more ts100

If you're not into 100 mile races, this might not be the week for you to be reading this blog. Or maybe it is since the race is actually only 89.3 miles. Not to worry though, it still has something like a billion feet of climbing so I'm still considering it an epic.

I couldn't help but notice a tandem signed up for the race while checking out the start list. Not sure if that's an act of burliness, a gluttonous desire for punishment.... or just plain stoopid. In any event, it did make my "wonder which bike I'll race" conundrum seem a bit petty.

Each 100 mile race I do presents itself with the need to plan, pack, plan some more, pack some more and set some sort of realistic goal for myself that I'd like to meet while out on course.

I'm still not sure exactly how I'm feeling about this race. One thought has me on a light bike with the bare essentials in an attempt at posting a decent finish. The other thought has me simply out riding around in the woods for the day with the main objective to finish and have some good fun. I guess I'll have to figure that out in the next couple of days.... or on the morning of the race while making my carpool friends as late for the race as I'll be.

On a separate -but somewhat related- note, good luck to ya'll that are heading to Leadville for the hundo out there. Seems like a good party. No, I'm not racing it. No, it's not because it's the same weekend as the TS100. No, it's not because it's too far. It's the lack of singletrack that keeps me away from that race. I've raced a 100 miles of fireroad before and quite frankly hope that I never have to do it again. If it weren't for music in my drop bag at the 50 mile mark and beer at the finish I'm sure I would've posted a big fat DNF at that one.

Lagging on the race report from Kirkwood. Sorry. I'm faster on the bike than I am at postings on this here blogity thing.

The race - I took the "W" by 6-ish minutes thanks to quite a bit of techy downhill. Well... that and deciding, at the last minute, to run the 2.35 Schwalbe Nobby Nic on the front of my race bike. Note to self; always... ALWAYS do a "shake down" ride on the race bike after doing changes. After having gotten used to the 2.35 inches of ultra-traction that the Nobby Nic provided me at Downieville going back the the "spindly" 2.1 WTB Prowler -which worked fine in the early season- proved to be quite scary. On my shakedown ride I was questioning my ability to pilot the bike as I overshot corners, had little to no braking power up front and generally had less fun on the ride than I knew was possible. Upon arriving back at home base, I threw the bike in the repair stand and put the Nobby Nic back on the front of my rig. That tire is simply AWESOME in the Tahoe duff and dust.

Fun course. 4 laps. Hard climb to start. Onto singletrack. Then a quick, hard, steep headwall climb on fireroad. Then... then some ultra-rad singletrack. Mostly descending. Lots of off camber sketchy rocky trail. Mmmmm. I like. A typical lap went like so: Get caught on the start climb - recover - drop the guy who caught me on the descent - repeat.

After the race, me and the misses did some investigation of the local campgrounds and decided on Kirkwood lake campground as our accommodations for the night. Super nice site. Out on a point. Killer views. A nice little trail that took us to a waterfall. Mmmm. I like.

Then on Sunday we did a nice road ride on nearby Blue Lakes Rd (Hope Valley). Light on traffic, heavy on views and nice pave'. Mmmm. I like.

Next up was some recon on the last 35 miles of the Tahoe Sierra 100 race course. This thing's gonna be a soul crusher. Steep climbs, river crossings, poison oak, loose trail with lots of rocks, bugs that swarm your head while hiking your bike.... should be a hoot. How hard is it? Well, hard enough to make you look like this!!!

Why do we do this? Because you also get trail like this:

and this

and this

and this

with views like this

and this????

So.... I'm racin'. Or at least going out and riding 100 miles. Should be some tales to tell. Race report to follow.

Ya'll come back now.... ya hear.

The Summer Hump

Wow.

Holy shit.

Ok.

With another long winter that refused to release its grip on Tahoe until sometime in early June ya'll were more than ready to ride once the trails started melting out this year.

