Virginia CX Finals at Forest Hill Park

I have been told for over a year now that I need to try cross racing. Of course this was quickly followed by a story about how much of a beat down it is. Well, both of these were right. I was missing something by not trying cross racing sooner.

Imagine riding at the limit of your anaerobic threshold for 45 minutes, yep it is tough. I have done a few power tests at Endorphin Fitness which includes a 20 minute max effort so I had an idea what I would be in for, but not certain what 45 minutes of this effort would do to me. I have heard of people throwing up during these power test, seen people hurling during the many endurance races I have entered, and now seen people hurling during CX races.

CX racing was very cool and I plan to enter several additional races next season. It isn't XC racing, but it is a nice place to test yourself during the off season. Anaerobic threshold is something I need to work on and I can't think of a better way to challenge my fitness.

Thanks to Jim Fisher for joining me as the only other DP rider out there. Hopefully there will be a few other team mates joining me next season.

Team Group Ride

We decided to kick off this years winter training series with a short course time trial to gauge our fitness. Powhite Park, early on a warm winter day, would provide the perfect setting. It was a nice way to spend a perfect day on the trails.

We paired up with our new sponsor, Endorphin Fitness to include some of their athletes. This ride was included in their new winter mountain bike training plan that several of us are taking advantage of.

Jeffepic Plasschilla Rollvemberfest

Fall is a great time to ride and this year’s weather has been pretty awesome (excluding a giant hurricane). So naturally, I had to put on my annual fall super-ride weekend spectacular.

We had a good crew assembled for the 1st day of riding. David R, Joe, Jim F, Jesse, Jason Plank, and myself headed up to the G-Dub in a caravan early Saturday morning. There were reports of snow in the mountains west of the "Burg" but I got some local intel from James Burris at Black Dog Bikes in Staunton that it should be OK. Fortunately, we were greeted with pleasant views of mountains that were dusted in snow, only up at higher elevations.

 

We made our way up to the radio tower on Narrow Back Mountain. Soon, we were rolling down a brand new trail that has been built by SVBC. This gem flows down the mountain with some doubles at the top and plenty of sweet cornering action further down. About half way down we took a moment to regroup and enjoy some wonderful scenery. By the time we got to the bottom there wasn't a face among us without a grin from ear to ear.

 

Next on the list was the climb up the Lynn trail and descent down Wolf Ridge. A chilly water crossing had a few of the group rambling through the woods looking for an easier fording of the creek.

 As soon as we hit the climb, calamity struck! A major mechanical delay with a broken cassette. I took on a strange role of fitness instructor, urging others to do some push ups to stay warm while the troublesome drive train was debugged.

With the equipment problems under control we began the ascent and soon realized another major problem. There were a ton of dead tree limbs and trees blown down all over the place. We quickly realized the severity after stopping two or three times to get around significant blocks in the trail. And we had only traveled a few hundred yards. It wasn’t the hurricane snowasuarus megadisater the news had been blathering about. Nope, just a bunch of sh*t in the way. Very frustrating.

 

A plan was hatched to return to Narrow Back and ride the Cookie trail backwards, and then revisit the new trail we had ridden earlier. We were all pretty chilly, but I assured the group that the climb up Narrow Back would warm us all up.

 

The Cookie delivered a tough and rocky road, but it was a lot more fun than pounding out gravel. During our second run on the new trail on Narrow Back I was following Joe and trying to keep up while he served it up bombing down the trail, hitting all the doubles with some tail whips for good measure.

 Just when it was getting good, calamity struck again. This time I found myself body surfing a rock armored section of single track after tossing my front end like a Frisbee. Nothing felt really bad, but I had an inkling that my hand got hurt. I held it up and all the fingers were pointing where they should and my hand moved OK. But, something felt funny. We all finished the downhill and headed back to the cars to reload for the assault on Lookout Mountain.
 

 

Back at the cars, I watched my finger swell up and decided I needed to call it a day.

David, Joe, and Jason continued the ride and got to check out the new trail on Lookout Mountain. I heard later on that it was pretty sweet.
 
I joined Jesse and Jim for lunch in Staunton before heading back to Richmond.

When the doctor at patient 1^st proclaimed I had a “chip fracture” I was a bit surprised. My expectations of a jammed finger were not matching reality. Unfortunately, this spelled the end of the Jeffepic for 2012.

Even though the weekend riding ended early, I think everyone had a blast and that certainly met expectations. While I prepare to start my offseason training, I’m already looking forward to Plassmania 2013...as long as the apocalypse of 2012 can wait a bit.

 

DP getting a little press...

DP getting a little press at the opening of the skills park over the weekend.

