first lap and beyond.
But I know, since coming from the Mountain bike scene to road. My technical skills would
help, I passed the majority of riders on the technical downhill sections. It was fun, got some air on few jumps and cleared a few big ruts.
Overall - had a blast and good training.
I have no idea where I placed. I hope not last....But these guys are fast.
Prairie City Race Series #4 on 04/22/2009 By Rick White
Sport 40-44. After pre-riding the course it was obvious that “safety” could be an issue because of a couple of somewhat technical splits as well as a relatively fast and bumpy descent that consisted of sand and gravel over top of what very likely could have been dirt that was harder than concrete. There was a lot less singletrack this week and some wide-open passing lanes which made for easier and safer passing. Speaking of passing, I lost count after passing roughly 90 people… that was probably about the time the ambient temperature had dropped to 87 degrees and my core temperature had elevated to around 100 degrees. The Rio caps are great for keeping sweat off the lenses and providing relief from the sun, but last night it felt like a plastic shower cap… time for a stick-on visor for the team issue Giro. Is there such a thing?
Okay, I took the lead from the start to get through the first technical split near the bottom of the first downhill and it was very smart as a glance back suggested exactly what I had suspected which was a bottleneck as the pack (28 racers) entered it at once. I was told that I came through a good 20 yards ahead of the pack which was probably overkill but it kept me off the ground and at or near the front like I had planned. I recovered on the first short climb where I lost 3-5 positions only to make up 1-2 of them on the next climb which as I recall was the steepest and longest on the course. On the fastest and most technical descent I would leave room as we left the top and then using pump-track technique towards the bottom (to build momentum) I would then pass people as I entered a slow technical section… this worked well on all 3 laps. However, my best riding was done on a section that seemed to force people to slow down and corner to on the inside, but if you’ve ever raced motocross you realize that wide-open around the outside line was the best way and I passed dozens of people there on nearly every lap… it was kind of strange to realize that I was the only one using that line and I can’t help but think that I would’ve placed worse had I not kept using it. Anyway, for most of the race I swapped places with 3rd and 5th and I always perceived to be stronger on the climbs and technical sections while they appeared to have better leg speed on the flats and clearly better overall cycling fitness and/or conditioning. In the end, I was no match for 1st and 2nd and seemed evenly matched with 3rd and 5th and finished 4th with a time of 43:08 (average lap time of 14:23). This put me 25 seconds behind 1st place, but those are some really hard seconds to make up in a punishing 42-43 minute anaerobic crash test.
My race craft (strategy, tactics, and bike handling skills) is improving with each race this season and hopefully the fitness and conditioning will come with continued road biking and better recovery. Going in to last night’s race I was 10th overall for the series with a DNF, 12th, and 2nd. I should’ve improved on that standing with my 4th place finish last night. Speaking of last night, the Rio men were out in force with Robert Goss and Sean “Air” Odem in the house… Great job guys… share your thoughts on the PCRS. BTW, fastest average lap time last night was 12:01 by Clint Claassen & Keith Hillier… Damn!
