andy and i got-out for a quick spin last night. between my whining of how sucky my day was and how tired i was and blah, blah, blah, we began to rip. it's amazing how quickly a bad day turns good when the legs are turning and the mind focused on the trail vs the cover page of your TPS report. near the end of the ride andy stops and turns his light off, convinces me to do the same, albeit with some misgivings. we move-on sans lights, misty tendrils laying heavy in the lower fields while higher-up it's clear, a waxing moon showing us the way. when andy yells back to turn my light-on before a rocky descent, i do so grudgingly, the few minutes of riding with all senses stretched, the play of the moonlight on the mist, was an amazing experience, one best shared. the cpl beers andy stashed in the woods on our way out pretty stellar as well.
it's 445pm, pissin' rain, pitch effin' black outside, all geared-up for the ride home and couldn't be happier. this (past) season was/has been all about getting-in the rides, getting the hours, which means the road. rediscovering the trails at the end of a great season has me feeling incredibly fresh for the long hrs of base which lie ahead - many of which on the dreaded pain machine (aka, indoor trainer). got to ride the mtb 3 times in 5 days. a short group ride the wed before turkey-day hit the spot. friday's 4hr most-of-a-kuhuna was wicked, brad b in fine form, andy nailing all the lines, i just joyriding behind. sunday was for me. left the house with legs ready for a cx race and pegged it, minus a 15min flat tire break, turned safety break, turned nature break, turned food break, turned "lets see how many times i can try to ride (fall-off) this narrow-ass 30ft log" break. a little later in the ride, pushed hard up a climb and powered into the descent, got going mucho quicko on what quickly became insanely steep and rocky - and realized this was the same descent i'd gone way too fast on 10wks previously, the day my daughter was born, and on that day i skidded to a halt and crawled down the sketchy slope, so steep walking down is harder than riding, so i wouldn't miss her birth due to massive head trauma or whatnot - but sunday was a different day, let go of the brakes, emptied the mind, and at the bottom found myself smiling and singing like a fool, being in the woods on the bike, riding lines that make the cheeks pucker, or one you keep trying to nail, sacrificing bits of skin w/each try, or that roller-coaster piece of singletrack, or crossing the finish line 2 spots farther up the field than expected - are places i can't imagine living w/o... made even better knowing a perfect little muffin-head was at home, someday to learn the secrets of trail riding from her pops, then a few yrs later, completely school me. i can't wait... what i'm not looking fwd to is seeing less of the folks who taught me how to ride... andy's been a stunch riding partner, no weather too burly to cancel a ride, thom, always willing to make the drive (and talk me into) a race. waitsfield vermont, hundreds of miles of trail, but what will they be w/o good friends to share 'em with? just have to convince everyone that the 3hr drive is worth it!
fantastic late season mtb yesterday. crazy rains had the trails in flood condition, but it wasn't that nasty 2-month old bog water, but nice "clean" rainwater. insanely nice day for this time of yr, 55, bluebird, perfect. wasn't riding all the lines by any means but hit enough to have me smiling all day. andy's back on his big bike, so trying to keep-up w/him on the rocky north shore had me beat-down tired last night, first time in a while, felt good to be wasted after a ride. special guest appearance by mr brad beveridge, pretty exciting stuff. made-up for mr hurley bailing on us to ski the 3 open runs at the River. guess that guy needed to get his ski on in a bad way!
brad contemplating his 32lb hardtail.
trail maintenance?
got some movies, but can't seeem to get them to work... the last one is really worth it, somebody (don't want to give it away) took a digger worth watching! i'll get these stupid links to work eventually... dropped a guinness into my laptop wed night and it's cooked. why is that important? why do people write questions they're about to answer? kinda annoying. i digress, w/o my laptop, i don't got no FTP info, can't load my junk onto other people's sites! oh wait, let's try youtube...
humble pie - Plymouth and Lowell cx race report(s)
pre-registered for the elite races this wknd even though i'd only done 1 cx race. sat's course at plymouth was fast and mostly wide open. my legs were not, those guys are wicked fast, got real ugly real quick. flatted on the backside of the 3rd lap and pulled the plug. didn't realize there was nutrual support, but not so sure i wanted it anyway. as i walked up to thom, who ripped apart the B race minutes early with a 4th (was pretty epic seeing him slamming the hole-shot off the start!), he pointed-out that my 20min effort was a great opener for sunday's race in lowell. i tried to be positive, but was a whiney dink all night. jenn finally got fed-up with my lameness and says, "sounds like you got fed a big piece of humble pie." yup.
