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
Showing posts with label 34x20. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 34x20. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Ohio is Not Flat: The Wayne Ultra Report
The journey began Saturday after work with a 4 and half hour drive to Morgantown. I got lost only a couple times trying to find Logan's place. I sleep really bad/sweaty on his leather couch but it beat the hell out of sleeping on the ground in a tent. The ride Sunday from Morgantown to Marietta, OH was pretty scenic and I made good time, getting there an 1 hour and half early.
Rolling into the parking lot, right away is was apparent this was a perfect place for a race, big green hills, right on the beautiful Ohio River. Went through registration said hey to Andrew Forron from New River Bikes and Andy from Pro Bike Outfitters. While looking my bike over I noticed the bearings in bottom bracket were shot, resulting in lots of play in the crank. The pedals still moved and the wheel still rolled, so nothing too major. Finally got the bike right, loaded up the camelbak with nutrition, repair tools and I was ready to roll.
The race starts with a neutral roll out down towards the first climb of the race. The promoter honked his horn and off we went. The first climb starts out fairly gradual on asphalt. Then you take a tight right hand turn and it shoots straight up on to gravel. After 4 miles or so I finally made into the singletrack and heading into bonk land already. The first bit of singletrack was straight up and down with flat sections in between that were littered with rocks. At this point I had to just sit back and recover or I'd blow up. On this super sketchy downhill, I crashed sending my bike partially down a dropoff. Once I got my bike back onto the trail I noticed that the hydraulic lockout on my fork had broken off, so I was riding the last 25 miles with no squishy up front.
After the first bit of singletrack there is a short 2 mile road connector to first Aid Station, which allowed my geared comrades time to catch bike up to me. I rode the next 10 miles or so with Mandi Riddle (Joey's Bike Shop) and two other dudes. Eventually I passed Mandi and the two other dudes after the getting tired of their granny gear madness. At this point I'd say I was the seventh singlespeeder.
The second batch of singletrack then leads towards another section of pavement and gravel climbs, maybe 4 miles. The gravel climb in this section, sucked to the max. It was steep and the gravel was thick and loose. At the crest of this climb was the second aid station which unfortunately had no beer. The descent out of the aid station was straight and fast. Also there was some country looking fellas on the side of the trail hooting and hollering. My kind of guys, I bet they had all the beer. Then there was this rock garden, that I saw some dude eat poo poo on. I asked if he was alright but all he said in pain was "ahhhhh ahhhh yeah." I said "alrighty then" and keep moving. Then I caught my new West Virginia and singlespeed friend Andy who was cramping. On the climb up into the last aid station I passed two other singlespeeders. Putting me into fifth.
The last four miles, were a breeze with nothing but fast flowy singletrack, the perfect way to end a race. The course then passed through a tunnel, that was under the road we started on. Finally I was home free with a half mile of singletrack that was slightly downhill. At the very end I caught up to an Athens Bicycle rider who I out sprinted to finish.
I'd finished in 4:58 33rd out 72 overall and the fifth singlespeed. I can't say more about how awesome the course was. It had everything, fast and flowy singletrack, tough rock gardens, steep and gradual ups. Sketchy steep downs, and good gravel and paved connectors. River Valley Mountain Bike Association also did an awesome job of setting up the race. Well marked with stocked aid stations. They paid out well too. 1st-5th in Masters, Women and Singlespeed all got paid and 1st-15th in the Overall got paid. Seriously these trails are a hidden gem. Also I hear Mountwood (Parkersburg), North Bend (Harrisville) and Lake Hope (Athens) are also sweet trail systems with awesome races that are near by to the Wayne National Forest. Check out any these systems or races that's put on by RVMBA and WVMBA.
results
Rolling into the parking lot, right away is was apparent this was a perfect place for a race, big green hills, right on the beautiful Ohio River. Went through registration said hey to Andrew Forron from New River Bikes and Andy from Pro Bike Outfitters. While looking my bike over I noticed the bearings in bottom bracket were shot, resulting in lots of play in the crank. The pedals still moved and the wheel still rolled, so nothing too major. Finally got the bike right, loaded up the camelbak with nutrition, repair tools and I was ready to roll.
The race starts with a neutral roll out down towards the first climb of the race. The promoter honked his horn and off we went. The first climb starts out fairly gradual on asphalt. Then you take a tight right hand turn and it shoots straight up on to gravel. After 4 miles or so I finally made into the singletrack and heading into bonk land already. The first bit of singletrack was straight up and down with flat sections in between that were littered with rocks. At this point I had to just sit back and recover or I'd blow up. On this super sketchy downhill, I crashed sending my bike partially down a dropoff. Once I got my bike back onto the trail I noticed that the hydraulic lockout on my fork had broken off, so I was riding the last 25 miles with no squishy up front.
After the first bit of singletrack there is a short 2 mile road connector to first Aid Station, which allowed my geared comrades time to catch bike up to me. I rode the next 10 miles or so with Mandi Riddle (Joey's Bike Shop) and two other dudes. Eventually I passed Mandi and the two other dudes after the getting tired of their granny gear madness. At this point I'd say I was the seventh singlespeeder.
The second batch of singletrack then leads towards another section of pavement and gravel climbs, maybe 4 miles. The gravel climb in this section, sucked to the max. It was steep and the gravel was thick and loose. At the crest of this climb was the second aid station which unfortunately had no beer. The descent out of the aid station was straight and fast. Also there was some country looking fellas on the side of the trail hooting and hollering. My kind of guys, I bet they had all the beer. Then there was this rock garden, that I saw some dude eat poo poo on. I asked if he was alright but all he said in pain was "ahhhhh ahhhh yeah." I said "alrighty then" and keep moving. Then I caught my new West Virginia and singlespeed friend Andy who was cramping. On the climb up into the last aid station I passed two other singlespeeders. Putting me into fifth.
The last four miles, were a breeze with nothing but fast flowy singletrack, the perfect way to end a race. The course then passed through a tunnel, that was under the road we started on. Finally I was home free with a half mile of singletrack that was slightly downhill. At the very end I caught up to an Athens Bicycle rider who I out sprinted to finish.
I'd finished in 4:58 33rd out 72 overall and the fifth singlespeed. I can't say more about how awesome the course was. It had everything, fast and flowy singletrack, tough rock gardens, steep and gradual ups. Sketchy steep downs, and good gravel and paved connectors. River Valley Mountain Bike Association also did an awesome job of setting up the race. Well marked with stocked aid stations. They paid out well too. 1st-5th in Masters, Women and Singlespeed all got paid and 1st-15th in the Overall got paid. Seriously these trails are a hidden gem. Also I hear Mountwood (Parkersburg), North Bend (Harrisville) and Lake Hope (Athens) are also sweet trail systems with awesome races that are near by to the Wayne National Forest. Check out any these systems or races that's put on by RVMBA and WVMBA.
results
Singlespeed Podium
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