tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323232622854138482024-03-07T15:25:55.631-08:00leg godtplay wellmatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-53262608280387633272015-10-12T15:36:00.000-07:002015-10-12T15:36:17.246-07:00Important thingsTwitter has slayed the blogging dragon. Damn shame too, I used to like to write in this spot. The ability to deliver snark in neat little messages, directly at the intended recipient is a strong drug, and I've get a Jones for it. Sorry readers.<br />
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So here we are two years on from the last post. Much has changed and in that, nothing has changed. The evolution is always offering up something new to process, some new challenge to consider, but there is always processing and considering to be done.<br />
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CX (racing) is taking a back seat this year for a long list of reasons too boring for me to write or for you to read. I want to want to (not a typo) race a more "complete" schedule, but I don't want to yet. Know what I'm sayin'? So I ride. In the woods with the dog mostly, and that's dandy. She's a 3 season trail dog: fall, winter, and spring. Completely useless in the summertime, it's just too hot. I've almost killed her twice, maybe three times by having her out when it was two warm. Like us, she hates the humidity. Learning process.<br />
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Parenting is getting harder, which seems unfair after 13 already pretty difficult years of it. Maybe we worry too much but they really are great kids and we don't to screw up now.<br />
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Hey if you come across this let me know. Wondering if I should pick this back up.<br />
<br />matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-41848102584688620412013-07-27T19:05:00.000-07:002013-07-27T19:05:35.582-07:00Fully recovered? Concussions are scary. For those that don't know I hit a tree I while racing my bike head on at the end of November 2012 and just started to feel normal at the end of April. I thought I was fine in January but looking back now I clearly wasn't.<br />
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Don't mess with that injury. Rest 4x as much as you think you need to. It'll be a shorter recovery in the long run.<br />
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I'm still taking anti-headache medicine, 8+ months out, and that hasn't prevented all of them. This experience has been all about learning how to deal with the limitations that this injury leaves you with, possibly for life.<br />
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Also, I learned about what a great group of friends I have here in the cycling community in New England. Thanks to you all.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-74816125120344580882012-10-05T07:14:00.002-07:002012-10-05T07:19:51.400-07:00introspectionI got to hand it to the <a href="http://www.gewilli.com/">big guy</a>... it's hard to keep up with a blog these days, never mind posting 2 or 3 times per day. He truly is the last of the dinosaurs... or the last unicorn or something.<br />
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<i>This year</i> is going to be about having fun. <i>This</i> <i>year</i> I'll skip one day at PVD, maybe both days at Noho, and at least one day at Sterling and free up time to get to Orchard Cross, Putney and Lowell. The contraction of the VERGE series has been great, no pressure to get points in VT or ME just so you're not 16th row at Gloucester: just line up by CR.com points and go. Love it. </div>
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<i><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Race Racaps:</span></u></b></i></div>
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Got to start this section off by mentioning the 2011 NECXSSWC held <i>last December </i>at the Ice Weasels. I had been riding better and better throughout the year, and the efforts were coming easier and easier. I had a good start at the Weasel and was in second behind Sean Mottram for a half a lap. Got past after the flyover and started to ride away a little. CJ Congrove was there, as was Curtis Boivin. The decisive moment in the race came a lap and half later, when Shawn went down taking out Curtis as well. I upped the tempo, CJ hung with me for four laps, then started to fade. I felt better with each pedal stroke and had enough of a gap to ease off just a bit for the last lap and a half to be sure I didn't crash. Winner winner, chicken dinner. </div>
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This season has been less than stellar. I followed last year's preparation pretty much to a tee but the legs weren't ready for the first races as they were in 2011. Also unprepared for 2012 was my brand new rear tire, which went flat at the first race (tire's fault), flat at the second race the next day (my fault), then went flat again this past saturday at Gloucester (I'm going with tire's fault on that one). So I stuffed that bad cat into one of those space-age envelopes for the post office and sent it off to Florida for new internals. I'm borrowing velocb's sweet FMB/grifo wearing R-SYSes, which I'm reluctant to ride in anything less than perfect conditions.</div>
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BOB SSCX: Started losing air in the rear tire halfway through lap two. Right in front of the officials, I dropped the bike, ran over to the car, grabbed the pump, and ran back to inflate the tire. It lasted another half lap, so I repeated that every time through the S/F area. This is not the way to get a good result. </div>
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PS: Future me: 42x19... would have loved a 42x18</div>
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Quad SSCX: Same shit different day. I thought I had addressed the leaking tire issue with some teflon tape, the damn thing went flat again. This time, pit wheels! But I was not happy so I soft pedaled for a bit before getting back on the gas. Another sub par result.</div>
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42x19 again, and again... would have loved an 18</div>
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SBC SSCX: Hells yeah. This race was what single speed is all about. On a geared bike, it's a watt fest, but with one gear, you can only go so hard. That tends to keep guys together, longer. From the start it was Mike Rowell, Doug Kennedy, Curtis and yours truly. It stayed that way throughout. Rowell got ahead by 5 bikes with a lap and a half to go and held it, but he was working hard as the three of us took turns at the front trying to get up to him. I was second heading into the sand on the last lap, about 50 seconds from the line. Doug made a sweet pass in the sand and had a nice remount to get a 2 second gap and hold it. Curtis pipped me at the post for third. The difference between 1st and 4th was just 5 seconds. When's the last time you saw that in a geared race?</div>
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That's it for now. Midnight ride and the two Gloucester race updates next. </div>
matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-16167839672079398792011-12-01T18:38:00.001-08:002011-12-01T18:54:59.680-08:00Quad CrossLife's been out of control lately, way more stuff coming at me than I have time to process. Things like sleep, quality time with my wife, and this blog are paying the price. It's 9:35 on Thursday night and I'm dedicating the next EIGHT WHOLE MINUTES to updating this thing.<br />
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By updating, I mean writing a race report on an event that happened 3 months ago.<br />
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Waaay back in September I drove out to... I forget where now... but it was some sort of Rod & Gun club (#TWSS) to race the first race of the year in the single speed category at Quad Cross. The last time I raced Quad Cross I was about to get beat down by Lynne Bessette but was spared that fate when I twisted my ankle wickid haad and had to go to hospital for medicine.<br />
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This year, Quad Cross was a true jungle cross course with lots of fresh cut sucky woods sections and a severely undersized field. Hey, racing is racing so why not have fun.<br />
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I have this habit of checking my skewers and valve caps on the line. Usually the official calls "one minute" loud enough for me to know how much time I have to walk through my little OCD routine, but on this day they were speaking softly or I just had manure for brains and I never heard it. So I'm standing there bent over my bike when I did hear the whistle and woosh... we (they) were off!!!<br />
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Not many races start with a flying right-hand side remount, but this one did for me. I was pumped up with adrenaline and quickly got through traffic and off towards the front. The course was very short... 5 minute laps short... and eventually took the lead half way through lap two. I felt great and started to pull away from everyone... except <a href="http://cyclowhat.com/">Chandler</a>. He wasn't making up ground, but at that point he was the only dude that was keeping pace. By lap three it was clear he was making up time and he blew by me half way through lap 4.<br />
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It was DAMAGE CONTROL time, I backed off for a lap or two and waited for the good sensations to return so I could make a run back to the leader. Looking at my watch after 5 or 6 laps I figured we had three to go as we had only been racing for 20 minutes. WRONG! I came through the finish line and they were ringing the bell for final lap. Crazy I tell you.<br />
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I chased, gained nothing, and finished second.<br />
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Boo hoo.<br />
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Time's up - I'm going to bed.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-20242459780343008652011-08-16T12:02:00.000-07:002011-08-16T12:59:47.425-07:0024hogg<div>I like my rides to be simple, confined events with a definitive start and end. Hard or easy, short or long, hilly or flat. Mostly that is unimportant to me. What is important is that there is a clear start and a clear finish. I'm pretty good at putting the rest together as long as I know when the gun is going to go off and where the finish line is.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Yeah that's not the best way to approach a 24 hour race. There is a clear start to the racing, but the preparation is as much a part of the event as pedaling the bike is. And the end? well, what is the end? You basically do a cyclocross race every three hours, and only until the last few hours are you clued in to when you may finally be done. Even then, teammates may not feel well or another team may be gaining on you so you got to dig deep and get ready to lay it down again. So the end and beginning aren't so neatly defined.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>People are surprised to learn about all of the strategy behind road racing, especially the grand tours, and there is lots of strategy around the 24 hour event. When to eat, when to sleep, should you take two laps, does someone need to go out for one last lap at the end or is the team right behind us going to bail on that last lap as well... all of these things cost some mental collateral. Pedaling the bike maybe the easiest part. Well not really.</div><div>
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<br /><div>This race starts on Thursday really, when you have to be sure to get a good night's rest. Then into Friday, you're stressed about clothing, rain gear, your camp set up, food for before during and after the event, and maybe trying to figure out when to make the drive. I was racing on a 5 person co-ed team with Mike Z, Nick M., Leah PB. & Chip B. I only knew of Leah a little and had never met Nick, so I wasn't sure how this was going to go down. Would they be fast? Well prepared? Would anyone get sick? Lots of unknowns, so I tried to focus on getting my stuff as tight as possible.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Mike Z & I caravaned up to Great Glen Saturday morning and arrived 90 minutes before the race. We skipped the rider's meeting and got the intel from teammates and our sister team of Colin R, Greg W, Kevin S & Mike W. These guys had done this before and knew all the secrets, like setting up your tent prior to your first lap.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Being a seasoned "triathlete" I was elected to take the first lap which began with a short run around a pond to stretch the field out. This run hurt bad, shot my heart rate through the roof, and I never recovered for the entire first lap. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>About that first lap.... I didn't get a pre-ride in, and that's probably for the best, because I would have faked a stomach bug or something and skipped out on the whole damn thing had I done so. The course started out going straight up hill for a mile: at first via a series of well intended switchbacks but eventually ended with a direct shot straight up the last 100 meters of the climb. It was like the trail builders got sick of cutting so much back and forth stuff and said screw it, let the bastards right straight up to the top. There was some sweet singletrack down from there and then several long section of fireroads, most of which were very fast. There was some fresh cut choppy singletrack mixed in here and there, and a leg breaking rocky climb about half way through each lap. The decent from this climb was awesome, not super technical but just bony enough to be fun and challenging. A final singletrack climb to a last drop and that was it: 8.3 mile laps with something like 1000 feet of climbing per. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>No one ever suggested to me that a single speed bike would be a suboptimal equipment choice.</div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWN7h5pUg5GalgbZZxkxOxlPg_t1ZQS1V-S-FiV44RPsBN2UlJzu-J9wH9wRVRyyA7oiveO-AS90VWZFq_NeVzDdSCcs4DfeTRb_0vG1FrUoWFnBQpDCHuzilFYkoOeOO_qwtN2UbiIXs/s1600/IMG_0589.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWN7h5pUg5GalgbZZxkxOxlPg_t1ZQS1V-S-FiV44RPsBN2UlJzu-J9wH9wRVRyyA7oiveO-AS90VWZFq_NeVzDdSCcs4DfeTRb_0vG1FrUoWFnBQpDCHuzilFYkoOeOO_qwtN2UbiIXs/s320/IMG_0589.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641532653942372738" /></a>
<br /></div><div>Half way through the first lap I was gassed and thought that there was no way I was going to do this even one more time, never mind 5 or 6. This was full on race pace and this course was hard. The singlespeed was badly overgeared for the climbs and worse yet undergeared for the flats. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>My teammates were awesome: totally supportive of each other and out there to give it everything they had. Zank cranked out a great second lap and it was on. Chip rocked the downhill on the team's lap three, and Nick M, racing his third mtb race ever, rode strong after that. Leah PB was the only woman riding a rigid singlespeed (BALLER) and she crushed it too. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Surprisingly, my second lap felt better than my first. Yes I had slowed down some but the ratio of feeling good to going slower was not direct. I didn't go much slower but man I felt a whole lot better. </div><div>
