Landmine 2010 Season Finale of the Root 66 Series

.... the season finale already!  Don't say it's so....  It's way to early for the mtb season to be over already!  There are at least a couple of good months left for racing, and I don't care if it overlaps w/ Cross... I finally have my endurance pegged a little bit better, where I feel like I can handle racing hard for 2 + hours and it's over!  WTF...  What the hell am i going to do w/ myself????  Cross?? Fun certainaly, but that is just 45 mins long.  I spend all season working hard so I could handle more than 45 mins!  Damn!


As will be mentioned in posts I will write soon for previous races I have yet to write a race report for, I have learned through the season that I am slow...at the start that is.  I need to give my body a chance to really warm up before I hit it hard.  Most likely due to being 40+ (and a reason I will always suck at cross).

Landmine is a great course that suits me perfectly!  I lined up at the back and at the start had planned on staying on Scott's wheel and let him pace me until I felt warmed up.  Well the grassy section around the parking set me back a lot more than expected (I hate riding on grass)  and when I made to the single track, Scott was well ahead with lots of guys in between us. I had counted 18 at the start, and had one rider behind me.  It was still quite early in the race but I did not want to get dropped that much already so I decided to really pick up the pace and reel Scott in.  I was able to so just as the rooty climb started. I think I passed three riders to get there.  I recovered surprisingly quickly from that effort and soon found the pace too slow, especially on the short climbs.  I knew it was still very early in the race but decided since I felt good, I should go for it and not over pace myself.  My suspension had been set up carefully the night before (for once) and the bike was just flowing over the rocks and roots.  Racers were riding around obstacles which I was just riding over and this really helped me pass several more riders.  That crazy fast 50+ guy (I forgot his name) passed me what seemed way to early in the race, and so I grabbed his wheel and tried to hang on for as long as I could.  Since there were some road sections, this was quite helpful, and soon we caught up to a couple of other riders in my age group who also jumped the train but could not hang on. Eventually neither could I and the moment I let go, I saw three riders ahead who I knew were also in my age group. They caught his wheel as he passed and every time they hit smooth single track or pavement they would grow the gap.  They were not able to hang on for too long, and slowly, especially in the technical sections, I would pull them in. Finally, I was able to pass them but they would be right back on my wheel as soon we hit those numerous short pavement sections, which quickly became quite demoralizing.  There was finally a long section of dirt w/ some short steep climbs  and fun challenging "whopty dos" (sp?) where I was able to get clear.  For the rest of the race I kept on switching places w/ a "kid" in the 19 to 29 age group until the finish where he pulled away.  Since this was only my second time finishing this course (dnf'ed last year after cracking my wheel landing a jump) it was really hard to figure out where I was and how much further I had left.  I was quite surprised when the trail suddenly came out of the woods and I found the finish line.  I was expecting at least another 4 miles to the course.  I also had no idea where I placed at all.  I was hoping for top 10.

After the race, Nate and I waited for the results to be posted but due to some snafu, they were still not posted after 2 hours, so we ended up leaving w/out being able to check.  I was texted I finished 5th which I was quite pleased with!  As I am typing this though, official results just got posted on the root 66 site, and I finished 4th!  Damn I am pretty happy w/ that.  Most importantly I was only 4 mins off from first place (as compared to 26 mins at the start of the season)!  I'll take that and that's not a bad way to close my first Cat 1 season!!!!

Lazy A** mofo and Mt Snow

Fine I have been one!  No blog update in too long.  My excuse is a good one though, as I just have been really busy at work and it's been impossible to find the time to write these reports (I am a pretty slow writer and I have to read things ten times to catch all the freaking errors I am leaving on these pages. I know, and even then there are plenty left..).  Too bad to, as I really wanted to write about my experience riding up the Tourmalet.  I know at one point I had some really good thoughts about the experience I wanted to get on paper, but they are of course gone.  So all I have to say about it at this time, is that is was just fantastic and am looking forward to do it again....and again....and again.  L'Etape du Tour is on my to do list as well.

As for the race reports, well there have been a few since last report: Mt Snow, Hodges Dam, Norcross Scury, Millstone Grind, and Windham, NY.   I went through a series of mechanical/dnf issues.  First there was Domnarski Farm in June, where I snapped my chain on the second lap and had to run/walk the rest of the course to finish DFL. Then there was Mt Snow....dnf, then Hodges...dnf, then Norcross...triple flat...there is a pattern here!!

MT SNOW:  DNF!!!!  It seems I am starting all these reports w/ excuses as to why I suck, or actually, don't suck and why it's not really at all my fault!   I keep on finding them, so it's working for me.  In this instance, I had gotten off the plane from a continent that had a six hours time difference two days before the race.  My excuse hence being Jetlag (made worse by a terrible night sleep the night before the race).  The course too for Mt Snow this year was especially brutal.  It had some long sections of really steep climbing on grass and loose fire roads w/ no brakes or relief.  I knew after the first lap that this was not going to be a good race for me at all.  I was able hang w/ the pack through the first climb but as we started to climb the long steep section where the "drummer guy" used to be in the hayday of mt snow, I was already starting to really hurt.  Not even done w/ the first lap and I was already dying!   Even after reaching the top and thinking the fun part was about the start, riding this "fun" technical part ended up not being so as I was just all over the course, or actually all over everything besides the course.  I was so slow people were passing me.  I pride myself in being able to pass people on the downhill sections dammit!  Too much air pressure in new tires I told myself.  Indeed riding slick roots and rocks on 40psi does not help.  On the second lap, letting out a 1/3 of the air did help in that section, but the climbing to get to it just killed me.  So much so I was ready to pull over, lay on side of the course in the fetus position, and never move again.  When I eventually got back to the start area,  I pulled myself out of the race.  I gave up!  The thought of having to do that climb one more time was making me want to sell my beloved mountain bike on the spot and call it quits forever! Often racing hurts, but it's a pain you push through.  At this race though, I could just not do it.   This was the first race EVER I have dnf ed due to not being able to hack it.   I still feel a little pang of shame to this day.  Cause of Jetlag of course!!!