18 Hours Scouts Honor

This was my first time doing this race and I originally planned on doing it as part of a 4 person team.  Jason B. (his first time too) was in and we put out a call to recruit 2 more.  Everyone who wanted to do it was already on another team, out of town, or riding solo, so we decided to give the duo division a shot.

I got to the scout camp at 2:30 pm.  I found the team and quickly began setting up.  I learned that you can make Joe really happy by bringing a table and agreeing to share it with him.  The pre-race meeting was at 3 pm and lasted quite a while.  I was getting a bit nervous about being ready to start because Jason and I had not really discussed a strategy yet.  When the meeting ended I asked him if he could start since my family came for a bit and I could spend some time with them before being gone for the better part of a day.  He was hoping I would start, but quickly jumped into his Jeep to get dressed.

Rolling Start

Unicycle Division?  Impressive! 

The race started with a rolling start through a start loop and then right onto the course.  While Jason was doing his lap I got myself ready and made my way to the transition area.  Jason got us off to a good start and I took over for the second lap.  I didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course so I wasn't sure what to expect.  The trails were extremely fun and fast.  They flowed really well, but I had to make sure I keep my speed in check on some of the down hills as I almost overcooked a few turns.  I was pretty sure I would eat it at least a few times when it got dark.   I loved the mile from 5 to go to 4 to go.  You could almost go flat out without brakes and carve through the turns.  I looked forward to that part on every lap.
 

Jason finishing lap 1.

When I went out for my 3rd turn we switched to double laps so that the other person could get some longer rest.  This was also my first night lap of the night and only the 2nd night ride in my life.  It was an absolute blast.  The big dips in the trail were a thrill at night because you could only see dirt when you went in and couldn't see the way out.  So far so good.  4 laps complete. No cramping. No crashing.

Erik finishing lap 2.

While Jason started his first double lap I put on some dry clothes and tried to decide on what I wanted to eat. I settled on a pre-cooked sweet potato that I stuffed with some brown sugar.  I had it wrapped in aluminum foil so I tossed it into the fire to heat up and laid down on a blanket near the fire to stretch.  After I ate I tried to sleep by the fire, but I couldn't fall asleep because of the camp fire conversation about Kylan's love of thongs.  I can't remember the whole conversation, but it was entertaining.

Jason finished his 4th and 5th laps and was starting to cramp up a bit, but he was determined to get some rest to keep going strong.  We were currently battling back and forth between 3rd and 4th place.  I took off for my 5th and 6th lap.  I was still worried about cramping, so I spun easily up the hills and tried to pick it up on the flats to make up for it.  I also stayed very conscious of my fluid consumption and made myself keep drinking.  The first sip on this lap actually caught me by surprise.  Some how I got my bottles mixed up and had mixed together Cafe Latte Perpetuem, Lemon-Lime Heed, and Grapefruit Endurolytes Fizz.  Not the tastiest flavor combination, but I was somehow able to stomach it.  As I was riding I was also looking for yellow rubber chickens that had been hidden on the trail.  Finding one and bringing it back to breakfast was worth $75.  At one point I slammed on my brakes because I thought I saw one hanging in a tree above the trail, but it was only yellow caution tape. 

The next lap was quite a bit faster than the first.  I latched on to another racer who was riding at a good pace.  He would lose me on the uphills, but I would catch back up on the flats and downhills.  I lost him about half way though when I got stuck on one of the uphill logs and had to push up the rest of the hill.  As I continued at a good pace I had slammed on the brakes skidding to a stop.....Rubber Chicken....no, damn caution tape again!  The rest of the lap was pretty uneventful. Somehow I still haven't cramped even though I had been pushing pretty hard and ridden quite a bit longer than any of my training rides. 

Jason took back over somewhere around 2am even though he wasn't feeling too well.  I got out of my wet gear and started getting everything ready for my next turn before trying to sleep for a bit.  When I went to charge my lights I noticed that I might have a defective battery.  The indicator light did not work anymore.  I wasn't sure if it would work at all, but I plugged it into the charger and hoped for the best.  I tried to hang my kit near the fire to dry it when Melissa (Jason's wife) told me a clothes drying trick she learned in college.  You can dry your kit on the dashboard of your car using the defrost setting.  The trick is to make sure you don't cover all the vents so you don't burn out the heater.  Apparently you can still hear her call into CarTalk about it when they play re-runs.

Now that I am lounging in the warm car I decide to try to get some sleep.  This proved difficult due to rider's lights shining right at me when they came back and an upset stomach.  Around the time Jason was going to finish his lap I decided to meet him at the transition area to see how he was doing.  Melissa was waiting for him with some food and water.  I ran back and grabbed a gel for him just in case.  When he came through he said his legs were starting to lock up.  I asked him if he wanted me to get ready to go again now, but he wanted to grind through one more lap. 