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<br /><div>So this whole race, rest, wait, check the time of your teammates, eat, try and sleep, get ready to ride, then head out again routine went on for 24 hours. We skipped some turns, made adjustments to the rotation, and tried to figure out how to have as much fun as possible while riding a bike in the woods of NH at 2:30 am. It wasn't that hard really, because the RAD factor for this race was off the charts. It helps that I love riding at night I suppose, it was a lot of fun to be ripping through the woods after midnight on a perfectly clear night with just your light and the sound of your bike to keep you company. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>The course at first bothered me. Not technical enough. But after a half dozen laps, you got to appreciate it for what it was, not what it wasn't. There were spots that challenged your mind and others that challenged your body. Will I make plans to go there to ride recreationally? Hell no, but in a race setting it was a great course. The fire road descent after that bony climb was worth the work to get there.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>We finished strong as a team and quit on our last lap as the sky opened up. Had the team behind us simply sent someone out for a final lap we would have lost 6th place but they were smart like us and got started on the celebrations a bit early.</div><div>
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<br /></div><div>Thanks to Mike, Chip, Leah & Nick for a great time. You guys were a great team and rode like champions individually. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>This one will be on the schedule again next year for sure.</div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-3558282118088817932011-07-27T19:28:00.000-07:002011-07-27T20:05:47.481-07:00Ideas Gone BadWhat I lack in blogging discipline I more than make up for in ability to come up with some really bad ideas. Those two things are not related in any way and the comparison is meaningless, but I managed to acknowledge my tardiness with this blog and segue into the ride report you're about to read in one short sentence. killer.<br /><br />So you have read <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2010/06/purgatory-road-race-recon-blog-form.html">before</a> how I feel central mass has some of the best cycling around. Our roads are great and lightly traveled by cars and thanks mostly to <a href="http://teambums.com/">team BUMS</a> and their trail making skills, the mountain biking is top notch. Earlier this year it occurred to me that a massive loop connecting all of the local trails would be a fun challenge (turns out I was half right there) and that someday I should talk some people into trying it with me.<br /><br />That someday was this past Saturday July 23rd. I got <a href="http://untilthesnowends.blogspot.com/">Colin</a>, Ronnie, <a href="http://madalchemy.com/">Pete</a>, Greg & Karen to join me for what I predicted would be 48 miles of trails connected by 20 miles of road . Karen made it clear from the start she was not doing the whole ride but only the first half... the easy half mind you.<br /><br />We rolled at 8:30 am and almost immediately got stuck in a heavy rain and thunderstorm. I think there it stopped and started 4 separate times in the first two hours, but it was better than the predicted heat. It was still a lot of fun through those first few sections which were mostly connected by dirt roads or trails rather than long sections of pavement. This was gonna be sweet.<br /><br />Or not. About 2.5 hours into the ride, our group was starting to get strung out a bit, and there was a clear reduction in the amount of talking going on. I mentioned this with a chuckle and no one laughed back because it wasn't fun or funny, and this ride was heading that direction too.<br /><br />We pushed on through 3 or 4 mechanicals (all Colin) and emerged from the Grafton Woods trails at about three hours in. Pete started to ask about the distance back to the house and Ronnie was having significant trouble keeping the grips on his new bars, which looked like something you'd see at the back of the head shop on Commercial St. in Provincetown if ya know what I mean. Colin asked what we all were thinking: "Is there some sort of rule that you can't run normal looking bars Ronnie?" HA! <br /><br />We pulled into trek stop for any needed service and everyone is good so I assume all but Karen and Pete are continuing. When they peel off just up the road from there, sneaky Ronnie Steers follows them with a wave and a huge grin signifying that his day is done. Smart fellow that Ronnie Steers. <br /><br />Lunch then three more trail systems where our primary motivation was to get to the damn reservoir at the end of the final section to take a swim. The rain was done for the day but it was getting hot and the horse flies were everywhere. These little effers have evolved to know that the back of your arms and the sides of your back are the perfect place to land and grab a chunk of flesh. I'm all sorts of chewed up back there.<br /><br />So we survive the ride, swim in the reservoir and make it home at 6:30 pm, 10 hrs total and 7 hours of rolling time later. The ride as presented by Strava is below.<br /><br />Now that this it's over, I have mixed feelings about how this all went down. Here they are in bullet form (copied from the wrap up email I sent the group): <br />-I'm glad I did it so that I don't have to wonder any longer if I can.<br />-Mtb riding is supposed to be fun. This ride stopped being fun (for me at least) at about the 3 hour mark. I wasn't tired as much as I was just tired of being on a bike. The trails we were on are enjoyable: I know this because I have ridden them many, many times and they are always interesting and challenging. After about three hours on Saturday, I just wanted to get it over with. That state of mind makes trails like these tedious and annoying.<br />-This ride destroyed me for a full 24 hours after we finished. I felt as though I had been on a 3 day tequila-fueled, sleep-deprived bender with mandatory mechanical bull rides every 15 minutes.<br />-During the course of the ride I consumed 2 full camelbacks of water, 2x20 oz vitamin waters, 2x20 oz poweraids, a cycling bottle full of Ensure, a (rather large) small buffalo chicken sub, some cheese fries... and still lost 4 lbs.<br />-The most epic part of my day may have been the chaffing.<br />-It was a huge relief to have everyone make it back with no apparent serious injury, though Colin's knee may not feel the same for some time.<br />-Unless there is a ground swell of enthusiasm for this I will not attempt this again. Just because these trails are all there so close together does not mean they should all be ridden in one day.<br /><br />I will surely host long mtb rides (20-30 miles) from my place in the future: just hit a couple of these venues and then retreat back to the house for some food and a few beers. In other words, keep it real. <br /><br />So in summary: this ride sucked. <br /><br /><br /><iframe height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='http://app.strava.com/rides/995047/embed/02530a1b6ffdd08d45b4cd710a83b008e0d9fc2f'></iframe>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-47584145799577921342011-06-03T20:08:00.000-07:002011-06-03T20:53:36.514-07:00Time LapseBang. Seven months are gone and not one new blog post. My life is so frickin' interesting I don't have time to even write about it. Envy me. <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"><</span>small talk>.... kids are good, Charlie's (finally) taken to hockey. phew. I was <i>really </i>starting to get worried there for a while. Not that I'd love him any less if he didn't play... Let's just leave it that I'm super-duper psyched that we have had the chance to skate together. If it all ended tomorrow, I would not be disappointed.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>He really does seem to like it, and he started up with it without my prodding. Maybe it'll stick.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cory is amazingly smart and not just at school. She deals with words and situations like an adult. To grown up in many ways, and that can get her in hot water from time to time, and that's when you're reminded that she's just a kid, and a little one at that. She has more friends than @charliesheen has followers (twitter reference).</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Somehow I managed to get talked into playing hockey again this winter... and it has been awesome. Ice is done but I'm filling in on an inline team. For 10 years off, it's not that bad. I can still keep up and even put a few in the net. </div><div><br /></div><div>Races singlespeed-a-palooza in April. What a great race. I got 13th in the pro division on a bike that was built (not assembled) less than 24 hrs prior to the event. Another beauty from <a href="http://www.zanconato.com/">mike zanconato</a>. The thing rides like a cross bike with a flat bar and suspension fork. It is very quick and you've really got to pay attention to it, this bike isn't for the nervous rider. Beginners need not apply.</div><div><br /></div><div>Backlog Race Reports:</div><div>Sterling Day 1: misplaced my mojo... suffered like a dog but maybe it'll be back tomorrow? </div><div>Sterling Day 2: felt better but not fast, mojo is totally MIA but at least I wasn't about to die</div><div>NBX Day 1: Holy shit my mojo moved to Flo-rida for the winter. Passed by Brant Hornberger of all people! (just kidding Brant, I still love ya) but I did suck.</div><div>NBX: Day 2: Better again (the magic of day 2 cross race after a tall glass of chocolate milk), but not the best race ever. At least I beat Brant.</div><div>Ice Weasels Single Speed: Best party all year. </div><div>Single speed a palooza: The first lap was hard. Really hard. It was super fast from the gun (as fast as a single speed down hill start can be) and after a 2-3 mile prologue to stretch things out we climbed a peanut buttery mud hill for a mile. I was waaay over my head. Completely shelled. But the rest of the lap was sweet and flowy and I recovered a bit. I was dreading that hill for the second lap, but I must have reseted enough because I felt great and made up a bunch of spots on the climb. I can also handle my bike, which many others could not. Made up more spots on that second lap and finished 13th, losing 12th in a sprint at the line to some guy running a 34/18. I has a 32/19. He should be ashamed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next up: Domnarski farm mtb thingy. I hope it is dry, that course would be a bear wet. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ciao </div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-27081650789763603892010-11-23T18:42:00.000-08:002010-11-23T19:53:02.945-08:00Shedd Park: 11.21.10It wasn't my idea to sign up for the P123 @ Shedd Park. My daughter was going to be singing at church that morning, precluding me from my usual master's field. The 3/4 was too early, so the only option was the main event. Gave me butterflies all week.<br /><br />Sunday morning heading into church I was delighted to learn that cherub performance had been cancelled. Now I was going to get my nuts squashed to oblivion for no good reason. Hooray.<br /><br />Nearly 50/50 split between scared/pissed, I did actually manage to get a good warm up in, getting to the racing part always helps. I think the key for me is to ride the course before the event I'm racing in starts for at least two laps, and get some hard race pace efforts in during that time. Then stay moving for the next hour, with perhaps a little effort if I didn't get one in on the course. I'm writing some of this stuff for the future me, who should do exactly what the current me has been doing this season... except for the tire thing. Get that sorted out earlier, ok future me? Great.<br /><br />After Adam Myerson bowled through the field from the back row at the start the rest of us were left to sort it out before the first bottleneck, a 180 us a small bump and around a tree. I think I was the last guy not to put down a foot, as there was a great deal of swearing and crashing sound coming from right behind me. The field was already split into two groups at the front, the first 7 and the next 7, and I was tailgunning this second group.<br /><br />The first ride up the main hill wasn't bad, neither was the speed out of it at the top. I know I breathe heavy but one of the B2C2 guys came up next to me and was panting like this:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/2172" frameborder="0" width="400" height="300"></iframe><br /><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/2172">soda's panting</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/crankbunny">normah</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p>I thought he was going to die.<br /><br />The split stretched out approaching the descent, but no one was getting away there, everyone was just trying to stay upright. As we came across the field to go to the second half of lap one, the guys I was riding with started attacking each other relentlessly. This continued for the first four laps. One guy would take a flyer, blow sky high and would come back. Then the next would go, and the next, until the first guy was ready to go again. They'd sit up on the track and look around at each other, and invariably someone would take the bait. I surfed the back and burned surprisingly few matches to stay in touch.<br /><br /><a href="http://cyclowhat.com/">Chandler Delinks</a> was in the group, and I wondered if I'd have to read about myself in his blog if we stuck together long enough. He was gone from my group before the end of lap 2 or 3, so I guess not.<br /><br />Synjen Marrocco got on the front for a long while, took some of the worst lines I've ever seen through the corners, and got dropped shortly after Chandler. That kid is strong but spent way too much energy getting back up to speed after each turn.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.backbaycyclingclub.com/">Greg Whitney </a>clipped a pedal, almost got thrown from his bike, and lost touch after hanging out for a while too. Either he or Mike Wissell took a sketchy inside line through a turn on me at one point, but not enough to complain about beyond what I just wrote.<br /><br />Cary Fridrich came through our group on lap three and made an attempt to get to the front group of 7 that was unsuccessful. He stayed 20 seconds away from then basically until the end of the race. Half way through lap 3 Toby Wells took off to join Cary, but never made it there. At the end of lap 4 there was some sitting up again on the track, and Sam Morse was the first to blink and he took off. He must have been getting antsy, because it seemed to me like this was all working out just fine with the youngsters kicking the shit out of eachother. Anyway, Wissell gave chase and I followed him.<br /><br />When Wissell pulled off and no one else came through the remants of the group slowed a bit and I knew that the kids were tuckered out from all that bike racing. I jumped across to Sam and right up to Toby, bringing only Chris Hamlin from UVM with me. The four of us reformed a group and started to pull away as the others faded back.