warcricket
Like a Jerk
i do own a kilt:hmmm:
Biscotti Madness
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
i do own a kilt:hmmm:
ArmyOfNone
Well-Known Member
MTBNJ representin! Good work all! Fun Fun race! I feel bad for the experts, it was getting ugly as we were leaving.
pinkshirtphotos
Active Member
Anyone else noticing the trends of singlespeed, 29er, and lack of suspension?
MTBTyler
Well-Known Member
They finally realized!
ArmyOfNone
Well-Known Member
You dont need no stinkin gears!
southernerinnj
New Member
You were a machine Fred. I liked how you messed up the race officials by lapping someone right as you were finishing.
MTBTyler
Well-Known Member
I passed 5+ people with chain and gear problems. SS rules:getsome:
all i have to say is this norm: i told ya.
fred! finally brotha! YES!
awesome freakin' job everyone. can't wait to read the write ups!
and i couldn't agree more with steve.
We coerced Mike to stand-in for you. He has your medal and schwag. I think you made the right choice in class choice 😉
MB is not working right now, so no link. I'll post up a recap at some point tomorrow.
The slideshow is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59697758@N00/sets/72157617660500214/show/
And since this is a thread about me trying to get faster, I figure this one is appropriate, even if self-indulgent:
The slideshow is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59697758@N00/sets/72157617660500214/show/
And since this is a thread about me trying to get faster, I figure this one is appropriate, even if self-indulgent:
scalpel6
Member
Congrats to Fred and Norm. Nice job boys.
H2h was the best choice of the today. It rained hard all day down south making Granoque a wash out for me. Pre road at 8:00 because a friend came to ride and watch me race. It was like riding on ice with my Pythons. Looks like a fun course when its dry.
I wasn't hanging around until 11:00 for experts since I could hardly ride in the parking lot. Good Times
H2h was the best choice of the today. It rained hard all day down south making Granoque a wash out for me. Pre road at 8:00 because a friend came to ride and watch me race. It was like riding on ice with my Pythons. Looks like a fun course when its dry.
I wasn't hanging around until 11:00 for experts since I could hardly ride in the parking lot. Good Times
He really was. I felt good for having beaten the 3rd place guy by 3 minutes. He took me by 4 minutes!!!
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
RNG1
Well-Known Member
Got that right...
At this point there's no sense trying to play this wrap-up for any sort of drama. I came in second yesterday. Best finish ever, first podium, my career in being a pro racer takes another step forward at the ripe old age of 37. 🙄 Someone asked me how old I was yesterday, I had to think about it. Does that answer the question? How old are you? Old enough not to remember anymore.
I did that hard ride Friday, 3 hours and 58 miles. My Thursday ride kinda blew and I went hard Friday. Got a solid 8 hours of sleep Friday night and took Saturday off. Sunday got maybe 6 hours sleep. In general it doesn't matter how much sleep I get on race day so long as I don't come into the weekend over-tired. I felt really good when I woke up Sunday morning. Not tired at all.
I knew this was going to be a long race so I didn't want to warm up too much. Fred had asked if I was going to do a whole lap but I thought that was too much. We did 1/4 of the course then cut the park and did the last 1/4 of the course. Back in the lot I stopped the GPS at 36 minutes for a pre-ride. That was about perfect. Felt ready enough, but not too ready, if that makes any sense.
My strategy was to line up at the front but let the crowd go from the door and just get into my groove from the start. I wanted to get through the fire road, then the first bit of ST before I really did anything. On the fire road climb to start I was bottom side of top 10, maybe 8-10th. I entered the ST not having burned any matches at all which is where I wanted to be.
By now the rain had started to come down and the course was getting greasy fast. I knew there was plenty of room to make up time so I kept it slow and steady because my tires were slipping far more than I was comfortable with. I went down sideways on some roots and ran a few sections that were overly congested and sketchy. Through this I still managed to pass a few people in my class and many people in the 19-29 as well as 30-34 classes.
The first fire road section opened things up a bit but I wasn't "on" just yet. I was catching people and I picked up with a few guys in my class once we went back into the ST, which was the second bit of sketchy ST in the race. Wet again, people making mistakes, I kept my pace and tried to encourage people not to ride out of control. Once out of this section I started to let go, and it was fire road, then ST in the pines, and pipeline, and ST, then a lot of open fire road and wide open ST. This last 2/3 of the course I caught and passed everyone in my class aside from TJ, and passed them convincingly. I didn't look back the whole race but I never passed anyone that didn't fade out of the picture almost immediately.