Business at Mighty Mobile took off like a team of unruly horses pulling a wagon full of tools and parts. I pulled on the reigns with all my might and yelled most of the curse words I know at those damn horses. They pulled that wagon just as fast as they could with nary a concern for passenger or cargo. After a while though, the horses started to tire themselves out and become slightly more... chill-axed. One by one they started to fall into a groove and work together as a team signaling to me that the flow of a summer in Tahoe is definately upon us.

A three week break in the race schedule has given me a chance to rest, re-coup and ultimately get things caught up with Mighty Mobile. Quarterly sales tax, sifting through long neglected receipts strewn about my desk and other miscellaneous sheeite necessary to operate a business have all been taken care of. i's dotted.... t's crossed.

Good thing too. Round #4 of the Sierra Cup Series is this weekend at Kirkwood and the Tahoe Sierra 100 is juuuusst around the corner with plans already in the works for a pre-ride. Yikes!

I really feel like I've reached "the summit" this summer for all kinds of stuff. Weather you ride on the road or in the dirt it's always the downhill that most of us look forward to. And that time is now.

The Downieville Report

Downieville.
Wow.
Another year in the books.

First thing's first...Bike selection:
Well, this year was the year of the hardtail for me. I've been racing a carbon Specialized Stumpjumper Expert 29er for most of my races this year and just plain ole' felt comfortable on it. A preride in Downieville 10ish days leading up to the race confirmed my suspicions that I'd be alllllmost as fast on the descent on my hardtail as I would my Blur LT. Sure, without a doubt, there were sections that I couldn't "pin it" on the hardtail that I definately could have on my Blur but not enough to offset the 4lb weight difference (Hardtail=24lbs/Blur=28lbs). I ran Schwalbe Nobby Nics in a 2.35 width which proved to be a really really really good choice. I installed my trusty USE suspension seatpost to "take the edge off". I also loosely installed a blue ziptie to the rear left side saddle rail. What did this do.... absolutely nothing except make people ask questions and laugh. Other than that, I ran the bike the same as I do at most of the other races I've done this year.


Saturday, The XC:
Last year:
Last year I felt like a friggin' hero coming over the top of the start climb. I think I crested the top in the high 40 to low 50 minute mark. I felt great. My breathing was deep... rhythmic. I felt rested and almost comfortable.... sorta. I was told I was in the top 10. With the first bit of single track (Sunrise Trail) in my sights and 5,000ft of descending between me and the finish line a permagrin smile formed on my face and I started into the trail with the speed of a cheata and the tactfulness of a mountain lion.

This year:
This year as I crested the start climb I felt like.... well.... shit. Yea. Shit. Not even the shit from a mountain lion. More like dookie stuck on the bottom of your shoe from the neighbors dog. I looked ahead and saw a sea of riders ahead of me and wondered how my legs, which had already shown signs of cramping, would hold up in the remaining hour of the race. Lingering snow meant no Sunrise trail this year and as the course banked left and started its descent towards Butcher Ranch I let gravity take over and tried to change my mental game and get psyched for the second half of the race. I caught a few riders on the top sections of the course. This helped. I wasn't getting caught. This also helped. I still cramped on the climb after Pauly Creek but not near as bad as last year. The bad cramping happened BEFORE the Pauly Creek Bridge this year while doing battle with Clint Claussen. Dang. Things got a little better as the course went on, but I never had that feeling that I was charging or making up much ground. I continued feeling like shit until some two hours after the race and was rewarded 9th for my efforts. I was 10 minutes off the winners time (Carl Decker). Meh.


Sunday, The DH:
Well geez-o-pete.
Damn.
I was ON!!
Holy shit.
Holding bib #10 meant an early start time for me. The course had a super sweet line/lines ridden in it from the previous days xc race. Riding early meant that things weren't as hot. The course was a dark ribbon of singletrack after having a night of moisture blanket the canyons. With a slightly different warm up tactic today I rolled off the start line with a plan to ride good lines, stay relatively mistake free and most importantly NOT CRASH!! A few minutes into the course I was really starting to feel good. My legs felt way better than I thought they would and the course was fairly fresh in my mind letting me mentally prepare for the next section of trail. I crossed the bridge at Pauly Creek, flipped the Cramp Monster "the bird" while simultaneously dropping his sorry ass climbing to 3rd divide.
So fast. So scary. 3rd Divide is a bench cut single track stuck to the side of a mountain that makes you realize that you are indeed alive. Sure, there are trails that are faster but the fact that 3rd Divide is a bench cut singletrack lined with trees, blind roll-overs and high speed corners with exposure really require you to stay alert. Pilot error isn't something you even want to think about while on your way down this trail.