<br /><br />With three to go Sam started to get gapped, and I let Hamlin and Wells do all of the work. Hamlin was strong in the corners, but Wells was so smooth and powerful... it was great to watch. *Man crush alert* He carried ridiculous amounts of speed through the fast turns, especially the downhill going towards the tennis courts. He was taking it very easy up the ride up though, and I thought for sure he was playing possum and would rip up that thing on the last lap.<br /><br />Hamlin's bike creaks like a rusty old wrought iron gate. Like he lubes his chain with salt water and beach sand.<br /><br />Half way through that 5th lap we were making ground on Cary when Hamlin sat up a bit. After a moment Toby said something about catching Cary and he went to the front, but the hesitation was enough to keep Cary away for good. Hamlin tried to go inside Toby in the woods before the track and I scolded him for it. Bad line, bad place to try to pass. Damn rambunctious kids and their helmet cam thingamajings.<br /><br />Just before two to go with Sam pretty far back I got to the front for a second time and put in one long pull on the track to see how much of the gap to Cary I could close down. We gained a little, but he was moving pretty good and we realized we weren't going to catch him.<br /><br />At the bell Hamlin was on front, and led us up the hill with a bit more speed. Toby didn't spring the attack I expected, and I was content to follow the two. Wells went to the front near the tennis courts and I didn't want to be third wheel, so I out broke Hamlin and got in between them. Wells attacked hard coming out of the forest of Lowellenburg and I matched, though we were careening through the woods so fast I didn't want to get to close for fear of slamming a rock.<br /><br />The accelleration did drop Hamlin and we came to the last few turns together. Being in front, Wells had the better line coming out of the woods and could start his acceleration sooner. He got a gap and held it to the line to take 9th. I'm happy with the 10th place (paid $20) and the best results point wise yet @238. If we had driven we probably could have caught Cary, but then again he may have been saving something in the event that we got any closer.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-66371217485529886612010-11-17T02:49:00.000-08:002010-11-17T05:31:33.441-08:00Putney: 11.14.10What’s more exciting than craps, slots, table games, sharing needles, unprotected sex and hipster parties combined? Day-of Registration Roulette. Now that deeper VERGE points and staging by crossresults.com rankings is commonplace, there is very little to get excited for in the build up to a cyclocross race as there was in the past. So I put a little excitement back into the registration process by spinning the DORR wheel.<br /><br />Racers... Do you have a few options for the DLR coming up this weekend? Have you got Masters, 3’s, 123’s fields available to you? Before deciding, be sure to check the payouts, registration fees, and most importantly… check that pre-reg list and find out who you will be racing… it’s mostly correct.<br /><br />Promoters really can have fun with this... .Have you got a number in mind that you need to reach to break even? You should worry, because while the DORR almost always rewards you with ample Day-of registrants to push you over the top, one cold or rainy day could sink you faster than the <a href="http://www.gewilli.com/2010/11/35-years-today-edmund-fitzgerald.html">Edmund Fitzgerald</a>.<br /><br />This past weekend at Putney I got caught staring into the sun that is the pre-reg list for Putney. Elites (2:30 pm, cost: $30, pays $500 seven spots deep, <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/?n=racers&sn=pred">ROP</a> had me around 4th) or Master’s 35+ (11:00 am, cost: $25, pays $135 five spots deep, ROP has me around 3rd)? I was sure that the DORR wheel would land on Jeff Molongoski and Eric Gutbier for the 35+ field, perhaps Toby Wells and Al Donahue for the Elites. Oh the pressure!<br /><br />In the end, the decision was easy. I raced the 35s because I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to tailgate for 3+ hours afterwards. The fact that I had beaten the two guys that were predicted to finish ahead of me the weekend prior helped too.<br /><br />So I hedged my bets and sure enough, Molongoski shows up. He’s 45+ now though, maybe he’s doing that group. In a word, no. Frantically scanning the parking lot for other DORRer’s I spot a guy in a spiffy Cannondale team kit. That’s none other than Johs Huseby! Sweet!<br /><br />I started on the left side and at the whistle Johs comes through me bumping and grinding like a teenager on roofies and I settle in around 8th wheel. Johs and Jeff M. were doing all of the work up front, and the only difficult parts were catching back on after the log run and barriers during the first lap. I think the whole field came to the run together… it certainly sounded like it behind me.<br /><br />First time up that hill and Johs schools us on how to run. He had 10 bikes by the top and we darted across the gap. These little efforts came easier to some than others, and I jumped across when I had to to stay on. Still, through three entire laps the lead group had whittled all the way down to… at least 10 guys. Including ***. That gives you an idea.<br /><br />Sheldon Miller (the pre-race ROP favorite) mentioned that there was a lot of looking around going on (which was fine with me) just as Steve Roszko rolls up and animates things a little bit. Nothing really came of that, but I think it woke people up because we started to go just a bit faster and after the 4th lap the group was down to 6 with Johs, Jeff, Sheldon, myself, Stephan Marcoux and Dave Connery gapping the others.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIvM5jC_N8lqFX5XtSyhyphenhyphenUjLZCN9b_F1F3dNOurcrNbnEfk15hvp8Gc5eumUhEjvNfQtOKt3ojD03GDZyTpMaxLCJfFvnikQAc0qQlm4FrL6odkN36hKlZozwiga3S2GAjsLZIFAiM0k/s1600/Putney+20100001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 285px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540469223885658866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIvM5jC_N8lqFX5XtSyhyphenhyphenUjLZCN9b_F1F3dNOurcrNbnEfk15hvp8Gc5eumUhEjvNfQtOKt3ojD03GDZyTpMaxLCJfFvnikQAc0qQlm4FrL6odkN36hKlZozwiga3S2GAjsLZIFAiM0k/s320/Putney+20100001.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Here's Stephan folloging my PRO line off the dirt and in the grass. photo courtesy of eyebob<br /></span><br />During that lap Connery takes off, and someone says “pay no mind to him, he’s not a threat.” Ouch. Worse that he said that or that I’m repeating that here for everyone to see?<br />Sure enough Dave was back and finally someone other than Johs leads into the run, meaning there was no mad sprint at the top. Two to go.<br /><br />Sheldon hit the gas at the top of the run and I was able to stick with him pretty well. I thought for sure that Johs or Jeff would try and come around me to get better positioned for the turns at the top part of the course, but they did not, and when Sheldon rode the log hill I followed. He punched it towards the parking lot and I gave chase, airing it out in spectacular fashion over the jumps behind the shop. We caught him after the downhill but he never slowed down. Looking back it was only Jeff and I that had made it. One of us should have gotten in front but we didn’t, and Miller never slowed down. He scampered up the run and attacked again, forcing us to chase. Same thing on the logs. He kept finding strength to go hard all around the course. We would catch, he would go.<br /><br />After negotiating some lapped riders we were on his wheel with a half a lap to go but he got a small gap on the barriers and kept the heat on. Jeff was chasing but this time we weren’t making up ground, so Jeff sat up. I should have done the same and let Jeff lead me down the road to the run and then passed him just before but I didn’t… I wanted to try and make the bridge to Sheldon and didn’t want to get caught by anyone behind. I drove to the hill and Jeff came around at the base. He held me off at the top and took second by three bikes with Sheldon winning 10 lengths ahead.<br /><br />So the ROP had me in 3rd but Marcoux was replaced with Molongoski. Huseby ended up 4th, which was a shock to me. I’m pleased that I earned my entry fee back and was able to race with Molongoski, who I haven’t been able to stay with for the past few years, including<a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2009/11/putney-west-hill-shop-cyclocross-11109.html"> last year at this very race.</a> It was all pretty easy too… like other races this season I’m working hard (well, for the second half of this one at least) but am not totally blown at the end.<br /><br />Apres-ride Jim Airgood and his wife Gwen brought chili, cornbread, pulled pork, and ribe. I had all of it… and a few cups of Opa Opa Octoberfest as well. We fed the 3/4 field cookies and the elites beer. We were worried a bit about what the USAC official (who was standing right there during the feeds) would think of these shenanigans but he was very cool indeed. He was even cheering on racers that were taking the hand ups. Someone accidentally chucked a cup right at him, but he thought the whole thing was great and even told stories about it to the other officials. Questionable move right there.<br /><br /><a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2010/11/friends.html">As stated </a>the best part of the day was getting to spend a few hours with Chip and Dave driving up to VT. Chip had his best race of the year and Dave took second over Keith Gauvin… a friend of mine from Master’s racing and…. another DORR entrant.<br /><br />Damn that day of registration!!!</div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-11133871360955143622010-11-16T18:49:00.000-08:002010-11-16T19:02:01.247-08:00Friends<p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">I got it.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">It’s about friends. Seeing the old ones, learning more about the new ones, and the potential of adding to your collection every weekend.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">That’s it. I wouldn’t go to these races just to race. Wouldn’t be worth the time or expense. Once you’ve done a race and see the people, you want to hang out, experience what everyone else is, get familiar. So you train, glue tires, swap parts, join a team… though that hardly matters. You race hard, bump elbows, sit on, attack, and flop on the ground after the line. You have a beer, exchange some swag, bring some cupcakes and steal someone else’s.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">Here’s the latest development…</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">I had the pleasure of driving up to the Putney West Hill Shop race with two first class NECX hombres, <a href="http://velocb.blogspot.com/">Chip B.</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhFtmWcKwjDF97DOquWyV80iIeErgmRXRM2gdOy3RVV1xVR_9p2aIkHT7oeuXA_fnTdjZN43rqUcgosIoCG7bx-lQBKWx6r0SX6vOqLpaLwNG47NG6eV2lUvT51VWF-7ZehEV0gB8pT4/s1600/Wilcox+Murphy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://euphoriabeforetotalimplosion.blogspot.com/&usg=__BJVnNqsD1dWEam_KXMcKu7WHv3o=&h=430&w=640&sz=67&hl=en&start=0&sig2=l5m8QGdQYVhAwCj_eMLUhQ&zoom=1&tbnid=SjcLQC6J2fa3CM:&tbnh=155&tbnw=217&ei=mUPjTLbnM8H78Ab97Y3YDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddavid%2Bwilcox%2Bcyclocross%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1282%26bih%3D623%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=969&vpy=93&dur=753&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=143&ty=143&oei=mUPjTLbnM8H78Ab97Y3YDA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0">David W.</a> From the outside, you’d never think to put those two together. Chip’s a 45+ mini-van driving stay-at-home dad with a couple of kids living in the suburban sprawl of Needham. Dave’searly 30's guy working "in the biz" and living in a house full of friends. Chip’s conversational and extroverted, Dave’s slightly more soft spoken and reserved. Chip sports a puffy, Dave’s all wool. Chip fights it out in the B master’s fields, Dave’s one of the best local elite racers around. Ok… there is some commonality there... Both Chip’s and Dave’s races feature a lot of carbon wheels, but for different reasons.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">I’m really just getting to know these guys this year, though it’s been plain to me for a long while that they are both good people. I jumped at the opportunity to carpool to the race because of the stark differences in outward appearances and lifestyles between the three of us.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">Getting to learn about Dave’s NJ upbringing and how he made it to Boston was great: an interesting story told by a guy with a heard of pure gold. Chip lived in Cali for years, and some of the stories he had about people he met and the way life was out there were fascinating.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">So three guys with tremendously different backgrounds climb into a van… and the conversation came easily. We covered Noho, Putney, Gloucester. Racing in snow, cold, rain. NBX. PDX. PVD. Tom Stevens courses. Steel and aluminum. Tube construction, skinsuits, food, training, east coast vs. west coast, mint Newman O’s. Kids, soccer, reading. Injuries, work, parents. Training. Fitness. Goals and aspirations. Strategies, victims, results. Texting. The van was full of love for riding… and racing… with a common tie of cycling in general.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; "></p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">I’m never less than amazed about how many really good people I have exposure to every weekend. The one person that I encountered this season that I though to be less than friendly walked straight up to me one week later and formally introduced themselves, started asking about my race, shared their thoughts on a particular line that we were watching people try to ride, and was basically over the top nice.</p><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; ">Thanks to all my friends in NECX, even the ones I haven’t met yet.</p>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-31253046145581350272010-11-12T13:21:00.001-08:002010-11-12T13:30:29.187-08:00CSI Northampton Day 2: 11.7.10<div align="left">SLURRPPP! That's the sound of me riding behind anyone and everyone this past weekend. I really do wish I had the power/ability/courage to get in front of a group and drive it for some reason other than to slow the pace down, but that just isn't what works for me. I know that riding from the back is harder out of the turns but gawd damned I love to hide as much as possible. I don't even think it is the draft really, because there has got to be a pretty minor advantage in sitting on, especially when you consider how hard it is to get back on a group after a corner. I think it is psycological. Sitting in gives me comfort. It lets me know that I'm able to hang out. When I'm on the front, I'm constantly thinking that I'm not going hard enough, and that the others are sure to come around me at any time.