I saw a few of our team riders out in this sction, first Dave, then Leo, then Mike. I knew I was in a good spot because I passed Mike a good 1-2 miles before the end of the first lap. He says I usually pass him in the first 1/4 of the second lap. After that there was more fire road down to the start/finish. I rode through there feeling very strong, and was greeted by a bunch of cheers led by our very vocal youngster Adam. I stood on this climb and felt really good.
I asked Roger how far TJ was ahead, as I knew he was in front at this point. Jim said I didn't need to worry about him. He was running a crazy fast pace so I just needed to do my thing and keep on keeping on. Back into the initial ST where it was even more sketchy and tried to just keep a pace. Here, things got iffy as my rear tire burped a few times and I was likely closer to 20 PSI then 25. Not a big deal on smooth trails but in the chatter I bottomed out more than I wanted to and I was a bit concerened about the dreaded DNF if I blew out completely. As an aside I don't carry the proper stuff to swap out a flat quickly. I probably should.
Anyway, the tire held and I got out into the fire road and the picking off of people continued. At this point I was just knocking off people younger than me and just trying to keep my pace. At some point through this lap it struck me that I was very possibly in second. I felt strong out there and I felt like I was riding a podium-worthy race. But there's always uncertainty since, well, I had never podiumed. So what do I know? This is TJ's home park so him being way out ahead isn't surprising, though it wouldn't be fair to say he won because of home field advantage. He just rocked it out there.
I came into the start/finish area at 1:52 and Fred and TJ were both still there in their post race, so I knew I couldn't be too far behind. TJ and Fred thought I was in second, but I had no idea. After Fred and I got changed and fueled up, we went back down and the results were up shortly after that. Indeed, second place, 4 minutes behind TJ and 3 minutes up on the 3rd place guy.
First podium ever, and it feels good this morning. Went home and had a big dinner and a few Sierra Nevada Pale Ales. This morning I'm back on the train to Brooklyn and the rain's still coming down. But I'm feeling pretty good either way.
I did that hard ride Friday, 3 hours and 58 miles. My Thursday ride kinda blew and I went hard Friday. Got a solid 8 hours of sleep Friday night and took Saturday off. Sunday got maybe 6 hours sleep. In general it doesn't matter how much sleep I get on race day so long as I don't come into the weekend over-tired. I felt really good when I woke up Sunday morning. Not tired at all.
I knew this was going to be a long race so I didn't want to warm up too much. Fred had asked if I was going to do a whole lap but I thought that was too much. We did 1/4 of the course then cut the park and did the last 1/4 of the course. Back in the lot I stopped the GPS at 36 minutes for a pre-ride. That was about perfect. Felt ready enough, but not too ready, if that makes any sense.
My strategy was to line up at the front but let the crowd go from the door and just get into my groove from the start. I wanted to get through the fire road, then the first bit of ST before I really did anything. On the fire road climb to start I was bottom side of top 10, maybe 8-10th. I entered the ST not having burned any matches at all which is where I wanted to be.
By now the rain had started to come down and the course was getting greasy fast. I knew there was plenty of room to make up time so I kept it slow and steady because my tires were slipping far more than I was comfortable with. I went down sideways on some roots and ran a few sections that were overly congested and sketchy. Through this I still managed to pass a few people in my class and many people in the 19-29 as well as 30-34 classes.
The first fire road section opened things up a bit but I wasn't "on" just yet. I was catching people and I picked up with a few guys in my class once we went back into the ST, which was the second bit of sketchy ST in the race. Wet again, people making mistakes, I kept my pace and tried to encourage people not to ride out of control. Once out of this section I started to let go, and it was fire road, then ST in the pines, and pipeline, and ST, then a lot of open fire road and wide open ST. This last 2/3 of the course I caught and passed everyone in my class aside from TJ, and passed them convincingly. I didn't look back the whole race but I never passed anyone that didn't fade out of the picture almost immediately.
