Jeez, give a guy a sec @UtahJoe ! 😀
After getting my feet wet here last year I was super stoked for this year. SSAP 2015 seemed to push my stamina level up a step and I was eager to try this powaa out. Plus there is such a fun party vibe to the day who wants to pass that up? Not this kid! My biggest issue going in was, what to ride? I still have the Ghettospeed but I'd also acquired the HeckerEpic and after weeks of high-level consultations with Utah it seemed SS ready. I tried riding them back to back at the Tourne and set my fastest times on different segments but mixed up between bikes. Well, that's great and all but didn't help the decision much.
As I pulled into the park (I'd brought both bikes for game day) I saw enough rigid bikes that I didn't feel lonely, plus the cog and spacers were already on the @jmanic approved Ghettospeed. Decision made. Get plate and stuff, carefully ride back to car so as not to break glass, and go racing! This year I decided to just that: go racing. Last year I had no idea how I would hold up overall, this year I planned to go hard for as long as possible. This idea ended quickly as I got behind a group of about eight guys on the first ST with no large passing spots. Although the pace wasn't awful, I felt I could have gone faster here while I was fresh. By the time we hit the next road the lead group was long gone. It may have made not a hill of beans but it felt slow.
The next many miles were basically the same, pedal, gain time on the flats and down, lose it uphill. Sometimes it was a gearing thing (this was often discussed mid-race) others just who was going better. Unlike last year where I encountered oddly long stretches of solo riding I was constantly passing or being passed. I'm not a huge fan of someone close behind so I'll usually let them go by, sometimes I reeled them back in. A Marty's guy and Tony (Dave Taylor's friend) were pretty frequent company throughout the day. On the big ass mud/super glue hill all us pushers cheered on the two fatbikes that made it. I had @1sh0t1b33r for company on that one. During the first half I felt fine, conserving some energy but still pushing pretty hard.
After the beer hand up things started to go south (not blaming the beer!). I brought Gatorade and gels, also the researched breakfast helped, but I just started to tire. It seems the later part of the course is a bit hillier, maybe I'm wrong but it felt like it. When I get tired I start riding poorly. Took a bad line on one of the step downs and hit the bottom sideways but somehow didn't crash. I then smacked my elbow on a tree, just started making all these little mistakes. I kept working on cheering myself up mentally but my fatigue seemed to be winning. I didn't want to slow down, I really wanted to keep a strong (relatively here. people!) pace going. I began worrying about the tires (I'd flatted last year) and all kinds of negative crap, plus my legs were a bit crampy on the steeper stuff which is not normally an issue for me.
But then about 20 miles the very same rationalization engine that had been screwing me started working in my favor. As the miles clicked by I started comparing them to quick rides at home and thinking, "shit, all I have left is a quick spin around the Tourne" stuff like that. By about the 22 mile mark I started feeling good again and began upping the tempo. I was riding with "the Viking" a long haired dude on a 1x1. When I told him how many miles were left he jumped on the pedals only to cramp at the 25 mile mark. I started seeing guys pulled over massaging cramps, one dude was pedaling with one leg. It was like a war zone. As we closed in on the finish (one legged guy got going with me) I noticed I was at 2:27 and decided the goal was sub-2:30. I almost made it! 2:30.33, 23rd place, which oddly would have been the exact same finishing spot in the deeper NY field. I honestly had aspirations for top twenty or even maybe top ten, but I'm happy with the result. Well I was, until @jdgang reminded me the course was 3 miles shorter this year! 😡 Still, according to the Garmin I was over 1 mph average faster this year which is cool.
It's funny, everyone says after how much fun they had despite how hammered they are. That's pretty damn cool. Yeah it's hard and it's racing, but compared to the short track stuff the fun level is way up there. Despite not being much of a SS rider now SSAP is on the must do list. Was funny, hanging out with dedicated single speeds Burke, Josh, and Jason they asked if I rode the SS bike much. I said nope, I hate it and suck at it but love this event, the course, and the party after! Thanks to @UtahJoe and @1sh0t1b33r who helped with SS FS setup and @jmanic who came up with a beer can based demon tweak for the Ghettospeed. Ok, everything he does is beer-based but still.