<br /><br />Day 2 at CSI a plan was hatched to grab some food and drop me at the venue so the kids could go back to the pool for a final swim before checking out. Worked like a charm. Kids got to swim and I was there early enough to ride the course twice before really starting my warm up. At some point during the undressing-dressing process a little too much skin was exposed, though I was unaware of it at the time. <a href="http://velocb.blogspot.com/">Chip </a>had to see it. Sorry pal. My folks were up to see the race as well, a great treat that I did not expect. It was kind of weird hearing my mother cheering for me using my college nickname.... ;)<br /><br />Let's go racin'!!!<br /><br />The left side worked so well at the start the previous day that naturally I lined up on the right. Same third row start but it was nice getting the call up. The herd seemed to be thundering a bit more ferociously on day two, everyone must have been all excited to be first to get to the button hook>run/ride up thing. The leaders were two turns ahead of me when they got there and I saw <a href="http://jonnybold.blogspot.com/">JONNY BOLD</a> (that's two hyperlinks to JONNY's blog in two posts... I'm starting to act like <a href="http://www.gewilli.com/">GeWilli</a>) was going to be first to the hill. Surely he would win the day now, because riding the hill clean was clearly the best way up it, right? Apparently JONNY didn't think so, or he wanted to keep it fair, or something... he unclipped and ran from the front of the race. No consequence to me, just thought it was odd.<br /><br />By the time I got to the buttonhook the boys were running it, and as I stepped off my bike behind Ryan LaRoque his rear wheel kicked up and caught me in the groin. Not felled by searing abdominal pain (it was merely a flesh wound) I ran around the scrum and towards the hill proper. To my left someone fell on top of someone else, and I believe this shot was taken right at that precise moment.<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-rrhMeSn4amtNA_s2V8x0KloqykCpwlYPdxO9Va1HmLZ7RrJTkZg0GmbSE3PgMTi19fjWAy97EN4ORrLWa9OLzckVaUtozK1uKGI4x46IxFMuxEL2-MxQZZE2mFVYCfmT7LPG2oih7M/s1600/150027_464416937512_209895912512_5973252_6424457_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538776685201653026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-rrhMeSn4amtNA_s2V8x0KloqykCpwlYPdxO9Va1HmLZ7RrJTkZg0GmbSE3PgMTi19fjWAy97EN4ORrLWa9OLzckVaUtozK1uKGI4x46IxFMuxEL2-MxQZZE2mFVYCfmT7LPG2oih7M/s320/150027_464416937512_209895912512_5973252_6424457_n.jpg" /> <p align="left"></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">ewww... boys touching boys! photo courtesy of doublehop</span><br /><br />Up the hill we go and I'm in that high teen position again and feeling really great. Kevin Hines was hanging out with us, as were some of the bikeman.com dudes. The second day's course at Noho is great, as you get all of the rooty turns out of the way all at once. That root section is also a great place to rest and work on being as smooth and fast as possible. Before I know what's going on Hines is gone, and not just pulling away... like so far ahead that I can't spend the time or effort to look around for him... and he wasn't out of the race (yet) either.<br /><br />I lost contact with the front of the race on the field on that first lap, though I'm not sure how or when. Actually, i'm sure it was because I suck. What was undeniable was that I was now IN THE WIND and wanted to GET OUT ASAP!<br /><br />I was taking on water fast and LaRoque and Sheldon Miller were chugging up to me. I heard Zank tell me to keep the pressure on, and I did manage to stay in front of them half way through lap two. Wanted to make it seem like I wasn't imploding, which I thought I was. Coming into the fields for the second time I had found my happy place, surfing behind Sheldon and Ryan. The three of us moved along at a nice pace, and half way through lap 3 we caught and passed Bill Shattuck and added Aaron Millette to our party.<br /><br />Laroque was running the barriers like a gazelle on the left side and he opened up a miserable gap each time through that part, causing us to sprint to catch back on. Miller rode the power sections well but was checking the brakes a bit to much for my liking in some of the turns that you really didn't need to slow at all. I encouraged him to let it flow. He later called me a back seat driver (only half-jokingly).<br /><br />With two and a half laps to go we caught <a href="http://madalchemy.com/">Pete Smith</a> when he dumped his bike in the sand. He had been shed off of the group fighting for 10th but made us pay for ridig with him by laying down a serious pull through the start finish line. He never got out of the saddle but pulled away from me like he was sprinting. Sheldon and Ryan came around and I was fine with that... fill in the gap please! At the run up Pete was leading and like JONNY BOLD he unclipped and started to run, forcing us to do the same. He's a clever little devil.<br /><br />Millette and Shattuck started to fall off our pace around that time, and Miller seemed to be really trying to get away. Out of the sand with one to go he got a big gap and his teammates were screaming at him to go go go! Pete and Ryan worked hard though and brought him back by the bell.<br /><br />Somehow I ended up in front of the group around the turns near the pit. There were four of us fighting it out for 14th place, and coming into the buttonhook I thought about pretending to start a dismount then clipping back in quick and riding away. Just as I'm about to unclip LaRoque says "we're riding this right Matty?" and I lost all desire to be a prick to my freinds. We were a long way from the finish too, so I'm sure I would have done more harm than good in terms of pissing them off and loosing any sort of gap I could have possibly gotten anyway. We rode the hill (Pete ran and never lost any ground) and started the root section for the final time. Somewhere in there Sheldon lost contact and Pete was tailgunning. To the barriers I took the far left to steal Ryan's favorite spot, and while he did get past me, it was much easier to stay with him afterwards. Three of us hit the sand together and Pete got a bit hung up, loosing two or three bike lengths on the exit. Ryan led it from there to the line, taking 14th and opening up a huge gap over me in the sprint. I held of Pete for 15th, he had burned a lot of matches to get back on after the sand pit bobble but still almost got around me.<br /><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7lnk7v1LxNBZtMvLxcHz7RsgBCO76HgZZ-L6rUzko119z8xjEfXypPe_lqIflctChipiWqNiYPtdkMu1g2iXwl9wApgFuSc7LQ5Z45tlrsuywc4JkAvllySTT7gIOD4G8qVc3XHv0_c/s1600/CJ.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538776680590881714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7lnk7v1LxNBZtMvLxcHz7RsgBCO76HgZZ-L6rUzko119z8xjEfXypPe_lqIflctChipiWqNiYPtdkMu1g2iXwl9wApgFuSc7LQ5Z45tlrsuywc4JkAvllySTT7gIOD4G8qVc3XHv0_c/s320/CJ.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">"in the draft" photo courtesy of Lynn Lameroux</span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span>Charlie did another kids race and it was a nailbiter, though I've got to tell him to look forward and chase that guy instead of worrying what is going on behind him. He was moving faster than the day before and going into the final turn he was second. He took first with a sweet inside line. The thrid place rider came over the top on everyone and took the win at the line.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-50248311003486587352010-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:002010-11-09T09:24:39.676-08:00CSI Northampton: 11.6.10<div align="left">Last year I missed <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2009/11/nogo-for-noho.html">Noho </a>thanks to the H1N1 virus.... remember that little special friend? I know Kurt Perham does. With no avarian flu or rhinovirus lurking in our home 2010 would be different, and in more ways than one. We crossed a threshold as a family this weekend, actually paying for a room for just the four of us. No sleeping on the floor, no driving hours upon hours back and forth from home just to save a some money... we actually opened the wallet... err... bad choice of metaphors... opened the checkbook.... and made a weekend out of it.<br /><br />It was worth every penny.<br /><br />Rewind to last week. There were no rooms to be had in Northampton as late as Thursday. UMass Football, a lacrosse tourney, and "some bike race thing" (direct quote from hotel reservationist) meant that the best rooms were down in Springfield. Buahh... I got myself on a waiting list and crossed my fingers. At 1:20 pm on Friday, the call came... I was in at the <a href="http://www.clarionhotel.com/hotel-northampton-massachusetts-MA117">Clarion</a>, the hotel with the indoor pool. Sealed the reservation with the credit card. Daddy just hit one out of the park!<br /><br />I went to a meeting at 2 pm Friday, returned to my desk at 3 pm, then got ready to leave at 5 pm. Hey... where's my wallet? I looked for an hour and finally left without it. Turns out my wallet pulled a Thelma & Louise and made a break for it. Must have got bored just driving around though because it went on a little shopping spree too, to the tune of $2300 in electronics from Best Buy, Target, Game Stop... all of my favorites!!! Of course, I wasn't buying any of this stuff so it wasn't so much fun for me. Hopefully the thief enjoys their time with the stuff, because Commerce Security is on the case. I'd rather have the FBI looking for me if I did something wrong. These guys mean business.<br /><br />What is the first order of business when your wallet gets stolen the night before a weekend away at a race half way across the state? Print a permission to ride form of course! I've got no printer at home so Zank hooked me up with the official stuff. Zanks alot! Everything else can, and would have to, wait.<br /><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/56081639" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br />After two days of steady rain the course was damp in spots Saturday morning but drying out nicely. I pre-rode after the 8:30 race and again after the 9:30 and the difference was significant, but things were still to soggy to go with my beloved file treads. The <a href="http://www.bikeman.com/">Bikeman.com</a> guys hooked me up with a bit of sealant for my moody rear Fango and I was off to the starting grid.<br /><br />Being my first VERGE races of the year, I didn't have points and thus got no call up at staging. I was apparently <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2008/12/nbx-day-2-12708.html">the fastest guy without a VERGE point once again</a>, as my number was the first one called by crossresults.com rankings after the VERGE point holders were placed. I had let <a href="http://partyattheback.blogspot.com/2010/10/verge-points-and-downeast-day-1.html">Hopengarten play with that title</a> long enough and I was glad to have it back, even if only for 45 miuntes. Ohh, the foreshadowing!!!<br /><br />At the whistle I moved up the left hand side quite nicely, as the elongated starting chute afforded the opportunity to move up by braking late. Like those people who try to merge into a backed up off ramp by riding along side all of the suckers who played nice and stayed in queue. At the first hard left hander I had the inside line, and much like <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2010/10/gloucester-weekend-102-10210.html">Gloucester Day 1 </a>I drove past the post, then turned left and gained a ton of spots by using my body and bike as a gate around which "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXY9TuuwyL8">None shall pass</a>!"<br /><br />The trip through the top half of the course on the first lap was strange. Very easy going, there were just so many people and the lines were too tight to really try and move up. I took the opportunity to recover from the starting effort and think about where I would need to start spending energy. The turns down in the field were so flowy and fun, you could pedal them and really push the traction to the edge while making up time. That's where I started to really mash away on the pedals, and I was happy with my position in the field after having picked up a few spots towards the end of the top rooty section.<br /><br />Things really got sorted out about half way through the second lap near the barriers. John Foley was about 5 seconds behind a group with Kurt Perham, Pete Smith, Ryan Rumsey, Al Starrett and Bill Shattuck, and I was about 5 seconds behind him. Through the sand I managed to catch John, and I rode his wheel through the end of the that lap and half way through the third. I told him that I'd take a turn at the front, and I led us around for about 3/4 of a lap at a much more manageable pace. John apparently had enough of my ridiculously slow pace and got to the front. He took the opportunity to remind me that this was a bike race and that we were supposed to be going fast. So sorry, my fault. My legs was howling in pain and I was breathing like an excited puppy. People around the course were telling us that we were fighting for 14th. This was great news. I thought that even getting 15th would be a big win for me... a few years ago <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/?n=racers&sn=r&rID=260">top 20 in a VERGE</a> race seemed like a pipe dream, and the <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2008/09/catamount-cyclocross-92708.html">only time I cracked the top 20 </a>I was out of the points at the time. I started to think about the worst thing that could happen while following John... really I could blow up sky high and still get top 20. What did I have to do to avoid that? Suck wheel as much as possible. Don't crash. Don't flat. In other words, play it safe. I don't think that is a good way to contest a bike race, I'll have to ask <a href="http://jonnybold.blogspot.com/">JONNY BOLD </a>next time I see him.<br /><br />The rest I got while leading helped, so when John got back up there I was able to hang with him for two more laps, not willing to repeat the mistake of getting in front again. In retrospect, I believe we could have caught that group if I hadn't taken 7 minutes of racing off: if I had drilled it we could have bridged up to them. I really have to start thinking that the race is ahead of me to go and chase after and not behind me waiting to pounce. John would charge hard out of the corners, open a small gap, and I'd roll back up to him and sit in time and time again. That may be smart racing, but it isn't going to ever get really exceptional results.<br /><br />For the last two laps the group ahead began to break apart, with Rumsey and Starrett drifting back towards us. By that time there wasn't enough race left to catch them though, and both John and I noticed that Brian Rutter, Ryan Laroque and Aaron Millette had formed a little chase group behind us. The gap to them wasn't growing and may have been shrinking. When I saw Rutter on the front I wasn't terrible worried, but with 1.5 to go Laroque took up the chase and I went into panic mode. This caused me to muff the second to last trip through the sand, and Foley got away by 6 bike lengths. I burned matches to catch back on in the windy field section, and enjoyed a draft back through the start/finish to the bell. The effort to catch back on cost me though, and John dropped me quickly up the run. He stacked it up after the off-camber descent which got me back on his wheel, but ever-cool and very strong he kept me behind him the rest of the way and easily beat me in the sprint, taking 14th while I rolled for 15th.