I tried to sleep again, but my queasy stomach made it difficult.  My alarm went off to let me know that I needed to start getting ready to go again.  It was about 4am and pretty difficult to get out of the warm car.  Jason came through the transition just as I was running up with my bike.  He said he was done.  He was cramping really badly now and had to walk all the climbs.   I told him about my light issue and he offered me his light.  I asked him to leave it in my car just in case.

I took off for laps 7 and 8 wondering how much longer we could go.  My triceps and lower back muscles were getting really sore, but no signs of leg cramps so I will take that as a huge victory.  My stomach actually felt fine when I was riding, but I felt a bit sick when I stopped.  It got pretty lonely this time because it seemed like there weren't many other riders out.  I think I only saw one other rider on the first lap.  I skidded to a stop again for the caution tape....damn it!  (Paul ended up finding one of the chickens.)  Shortly after that my helmet light went out.  This slowed my pace down a little, but luckily my bar light was really bright.  I started recognizing little things in the trail that gave me a clue about what was coming up ahead.  I would see a particular rock coming out of the ground and know instantly that I was about to hit a climb around the next corner.  I was really starting to grind slowly up the hills in my easiest gear and couldn't make it over any of the mid-hill logs anymore.  Thankfully I still had the fast mile of trail between 5 to go and 4 to go to look forward to. 

I got back to the transition area and made my way to my car to get Jason's light.  He was waiting with it and got me set up so I could grab a quick bite to eat.  His helmet light was really bright and made it look like daylight on the trails.  I started off with renewed enthusiasm, but it quickly diminished as the fatigue started hitting me even harder.  I gave up on finding the chicken so I finally got to ignore the caution tape.  The rest of the lap felt like I was going in slow motion.  I'm not sure I would have made it up all the hills on another lap.  I came back though the transition area as the sky was starting to get a bit lighter.  I went to check the current standings.  We were running in 4th and 3rd was out of reach.  The good news was the we were most likely out of reach of the 5th placed team as well.  I sat by the fire and trying to decide whether or not I wanted to go back out again and finally decided to call it a day since we couldn't improve our standing.  

I got some of my gear together and took the nicest hot shower of my life.  I joined the others that were now awake to watch the epic battle for first place between Joe and David.  Jeff gave me a lesson on making coffee in the wilderness and made some much appreciated good coffee.  Jim Fisher overcome some issues during the night and was now pounding out a couple super fast laps to try to take 1st place in the duo division.  The 4 person team was still going strong as well.  Unfortunately bad luck struck Dave H. as we saw him walking over the hill back to camp carrying his bike with another tube slung over his shoulder.  Double flat.  He was really disappointed because he had been looking forward to getting in a few fast daylight laps at the end.  After everyone finished we made our way to the breakfast buffet and awards ceremony before making our way back home.

Near the end of the race I was starting to wonder why I was doing this.  I was doubtful that I would ever do anything like it again.  After some sleep I can look back on it and actually get excited about next year.  Jason and I already traded a few "next time we should......" emails.  It was a fun learning experience and the time spent with our awesome team mates made it well worth it.

See you there next year!  


Results:

1st Solo - Joe Fish
2nd Solo - David Reid
9th Solo - Dave Hardisky
2nd Duo - Jeff Plassman and Jim Fisher
4th Duo - Jason Broussard and Erik Bleecher
3rd 4 person Co-ed - Matt Juaneza, Paul Leeger, Kylan Shirley, and Francine Rapp

Is it that time already???

Yes it is, cyclocross season has officially started!

I have to brag on Mason a bit.  Starting a new chapter in her cycling book racing with ALAN N. America Cycling - kicking it off with a win at Tacchino CX in her first race of the season.

On the top step of the Junior Girls podium!

Making her way through the field.

Working her way up to 9th in the womens 3/4 race...NICE!!!

Rumor has is I will be making an appearance at a few cross races this season on my trusty Giant TCX - we really do have the best sponsors out there!  Come on out to the CX races and have some fun.

Ford #2. A bag of ice, 2 Advil, and some rest

The Fredricksburg Offroad Duathalon was this weekend and anyone who was brave enough to venture was treated to all kinds of pain and suffering.  Turn out was thin, which seems to be the case for any end-of-summer or fall event.  My event went as planned and I took the overall win ahead of Powell Blackenship.  Jim Fisher was out representing DP Racing as well and finished a respectable 4th overall.