My efforts were good enough for a 16th place finish for the DH. Still waiting to see how it worked out for an over all once they tally the points for the weekend. Stay tuned for results as well as more gear selection complete with reviews!!

Sierra Cup Rd#3 race report

Round #3 of the Sierra Cup Series was met with bea-u-ti-ful weather and a stacked field at Skyline Park in Napa.

The start. Well, before the start even started the promoter fessed up to a "computer glitch" wherein he was missing some riders from same day registration. Yes folks it pays to pre-reg. This was resolved pretty quick and it was back to "get nervous time".

Chaotic start. Riders swerving, dodging, bobbing, weaving and everything else that can ruin your day (ain't that right Fowler). Two minutes into the race and I sat in 3rd position with Weir and Cruz setting the pace. I was feeling comfortable and figured I'd have no problem holding that pace for quite a while. Just then about 15 dudes came rocketing by and I found myself buried in the pack with my heart rate monitor displaying a number I was hoping wasn't right. All of the sudden I had a ton of work to do.

15 minutes into the first (of three) laps we reached a clearing and I did my best to count back in an attempt at learning my position and it seemed as though I was 12th.

On and on. I'd pass a guy here. A guy there. Somebody flatted. Another dude crashed. By the end of a hard earned 1st lap I figured I was in 7th... give or take.

I started lap two with one of the Whole Athlete riders. These friggin' guys were everywhere. We swapped back and forth a few times until I finally reached a section tailor made for me... a technical traversing singletrack followed by a rocky downhill. Poor kid never had a chance. I'm now 6th.... give or take.

I'd catch two guys riding together next and get around both on a climb putting me in 4th. At this point we were starting to get into lapped traffic which always seems to have its own set of challenges. "On your left" to a lapped rider can mean anything from "you should move to your left" to "you shouldn't move left" to my personal favorite "you should move left... then right... then left again before swerving off into the weeds and taking yourself out". Ahh bike racing. I love it.

I was setting a pretty descent pace for the remainder of lap two but wasn't catching anyone else in my class. It was starting to look a little grim. I wasn't even in a podium position.

Starting the final lap I was told by a spectator that I was indeed in 4th position. Shit. I got down to business and set a pace that I thought I could endure without a visit from the cramp monster and just tried to ride mistake free. On the first climb I got a glimpse of Clint Claussen (round #1 winner) near the top of some switchbacks. I chased hard and did indeed bridge the gap but it took almost the entire lap to git 'er done. I formulated a plan of hanging with him so I could draft him through the flats leading into the finish and let it come down to a sprint. Then I realized that Clint is a 6'-2" powerhouse and I'd probably have my hands full just hanging on through the last mile of fire road that lead into the finish. So I made my jump and swung around his left side towards the top of a technical climb. I only had about 7 minutes of single track to put some distance between us before the fireroad section started so I made the most of it. I let lapped traffic know from WAAAY back that I was coming through and, fortunately, had good luck getting by without incident. The single track came to an end and there was just 1 mile of fireroad between me and a podium position. I took a quick look back and saw nobody. I topped out on the first small climb looked back and saw nobody. Through the chicanes, looked back... nobody. Now I'm within a half mile. I put the hammer down and entered the grassy finish shoot. Less that 150 meters to go. I looked back... and there he was. Clint. Out of the saddle. Hammering. Bike rocking back and forth. Sheeeit!! I clicked down a couple of gears and pedaled in earnest. I reached the hairpin turn at the oak tree and kept pedaling. I could hear the grass being uprooted as I pushed the limits of traction through the turn. I exited the turn wide... and hot brushing up against the course marking tape as I went. Clint was close, but it was too late. We entered the finish chute and I crossed the line with a three second advantage. Damn. I'm shattered.