<br /><br />I've not got some legitimate, old school VERGE points. None of this top 25 get points... top 15 like back in the say (2008). I was very worried early on the season about my preparation for these races, granted I had some mechanical issues but even on the days when I didn't things weren't great. It seems as though it just took some time for the high-intensity stuff to come around, and I'm feeling pretty good during these races. I went as hard as I could, but I wasn't completely blown afterwards either. Didn't even consider doing the nordic flop to the ground. Maybe there is another gear down there, just waiting to be used. We'll have to see...<br /><br />Charlie raced the kids race and finished 3rd, looking over his shoulder the entire time just like his dad. He was excited to race and made fast friends with the other kids that were out there to race as well.<br /><br /><iframe height="548" src="http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/56081637" frameborder="0" width="465"></iframe><br /><br />yes, I made him wear the garmin.<br /><br />We went to Spoleto's for some decent Italian food and then dropped into Raven books because Charlie wanted to check it out. I'm thrilled that this kid loves to read so much. We were working on a strictly cash basis so I bought him a $1 Hardy Boys mystery and an old copy of Alice in Wonderland for Cory. The kids loved the city, saying it wasn't too big like Boston nor too small like Sutton. We returned to the hotel and spent a relaxing two hours at the indoor pool before turning in. </div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-46169197917737475992010-11-01T17:48:00.000-07:002010-11-01T18:50:29.976-07:00Canton Cup: 10.30.10Writing this race report is going to be the highlight of my day. Pretty exciting huh? Aspire to be a middle-aged (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">omg</span>), middle class, middle manager with kids in <del>middle</del> elementary school... I dare ya! Everything about me is defined by mediocrity, so lets got to another average race report. I bet you'll give it a B.<br /><br />Somehow I missed Canton last year. I recall that our friend Terry was in town that weekend as we all went up to <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2009/11/putney-west-hill-shop-cyclocross-11109.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Putney</span></a> which was the day after. Canton is a good race with nice long laps and lots of pavement. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Yay</span>! It also has three sets of barriers, a log, a run up (see below) and lots of wind. Boo!<br /><br />I slept like horse <a href="mailto:cr@p">cr@p</a> Thursday night, two nights before the race. Bad sign. The sleep you get two nights out from an athletic event is always the most important. Friday night was better but not great. My expectations were low for a good performance.<br /><br />Wrangling a family into the car for these things should be it's own competition. Lunches, coats, gloves, snacks for the ride, toys, wheels, bikes, crayons, water, shoes, helmets... <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">some one's</span> got to keep track of it all. We always forget something.<br /><br />Prior to the start I had this conversation with Peter <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sullivan</span>:<br /><br />PS: Have you seen that log?<br />Me: yup<br />PS: Should I hop it?<br />Me: If you're asking, the answer is no.<br />PS: Are you going to hop it?<br />Me: yup, but I don't think you should if you're not sure.... (pause) Hey! You could try blasting right through it though, the right hand side looked rotted out a bit. You'll be fine!<br /><br />We both got a lousy start, swarmed by the charging mass. I found myself behind a few dudes who could. not. race. bicycles. Thankfully they were so bad I got past rather quickly. It's hardest to pass someone who isn't good but thinks that they are. They may be alright, or not too bad, but in a strong-enough-to-be-dangerous kind of way. Anyway, these fellas at Canton sucked and must have known it because they didn't make it difficult to go around. Sucked is a relative expression here of course. I realize that I suck too. Just not as much as these guys did. When compared to me. They sucked.<br /><br />Peter came around after a few turns and tried to get by an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">MRC</span> rider who decided to defend his position. They almost killed each other as spokes and derailleurs came together to hang out. Peter had to slow to fix a dropped chain I think, and off we went.<br /><br />In the field I couldn't help but notice a very low flying helicopter that seemed to be rather interested in our race. Had to be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Domnarski</span>. Any lower and the wash from the rotors would have blown up stuff. That aircraft has a super nice camera, and he took a sweet <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=457927459126&set=a.378889834126.159914.786084126">photo </a>of the group right ahead of me.<br /><br />For a lap I worked around the guys in the low teens and found myself around 10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span>. I got past Wade Summers and Doug Kennedy and set my sights on Mike <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Rowell</span>, who was fading back to me. Somewhere during lap two I noticed the Peter Sullivan was no longer behind us. I caught Mike at the end of two laps and we got the two to go card. I was feeling just fine and was hoping to work with Mike to catch the group in that photo.<br /><br />Half way through lap 3 I saw Peter on the side of the course right after the log. He can't recall what happened and no one saw it. So the official story is that he tried to hop the log, not smash through it like I had suggested.<br /><br />Approaching the track I offered to take the lead from Mike and he agreed. We were pulling Pete Smith in quickly. Here's the run up...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UXDXHEHrYc3ccEMMLIAfAdi8ieRH9uLS3xZb68Cydm0v8UYRo8UxavQRmBqmFGgcwuRvHrWlRMyNg7CjyHHEdarhUNBf19hRGY_vEjHC9ufclibjTkpYKKujgW-kEvuGgMgI3f7Nc0I/s1600/DSCF3281.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534029762232250210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UXDXHEHrYc3ccEMMLIAfAdi8ieRH9uLS3xZb68Cydm0v8UYRo8UxavQRmBqmFGgcwuRvHrWlRMyNg7CjyHHEdarhUNBf19hRGY_vEjHC9ufclibjTkpYKKujgW-kEvuGgMgI3f7Nc0I/s320/DSCF3281.JPG" border="0" /></a> ... and here's us getting ready to connect with Pete.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rCjB4n5F0xRw98PquPrLZdYeGkEgQjVz51X58WPxCOyS9yAGZg56PN93IxLZ9oIDcdIO2UPvUPg09vdMzKDZSB0VzAn_uQ-JU-HpuFKAfutMQ3tBv9ZzrPiRWp_ual2y_Mr7mM0fut4/s1600/DSCF3282.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534030356190967170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rCjB4n5F0xRw98PquPrLZdYeGkEgQjVz51X58WPxCOyS9yAGZg56PN93IxLZ9oIDcdIO2UPvUPg09vdMzKDZSB0VzAn_uQ-JU-HpuFKAfutMQ3tBv9ZzrPiRWp_ual2y_Mr7mM0fut4/s320/DSCF3282.JPG" border="0" /></a> Approaching the start finish I tell Mike "let's go! let's go!" just as the head official steps out onto the road, holds up two fingers and says "you got two more laps, not one... two." <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Ok</span> then "alright Mike let's back it down a bit."<br /><br />I laid it down a few turns later in the field and Mike and Pete rode away from me. Peter faded from Mike's wheel and I was about to catch him at the bell when I tripped over the barriers near the pit in front of the entire next race. Awesome! Cemented in my spot, I took the last lap off and rolled in 10<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">th</span>.<br /><br />The kids made friends with a fellow master's kids, which is a promising development. I feel like they were on a first date and everything went well. Hoping that we'll just "bump" into them at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Noho</span>. The prospect of having something to do other than watch me ride my bike around in circles for an hour is equally appealing to them I'm sure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.gewilli.com"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">GeWilli</span> </a>was giggling like a little school girl at the registration tent. Why? He had <del>cornered</del> found <a href="http://jonnybold.blogspot.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">JONNY</span> BOLD</a> and was (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">undoubtedly)</span> talking his ear off. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">GW</span> showed me the pint glass that he had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Jonny</span> sign for him. Christ... Next time you should see if he'll sign your knee pads. Have some self respect man. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Jonny</span>... please... be careful with his heart!matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-47807738901972520732010-10-28T18:30:00.000-07:002010-10-28T19:13:25.126-07:00MRC/cxracing.com: 10.17.10<div align="left">Another timely race report. Let's keep this one brief and only marginally factual.<br /><br />Charlie and I made the trip to Lancaster for MRC's new race venue at the Bolton Fairgrounds. Mind you that the Bolton fairgrounds are not in Bolton, they are in next door Lancaster. Perhaps the Lancaster Fair is in Bolton.<br /><br />The best part of the whole day was being able to ride the entire big boy course with my kid. He did great, worked the corners and uphills like a champ. Rolled up to the fly-over and asked me to cary his tank of a bike to the top. Then he rolled that mo fo like it was his JOB. Still looking for pictures of that, so if you got 'em, send him along. We did two or three laps of the course together, with multiple repeats up and over the flyover.<br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEltZohsDCufpsqTfpjsMJmD41O9h8Ak68weM4N8yAWg_BQU_pSLrxKYhaG0i217fwNeohndA4UClGmaMpyuolqXGj-IVTo5c7Vnb6Gi1j_pF3GIpf2VH_H2WXeY1mD98m7Oqyu3oy24/s1600/004.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533281494443757954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEltZohsDCufpsqTfpjsMJmD41O9h8Ak68weM4N8yAWg_BQU_pSLrxKYhaG0i217fwNeohndA4UClGmaMpyuolqXGj-IVTo5c7Vnb6Gi1j_pF3GIpf2VH_H2WXeY1mD98m7Oqyu3oy24/s320/004.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:78%;">photo credit: Roger Cadman</span> </p>My kid is the best. I'm constantly underestimating what he can do because of his vision, but he makes me look like a chump. He never lets it bother him or slow him down. I'd trade my good eyesight for his in a second, just so he could see the world as most people do. I constantly wonder how different he would be....<br /><br />Aww damn... there I go again with the quasi-self pity <a href="mailto:cr@p">cr@p</a>. He doesn't think those sorts of thoughts at all about his vision or anything else that may not be perfect in life, and for that, he's my hero.<br /><br />My race was predictible. <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/?n=racers&sn=pred">Literally</a>. Staging by cr.com points had me 4th on the grid behind Mike Rowell, Ryan LaRoque and Peter Sullivan. Guess how we finished?<br /><br />The details aren't particularly interesting. Rowell and LaRoque were off the front from the gun, Sullivan came past me at 1.5 laps and I knew he was going to make the junction on the very windy S/F striaght with his freakish roadie power. I dumped everything I had to stay on his wheel for that part, knowing he would tow my a$$ up to the front but more importantly away from the guy following me. It worked. I hung with the three of them for a half a lap, blew sky high, then time trialed the remaining 25 minutes of the race, using just enough energy to stay ahead of the 5th place guy and sprinting everyonce in a while just so that he could see I still had some fight left in me.<br /><br />Loosing 60 seconds over the course of 4 laps to the three leaders was a bit surprising, but no way I was staying with them, so my 4th place down by 60 seconds hurt a hell of a lot less than 4th place down by 5 would have.<br /><br />Two days after that <a href="http://www.zanconato.com/">Zank</a>, Ronnie Steers and I went to VT to meet <a href="http://jerrychabot.com/">Jerry </a>to ride <a href="http://www.kingdomtrails.com/">Kingdom Trails</a>. If you've never been, you should go. But find a place to stay. 7.5 hrs in the car is a long, long time. The trails are fantastic, super flowy stuff with lots of descending and not as much climbing. That's not possible of course but it felt that way. Plenty of people have written detailed reviews of the trails, no need for me to rehash. The best part of the day was listening to Ronnie behind me say "I can't stop smiling!"<br /><br />Last weekend <a href="http://zanconatoracing.blogspot.com/?zx=99fa9e29bbfd3bb0">team Zanconato</a> (content forthcoming) universally decided to skip the Maine VERGE weekend to ride the trails here in Sutton. It sounds like the guys at Maine <a href="http://velocb.blogspot.com/2010/10/going-up-to-get-down.html">improved </a>the race after last year's <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2009/11/downeast-cyclocross-day-2-102506.html">miserable event</a>, but a weekend off of racing and on for fun was just what we needed. Two days and about 24 miles of sweet singletrack, three fantastic meals, and the company of a dozen good freinds made for lots of smiles and good memories. We'll do that again for sure.<br /><br />Next up is Canton, where I can choose between getting <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/?n=racers&sn=pred&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bikereg.com%2fevents%2fConfList.asp%3fEventID%3d11672">bloused</a> or giving JONNY BOLD and extra 15 minutes than normal to catch me.<br /><br />Ciao.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-1195478996679818552010-10-18T18:51:00.000-07:002010-10-18T19:43:49.212-07:00Providence Day 2: 10.10.10The hardest part of doing 5 races in 9 days is keeping up with the race reports.<br /><br />Providence Day 2 saw a bit of course redesign from the grand master of course redesign, Tom Stevens. Now Tom may not be the most PR <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">savvy</span> race promoter going, but the old dog can design one hell of a circuit. No one does it better. That man has an extra chromosome or a special gene for laying out a cross course. I wonder what his parents did for a living... undoubetdly something that involved using a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_curve">French Curve</a>.<br /><br />ahem... anyway, so we've established that Tom's a course design phenom, but the challenge of placing 3 lanes of course across a 30' wide section of curbing proved to be too much to overcome, and several accidents resulted. The worst of it was a gradual right hand bend that got narrower and narrower and then suddenly turned sharply to the right just where dirt turned to gravel and met an asphalt curbing. Iron crowd control fencing to the left ensured that any mistakes made there wouldn't just result in a crash, but in grade A carnage. Rider after rider over-cooked the turn, lost traction on the gravel, and collected the fencing while more people gathered to provide a human bucket brigade of concern. And in what has to be the irony or ironies, Tom Stevens himself lost it on that corner half way through his race, eating much fencing and pavement in the process. That's a pisser, eh?