sunday, needed to have fun, see where i stand in this cx business, downgraded into the killa' B's. had a good warm-up w/thom, lined-up on the inside, the shortest line to the corner of the start/finish on an old cinder track - which worked-out great, got into the top 5 off the start. course was great for a mtbiker/bike handler, lots of tight turns, cpl short steep climbs. first two laps were at a lung-searing pace, but not merciless. one guy shed early, then another flatted, it was down to 3. i sat-on most of the race, not knowing how to pace myself, got in front on the cinder track twice to do my share, as sitting-on for the WHOLE race woulda been lame. last two laps the tempo increased to a pretty uncomfortable level, hung-on for dear life. as we hit the open track before the bell lap, took my turn up front, a mistake, they attacked. one guy got clear, he'd been bunny-hoping the barriers and granite steps all race, pretty cool bike handling there. he used the steps to get a gap on that last lap. knew i'd lost him, but only a cpl secs off other guy, he goes down on a corner, move into 2nd and hold there for the finish. had a ton more fun than i would have way off the back in elite. would like to think i ate my humble pie and got stronger, but would have had to of raced elite on sunday to really say that... watched the elite race sunday and was immediately impressed by how much quicker they hammered-up the steep climb and down through the switchbacks... promoting from one class to the next is tough love, gonna enjoy the B's for a spell before getting my ass kicked in elite, plenty of time for that later.
cruised-up to the valley for some house shoppin' friday w/the planet cross on the roof. had high hopes of finding the perfect house saturday, then racing in what looked to be nasty conditions sunday - friggin' love the slop - was shapin'-up to be a killa wknd.
the jordan clan were awesome, stayed at their place yet again... after a bit too much vino the night before, still managed to motivate and get out the door for some early morning openers (peeled a good layer of frost off the rig, reminder to self, store bike in garage, not on roof rack) before the annual ski swap, first in line gets best dibs! jenn scored an awesome pair of barely used tele boots for $75 bucks! while i snagged a set of burly T1's for $150 - by 10a, had already gotten a ride in and bought "new" boots - sweet!
looked a 7 houses sat with a really cool agent, but saw nothing. poured over the listings again that night, found 5 more worth checking-out sunday, got into one at the last minute and knew almost immediately it was the one, 9th house we looked at. don't want to get too into it as there's a lot that needs to happen, but jenn and i are wicked stoked!... but, had to skip Putney CX to find it. can't do it all, at least not all the time! saw Racine out doing his openers on rt 100 on saturday, heard he had a good one at Putney on sunday... got home at 830p, had to hop on the indoor for 90mins of intensity to make-up for not racin', but it was worth it. grumpy at first, but not by the end... can't wait to be a full-time resident of the valley, get my green plates...
normally this time of yr i'm out freeriding, training's long done, but cx has reached deeper than the previously untapped portion of my lungs... looking fwd to the abuse the next few wks will bring even though i'm still coughing-up junk from sunday. it may be a bit premature, but signed-up for elite in plymouth, ma the sat after this one, then lowell, ma the following day. being that i've only done one B race, Elite may be a bit of a stretch... but figure 60mins is more bang for the buck - it'll be good training, plus those races aren't part of any major series, so figure the competition won't be QUITE as fierce. kinda like fighting a black bear vs a kodiak. both situations are pretty grim, but one's gonnna leave you a lot deeper in the pain cave... love the pain cave and have only one month to enjoy it before hibernating.
Putney, VT this wknd, hoping to do the B race, but we're kickin' it in the mad river valley, looking at houses and hittin'-up the annual ski swap, almost time to start thinking about the winter season, but not quite yet! not sure if putney's 12p start is gonna work for me, may have to make the leap to elite (230p start) this wknd... man, i need to learn how to get through the barriers quicker. i run through 'em like a clown on crack...
finally raced the cyclocross bike. first time evah. woke-up sunday not feeling it, feeling beat from 2wks of work on our house, capped by a marathon session saturday. jenn insisted we head to northampton - tired legs and all. i was grumpy about it, but jenn wouldn't let me bail, pretty cool chiquita i got there. think my hesitation was more nerves than anything else, glad jenn talked me into it. beautiful fall day, 45-50 degrees, ample sun, nice day for racin' a bike.
warmed-up for 20-30mins, then lined-up early, this was my first cyclocross race evah, but still wanted to get in the first couple rows. BUT, they lined us up by bib #, ended-up in the back as i registered on thurs. the first lap was tough going, about 75 folks in front, a cpl-few behind (94 starters). this wasn't a race to be won, but an effort to pick-off as many dudes as possible in 45mins. ended-up being great atmosphere for my first race, no pressure, just put the hammer down and practice getting through the obstacles, taking tight corners, watch everyone else, and most importantly, learn.
the course was solid, half on a lower field, the other half up a short climb into a glade of pine trees which we climbed and descended twice a lap, one of which was ridable for most in B men's, the other a steep run-up. at the bottom of one of the descents we crossed a set of mini-railroad tracks that you could get some decent air off - scared myself with a cpl feet of air the first lap, thought fer sure i was looking at double flats! the first 2-3 laps i made a lot of passes. a lot. thom was also trapped in the back off the start and he was right there, always in the same place each lap, pushing 38-17 on the ss, picked the right gear for this one.
by the last 2 laps finally got with a guy going the same pace, decided to make a push, opened a gap, but promptly crashed trying to ride the sand pit, one of those, fall over still clipped in and can't get up kinda falls, wicked frustrating, but learned important lesson - if unsure, it's faster to run. caught a group of four with 1/2 lap to go but couldn't get around 'em before the finish. ended-up working my way into 26th, 2mins off the pace. crossed the line, rode for a cpl hundred meters then proceeded to barf, smile, barf a touch more, then smile a whole lot. had a blast. i'm hooked. next race need to get a better starting position, would like to have a chance - or may just ride Elite... why not?