For me the ride home will be the most memorable part of this day. With whipping head winds on I-95S my 20 something year old bike rack reached the end of its useful life.  On 95 I watched, in my rear view mirror, as my dusty old rack with my bike still attached slid down the fast lane. I would tell you the speed I was going but my speedometer reached the end of its useful life that very same morning, I would guess 80mph.  I pulled over to the median as quickly as I could but also making sure I would leave space for on-coming traffic to avoid my dusty old bike rack with my bike still attached.  Next, I said some things that could get this blog shut down.  Then I ran, with my loafers and busted-up ankle, the fastest 100 yard dash of my life.  The whole time thinking, which and when will be the vehicle to nail my ride.  To my disbelief, that never happened, everybody was able to avoid it and I was able to quickly grab it and run back to the side of the road.  I quickly carried my long time friends back to my car and began to assess the damage.  First bike rack is junk, I throw that aside.  Wait A Minute?! This Can't Be Right?!  There is not a scratch on my bike. I'm not even kidding.

Well, I'm thanking my lucky stars and as for now...  a bag of ice, 2 Advil, and some rest, doctors orders.

SM100 2012

I look at my phone, "yep it's 4:30  in the mourning and somebody is playing Crazy Train as loud as possible. Hell yeah! I'm ready to my bike a 100 miles." Some dude rolls by hitting a gong on a 4 wheeler and Chris gets on the loud speaker "C'mon get ya some breakfast, it's black coffee kinda mourning." I get some pants on get three or four bagels and huge cup of unfinished coffee. Joe Fish is there and I talk to him bit. Then I rollout and change into the race clothes and all the other pre racing boring stuff.

At the starting line I find my boy Allen Campbell from Blackwater Bikes, we get rowdy almost too rowdy for 6:30 in the mourning. Allen and I start way in the back and pass probably half the field on the climb up to the radio tower. Then on the cookie trail nobody is riding the rocks and everything gets bottlenecked. Bradley Schmalzer passes me after his flat at mile 2. I find a train on Tillman Rd and latch on. Then begin the hike a bike up Lynn Trail. Finally the top of Lynn comes and sweet descent down Wolf begins. I rip past a few sketchy characters and some guy screaming bloody murder. Guess all the riding with the Plastic Man has payed off! I reach the creek at the bottom of the flowy stuff and pass mickey mouse, a hooter girl, some guy who said "Rider 555 (my number) your table is ready" and D Reid who broke his degaylleuer. Then on the flat road section, between Wolf and Aid 2 all the geared riders I passed on the descent come by in their big ring. I promptly give them the finger and tell em see ya halfway up Hankey. Not really but damn was I thinking it!

The awesome volunteers get me in and out of Aid 2 quick and the assault on Hankey begins. My legs feel good and I catch Davy from Blackwater in the little meadow before Dowells. Davy and I roll down the sketchy top portion and pass some fellas walking their bike down the drops. Davy skids off a little bit and lets me around. Halfway down I feel my water bottle hitting my leg, I look down to see my cage is broken. So for the second half I come down looking like an idiot with my bottle in mouth until I can get a zip tie at Aid 3. I hop into a geared train down 250 while some dark clouds roll up. Half way up Bridge Hollow the skies open up and I'm talking biblical rains. The rocks are near impossible to ride and I watch some dude ride his bike of the mountain. Bald Ridge, the Braley  downhill, isn't much better. You have to squint like an old man reading the newspaper to keep the mud out of your eyes. At aid 4 I see a bunch of people quitting. 

"Sup Dicky"

"Quitting" 

"You to J-Pok" 

"Yeah there is no point"

Damn this rain! 

On the road to the death climb I start shivering and can't feel my toes.  At the base of Shit Road I see Joe "Pro I've got them flashy yellow shoes" Fish who has the worlds biggest sidewall tear. He encourages me to keep riding. Actually he gave more of that WTF are you doing, stop talking, go ride your bike, it's race kinda tone. So I press on. Shit Road is this stupid 2% grade gravel road that goes on and on for 7 miles. If I sit down I spinout and it's not steep enough to stand. Man I want this to end! Finally I hit the base of the real "Death Climb." A lot of the geared guys looked shelled, I grind pass Mark Junkerman from RunRideRace halfway to Aid 5. Finally the much needed relief of pizza and candy comes at Aid 5. Then things got heavy. The little road up the Little Bald knob and the Chestnut trail is destroyed. It's the nastiest mud I've ever seen. Slow going really doesn't describe it. I rode through a puddle that engulfed my water bottles. Then the top of Chestnut was super sketch, peanut buttery and slick rocks.  Finally towards to bottom things smooth out and I make some moves past some fellas. At the very bottom I past two dudes on full squishy bikes, who tell me at Aid 6 "Didn't know you could go that fast on a hardtail." I was going fast!? Plassman, David and Joe must be moving at the speed of light then. 