Prairie City Race Series #3 on 04/15/2009 By Rick White
Sport 40-44. The course was a much different route this week. There was more single-track that required smarter planning and passing, and some slightly longer climbs that were less steep then previous weeks. Again, the terms “climb” and “long” are relative to the limitations of the terrain at Prairie City and shouldn’t be considered as “typical climbing” just like nobody riding road would consider “the wall” at Fort Ord to be “typical climbing” but rather a freaking never ending cliff that requires a belay for middle aged mortals that are slightly better than average but like to eat their own… this from a forty-one year old self-proclaimed non-climber. Okay, I had planned to keep the kit clean (meaning off the ground) and I succeeded. The start was a long mostly flat and very rocky straight away with one line. I thought the one line would force a single-file pace line on the windward side so I lined up to the left side and it paid off as I was protected from the side wind and the cobbles were soaked up by my plush 80mm fork up front and my Hincapie’s in the rear… I love this Hincapie gear! I entered the single-track in fifth place and we immediately started working our way around slower riders from earlier waves. Half way through the first lap I realized that I had plenty in the tank and was thinking unusually calm and clear so I planned to attack on the climbs and wide open flats and pass cautiously through the single-track. Well, I stuck to my plan and by the half way point had gotten through most of the slower riders & dangerous situations and was sitting in what I thought was second place until I attacked first place and he said “there’s one more ahead... right?” At that point I had no idea where first was or how hard I should go, so I sat up and rode with him until he said “there’s first in the blue jersey.” “Thank you!” We worked together to move slower traffic out of the way and closed the gap and on the last climb I split to the right while first and soon to be third split to the left. At the top of the hill I literally merged right on to the wheel of first place (never saw third) and vowed not to let the motocrosser in me screw this up by twisting the throttle too soon. I waited patiently on his wheel and with a couple hundred to go jumped out of the saddle only to find my ass was glued to the damn thing… I had no top-end at this tempo and couldn’t get around him to his credit. I finished 2nd with a time of 38:14 (one second out of first which makes it a bittersweet finish). I cannot over emphasize how much fun these hump-day races are for those of you so inclined to get dirty in the middle of the week. They’re like dirt crits. Please check it out. The team competition starts on May 13th and is 6 races in length… lets put Rio on the box mountain bikers & crossers.
Prairie City Race Series #2 on 04/08/2009 by Rick White
Sport 40-44. Slightly longer course, although no appreciable difference from previous week. There is a limited amount of singletrack with occasionally steep but extremely short climbs that are strung together by millions of rocks and hundreds of cyclists of varying fitness levels and abilities. With that said, this is the most fun & soulful mtb race series and group of racers that I've ever hung out with so I hope to see some more Rios show soon... Jerry, John, Curtis, Craig, Mark, Robert, Trevor, etc... I pre-rode the course and picked the first two semi-steep but very quick climbs (they're separated by 5 minutes) as my areas to attack. Although I don't consider myself a great climber, I realized last week that I can out climb my group. I stayed near the front on the run out and climbed off the front into the stragglers from the previous wave only to be run off the course and into a "slomentum" rut... I recovered on the descent and rode back on to the rear of the pack before the next climb where I again out climbed my group and would've separated myself by a dozen or so guys off the back of the group ahead except as I made a wide pass (to the right this time) some guy wearing Vanz brand skater shoes clipped my left bar which engaged my "stop on a dime" disc brake and I literally did a front flip over the bars and landed flat on my back. As luck would have it, Brian Joder was there to snap an evidential frame or two of me "air-pedalling" while encouraging me to "go.. go.. go!" This is where I apologize to Rio and the Rio sponsors for once again putting the Rio kit on the ground this year (previously during TBF series). After I got my chain on I was compelled to catch my group and pass as many as I could without conceding to the fact that with time-splits of mere seconds over the entire race it was unlikely that I'd finish well. In the end, I finished 12th of 22 with a 45:58. 3rd place finished in 45:01 and the top-2 will be mandatorally upgraded to the expert 35-49 class after race three so I'll only quickly mention that they finished in 44:05 & 44:33 respectively. In retrospect, I should have patiently hung on for two laps while allowing bigger gaps amongst the masses to form instead of passing on the first lap in the high-traffic Prairie Hills. Tonight is 3 of 12 in the series and my new SMART goal is to keep the kit clean!
Race Report by Kevin Bailey from the US MTB Cup in San Dimas
This race was another rainy effort. I have figured out how to finish 4th evidently. This is my 3rd 4th place finish in this series. We have 2 races left. My class Cat 2 Male 43-50 (this series only) is 11-12 riders usually and is not the highest competition level but a good warm up to the season that started this passed weekend with the US Cup in San Dimas ’ Bonelli Park . My Cat 2 class male 40-44 at Bonelli was full of much higher level competition. I finished 8 minutes back from the winner in 12th place. 5 minutes from the last award of 5th place and less than a minute out of the top 9. Overall Cat 2 finishers placed me in the top 22% for the day out of 200+ Cat 2 guys. This was a great event. If you sat down you got passed, if you down shifted you got passed, if you grabbed a drink you got passed………In other words this was a race from the word go and if you let up for any reason you were passed by a freight train of guys not letting off. Great event. Wow, I just caught my breath……..
