the rbb

I spent the weekend with the VisitPA.com folks in Marysville for the Stage Race. The weekend started off with the Night Time Time Trial (NTTT) on Friday night. This was the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike. Only my second time riding in the dark so I wasn’t sure what to expect or how I would do. I put in a solid ride finishing 11th in the Sport A Class/2nd in Sport Vet 2. I was extremely happy with this result given the way I have been feeling lately.

After a few too many beers and vodkas with cranberry on Friday night I awoke Saturday morning and suited up for the 6 Hour Enduro. I did this race last year and had some success finishing 7 laps and coming in at 9th place overall. I was hurting pretty good during the first lap. My legs were a little tight from the NTTT and it took them an hour or so to open up. I felt pretty good during laps 2 and 3 but my lap times were much slower than last year. I stopped for a quick bite after lap 3 and was back on my way. Lap 4 was horrible. I was hurting. I wanted to quit. Fortunately, as I came through the start/finish the racer in front of me decided to quit. As he was removing his timing chip I glanced over and saw the look on his face. I did not want to have that look. I decided to keep going. Lap 5 was worse than lap 4. I was kicking myself for removing the granny gear from my bike. I had nothing left on the climbs so I ended up walking most of them. Surprisingly, I felt really good on Lap 6. I actually rode everything. The thought of finishing kept me moving. I knew there were only 7 more miles to go and I was bound and determined to get this thing over with. So I ended up completing 6 laps in 6:49 or so. I was 25th overall/16th Open Men. I was an entire lap slower than last year on a nearly identical course. Considering I haven’t done a ride longer than 3 hours this year this really didn’t come as a surprise.

So after a few more beers (thankfully we ran out of Vodka) I woke up on Sunday and decided to pass on the Hill Climb. I did not have a granny gear and I was hurting pretty good. After talking with quite a few people, the general consensus is that a granny is required. The last thing I wanted to be doing is walking up the side of a mountain. So I had some breakfast and waited for the STXC races to begin later in the afternoon. It was twenty minutes of pure torture. I raced OK given the fact I just put in 7 hours the day before. I didn’t have much snap in the legs but was able to fight a good fight. I got nipped at the line in a sprint (6/10 of a second) and finished in 11th place in Sport A.

I came into the weekend without any expectations other than drinking a few beers and riding my bike. No pressure. I had a lot of fun. And although I could be totally imagining this, I may just be finding my form.

Well, it’s official. After racing Neshaminy on Sunday and conferring with my advisors, I have come to a conclusion.

I am one of the worst XC racers of all time. I don’t know why and I’m not even really sure I care at this point. But it can no longer be denied. The evidence is just too strong.

My XC results for 2008:
Fair Hill - 15th out of 30-something
Granogue - DNF
Summer Sizzler - 10th out of 11
Danville - 5th out of 6
Neshaminy - 16th out of 18

And this is in the freaking Sport class. So as you can see, there is ample evidence of my suckiness. Yes, the suck meter is pegged. Don’t even attempt to tell me otherwise. Now I do realize that ‘cross and XC racing are completely different animals, however, the disparity between my results in the two disciplines is astounding. I don’t get it. I don’t have an answer. I have no explanation. In fact, I am not even going to discuss it any more. Ever.

Thankfully ‘cross is only 86 days away. Now is the time to order your frame(s) and decide if the carbon wheelset that is more expensive than your entire bike is really worth it. Now we all know it’s not, but you will debate it nonetheless. Just don’t start gluing tubulars yet. That would be a bit, ahem, premature at this time.

Due to unforseen technical difficulties (ID10T Error), my blog was off line for several days.

Since you are reading this you know that it has now returned for your viewing pleasure.

My wife: This is my husband, Rich.
Me: Hi, nice to meet you.
Her: Hi, you are one of those CRAZY cyclists, huh?
Me: Yep.
Her: I think I might have hit one of you this morning…
Me: Um, er, OK then…Good Bye.

I never have any good comebacks…

Skipped the Stoopid 50 to let my shoulder heal a bit more. It’s been bothering me a lot lately.

Back to gears. Installed some new SRAM X.9 shifters and rear derailluer on the Thylacine. No more SS for me this year. Two hours and thirty minutes of bliss riding Brandywine on Saturday confirms that it was the right decision.

Back to the old training plan. New plan has me all discombobulated and overcooked. Too many hard efforts during the week was killing me.

Only two goals for the remainder of the season. Do well in the Endurance Race at Marysville (”do well” can be defined as improving on last years 9th place). 2. Complete the Wilderness 101 in under 10 hours. Everything else is just because.

Back to the old diet. I was kind of slacking off anyway. I’m just making it official.