I roll up Hankey the second time, walkup the Plastic Man dubbed "bitch slap." Roll up under the finishing banner to see David telling me I just got under 10 hours. Right on! 

Immediately I fill up my finishers glass and start my post race festivities. After a couple hotdogs and a dip in the creek and I start talking to Dicky and Parsons. Bishop comes over and Dicky starts making fun his "aero pads." Then Bishop tells us there is women's underware and little turds in people's drop bag's. I say his full of it but Thom and me go investigate. Check out my interview from that at the bottom. After a few flambongos, I start hanging out with the cycling and living legend Tinker Juarez. Yeah it happened. Not really but Garth Prosser is one of the coolest freaking dudes I've ever met. Things were drinked, words were said, and friends were made. Late late into the evening an angry mob of Nate Sheerer, Thom, Sideshow Bob, that lady from the WV Night Club, and myself all went on the Dick hunt. After much searching we found the little man, who everyone thinks is me, asleep in his fortress. Threats of sharpies were made, finally I went to bed after the worst merry go round ride of my life.

I'll be back next year sure. I made so many friends and hung out so many old ones. In fact I've got 100 mile-itis. Next year I'm gonna step my game up. Get ready for me, Mohican, Cohutta, Wilderness, Fools Gold and Lumberjack. Everyone on this team and everyone who reads this must try this race, it's a blast and well worth the entry fee. Anyone can finish all you gotz to do is pedal.

Oh yeah I ran a 36x22.

Watch more video of 2012 Shenandoah Mountain 100 NUE on cyclingdirt.org

The Stampede

At home it had rained from when we woke up Saturday morning, and just finished sometime Sunday morning, so we knew it was going to be a wet race!  But the sun was starting to shine, so we thought we might luck out and the trails would dry up a bit.  On the drive up to Devil’s Backbone Brewery, the further we drove the more rainy it became, with ominous low dark clouds and fog.  But we wouldn’t be swayed, a race we had registered for and race we shall!

The race starts off with a 1.8ish mile climb to the top of Brent’s Gap.  That sure separates out the racers very quickly!  The climbing didn’t end there, with climbs up Horseshoe Mountain.

The trails were very muddy- I ate a lot of mud and was picking dirt out of my ears after the race.  The two very steep descents this course was known for I just slid down with my brakes lightly on, fishtailing and trying to stay upright.  I’m not sure what others did, but it was a rush!  Loved the course- you could tell in dry weather it would be very fast.  Very narrow single track, with some double track thrown in.  Lots of climbing and descents.

I knew that Tom Richeson, a climber, would do well in this race and so he did- he ended up getting 2^nd in Expert Vet Men (35+) and 3^rd overall!  Yay Tom!  Other standings and podiums from a die-hard group of Design Physics riders:  Jim Fisher 2^nd Sport Men 36+, Byron Gonzales 3^rd Beginner Men, Sonya Gagnon 3^rd Sport Women, and Matt Juaneza 7^th Sport Men.  Full results here:  http://www.cycleva.com/S12results.html.  Jim had brought his friend Tom Jeffrey, it was Tom’s first mountain bike race.  Tom ended up placing first over Jim, does Jim regret bringing him?  Hah hah.  I don’t think so.  Do I sense a potential new team member?

Thanks to the owners of Devil’s Backbone Brewery for hosting the event and for letting us use their private land for the race.  Thanks also to Woody for putting on a very well organized event- course was well marked, many course marshalls to keep everyone in line, great free lunch and beer after, and I must say a very nice payout indeed!  Also a shoutout to our teammate Thom Flynn, who had wanted to race but instead sacrificed and was a course marshall, stopping traffic so we could get back on the highway safely for each of our laps.  Thanks Thom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plassmans Tour of Richmond



So the idea was thrown out there, and before long a group had decided that a 100k trip around the local Richmond trails would be a good idea.  Six members of the team joined at Forest Hill Park to start the day.  I guess none of us were thinking about the parks farmers market when we picked this destination, we had to fight for parking spots and weave between cars to gather in a spot.



The route was planned by Plassman and was sure to include the best of JRPS and surrounding trails with as much singletrack as possible. We started with a loop around JRPS in traditional style.

Is that a grimace from Bleecher already??

We picked up a few additional team members swelling to a group of nine at one point.


Yes, that is our fearless leader Jason.  No, he hasn't lost his bike this season.



We then ventured to Powhite where Plassman was able to show us the best line around the spaghetti of trails over there.  This trip seemed to bring some of the impetus out of the group.  We began dropping members as we headed to Powhite and then more once we left Powhite.