In hind sight, I think another contributing factor was spending too much time on my road bike and no time on my mtb bike for the weeks leading up to Mt. Snow.  Two days after this race, I did a team road ride on a somewhat hilly course, and I killed all the climbs.  Weird!

Race Report: Providence Cyclocross race day 2: Master’s Cat 4

The day started w/ getting pulled over by the police not four blocks from my home.


I was of course running late, and was seriously speeding through the neighborhood without ever checking to see if there happened to be a cop around…since there normally isn’t! “Driver’s license and registration please”. At least he used please. Last month when I got pulled over, the cop used the F word a LOT and was sputtering and spitting he was so furious (that‘s a different story). “…you know you just went through two stop signs and were speeding don’t you?....U have a race?” I was in my full kit already. “yes officer, I was trying to make it for the start time in Roger William’s park” He took off w/ my paperwork and I was certain that was going to delay me too much for my first CX race. Yet he was back w/in minutes handing me my license, insurance, and registration. “you got a speeding ticket last month didn’t you? Where?” “In East Providence sir” “you know this ticket would cost you over three hundred dollars? But since this is the first time you get pulled over in this town, I’ll let you off w/ just a warning! Good luck on your race!” “Thank you officer, have a nice day!” What a nice bunch of guys our local cops!!!!

Since this was my first cross race, or even attendance, I had no idea what to expect. My USA license is good for cross…what da ya know… More expensive than mtb though. At the race I quickly found some team mates who are avid/dedicated/obsessive CX guys (like me w/ mtb). The advice was to practice remounting while running. A couple of tries showed me I needed to make sure I kept track of where my pedals were before jumping back on the bike. Also landing on my upper thigh on the saddle instead of the general taint area would most likely save me some serious pain. Obvious stuff but not a given. I did not get much of warm up and heard on the PA, this was the “last call” for my group. Crap! I was actually on the other side of the park still warming up. Made it just in time and since I was the last person to register, got called up last. The group looked big, and I was the only guy on an mtb.

Since I was having a pretty good mtb season, I had been told I would do quite well in cat 4 Master’s. Ugh, that was not pressure I needed, especially since I was now hanging w/ the roadies/cx guys on the team and had to show that my mtb results were no fluke or a sign that mtbers are not as fast as roadies. It’s already bad enough that cat "2" mtb is only really equal to cat "4" road.  40+ years old and crap like that was still going through my head… Anyways, I was looking to win this one (since I was expected to) and starting all the way in the back was not helping my pre race jitters. “Get to the front as fast as you can” came a seasoned team mate’s advice…

Off we went and a sea of cx guys was flooding the way. People were bumping into each other and cutting each other off. The start at mtb racing can also get a little hectic but there just are never this many racers vying for the hole shot. Also I am always lined up at the front getting the hole shot! As we cleared the pavement and funneled into the double track, people were crashing into each other and wiping out. Slowly I elbowed my way through the pack but was already completely red lining. Racing on my mtb was giving a little bit of an edge on the tight turns though as I could take the lines over the tree roots everyone was avoiding, and allowed me to pass a couple of racers. By the beginning of the second lap racers were starting to thin out and I felt like I had made up some good ground on the front. Sadly though, I had given it all that I had and had nothing more to give. There were a couple of guys in front of me, but I had lost contact w/ pole position. As we hit the pavement the second time around, I got dropped pretty quickly but fought my way back once back on the grass. At the start of the third lap, it was still the same three guys and I switching positions. Any time we hit anything straight they would pass but as soon as we entered the twistier track I would pass again. Eventually I was able to hold a slight lead to those guys but had no idea how many more racers were in front. I knew there were quite a few and that they were un-catch-able as the PA would announce them lapping while I was still quite far from the start/finish area. By the end of the second lap I was so far in the red that I could see through the fog that was forming in my brain, my team mate cheering me on, but could not register what he was saying. That was most likely a good thing cause I am sure he was hurling some insults to try to motivate me. In the end I was able to hold of those three guys and ended up placing 8th out of 58. Not first but not too bad for my first cross race.

My heart rate monitor showed that I hit 190 bpm 10 seconds into the race and never came down below that for the rest of the 34 mins race time. Most of the time it was hovering around 195! That is pretty intense and I definitely need to warm up a lot more next time…if there is a next time. I had a lot of fun, no doubt! It was a super twisty course that had some really good flow and was challenging. From that perspective, I would love to do another CX race. Yet on the other hand I am done w/ cycling for a while. It has been a long and hard mtb season, I am ready to spend some time sitting on the couch doing nothing or playing the wow 10 day demo I am downloading. Maybe even put on a couple of pounds…