<br /><br />Tom was alright and spotted later on running the show.<br /><br />With newly provided valvue extenders installed, my anticipation was high at the start. Third of fourth row, who cares really, the right side opened up and I moved forward in the field. Off the pavement in about 20th place, the race was pretty strung out already. My dad was there, he works in retail and rarely gets weekends off but had made some arrangements to come to RoJo's to spectate. That was great. I mention him because he was giving me reliable placing and split imformation throughout. Thanks Pop!<br /><br />Half way through lap 1 I was at the back of that front group that always opens up that first little gap on the rest of the field, and it was coming easy. Someone (not my dad) said "top 20" and I knew right then I wouldn't finish worse than that on this day.<br /><br />The Sunday course featured a lot of "driving" and less "pedalling," or at least there was sufficient curvy sections where one could catch a bit of rest. Aside from the sketchy right hander of death, the course flowed for me really nicely, and the power sections were short and punchy, perfect for this ex-hockey player who prefers a 60/40 power to coasting ratio. 50/50 is good to.<br /><br />While picking up a spot here and there I happened to ride up to John Foley, super smooth mtbiker guy yadda yadda you know the drill. Shamelessly, I latched onto John's wheel and followed it for three solid laps, only going to the front once before realizing that I was slowing us both down. He needed me far less than I did him. John took us up and past Peter Sullivan (who was clearly not feeling it) and pulled us away from Harry Stover and Brian Rutter.<br /><br />The Foley express made contact with 45+ stud John Mosher at just under two to go. Foley apparently thought that "racing" meant "going hard" "all the time" while I felt "content" to "continue to suck wheel," even if that wheel was now Mosher's and not Foley's. So I watched Foley ride away from a comfy spot behind my new fiend Mosher for a lap or so, then decided that I should start taking $hit seriously and figure out how to beat the new John to the line. <br /><br />Throughout the race Dad's saying "you're 15th... 14 is 5 seconds ahead" and at this point he yells "hey Myette, get your a$$ in gear and ride!!!" It was great to hear him moving all around the course to cheer me on.<br /><br />Irony alert! The last time my dad watched me race was at the 2006 Cross Nationals... in Providence... where I came to the line with... John Mosher! ISYN.<br /><br />On that day (which was only worth 291 cr.com points, it is still one of my all time best perfromances IMHO) Mosher got the better of me for 4th place, in a sprint that was over before it started. This was going through my mind as we began the final lap. Foley was out of touch for 13th and 16th was far back as well so I thought about a plan...<br /><br />Problem is that I was pretty gassed, and thinking wasn't coming clearly. I passed Mosher on the long power section before realizing that I was now going to have to be in the wind through the final 3 longer draft friendly sections. aww crap. Ok... now the plan would be to keep him behind me until the final climb, but try and rest between now and there so I could drill it afterwards and see what happened.<br /><br />So I rode defensively (read "like a complete course hoggin a-hole") through the final time past the pit and soft pedaled up to the base of the climb. I'll be dipped in dog $hit but it worked: Mosher stayed behind my squirrelly-ness and I was just a bit rested when we got to the climb. I didn't go nuts up the hill either, it would have been hard and risky for a rider to come past on that part, so there would be no harm in going slow still. At the top I got on the gas as fast as possible and railed the turns, flew up the steps and drilled it back to the start/finish straight. Mosher was 4 lenghts back, but looked pretty beat and I stayed on the power to finish 14th.<br /><br />Yay! a good race with great competion and no tyre problems. Life is a chair of bowlies.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Fina-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">effin</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ly</span> got through a race with no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">mechanicals</span> and feeling good.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-42035631710463478992010-10-17T16:49:00.000-07:002010-10-17T17:25:57.524-07:00Providence Day 1: 10.9.10Playing catch up here...<br /><br />After the embarrasment that was my mechanical situation at Night Weasels, I put in the sort of effort to get my gear ready that I should have 4 weeks ago. I taped and glued some previously loved file treads (I effin love <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2008/10/file-tread-is-new-black.html">file treads</a>), shipped the tyres that I rolled at <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2010/10/sucker-brook-92610.html">Sucker Brook </a>to Tire Alert to get new base tape, and glued up a brand new pair of Fangos using copious amounts of glue.<br /><br />I've got this tendancy to try and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiLt7i2dQsFEB6Bxe0nz7UI2vGkHfbApKu07VGjlrO92_Bb9ps7DkoX7o8-d2PPmY5OMdm7E-3vFQJN6iZfVHbOsB7rdUh16x7C9cUgC7i2_Yj-E1lM4RzPe1td5w6lfPXRTaTml3jbU/s1600-h/Img_6933b.jpg">use things up </a>before I replace them, not wanting to start in on the replacement item until I was sure that the old stuff was spent. This kept me on the fence for a two weeks about what to do with with those rolled tyres... I knew they needed base tape and didn't want to tap into the new ones just yet, but it was going to take time to get those back from Florida... Finally I just decided to move on to the new tubbies and hold the old ones as back up.<br /><br />One problem with the file treads: the stumpy little valve barely stuck through the rim, too short to get a pump on. I needed valve extenders and actually stopped at the <a href="http://www.trekstop.com/">LBS</a> on the way home from the Weasel to pick some up.<br /><br />All pumped up (pun!) about rolling tubbies again I staged in the 3rd row based on my non-existant VERGE points in this non-VERGE race. Huh? (Side note - PVD is a great course but the poor PR job that they do will be it's downfall) At the gun, I notice that the rear wheel is soft with the first pedal stroke. Ya gotta be kiddin' me...<br /><br />After two turns it was almost completely flat. I called for friend John Menard (over the course tape thing by now) to grab my wheel in the pit, and I continued past. In hindsight, I should have ducked in a half lap into the race, but that's how Night Weasels went down, and just wanted to race a bit. Brant actually said he was sorry that this kept happening to me. What a pal.<br /><br />After 3/4 of a lap I pitted and got a quick change to get back into the action but this time I was DFL. Working back up through the field I caught <a href="http://jerrychabot.com/2010/10/12/i-better-blog-this-before-i-get-lazy-la-prov-day-1/">G-Ride</a> at the start of lap 3, pulled him along for 3 turns, then realized that he had stacked it up before we reached the beer garden. I caught Brant who had flatted as well, and saw Bill Shattuck and Keith Gauvin walking their bikes too. The course was unusually unkind this day.<br /><br />I saw JT Ferraro and Wade Summers in the group ahead, but they were racing eachother and I was just time trialing. Translation: the gap was coming down until one to go, when the extra motivation to win the group kicks in and they began to pull away. I rolled in for 25th and another bad day - results wise.<br /><br />There was a bouncy tent thing... the kids loved that.<br /><br />Apres race I saw that the <a href="http://www.bikeman.com/store/graphics/00000001/product_images/PU/PU4500.jpg">POS valve extender</a> I got at Trek Stop had been knocked cock-eyed and let all the air out. Not sure if it happened as the pump was coming off it or it just got bumped, but the thing wasn't going to cut it. Fortunately <a href="http://www.gewilli.com/">Ge Willi</a> had some <a href="http://www.totaltriathlon.com.au/shop/images/tufo%20extender.jpg">proper extenders </a>and he hooked me up for day 2.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-25814812535908540862010-10-17T04:53:00.000-07:002010-10-17T05:49:06.993-07:00Night Weasels: 10.6.10I recognized that getting throug Gloucester weekend on clincher tyres (cool way of writing tires.... look for colour coming up) was just dumb luck.<br /><br />My luck would run out at Night Weasels.<br /><br />This mid-week event is a sister race to the <a href="http://legolord.blogspot.com/2009/12/ice-weasels-cometh-has-quickly-become.html">Ice Weasels</a>, two races organized by internet inventor and defacto USAC rankings coordinator <a href="http://http://untilthesnowends.blogspot.com/">Colin</a>. Being on a weeknight (and perhaps more importantly being a Weasels event) guaranteed a "younger" crowd and pulling into the parking lot confirmed those suspicions. Lots of small cars and body art, not to many grey hairs.<br /><br />The challenge of evening races in October of course is the availablity of light, but Colin along with fellow race promoters <a href="http://velocb.blogspot.com/">Chip </a>and Linnea (no linky... she's got to live with Reuter, that's enough second hand technology exposure) semi-correctly identified Ski Ward in Shrewsbury MA as an appropriate illuminated venue. True, Ski Ward does have lights for night skiing, but without the reflective qualities of a nice base of white snow, the modest lighting at Ski Ward struggled to reach all corners of the course. It wasn't picth black, but there were definately parts of the course that required more reliance on faith and feel than vision. This isn't a knock on the venue feeling your way around the course introduced an element of suprise and excitement that would have otherwise been absent.<br /><br />Being a working dude I couldn't stay for the last race of the night and had to sandbag the 3 race. Start/number order was determined by crossresults.com points, so despite poor performances in two of the first three races of the year, the points I got from racing some of the best Master's in the country towards the end of last year earned me the top spot in the field. No pressure or anything.<br /><br />At the whistle the photags along the starting straight are snapping photos, blinding us in the process. Through three turns I was 3rd or 4th, then the climbing started. Ski Ward is no great mountain, but riding up anything that has been deemed appropriate for anyone to ski down is a challenge for this flatlander. I slogged up the slope, losing a spot or two but watching many others struggle with me. My superior bike handling skills would allow me to make up these spots on the descent, right?<br /><br />Yup... the slick corners and messy parcours were just the trick to get me back up to third wheel, and approaching the pit I was railing the corners, really leaning into the turns as my sweet tubulars were providing just enough give to keep me hooked up.<br /><br />That's when I realized that I wasn't running tubulars... and that "give" was my rear wheel going flat a half lap into the race.<br /><br />Into the pits and the disgust was high... palpable even. With no urgency I asked for a wheel and was told there was none. Sounded good to me. Then a happy Pedro's dude (I hate to say it... not sure why that is... but Pedro's has really stepped it up this year, if not in actual support activity but certainly in visibility) declared that he had a wheel for me. Great, semi-quick change and I'm back (literally) into the field.<br /><br />I spent time behind teammate John Menard, then dispatched him into the tape. He wasn't thrilled with that move and apparently he wanted a kiss on the cheek first, maybe next time.... or just htfu. One of those two.<br /><br />Just kidding John!<br /><br />The rest of the race was spent clawing back through the field, I passed a ton of guys because there was a lot of lapped traffic. There was abrand new set of FMBs awaiting the 13th place finisher, and I figured I was close. The course got easier as it got darker, the sometime confusing dusk light let the venue's lanterns do their thing. The climbing got easier as well, the rain had stopped and the course firmed up a good bit. Most everyone was wearing the same kit by the end of the race: a red, yellow or blue on one side and a nice brown colour down the other (from crashing you see) however I managed to keep it upright the entire race.<br /><br />I came in 14th and missed the tires by 6 seconds. Arghh!!!<br /><br />Great scene there at Ski Ward. I wonder if the owner knew what it would be like to have 250 pbr drinking bike racers descend on his place.<br /><br />Up next: Providence. Sneak peak: tire problems continue and finally a good day.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-34885307202789038232010-10-12T17:45:00.000-07:002010-10-12T19:26:34.634-07:00Gloucester Weekend: 10.2 & 10.3.10Two fer one here, as I am pathetically behind in race reports. Let's get right to it....<br /><br />I'm so busy/indeisive these days that after rolling a tubular at SBC I arrived at Gloucester with 4 sets of tubular wheels and 8 tubular tires.... all sitting in my basement. Fortunately, tires issues did not factor into the racing Glouceseter weekend, but it would have been nice to just ride and not worry constantly about flatting the one set of clinchers that I brought with me.<br /><br />Note to self: move "skake down the cross rig" up the calendar about 4 weeks for 2011.<br /><br />Day 1: Got in a decent warmup and began to circle the course as they called us to staging. Starting position is so important that Gloucester adopted <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/">crossresults.com</a> points to stage all non-UCI (read amateur) racers. It is clearly the most accurate ranking system on the planet, right <a href="http://www.providencecrossfest.com/">guys</a>? As I'm approaching the staging area, what I hear and what I see are not computing. My ears hear "second call to staging" but right in front of me I can see that there is already 6 rows full of racers. Wait for me! Wait for me!!!<br /><br />Shit! cr.com points had me about 24th... 3rd row... and by the time I got there I was in the 7th row! While the rankings are super fair, they used to be just for fun. Now that big races are staging by them, it's effin stressful. I suck bad enough and don't need any help cementing my mediocrity.<br /><br />So after suffering with cold sweats for 5 minutes the whistle goes and I make a JAILBREAK move up the left hand side and into the first right hander. A bit of bumping and some extra confidence and two turns later I'm right about up to where I was supposed to be. Sweet! It always works itself out you see.<br /><br />Then the real racing starts, and I start getting passed left and right. I see Peter Sullivan, Sheldon Miller and Jon Bernard coming. Awesome! These are the guys I raced with or in front of last year! I'll just stick with them! Right! right? They rode through me like shit through a goose. I finally settled in with Aaron Millette and Don Snoop, both of whom are super smooth and really showed me some great lines around the technical Day 1 course. I didn't feel great until the last two laps, but still didn't have enough to shut down any gaps and rolled in 25th.