Stijls representing





The men behind the Stijls

Our group headed on a journey to the flats of Pony Pasture, Laurus Park and back to JRPS before finishing with another loop of Forest Hill.  To tired for photos by the end, there were four of us who completed the ride logging just under 60 miles.  Not quite the 100k we were hoping for, but a great team training ride.







 









The Dirty Dawg 2012

Most of the DP stayed local and did Junkerman's race at Camp Hilbert on Saturday. With work on Saturday I opted to travel out to Blacksburg and race the Dirty Dawg. A few things had me worried about the race, one that I had to race expert men on my Singlespeed and two I had no idea what to expect about the course. The location for the course is at Mountain Lake (Yes, where the filmed Dirty Dancing!) high up on a mountain, right on the West Virginia border. The expert men field was pretty big with 35 riders. With such a big field I knew the start was going to critical. We started on a gravel road and sprinted through the field with the barn and timing table. I go outside on the first turn and lose about 12 positions and head into the singletrack about 30th. The first bit of singletrack is a ripping downhill but not to ripping when you're behind half the field. Half way down I pass Gordon Wadsworth who has already flatted a mile into the race. Finally we hit hill and all of the geared riders shift into granny gear, I just jump off and run by 5 or 6 riders, almost taking out Laura Hamm in the process. Sorry! After  traffic thinned out and I was able to catch others riders on the fireroad climbs. Also for a first time I was making up time on the downhills (Thanks for the schooling Plassman). Finally I reached the intersection of the extra expert loop and the regular course. Now this is where things get weird, expert riders have to do the loop once but can choose which lap they complete it on. I opted to get it out of the way on the first lap. It started with a fairly long steep gravel climb after this things got hairy. After turning off the gravel load there was fast descent with loose shale rock gardens. Then there was steep rocky doubletrack climb that I walked good share off. Finally we hit the last trail Moonstomper. The trail was rocky, really rocky. Some of the nastiest stuff I've ever ridden. The rocks were numerous, slick and jagged. Also it didn't help that somebody in front of me keep dabbing causing me to lose a bit of my flow every 200ft. Then the last bit of trail shot straight down and was rocky as hell. I just held on and tired not to die. I finally came to one section with a big drop with sketchy entrance, that I just said "Nope that's it, there is my limit." Still an awesome bit of trail. Finally I rejoined the list bit of the regular loop. For my next two laps I just stay on top of it and rode hard. I didn't see anymore expert riders for my last two laps. I came into the finish expecting about 20th or so. Then I looked over at the board and what.... I got 10th. Kirby the promoter came over said "good job dude 10th overall 3rd single". All I could think "are you serious man!?" My best result of the year, hopefully this will carry over to next weekend for the Chimney Chase at Walnut Creek. Everybody should check out the trails at Mountain Lake and Kirby's other race at Pandapas Pond in october, right up the road. Hope to see everyone next weekend!

Results

Virginia Mountain Bike Super Series #3!!

I have little doubt that many of the participants didn’t realize they were participating in the new Virginia Mountain Bike Super Series, but alas you were.  No longer contained to just Hilbert, this series is bound to take off.  I for one am looking forward to it as Mark hosts a good grassroots type race that offers a lot of bang for the buck. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the Run Ride Race events.

The 3^rd race of the series was held at the ever familiar Camp Hilbert.  Rooty, tight singletrack with short steep climbs is what is always on tap at Hilbert.  I continue my love/hate relationship with these trails.  The direction was counter-clockwise which features a sweet, fast and swoopy downhill about halfway through the lap.  I must say that I looked forward to riding this section of trail on each lap.

I was a bit skeptical when heading out to the venue as I drove through a downpour which would not have been fun to race in.  Luckily we got lucky and this storm never made it to Hilbert and we were fortunate to have relatively moderate temperatures without the extreme humidity we have been experiencing.  I’m glad I didn’t turn around and head back home as was my initial thought; I managed to lay down some of my best laps ever recorded at Hilbert in a direction that is the more difficult.  It was nice to return to the top step of the podium and I give thanks to Michael Harlow at Endorphin Fitness for keeping my training on track this season.  It has really made a difference.  I also returned to the Stijl for this race after a quick tune up by Hinmaton last week, thanks for helping me out.  I was worried of some slick roots after the rain we had gotten Friday night so ran a Rocket Ron on front with my (now standard) Racing Ralph on the rear.  This turned out to be a great tire combination, man I like those Rocket Ron’s on the front.