Now you are up to date.

Read my last 3 race reports. It pretty much went the same way.

Gotta turn this thing around.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Since it is kind of hard to see I’ll tell you. It’s missing brake pads. I mean the whole enchilada. Gone. Nothing. The pistons were completely extended and rubbing against the rotor on both sides. In my haste to get the rear wheel back on yesterday I must have dislodged them both. They must have fallen out shortly thereafter.

And then there is this….

Hmmm. No pads at all on the back and metal on metal on the front. It’s a wonder I could slow down at all.

Disc brakes are better in bad conditions because?

Fifteen seconds out of 3rd place after the first lap. I was feeling really good. I was riding conservatively and really hadn’t put in any efforts. The sky opened up on us midway through the first lap and the course turned into a muddy mess. Even that wasn’t bothering me. I was having fun.

Then my rear wheel came off. Yep, pulled right out of the dropouts on a steep muddy climb. I guess vertical dropouts don’t like that much torque. It took me forever (4+ minutes) to get it back in and get going again. For whatever reason, I could not get my chain on and the wheel into the dropouts at the same time. It was either one or the other. I finally got going again.

Then I squeeze my rear brake and it doesn’t move. I squeeze harder and all of a sudden it goes all the way to the bar. Hydraulic pressure is completely gone. Now I’m riding a super slick muddy course with no rear brake. Trying to slow down with just a front brake is sketchy at best and the rear brake is rubbing something fierce. There was quite a racket coming from the rear caliper. I make the best of it. I am still having fun. All of the mud reminds me of cross.

No one passed me while I was actually riding but I finished 10th out of 11 anyway. Five people must have gone by when I was working to get my wheel back in. Bummer. Obviously, I’m not too happy with the result but I’m happy that I felt good physically for the first time in a while.

Now I just need to get the physical and the mechanical pieces working together and I may be able to put together a decent race before the end of the season.

Time for some bike love tomorrow. I have no idea what went wrong with the rear brake but it’s definitely not good.

Late edit: I’ve got so much fucking mud in my eyes I still can see right.

Ready to begin the daily fetch ritual…

Kind of reminds me of the Omen.

After

Ready to go again.

If there is one thing I hate about mountain biking it is cleaning the bike after every ride.

Me, myself, and I for 2:30 at French Creek today. No training allowed. Just me riding for fun. I really enjoyed myself. I did most of the race loop twice and then had to leave to make a 3PM barbecue. Surprisingly, my shoulder held up well. I definitely knew it was there but no real sharp pains today. I know. I know. I said I wasn’t going to be riding for a while but the weather today was just too nice to not get out.

As I was climbing that fucking blue trail today I was thinking that if I want to race my mountain bike it may be a good idea to ride it more than once per month. Especially since I’m running it as a single this year. Between Fair Hill and Granogue I was on it exactly 1 time. Two times if you include the 30 minutes I rode before my intimate encounter with the wooden bridge. That is not a recipe for success.

I felt good today and I enjoyed riding my bike on rock strewn trails. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I raced exactly one-half of a lap today. I rode a second lap but I just wasn’t feeling it. I was so worried about crashing and hitting my shoulder that I was useless. I wasn’t having any fun at all. In fact, I hated every minute of it. I am going to take some time off the bike. I need a mental (and physical) break.

Granogue Enduro tomorrow. It should be very interesting. My shoulder is a little better. And by better I mean I can put my socks on without wincing. Everything else is, well, painful.

I’ve only ridden once all week and that was on Wed night for an hour on the road bike. I just haven’t felt like it. The motivation to ride just isn’t there. The only conclusion that I can come up with is that I may have overdone it a bit in April/May. I did a lot of hard riding and a lot more racing than I’m used to doing. On top of that, my results over the past few weeks were horrible (in a word). The Iron Mike TT last Friday night is a perfect example. Now I know I’m not the fastest guy out there but I also know I can ride a lot faster than I did. I was feeling good in early to mid April. It’s seems like everything has gone downhill since the Lower Providence Crit.

All of that being said, I’ve gotten plenty of rest this week and I am starting to feel better. I should know exactly where things stand around 2PM tomorrow. That is, if my shoulder holds up for 4-5 hours of racing.

Went down hard yesterday. One second I’m riding along and he next I’m hitting dirt. I thought I broke my collar bone but ends up it is just a sprained shoulder. It still hurts like hell. Hope I’m healthy by next weekend for the Granogue Endurance race. At this point I can’t move it at all and I’m in a sling. That is 4 emergency room visits in less than a year. I’m going for a record.

Note to self: Wooden bridges are are slippery when wet.