I spun around to cool down. Thought about my day and smiled. Racing in and around the Bay Area is hard. The fields are always stacked and if you let your guard down, even for a second, you'll get passed. It's friggin' relentless... and I like it.

I'd later learn that I was indeed the third guy to cross the line. Thing was though that the fastest man of the day turned out to be Anthony Smith, an 18 year young up and comer, who wasn't racing my class. The second fastest rider of the day was Dario Fredrick. How could you possibly be slow with a name like "Dario". Dario really needs to quit sandbagging and start racing the pro class.

So after some quick math I deduced that I had indeed won!! This makes the series interesting as Clint and I are tied with points for the lead.

Results here.

membership has its privileges

the race has been over for hours and I'm still sweatin'!

Clint and I weren't done racing yet. This is me chasing him down the highway on the way home.

More racin'

Round 3 of the Sierra Cup Series is at Skyline Park in Napa this weekend. This is a love/hate course for me. It's plenty technical (love) and I've managed to do quite well there in my previous two visits (love). The weather always seems to be just right (love) and there's always a good turnout of riders to do battle with. The unfortunate side of Napa for me is that the cramp monster is ALWAYS down there waiting for me.


I remember the first time I raced there. It was the last lap and I was catching two guys. Just as I was getting close to bridging the gap my legs started that familiar feeling of tightening. I backed off my pace, recovered and continued my attack. Again I started catching the two guys in front of me. We were within minutes of the finish. Again I got close. Again the cramp monster came knocking at the door. FRACK!! I had to back down. I'd learn a few minutes after crossing the finish line that the two dudes I was trying to catch were battling for the win. Meh. At least I made it to the podium. 3rd ain't bad ya know.

So, this weekend I've got a new plan to avoid the cramp monster. I'm going to pretend that my legs look like this....

... and I'll surely be immune to cramping. How are legs that look like this going to cramp?! It's impossible.

As always be on the lookout for a race report on Monday... or Tuesday... or maybe not at all.

Just Add Water

Round #2 of the Sierra Cup Series was officially postponed this weekend due to rain. Thank God. I commend the race promoter on the cancellation of the race. People were/are going to be upset either way but not racing was the better call. Nice job Kevin.

Anyone who's had the unfortunate experience of riding in Reno in the mud already knows that the dirt down there turns into an extra sticky peanut butter type of substance when it rains. Not only does the mud build up on the wheels of bikes leaving them without the ability to pass through the frame it will also suck the shoes right off your feet once you realize that you can no longer ride and start the inevitable walk back towards the car. I'm surprised that NASA isn't down there extracting that stuff for some sort of implementation in a space program. The Peavine race will be rescheduled for a later date. I'll keep ya'll posted on the new date for a race that you should really check out.

As the days of the calender tick away the race schedule is really starting to get busy. Round #3 of the Sierra Cup is next weekend in Napa. Super fun course. This will be my third time racing down there and it's always been worth the drive.

The week after Napa is the Boggs 8/24 hour solo. I'll be down there (Boggs) in an attempt at qualifying for the Tahoe Sierra 100 which is a 100 mile point to point race from Donner Summit to Forest Hill (Auburn-ish). Both the qualifier and the 100 mile should prove to be epic days in the saddle for sure.

The calender only lets up for a couple of weeks until Downieville. No; I didn't make it into the All Mountain Pro. Yes; I really want in. Yes; I need to try and "weasle" my way into a spot. Once again this year snow will be a hot topic on Downieville as another late winter in the Sierra is holding snow on most trails above 6,000ft. No; you can't yet ride from the top... not even close. Too much snow and lots of trees down. The trails are free of snow, cleaned up and perfectly rideable from the Paully Creek Bridge down to town. The N. Yuba trail (downriver from town) is also in good shape and riding well.