Cheers to everyone who came out and partied!
After getting my feet wet here last year I was super stoked for this year. SSAP 2015 seemed to push my stamina level up a step and I was eager to try this powaa out. Plus there is such a fun party vibe to the day who wants to pass that up? Not this kid! My biggest issue going in was, what to ride? I still have the Ghettospeed but I'd also acquired the HeckerEpic and after weeks of high-level consultations with Utah it seemed SS ready. I tried riding them back to back at the Tourne and set my fastest times on different segments but mixed up between bikes. Well, that's great and all but didn't help the decision much.
As I pulled into the park (I'd brought both bikes for game day) I saw enough rigid bikes that I didn't feel lonely, plus the cog and spacers were already on the @jmanic approved Ghettospeed. Decision made. Get plate and stuff, carefully ride back to car so as not to break glass, and go racing! This year I decided to just that: go racing. Last year I had no idea how I would hold up overall, this year I planned to go hard for as long as possible. This idea ended quickly as I got behind a group of about eight guys on the first ST with no large passing spots. Although the pace wasn't awful, I felt I could have gone faster here while I was fresh. By the time we hit the next road the lead group was long gone. It may have made not a hill of beans but it felt slow.
The next many miles were basically the same, pedal, gain time on the flats and down, lose it uphill. Sometimes it was a gearing thing (this was often discussed mid-race) others just who was going better. Unlike last year where I encountered oddly long stretches of solo riding I was constantly passing or being passed. I'm not a huge fan of someone close behind so I'll usually let them go by, sometimes I reeled them back in. A Marty's guy and Tony (Dave Taylor's friend) were pretty frequent company throughout the day. On the big ass mud/super glue hill all us pushers cheered on the two fatbikes that made it. I had @1sh0t1b33r for company on that one. During the first half I felt fine, conserving some energy but still pushing pretty hard.
After the beer hand up things started to go south (not blaming the beer!). I brought Gatorade and gels, also the researched breakfast helped, but I just started to tire. It seems the later part of the course is a bit hillier, maybe I'm wrong but it felt like it. When I get tired I start riding poorly. Took a bad line on one of the step downs and hit the bottom sideways but somehow didn't crash. I then smacked my elbow on a tree, just started making all these little mistakes. I kept working on cheering myself up mentally but my fatigue seemed to be winning. I didn't want to slow down, I really wanted to keep a strong (relatively here. people!) pace going. I began worrying about the tires (I'd flatted last year) and all kinds of negative crap, plus my legs were a bit crampy on the steeper stuff which is not normally an issue for me.
But then about 20 miles the very same rationalization engine that had been screwing me started working in my favor. As the miles clicked by I started comparing them to quick rides at home and thinking, "shit, all I have left is a quick spin around the Tourne" stuff like that. By about the 22 mile mark I started feeling good again and began upping the tempo. I was riding with "the Viking" a long haired dude on a 1x1. When I told him how many miles were left he jumped on the pedals only to cramp at the 25 mile mark. I started seeing guys pulled over massaging cramps, one dude was pedaling with one leg. It was like a war zone. As we closed in on the finish (one legged guy got going with me) I noticed I was at 2:27 and decided the goal was sub-2:30. I almost made it! 2:30.33, 23rd place, which oddly would have been the exact same finishing spot in the deeper NY field. I honestly had aspirations for top twenty or even maybe top ten, but I'm happy with the result. Well I was, until @jdgang reminded me the course was 3 miles shorter this year! 😡 Still, according to the Garmin I was over 1 mph average faster this year which is cool.
It's funny, everyone says after how much fun they had despite how hammered they are. That's pretty damn cool. Yeah it's hard and it's racing, but compared to the short track stuff the fun level is way up there. Despite not being much of a SS rider now SSAP is on the must do list. Was funny, hanging out with dedicated single speeds Burke, Josh, and Jason they asked if I rode the SS bike much. I said nope, I hate it and suck at it but love this event, the course, and the party after! Thanks to @UtahJoe and @1sh0t1b33r who helped with SS FS setup and @jmanic who came up with a beer can based demon tweak for the Ghettospeed. Ok, everything he does is beer-based but still.
Cheers to everyone who came out and partied!
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