We had a great team turnout with multiple podiums.  I will try to list them below and you can find the full results here:

Sport Women

Sonya Richeson 1^st

Expert Vet Men

Jeff Plassman 3^rd
Tom Richeson 5^th

Sport Men (Young)

Matt Juaneza 2^nd

Eric Bleecher 6^th

Sport Vet Men

Jim Fisher 1^st

Enduro Men

David Reid 1^st

Mike King 5^th

Congrats to all!!

Tom and Sonya

I know this isn’t race related, but since we are teammates I thought it was team news worthy!  I eloped with my best friend and teammate Tom Richeson last Thursday night 7/12/12.  We got married on Wintergreen (Devil’s Knob) at an overlook. 

Iron Mountain 100k

56 miles of grinding gravel climbs and tooth-rattling rocky descents.

I'd never ridden down in the Damascus area, but I will definitely be making return trips.  The mountains are big and the trails are gnarly.

Joe Fish, Travis Williams (aka Metro), and myself made Paul Leeger drive us to Damascus on Saturday, where we stayed at the Hiker's Inn right in the middle of town just a few short blocks from the race start/finish.
We jumped on our bikes when we got there and headed up the Virginia Creeper Trail to spin out the legs.
The Creeper Trail is a rail-to-trail path that starts in Damascus and runs up into the mountains through rhododendrons and pine trees alongside a trout-filled, rushing stream.
It seems that all activity in Damascus centers around riding bicycles on the Creeper Trail and hiking on the Appalachian trail or on nearby Mt. Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia.

As we rolled back into town and off the Creeper Trail I realized my tire was rubbing the chainstay on every revolution of the wheel.  We pulled out the spoke wrench and twisted a few nipples before realizing i had a broken spoke.  No wonder the back end of the bike had been feeling so flexy the last few rides.  Fortunately Travis had a spare spoke that fit and the wheel was ready to roll for the morning.

After picking up our packets we met up with Francine Rapp and Jennie Whedbie and hit Quincy's, one of only two restaurants in Damascus, for some glycogen building.

Race morning rolled around and Travis took a 45 minute shower.  Then proceeded to explicitly describe exactly why it took him so long to get ready.  If you know what I mean.

The race started with a lead-out through town and onto the Creeper Trail.  Those with a chance of placing well took off and the Regular people bunched up, got in each others way and splashed mud and horseshit all over each other.  The shenanigans continued as the race turned onto singletrack and went straight up a wet and rocky chute.  The type of climb that takes some concentration to not pinball around and end up sideways.   A lot of pushing and walking happened as it just took too much energy to pick through the rocks and all the people.  My glasses fogged up and immediately and I couldn't see the trail anyways. I saw Paul stopping to put some air in his tires because bouncing around in the rocks had burped his rear tire nearly flat.

At the top of the first climb we turned onto some smoother, but still rough, ridgetop trail that was fast and fun.  Francine, Paul and I ended up riding together for most of the first section to aid station 1.
The descent into aid station 1 was screaming fast and dropped us out onto several miles of paved road.  At this point Francine took off and Paul dropped back.  We saw each other again at Aid Station 2, but not again after that.  The trails into aid station 2 were gnarly, rocky, slippery with leaves in spots, wet in spots, and of course real fun.

The aid stations were awesome.  Station 2 was manned by a bunch of 50ish burly biker dudes making peanut butter sandwiches and handing out "pink hippie powder."
I rode by myself for most of the rest of the race.  Up until the last 12 miles the ride consisted of long gravel climbs followed by fast technical singletrack descents, over and over.   On the longest of the climbs I ended up alongside a girl from Asheville who ended up in the top 5. Riding along someone else helped me keep up pace and moral.  This was one of the only parts of the race that was in the sun, adding to the beatdown.

I rolled up to the last aid station, downed some coke and pretzels and was told there only 12 miles to go.
That's only one lap around JRPS I thought, and headed out happy that I was going to finish this feeling good and without any major problems.
The last bit of trail was up and down on singletrack and some jeep trail, ending with a screaming fast, flowy, but loose and rocky descent with so many water crossings we might as well have been riding down the stream bed.
Right at the top of this last descent, I heard a rider come up fast behind me.  I indicated that they should come around me if they wanted since they seemed to be feeling antsy to get to the finish line.
About 300 yards down the trail, he finally passed me and it was a guy out on his own ride, not racing, on a long travel bike, with no helmet, and he was out of sight immediately.  I tried to keep up for about 3 seconds, but he knew the trail and was launching off things and plowing over rocks that the ol' Stijl doesn't have the suspension for.

I crossed the line and the lady at the table said "7:15."
Sweet, I was done. Longest race I'd ever completed.  And maybe the longest distance I've ridden on a mountain bike in one day.  The last day of the Colorado Trail tour was somewhere around 50 miles but took a lot longer than that, pushing 40 lbs of bike and gear over 12,000 ft peaks.

