Yesterday was a chance to ride the Iron Hill course. The race is this Sunday and I am on the fence as to whether or not I am racing. My plan was to head down and do 3 laps at an easy pace. Since I had went on a road ride in the morning and I was still feeling the effects of Susquehanna I didn't think it was a good idea to hammer. When I got there, there were lots of folks getting ready to ride. The lot was also occupied by men seeking men. Anyone that knows this parks reputation knows what I am talking about.
I headed out with a group consisting of Fort James, Alan The Cleaner and Tood. We also saw Johnny and Karen (it's good to see Johnny riding again) Of course it was fast, Todd is riding very strong right now and he aint afraid to show it. The cours was very short, like 4 miles. The only climb was up Fuzzy's trail, a loose rocky steep bitch of a climb. About 10 minutes into our lap the group was down to Todd and I. We were going fast but not quite race pace. Our lap time was 21 minutes. That makes for a very short race. We headed out fro lap 2, I kind of let Todd go. I wanted to ride my own pace. Todd rolled out a 19 minute lap and mine was 22. All we were thinking about, that is when we weren't heckling the Family men looking for love, was convincing Bill to add a little to at least make it 5.5 miles.
We went out for another loop. This time we rode what we thought would make for a better course. Afterwards we found Bill and showed him our ideas and he liked them and was more than willing to make a couple of changes. I think the new course will be better and a lot more fun.
Now for a couple of observations;
1 seeing a used condom on the course is disturbing.
2 more and more people are getting single speeds.
3 Todd is as fast as ever.
4 Iron Hill is not a family park.
5 being off work while no one else is, is boring.
Thanks for reading,
Buddy
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Rides, Team America, and Susquehanna...
It has been a full weekend for me. Saturday I rode in the morning, nice short pre-race ride at White Clay. I was joined by Matt (run Forrest), Fort James, fatmarc (on his new cross bike), Fitzy, Mike K (on fatmarc's Meanie Greenie) and Ted Logic. It was a good ride, somehow I ended up leading. I tried to through in a couple of openers to loosen things up but Mike was the only taker and he wasn't racing the next day. It was a good ride and I was feeling pretty good. Marc bailed and rode home saying "never bring a gun to a knife fight". After an hour it was time to call it quits and head home.
After helping out with the house cleaning it was time to play auto mechanic. That's right, I had to put new brakes and rotors on my truck. The job was easy enough but that brake dust gets every where.
I am not much for reviewing movies but I will give it a shot. I watched Team America World Police. I have to say I liked it, I enjoy satirical humor and this movie was full of it. It is from the makers of South Park so you can imagine it is pretty raunchy. They take stabs at everyone from Hollywood to the Government a lot of it is subtle but very funny. I can't go with out mentioning the puppet love scene. You kind of have to see it to believe it.
I had debated skipping the Susquehanna Scorcher today, but I didn't. I had a good week riding and was looking forward to racing. I knew this was going to be a hard race and I thought I was ready. Lap 1 Things started off good, I was in a good position into the single track and feeling pretty good. I backed off a little to settle into my pace hoping to finish really strong. I was climbing well and rocking the down hills. Then things took a nasty turn, I was cruising down one of the many fun down hills When I caught a water bar the wrong way and bit it pretty hard. I got up and checked myself over, bloody knee and OH Shit sore ribs. I got back on the bike but it took a while until I was able to start really riding again.
Lap 2 I was feeling better at the start of lap 2 but I had slipped into DFL. I wanted to keep my pace and avoid blowing myself up. I was hurting, This is one hard fucking course. I was still able to ride most of the climbs so that was good.
Lap 3 My legs were starting to cramp just a little and to make it worse I was running low on water. I pushed on and started to pass people again and this gave a bit of a boost. As I was finishing lap 3 I asked Howard from Bike Line for a bottle and he hooked me up. Let me tell you about Howard for a second. This guy is the ultimate in team support. He shows up at every race gives all his guys feeds, food and makes sure there bikes are working properly. Not only does he do this for his team, but he does it for anybody that needs it. He always offers me a fresh bottle or a GU. I don't know if he reads my ramblings or not, but if so Thanks A lot you saved me today.