<br /><br />Day 2: Uphill start on day 2 and I was blocked from the gun. I couldn't move my legs for the life of me. Every pedal stroke hurt... not was hard, but actually hurt... for the first three laps. I lost 4 spots everytime through the start finish hill on those first three laps, there was no where to hide as the wind was right in our face. Finally with 2 to go the pain went away, but the damage was done. I got away from Brant Hornberger but couldn't bring back Kevin Buckley and finished 37th. The results are packed with guys I've never heard of before, all of whom seem to be riding up in the top 20. The effect of this influx of talent is that I'm getting pushed down in the placing.<br /><br />It sucks getting old.<br /><br />The tailgating was some of the best to date and Charlie did great in the kids race, racing up in the 9-10 field despite being 8 yrs old. I'm not one of those psycho loser parents who brags that his kid can wipe his fanny 2 days before the average kid can - well, sure I am - but my point with putting him in the older age group is that I kind of wanted him to feel that he could still have fun when there was no chance he could win... just like I do every race. Anyway, afterwards he told me that the best part of the race was the beginning, where all the kids were racing towards that first turn and they were bumping into eachother. Gotta love that.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-31016481410142555942010-10-05T18:46:00.000-07:002010-10-05T19:03:12.083-07:00Sucker Brook: 9.26.10Gloucester has already happened, and I will take a break from composing that masterpeice of a race report to post about my first race of the season at SBC.<br /><br />I'm beginning to wonder if it ever rains in Auburn NH. SBC is always the dryest course on the schedule, and this year was no exception. Riding across that field and the formerly wooded jeep trail was like being in the front seat of a Conastoga Wagon hurtling across the plains and praries of the ol' West. Save the buffalo and the siloutte of two socks on the horizon, it was like being on the set of Dances with Wolves.<br /><br />I had just finished glueing up some tubular tires the week before the race, and was nervously searching for Jerry before the start to see if he had some pedals I could buy. Mine were not doing such a good job of holding my feet in you see. With 5 minutes to spare I bought and installed some used Time ATACs and headed to the start, where 50+ master's racers were already staged. Yay!<br /><br />There was a split between the 35s and 45s, so I was only 3rd row, but would have rather been further up. The first lap was uneventful, I tried not to race too hard, but damn if my heart rate wasn't pegged about 20 seconds into it. Backing off just 5% will shoot your a$$ straight out the back. You can throttle down maybe 2% and still maintain contact, but you have to be smooth and perfect in everyspot on the course if you're going to pull that off. At least that's how it is for me.<br /><br />Beginning with lap two I joined my old pal Brant H and we once again tried to hook up the two man time trial. Matt Theodore caught us half way through that lap, and in actuality I thought that we hadn't been going hard enough.<br /><br />I'm pretty sure that I have forgotten how to suffer. Not so much in the race: that is inevitable if you're going to be at all competetive.. but more in training. If you're not willing to really get into the hurt during training, the maximun race effort isn't going to be that great.<br /><br />So after playing grab-a$$ for a lap Theodore joins us and promptly rides straight through. Brant and I know enough about racing to jump on that wheel and ride it as far as possible, and Matt dragged us up to Paul Curly, which was nice. We spent a half lap trading pulls with Paul when I rolled my rear tubular remounting on the off-camber section after the sand pit. Balls.<br /><br />After flailing with that for a bit I got it back on and rode to the pit for the spare. I rejoined the circus about 13 spots behind where I had been (Curly ended up 9th) and fought out the rest of the race with Wayne Cunningham and some other guy that I ended up gapping in the sand on the last lap.<br /><br />It was a good start to the season though I should have taken the DNF as my crossresults.com points are not totally effed.<br /><br />Gloucester next. Preview: I definately have forgotten how to train for cyclocross.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-66700389608848176682010-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:002010-09-08T18:55:12.730-07:00Treasure Valley Rally: 8.29.10I bought a mtb license this year to force myself to race more. The plan to do 8 events slowly eroded down to three, and I really had to force myself to get to that third one: the Treasure Valley Rally in Rutland Ma.<br /><br />This course was technical to put it mildly. It was basically two loops of a 9 mile rock garden with a killer one mile climb about 7 miles into the loop. Attendance was up from last year, so either the amnesia is contagious or people actually like riding on trails that the average Burger King eating American would have a hard time walking.<br /><br />I'm a Veteran II according to <a href="http://www.efta.com/">EFTA</a>, whatever that means. Pre-race Mr. Kenny had the neutral support thing covered and many of the cross regulars were there... McInnis, Borello, Hines, Reuter, Zank, Rowell, Millette and so on. One of the mtb'ers made a comment about this being the last race of the season and we all chucked... "this is the pre-season buddy!" someone said. Indeed.<br /><br />At the whistle I settled in the back and began the death march. My HR was in th 170s in no time and we were just barely moving along. The course was relentless, tons of rocks, off camber, and tricky pick-your-way-through parts. Looking for flow? Look elsewhere.<br /><br />I followed McInnis and Borrello half way through lap one, and when they pulled to the side to get some water I took the front. I didn't intend to get a gap... I had been well above threshold for over 30 minutes and I knew I couldn't hold that for much longer.... but after a short downhill I was alone.<br /><br />That's really the story of mtb racing: riding alone with no clue where you were in the field. I caught up to K. Buckley towards the end of the lap, but he pulled away shortly after the S/F line. Just over an hour for the first lap... not too bad really.<br /><br />Next up was Linnea, who before the race said "see you soon" to me, thinking I'd catch her eventually. She was right and when I saw I was gaining I yelled "I'm coming to get ya" and then couldn't close the final 10 meters for the next 15 minutes. I did get past eventually, but only on a spot that she bobbled and I was able to keep riding.<br /><br />So back to chasking Buckley when I come upon a neighbor of mine who asks if he can use my pump. I drop it thinking that what could possibly happen in the next 3 miles, and if it did, he'd catch me and give the pump back. Great plan, right?<br /><br />I caught Buckley on that same downhill I had gapped the guys on the first lap. He promptly endoed and I got past, setting my sights on Millette, who was just ahead at this point. Up the killer climb the second and final time and just as I start the descent the rear wheel goes flat. I start the change and wait for my pump. Buckley goes past. Still no neighbor. Linnea next. Then McInnins. Borrello. A bunch of other guys I had passed at the beginning of lap one. It occurs to me that I should at least start to walk.<br /><br />15 minutes later I reach a clearing and there is my neighbor chatting to a volunteer, clearly out of the race. I was a bit miffed... you take a guys gear you should make the attempt to continue on in the event that they need it. Anyway, filled with air I was off to finish the final mile or so. Second lap was 1:17 or so.<br /><br />Went for a quick dip in the lake with the kids after the race, which was great. I'm not sure that I'll be back for the 2011 edition, but it was a decent warm up for cross.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-20318226632188321562010-08-04T17:30:00.000-07:002010-08-04T18:19:58.924-07:00Hodges Village: 8.1.10I've been trying to squeeze in a rest week for about a month now. It didn't happen during the trip to Puerto Rico: I ate so much bad food I had to ride hard to work it off. Still managed to gain 4 lbs.<div><br /></div><div>So last week worked out well for rest... circumstance had it so that I wasn't able to ride except for Wednesday, when I went hunting for dirt roads with Zank and Mark B. The only thing we found were flat tires... 4 of them... all courtesy of Mr. Z. I've never seen 4 flats in 17 miles of riding until now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday was my anniversary, 13 years of marital bliss. We celebrated Saturday night with dinner out. The chicken was over cooked, the restaurant was noisy and the ravioli was rubbery but it was awesome because we never go out. This was our first dinner out without the kids in exactly one year. </div><div><br /></div><div>In discussing what we could do Sunday I casually threw out the bike race that was in the next town as an option, and after some consideration, I got the green light! She just up and told me to go. Sweet!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Still a licensed Cat 3, I hurried over to catch the Cat 1 field, which they let me in w/o a problem. (What do we have the USCF for again?) I lined up second row with 15 other guys, none of whom I knew except Kurt Perham, a guy who regularly kicks my ass in cross. I had no warm up at all, and at the gun I'm DFL and gulping down dust by the mouthful. Perham is at the front, where I expected him to be. </div><div><br /></div><div>Into the woods and a few guys were clearly not going to be able to keep this up, least of all me. I got by a few on the long, bumpy, dusty as hell climb and welcomed the sight of the first descent, but was not expecting the dried-up waterfall that we dropped down. Kurt... well... he's a powerful guy and all... but not the most technically strong dude on an mtb.... he was shuffling down the hill. We rode together for a little while but I had no problem dispatching him in anything that wasn't pure pedaling. I know what it's like to ride trails that you don't feel fast on so I can relate. It must have sucked!</div><div><br /></div><div>Out to the first real clearing and within 30 seconds he's back with me, laying down some serious power on the flat out sections. We kinda-sorta traded pulls, me leading on the technical parts (and dropping him) and he leading on the flats (and dropping me). Team work!!</div><div><br /></div><div>These mountain bike races are long... and this one was advertised to be 22 miles over 4 laps. The first lap was 6.5 miles. Do the math, that's a 26 mile race. Some may be pleased that they paid for a 22 mile races and got 4 miles for free, however I was not. It was a hot dusty death march and I wondered aloud what the hell I was doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are other fields racing at the same time in this form of cycling, so I had no clue where I was in my category. A few guys were around for a lap or two and then fell back. Others came through. Some women mixed in. Still others on the side of the trails with mechanical problems. Really had no idea how my race was going other than that I was still close to Kurt. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the start of the third lap, my garmin fell off my handlebars. I thought about going back, because while I wasn't sure where I was in the race I was positive I wasn't leading it and that even if I was there wasn't going to be enough prize money to cover my lost technology. I commiserated with my fellow racers and one guy said "I saw it fall off going down that hill." There was hope, and I decided to check next time around. </div><div><br /></div><div>Throughout that third lap I was consumed with having lost the Garmin: imagining it crushed on the course, wondering which model I should replace it with, and sick about how much it was going to cost for something that was just in my possession 2 minutes ago!!!! Why hadn't I gone back for it? Didn't want to seem bothered by loosing a $300 watch? Pros would keep going (I think) so I hoped for the best and kept up the pace to get back to the hill asap.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'd be lying if I didn't say that a good deal of my motivation at that point came from trying to keep up with and perhaps defeat Mr. Perham. He's really that much better than me, and though this clearly wasn't his forte I was hoping to get into his head with a win. HA! Coming through the Start/Finish for the last lap he declared that he was done and pulled off the course. Whaa? I was pretty smoked but had to keep going to check on the Garmin and finish the race. With no carrot to chase and a good 30 min since the Garmin dropped, I lost all motivation to live.. er.. race hard any more. I was blown and my mind was out completely out of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>It took a while, but I managed to get to the hill and asked a few bystanders if they found a Garmin. "Yeah, they took it to registration" Effin yeah!!!! I was further told that it looked to be fine. Woot!!! This lifted my spirits, but not my pace. I was still noodling along, just running around the course and getting passed by just about everyone. Men, women, and children all had their way with me, but I encouraged each of them on because I thought I was still holding my place. This race... much like this report... had gone on long enough. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nearing the last hill about 30 minutes into the last lap (only 3/4 of the way around... earlier laps were taking 30 minutes to complete in their entirety), I saw a guy who I had left on lap one. He was an NEBC rider who turned out to be a good guy and friend of the Rowells. I recognized this dude from earlier in the day and decided that I should try and hold him off. He was on me in no time flat, and past shortly thereafter. I tried to keep him in sight but couldn't, and only got back close to him on a flowy descent towards the end of the loop. The 30 minutes of non-racing was a pretty long break, so I flew down the hill and attacked on a short dirt road rise before the last section of trail. I got a gap and drilled it last-lap-of-a-cyclocross-race-style to hold him off for ...6th place? How the hell do you ride that slow for a full 25% of a race and manage to get 6th? </div><div><br /></div><div>Later I discovered that one guy I let pass probably 10 minutes into that final lap was in my field, and he got 4th! So had I just managed to keep pace and stay in front of him I would have taken 3rd?! Maybe? Listen, I'm not saying that I could have stayed in front of him, I was DONE, but had I been able to, well, who knows. I guess things were going pretty well for those first three laps afterall.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was fun, but I'm looking forward to cross season and races that are 1/3 as long as that one.