Joe and Francine were already chowing on cheeseburgers when I rolled into the park where the post-race festivities were held.  Joe was already showered and had gotten a haircut.  He had finished two hours earlier and came in 6th place overall.
Paul and Travis pulled up about 30 minutes later.  Travis had somehow ended up off course and spent an hour riding down a paved road away from the race.  His version of the detour involves 20 miles and 5,000 feet of extra climbing, and at least 3 beers drank before rejoining the race course.


Paul and Joe and I stayed at the Hiker's Inn a second night before heading to Blacksburg on Monday morning for a quick recovery ride and a massive breakfast at Gillies.  
We only rode for 45 minutes on the Pandapas pond trails outside the 'Burg, but it was the most fun 45 minutes of riding i've done in a while.  The descent down snakeroot trail is a buffed out, bermed roller coaster that flows so well you barely need brakes.


After another 3 hours in the car, we were back that the park and ride, and I got to go back to work, where I got berated by my boss wearing shorts and smelling bad.


Great trip, Great race.  Wish I had some pictures.


   

Fight For Freedom Race, Williamsburg, VA

HOT! That about sums up the day. When I got home from the race, the thermometer under our deck, in the shade, read that the maximum temperature for the day was 101. Who was foolhardy enough to race in that heat? Sonya Gagnon, Byron Gonzalez, Thomas Flynn, Mike King, and Matt Juaneza. Wahoo! I was glad though to be able to support Richmond Cycling Corps and their cause.

My race wasn’t until 11:30 but I got there early to pre-ride the course since I hadn’t been to Freedom Park before. I wasn’t sure if that was smart due to the amount of water I lost just from pre-riding, but I made sure to hydrate frequently. Because I was early I got to see Byron start his Beginner men’s race.

There were 4 of us in my Sport women’s race. There was a downhill start on a fireroad before a sharp right hole shot into the single track. I was able to get in the woods first, with my (friendly) nemesis of 2012 Emily Croft on my wheel. (Just turned 14 and she usually kicks my butt? What?) I could see/hear the other two women close behind. As we kept riding, soon it was just Emily left on my wheel. A couple miles into the race, Emily called out to me that she had dropped her water bottle. I was thinking oh no, in this heat, that’s not good at all. I yelled to her to let me know if she started feeling dizzy. The place where the water station was, was about 4 miles on. We kept riding, and I made sure I could always hear Emily behind me. The heat was oppressive, even the draft created from moving through the air was hot, it felt like riding in an oven. After a few miles Emily yelled out that her energy level was dropping fast, she was getting weak, so I stopped and had her drink from my camel back. We went on, and finally got to the water station. I yelled out to her Dad that she needed electrolytes then went on my way without worrying about her anymore. I honestly thought she’d hydrate and still be able to catch up with me because she’s so fast, but it turns out she decided to end her race because she was too far in the negative with dehydration. But of course I didn’t know that so for the whole race I pushed hard thinking she might catch me any second. Towards the end I could feel my body slowing down, but the other girls didn’t catch me.

I loved the trails! No obstacles just really tight singletrack. Very narrow (caught my bars on a tree once) and constantly either going up, going down, or turning. A very fun course.

After I got back to my car I felt worse than during the race, I could hardly stand up straight and was seeing small black stars in my vision. Got myself to the air conditioned visitor center and hung out there for about 45 minutes.

Final results showed myself as 1st in Sport Women, Byron 1st in Beginner Men, Mike 8th and Matt 9th in enduro (kudos to anyone who did enduro in that heat), and Tom 9th in Sport Men 35+.

2012 Mohican 100 - Jeff's Point of view

Last weekend, Joe, David, and myself all raced in the Mohican 100, located in central Ohio. This race is known for it's awsome 1st 20 miles of singletrack in the Mohican State Forest and is a classic NUE race course. The weather was a bit sketchy on Friday as drove to Loudonville Ohio, host of the Mohican 100.

The weather finally broke later that evenining and we awaoke to a wonderfull day of racing. In the morning, David got some interesting news on his batphone... there was a race store contest for the Cohutta 100 that I had entered and I got second place and won a cool hitch rack. The top 3 stories, incuding my "Cohutta Remixed"  are posted online. http://www.trailheadoutdoors.org/newsevents/

Soon, the race was on. I made this video from my GoPro footage, check it out!

Overall we had some great results. Joe and David absolutely killed it and I bettered my previous best Mohican 100 time by a whole bunch of time.

Joe Fish          19th  7:54
David Ried     25th  8:07
Plassman        46th  8:48

Cheers!

Don't mess with David when he is eating!