Lap 4 I am now settled into finishing last but I am still going as hard as I can. About half way into the last lap I catch Vicious 29er Chris. He tries to pull away but I was able to stay with him. We hit the blazing hot field climb and he tries to attack again but it cost him and I went by him. I was feeling better, kind of how I felt at the beginning. I was riding climbs I couldn't the lap before, and I just let it fly on the down hills, which were a shit load of fun. I came across the line hurting, tired and thirsty. This was a tough race, I knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard.
Now I must acknowledge a few people for there efforts today. Matty put in another great effort in the endurance race. He finished 7 laps on that course on a single speed, well done dude. Fitzy who brought his PUSS and rode well in the sport single speed class. Karen G had a good day as well, I failed to find out where she finished, but she was ready for a spot on the podium. Bill Doh! Also finished out the endurance series today. Ryan Baby was fling today and took 2nd overall, nicely done.
It was a hard day but I did have fun, even though I was suffering. Unlike last week where I wasn't having fun at all. This time I think I will take a break, I want to have something left in the tank at Single Speed Worlds in 2 weeks, then 7 Springs 2 weeks after that. Well I am tired and ready to call it a night.
Thanks for reading,
Buddy
After helping out with the house cleaning it was time to play auto mechanic. That's right, I had to put new brakes and rotors on my truck. The job was easy enough but that brake dust gets every where.
I am not much for reviewing movies but I will give it a shot. I watched Team America World Police. I have to say I liked it, I enjoy satirical humor and this movie was full of it. It is from the makers of South Park so you can imagine it is pretty raunchy. They take stabs at everyone from Hollywood to the Government a lot of it is subtle but very funny. I can't go with out mentioning the puppet love scene. You kind of have to see it to believe it.
I had debated skipping the Susquehanna Scorcher today, but I didn't. I had a good week riding and was looking forward to racing. I knew this was going to be a hard race and I thought I was ready. Lap 1 Things started off good, I was in a good position into the single track and feeling pretty good. I backed off a little to settle into my pace hoping to finish really strong. I was climbing well and rocking the down hills. Then things took a nasty turn, I was cruising down one of the many fun down hills When I caught a water bar the wrong way and bit it pretty hard. I got up and checked myself over, bloody knee and OH Shit sore ribs. I got back on the bike but it took a while until I was able to start really riding again.
Lap 2 I was feeling better at the start of lap 2 but I had slipped into DFL. I wanted to keep my pace and avoid blowing myself up. I was hurting, This is one hard fucking course. I was still able to ride most of the climbs so that was good.
Lap 3 My legs were starting to cramp just a little and to make it worse I was running low on water. I pushed on and started to pass people again and this gave a bit of a boost. As I was finishing lap 3 I asked Howard from Bike Line for a bottle and he hooked me up. Let me tell you about Howard for a second. This guy is the ultimate in team support. He shows up at every race gives all his guys feeds, food and makes sure there bikes are working properly. Not only does he do this for his team, but he does it for anybody that needs it. He always offers me a fresh bottle or a GU. I don't know if he reads my ramblings or not, but if so Thanks A lot you saved me today.
Lap 4 I am now settled into finishing last but I am still going as hard as I can. About half way into the last lap I catch Vicious 29er Chris. He tries to pull away but I was able to stay with him. We hit the blazing hot field climb and he tries to attack again but it cost him and I went by him. I was feeling better, kind of how I felt at the beginning. I was riding climbs I couldn't the lap before, and I just let it fly on the down hills, which were a shit load of fun. I came across the line hurting, tired and thirsty. This was a tough race, I knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard.
Now I must acknowledge a few people for there efforts today. Matty put in another great effort in the endurance race. He finished 7 laps on that course on a single speed, well done dude. Fitzy who brought his PUSS and rode well in the sport single speed class. Karen G had a good day as well, I failed to find out where she finished, but she was ready for a spot on the podium. Bill Doh! Also finished out the endurance series today. Ryan Baby was fling today and took 2nd overall, nicely done.
It was a hard day but I did have fun, even though I was suffering. Unlike last week where I wasn't having fun at all. This time I think I will take a break, I want to have something left in the tank at Single Speed Worlds in 2 weeks, then 7 Springs 2 weeks after that. Well I am tired and ready to call it a night.
Thanks for reading,
Buddy
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