I saw a few of our team riders out in this sction, first Dave, then Leo, then Mike. I knew I was in a good spot because I passed Mike a good 1-2 miles before the end of the first lap. He says I usually pass him in the first 1/4 of the second lap. After that there was more fire road down to the start/finish. I rode through there feeling very strong, and was greeted by a bunch of cheers led by our very vocal youngster Adam. I stood on this climb and felt really good.
I asked Roger how far TJ was ahead, as I knew he was in front at this point. Jim said I didn't need to worry about him. He was running a crazy fast pace so I just needed to do my thing and keep on keeping on. Back into the initial ST where it was even more sketchy and tried to just keep a pace. Here, things got iffy as my rear tire burped a few times and I was likely closer to 20 PSI then 25. Not a big deal on smooth trails but in the chatter I bottomed out more than I wanted to and I was a bit concerened about the dreaded DNF if I blew out completely. As an aside I don't carry the proper stuff to swap out a flat quickly. I probably should.
Anyway, the tire held and I got out into the fire road and the picking off of people continued. At this point I was just knocking off people younger than me and just trying to keep my pace. At some point through this lap it struck me that I was very possibly in second. I felt strong out there and I felt like I was riding a podium-worthy race. But there's always uncertainty since, well, I had never podiumed. So what do I know? This is TJ's home park so him being way out ahead isn't surprising, though it wouldn't be fair to say he won because of home field advantage. He just rocked it out there.
I came into the start/finish area at 1:52 and Fred and TJ were both still there in their post race, so I knew I couldn't be too far behind. TJ and Fred thought I was in second, but I had no idea. After Fred and I got changed and fueled up, we went back down and the results were up shortly after that. Indeed, second place, 4 minutes behind TJ and 3 minutes up on the 3rd place guy.
First podium ever, and it feels good this morning. Went home and had a big dinner and a few Sierra Nevada Pale Ales. This morning I'm back on the train to Brooklyn and the rain's still coming down. But I'm feeling pretty good either way.
So TJ actually took my by 5.5, and I took the 3rd place guy by 3.5, and the 4th place guy by almost 7 minutes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59697758@N00/3499142686/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59697758@N00/3499142686/sizes/l/
RNG1
Well-Known Member
Hey Norm enjoyed the recap, in fact I can't get anything done today in the office as I keep going back to the site. I am waiting for my final result (not that it matters) before I did my recap so I can put this out of my head and move on.
I did want to mention something that may help you though, last year when I had the fatal burping of my front tire that stole my glory I tried to find something that I could use to avoid a repeat. What I ended up with is the Genuine Innovations Intelligent head co2 head. It actually doubles as a little pump as well but what I do for a race situation is leave the pump part off, thread the co2 threaded into the head but not enough to puncture it.When you need it you give it a quick twist to puncture stick it on the valve and hit the trigger, the nice thing about this one is that you can just use what you need quick and release the trigger and throw it back in your pocket so that if you need it again during the race you can do the same thing without having to kill another co2 or waste the time changing it. This may be really obvious but during the race it really worked like a charm as I burped a bunch out of my front tire again and I think I was back on the bike in less than 10 seconds and then later on I needed it for the rear (not as badly) but it was so convenient that I hit that too instead of worrying about it.
I did want to mention something that may help you though, last year when I had the fatal burping of my front tire that stole my glory I tried to find something that I could use to avoid a repeat. What I ended up with is the Genuine Innovations Intelligent head co2 head. It actually doubles as a little pump as well but what I do for a race situation is leave the pump part off, thread the co2 threaded into the head but not enough to puncture it.When you need it you give it a quick twist to puncture stick it on the valve and hit the trigger, the nice thing about this one is that you can just use what you need quick and release the trigger and throw it back in your pocket so that if you need it again during the race you can do the same thing without having to kill another co2 or waste the time changing it. This may be really obvious but during the race it really worked like a charm as I burped a bunch out of my front tire again and I think I was back on the bike in less than 10 seconds and then later on I needed it for the rear (not as badly) but it was so convenient that I hit that too instead of worrying about it.
walter
Fourth Party
MB is not working right now, so no link. I'll post up a recap at some point tomorrow.
The slideshow is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59697758@N00/sets/72157617660500214/show/
And since this is a thread about me trying to get faster, I figure this one is appropriate, even if self-indulgent:
I might add you are looking super slim!!