The Hell of the North...

Yesterday was the first race of the year, and wouldn't you know the weather was NOT good. I was really looking forward to racing together with Marc. After a nice long drive to North Jersey, we arrived at the venue. When we got there it was just a light rain falling, that would end up being the best the weather got all day.

The format of the race was do as many of the 5 mile laps as you could in 4 hours. The course was a lot of fun and would have been awesome had it been dry. The first lap the course was in pretty good shape. Marc and I were doing pretty well ,but we may have gone out a bit too hard. Lap 2, my turn to lead. I quickly noticed that the course was getting worse, I just tried to keep the pace brisk but steady. Lap 3 Marc is doing a good job keeping us moving, and by the end of this lap I am starting to feel better. The problem is the rain has turned to sleet and then to snow, it was getting colder. On lap 4 it is my turn again, despite the lack of feeling in my hands and feet, my legs are feeling pretty good. This is where I made a mistake. I started to push the pace a bit, not realizing Marc was trying to recover a bit. At this point the course was getting down right dangerous. I had no brakes left, and upon further inspection when I got home I figured out why. Both front and rear pads were completely gone, and theses pads were not that old. I just hope I didn't fuck the rotors up as well.

Lap 5 we agree to make this our last lap. We are just trying to survive at this point. We were both riding very well given the conditions, then on one of the twisty slimy descents, I lost it and crashed. Now, believe it or not I was even colder, plus I shredded my arm warmer in the process.

We stooped at the finish and told them we were done. Despite the conditions, most of the race was fun and riding with Marc was great. We kept each other in check and motivated. If not for riding with him I would have quit a lot sooner.











It does say Spot on the jerseys!
Also racing today were fellow Mighty Spot folks, Matt who took 2nd in the single speed class despite a broken eggbeater pedal, Spot Paul, who broke a saddle after 3 laps, Fitzy who decided to live to fight another day, and Elk who was having a tough day. Mike K man Kirk, who was kind enough to drive me too and from, had a good race. L Webb and Jeb bagger, were also smart enough to know when to stop. Ted 2 lap Logic, who made sure the truck was nice and warm for Matt. Hats off to everybody in attendance, this was one for the ages. Check out www.fatmarc.com for another race report, and some more pics.

Buddy Out.