</div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-51566810391893883142010-07-18T14:26:00.000-07:002010-07-18T14:26:48.575-07:00Snake Hill Loop by myette10 at Garmin Connect - Details<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40862869?sms_ss=blogger">Snake Hill Loop by myette10 at Garmin Connect - Details</a>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-78896280456964335422010-06-29T16:09:00.001-07:002010-06-29T16:14:04.607-07:00LakehouseI'm struggling to find a reason not to get serious <a href="http://gbellinger.refinderma.com/homes/8491633/MA/Sutton/124-Manchaug-Rd-01590/">about this</a>.matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-82826543593688800532010-06-22T10:19:00.000-07:002010-06-22T16:34:08.534-07:00Purgatory Race ReportWell, at least I was right about one thing:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJU2qHmSbjBM9woI7mZBuO2WQQWAaGRRTVhrUxxzRKx-qW8t5y5Bv2OGTkD1LN6dbLyKVe4WY4eu9770Nzr1E9pnUz2c0n1p7MFRiEi4XCfwVZxqgTtUXaHlrv6tkRDMKG6yTIHb2uV5c/s1600/Purgatory+059.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485649212264076738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJU2qHmSbjBM9woI7mZBuO2WQQWAaGRRTVhrUxxzRKx-qW8t5y5Bv2OGTkD1LN6dbLyKVe4WY4eu9770Nzr1E9pnUz2c0n1p7MFRiEi4XCfwVZxqgTtUXaHlrv6tkRDMKG6yTIHb2uV5c/s400/Purgatory+059.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The bass boats were out in full effect.<br /><br />Also - my diatribe about CMass having some great riding still holds.<br /><br />But I was wrong where it counted. I totally mis-read how the racing would unfold... specifically how the hills would play into the effort required to stay in touch with the lead group. Based on at least <a href="http://untilthesnowends.blogspot.com/2010/06/purgatory-road-race-report.html">one other race report</a>, all of the races basically the same way mine did.<br />Not that I'm complaining mind you, the differnce between what I thought would happen and what did happen allowed me to stay with the lead group for the entire race, so I'm pleased with that.<br /><br />Here's the report...<br /><br />After what appeared to be a truly neutral start, we turned left onto Mendon Rd. to climb what I thought would be the hardest hill of the day. First ascent was pretty managable, but we had just started, so I wasn't getting too excited by the relatively easy pace. Plunging down Mendon Rd. I took the opportunity to get to the front and have some fun. I also wanted to go by the house at the front of the field, I knew the kids would get a kick out of that. I know that descent like the back of my hand, and while I may have drifted over the would-be yellow line in my search of the straightest and fastest way to the bottom, I always ride that hill like that, so I can't control it or be held responsible really. Can I? The road was also designated temporarily one way for the race, so I thought it was cool.<br /><br />Maybe not.<br /><br />My falcon-like descending skills got me a bit of a gap, 20 seconds or so, and 3 others were with me. They wanted to come through, but I waved them off as we turned onto Barnett so I could be at the front. I heard a few grunts and groans from my escape mates, but sorry. Did they really expect to go clear at 4 mi of a 52 mile race... because I sure didn't.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SLuUB9qwAjE_14Chyphenhyphen58XP4PCJXFDjaOmI-yJrLdj9BvtH2y3byWl8u78SE5HK8xbRVnGREeIxj6v-uXnWGQ12b2gUxYaZxLth5koUQ1POM9LkRjJ9vsL1RRte1pdx440tWqayPkxnaE/s1600/Purgatory+054.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485649191649864482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SLuUB9qwAjE_14Chyphenhyphen58XP4PCJXFDjaOmI-yJrLdj9BvtH2y3byWl8u78SE5HK8xbRVnGREeIxj6v-uXnWGQ12b2gUxYaZxLth5koUQ1POM9LkRjJ9vsL1RRte1pdx440tWqayPkxnaE/s400/Purgatory+054.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The kids loved seeing me come by first, so the effort was worth it, but I promptly went to the back of the group and began skipping turns, which generated additional groans and one snide "c'mon Matt, take your pull!" from racing pal Harry Stover. I got back in the line, but it was all for naught, we were swept up at the end of Whitins road just 3 miles along. No surprise there.<br /></div><div>The gentle hill on Manchaug Rd, which I though would we would be riding at nuclear pace, was also tame, guys were rolling it like a group ride and I even moved up through the field a bit. We turned onto Lackey and things got very hot. The climbers attacked at the bottom while more power guys like me were best served setting a hard but sustainable pace. In the middle, the climbers slowed and I kept the effort up, limiting my losses. The top of the hill kicked again, and I got gapped when another rider couldn't hold the wheel in front of me. With one last effort I stayed close enough to get back on to the lead group through the start finish stretch, which was super fast.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>We turned onto Mendon Rd. to start lap 2 and again rode that hill at an easy pace. It became clear at that moment what was happening andhow I had been so wrong about this course. There was no sense going hard anywhere but on Lackey Rd. because that was the only climb long enough to really cause permanent damage. The Mendon Rd. hill was followed by a 2 mile down hill, anyone popped off there could easily get back on. The Manchaug Rd. hill was too close to Lackey, so guys rode it easy because everyone was saving their legs for the big hill. This wasn't a climbers course - it was more like a classics course where non-climbers could justify a big effort on the hill to stay with the field then enjoy 9 miles of rest before doing it all over again.<br /></div><div> </div><div></div><div>Despite the fact that the race I was expecting was different than the race I was in, I still wasn't sure I could hang on for 5 laps. Going up Lackey once every 20 minutes to make it happen seemed possible. Lap two was uneventful, but I was surprised how timid the field was on the descent. Without pedalling I was able to slide right up to the front going down that hill every lap, passing guys who looked to be turning over a pretty big gear. It pays to be fat.*<br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Up the hill at the conclusion of lap two the attacks were ferocious. Good friend Mike Rowell marked Bill Yabrody and Jonny Bold of all people.... good for him. Mike is a pure bike racer and is not intimidated by anyone in any race, unlike me. The acceleration did create a split in the group, and my sag climbing technique (start the climb at the front hoping that as the good riders pass you you are still in the group over the top, albeit at the back) planted me firmly with... the chasers. The front bunch looked strong, consisted of all of the heads of state, and was starting to pull away a bit on Mendon Rd. I had been waiting for this to happen so that the rest of us could just race our own pace, but knowing I only had to bury myself on one hill per lap I wanted to get back up there and see how long I could hang on. I saw my pal and former/current cyclonauts team-mate Keith Gauvin in the chase group as well. I had committed to riding for him that day and when he rolled to the front to take up the chase I moved past, told him to get on my wheel, and took off down Mendon for the third time. We made it about 1/2 way across the 30 second gap before we hit the bottom, and I got on the gas to deliver him as close as possible at the turn onto Barnett. He came around and made the bridge while I sat up and waited for the field behind me. As soon as Keith integrated with the front group they slowed, and we were all together before turning onto Whitin. Can you say "wasted effort?" Between that and the first lap charge to my driveway I was riding way too hard too early.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>The next lap and a half were again uneventful, the Lackey climb was hard but a steady effort at the bottom, some hard thrashing at the top, and a proper chase to get back on through the finish line had me in the final group of 25 or so guys at the bell. I did feel a bit of leg cramping coming on with one to go. Throughout the race there had been small efforts off the front but there was only one guy ahead by about 35 seconds at this point. I never see those things go, I think you have to be riding at the front of the field for that. I chatted with all around good guy Kevin Hines a bit and tried to ID the rider currently off the front. Seemed no one knew who it was.</div><div><br />Speaking of riding at the front, Mike Rowell was animating the entire race and never was further back than 5th or 6th wheel. On Whitins Rd. for the final time, with the field posturing a bit to see who was going to chase down the leader & I heard Mike say "f*&$ it, I'll go" and take off up the right side. I promptly jumped into the slipstream created by his effort and hid from the wind like a frightened child. Mike's a strong racer. </div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>The final time on Manchaug saw a bit higher pace, but nothing killer, and by the top of that rise we were still all together. Turning onto Lackey for the final time I went just a bit harder but followed the same basic strategy: stay close, keep it steady when others slow down, then let it all out to get over the top. I was at the back of the lead group of 20 or so, and held their pace to the half way point on the hill. The second half acceleration came and I considered going with it but knew that I was risking a cramp as I felt that familiar twinge again. Looking back there wasn't many guys behind me and those that were there weren't that close. I decided to let the field roll away, keep a steady pace, and concede the time but try to maintain my spot. The field sprinted it out for 2nd about 25 seconds in front of me. I pulled hard to the line and a few guys caught and passed me, but Brian Haas was cool about it: he sat on while I busted to the line and let me roll through ahead of him. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/06/19-Purgatory-Road-Race.asp">Generous scoring </a>had me finishing "st" (same time) as the group in 24th. I'll take the placing, but there was a huge gap ahead of me. Thanks JD!</div><div><br />Also - the same clowns who bring you <a href="http://www.crossresults.com/">crossresults.com</a> have a <a href="http://www.road-results.com/">road-results.com</a> site that may actually have some cooler features. The race predictor there calculated that I would finish... 24th. Amazing. </div><div></div><div><br />After my race I rode three laps with Mr. Kenny in the SRAM volvo. Here are some shots:<br /></div><div>Chris Bailey getting thrashed<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYDZzdna0KcyNi0l1iQHd-C2wJuzVMTzUViUT8osxvsK-11qsTwOB0QZHkwH_I5n5SE6-GSNmFOn9z39_0uT460jGrEQ5fRr0oXvJjBmzwoLnnjroSTYr1GGaeBEtx1YJWRsM4tbLlpg/s1600/Purgatory+074.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485649181513295842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYDZzdna0KcyNi0l1iQHd-C2wJuzVMTzUViUT8osxvsK-11qsTwOB0QZHkwH_I5n5SE6-GSNmFOn9z39_0uT460jGrEQ5fRr0oXvJjBmzwoLnnjroSTYr1GGaeBEtx1YJWRsM4tbLlpg/s400/Purgatory+074.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div>This guy... I don't know what to say.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNEfXUrnuo7hVmys8ZK6P7ZJP37zceYMgIprGfmScImqRH0NkNrH0xiCT048gglrmu1q7vzMOiCxKfFlUEwfEgI6b4rAl9XH3tP5XLZxcyLXWbhdgBCwlcrKnjPSNp4_sOH28kIL_U7g/s1600/Purgatory+057a.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485649167576576066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNEfXUrnuo7hVmys8ZK6P7ZJP37zceYMgIprGfmScImqRH0NkNrH0xiCT048gglrmu1q7vzMOiCxKfFlUEwfEgI6b4rAl9XH3tP5XLZxcyLXWbhdgBCwlcrKnjPSNp4_sOH28kIL_U7g/s400/Purgatory+057a.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />*sometimes. more specifically in this race, half the time.<br /><br /><div></div></div></div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332323262285413848.post-83984130569232153402010-06-18T05:28:00.000-07:002010-06-18T05:34:36.249-07:00Oh... and one more thing.This here blog is no high-frequency site like others out there but it was interesting to see how much traffic the prior post generated.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9FjMhwTMOQ2a1bvSLU2B56F4ITZ8RFBrfL1mqL-PpMUdTgh8TWGLvphFkgYxf9piYfJvt0TjXjKneDp-NJWI5-Jl2aD1uBdVTkLt-Oudg4ufzBriHYQgEJi7yrwvHtAsKA4xGPXiwKk/s1600/6-18-2010+8-19-15+AM.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484090573874486050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 371px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9FjMhwTMOQ2a1bvSLU2B56F4ITZ8RFBrfL1mqL-PpMUdTgh8TWGLvphFkgYxf9piYfJvt0TjXjKneDp-NJWI5-Jl2aD1uBdVTkLt-Oudg4ufzBriHYQgEJi7yrwvHtAsKA4xGPXiwKk/s400/6-18-2010+8-19-15+AM.jpg" border="0" /></a>I've got one more PRO tip for anyone racing Purgatory tomorrow that happens across this post. It's a safety concern and I'd feel awful bad if someone got hurt if I didn't post these pictures.<br /><br />I mentioned before that Barnett Rd. is flat for about one kilometer and then it descends before you hit what I called "Hill #1." That little descent is narrow, fast, and nearly totally blind. A Cat 4 field with 100 riders in it is not going to resist the urge to take up the entire road here.<br /><br />Here's what it looks like.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1s6uF0AsLwmSTMTM34b6OmS_2vsr3DC5YFpwwCuEuctnD8soKu4_jjCuWAJFQmz52jGIKuMFVOSBTRY3G3p2Fq96J6d9b7IRv57PLSqeM-lYsIeTjakMx45A2Vb3OIPzV_HIGSqWlWQ/s1600/Service+Awards+067.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484090121966061762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1s6uF0AsLwmSTMTM34b6OmS_2vsr3DC5YFpwwCuEuctnD8soKu4_jjCuWAJFQmz52jGIKuMFVOSBTRY3G3p2Fq96J6d9b7IRv57PLSqeM-lYsIeTjakMx45A2Vb3OIPzV_HIGSqWlWQ/s400/Service+Awards+067.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Look again... notice the car lurking around the corner?<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiyVxuwzFPSX5d4qkVSscJrhklOrjNmk5elLtJ9kocdXxBu119bGqHZOPeBVu6j-VKshFL0-WhpbXkYIEeZrQfpepp6hbu1DLmNVy5Cjou3bSMKktnjhWm6b6BmsjWGBPDNON5YriWTc/s1600/6-18-2010+8-15-14+AM.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484090111080843458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 291px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiyVxuwzFPSX5d4qkVSscJrhklOrjNmk5elLtJ9kocdXxBu119bGqHZOPeBVu6j-VKshFL0-WhpbXkYIEeZrQfpepp6hbu1DLmNVy5Cjou3bSMKktnjhWm6b6BmsjWGBPDNON5YriWTc/s400/6-18-2010+8-15-14+AM.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is 10 meters further down the road and you are suddenly 20 meters from a car taking up about half of the road way.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8HmA8OE9C6EKsFmuDIabPqHn2Lsn6O3dalNU2BZhBPIobOpueERIs-lw3e3VvxKlP_ukw8AiWEsBauothZ8HSa-MuxrLCRoK_O_YhXTMbx2X9PlE33KNttgHtSUpGtiExaLJibjZwis/s1600/Service+Awards+069.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484090106206561986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8HmA8OE9C6EKsFmuDIabPqHn2Lsn6O3dalNU2BZhBPIobOpueERIs-lw3e3VvxKlP_ukw8AiWEsBauothZ8HSa-MuxrLCRoK_O_YhXTMbx2X9PlE33KNttgHtSUpGtiExaLJibjZwis/s400/Service+Awards+069.jpg" border="0" /></a> This sexy little 1996 Corolla Wagon is my ride of choice, and since I was also taking photos I had to park it to show this section. It is therefore not moving, but still sneaks up on the unsuspecting rider. Now imagine it's race day (tomorrow) a instead of this little love machine a big pick up truck towing a bass boat is coming through this part just as your field gets there...</div><div> </div><div>I'm just saying, please watch out.<br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10538238614199661411noreply@blogger.com0