Diablo Race #3

For this race, Puck and I decided to leave town on Thursday night in his truck since most Richmonders were staying in town for Best Friends Day and we'd be the only two making the drive to New Jersey. That gave us an extra day to ride and time to stop by his Dad's house in Hightstown, NJ.

Diablo runs their lift until 7pm in the midweek, so we casually headed to the park on Friday and began to take some runs. Unfortunately, a storm rolled in after only two runs. As soon as thunder was audible, they shut down the lift. To make matters worse, we learned that Diablo offers no sort of rain-check for instances like this one. We waited out the storm in the parking lot and met a rider from Brazil named Sergio. Even after the rain had stopped, the lift remained static, so we headed to the campsite and called it a day.



The next morning was damp, but the sky looked promising, so we got an early start and began the day by walking the course to check out this month's race run. Surprisingly enough, the course was much simpler than the last one. The bottom half was almost identical to their first course and it seemed to be the shortest run they've had in a race thus far.

I spent most of the day making runs on the course, but took a few with Puck and Sergio to break up the monotony. We even found a few trails that we'd never seen before at Diablo - helping the park's reputation in our minds after being smashed by the overwhelming acreage of Snowshoe.



The ground was perfect - grippy and soft, without even a hint of dust which usually plagues the park. The temperature was much better also after the previous night's rain. Around 4pm, we were exhausted, so we headed back to the campsite with a quick stop at a local pizza joint.

The rain returned that night, so we each retired to our tents a bit early. The next morning was clear and within a few hours the sun was shining brightly above. Again the ground felt wonderful, so the rain wasn't really too much of a downer. We were able to hang out all of our wet gear while we rode, which was toasty dry by the end of the afternoon.

I took a couple of runs on the course to make sure it felt roughly the same as the previous day, and then returned to the parking lot to relax and mentally prepare for the race. At 1:29 I left the top of the mountain and crossed the finish line a mere 2 minutes, 26 seconds later. It wasn't a perfect run, but overall I felt confident about my performance. I was the first rider in my category, so I was able to wait at the bottom for the two main opponents to cross. Dennis Yuroshek and his teammate, PJ Mihalick (2wheelfreaks) were my most formidable opponents, but I snuck away with the win 5 seconds ahead of them. The best thing about the finish was that all three of us on the podium were riding the same bike - the '09 Giant Glory DH. I'll be selling my frame at the end of the season too, in case anyone's interested.



After the race, we said goodbye to Sergio and headed for Puck's Dad's house for a cookout, then back to Richmond for a quick rest before the next race - SNOWSHOE!

18 hours

The 18 hour race is over. It's always a sad and sore day after this one.
This is as much fun as it is painful. I love it when it's almost here and I hate it at 3am.
My buddy Andrew and I had a battleplan of turning 2 laps each at the beginning, and then going on to 3. That leaves each teamate with enough time for a light charge and a meal and rest if needed.
Then Paul Leeger threw a wrench in that plan telling me that the best teams do single laps each. 1 and 1 and 1 and so on. So he got me thinking.
My legs don't get going well until about mile 6 when they're nice and hot, and if we only turn one each, there's no time to eat or charge up.
So we did 2 and 2.
The first time out we both made good times. Sub 50. If we kept that up, we figured that we could get in 19 laps. But that was BEFORE we heard that they would not count any laps after 10am. With that, we'd have to come in at 9ish in order to get one more lap in, not by 9:59. Personally, I didn't like that. Until the end.
The daylight runs were hot and sweaty, and the night laps were cooler, but WET. 80% forecasted humidity, but it felt like more. The fog was thick enough that it's hard to imagine that it wasn't falling as rain. But it was hanging in mid air, sticking to my glasses and making my gloves feel like wet paper bags. But hey, it was cooler than riding in the sun. It also settled the dust and made the trail tacky and fast.
The Pork Chop Express was steady holding onto 3rd place by 2am, about 30 minutes behind the leader. Not to bad considering we were up against the likes of 3 Bike Factory teams.
It was hard to stomach much of anything that I brought to eat other than the V8, the smoothie, and Guinness. I nibbled on my PBJ sandwich and sipped on some Odwalla juices. Anything that had lots of vitaminy goodness, I put into my stomach. And some Advil.
I went out a little before 3am with a fresh cup of coffee and fresh legs, and turned out 2 more. Then came in and sat while Andrew made his laps.
I looked around and noticed that lots of people were sleeping, and there I was trying to stay awake with the radio, the internet on my cell phone, and coffee. I paid for this. Good money too.
We cranked out 15 laps by 8am. I was the last on the bike, and pulled in just before 8. We had time for 2 more, but not the energy nor the motivation. Especially since the leaders were probably on lap 19 at that point. My rear derailleur was sticking and we wouldnt have seen the podium even if we had gone 2 more. It wasn't about winning, it was about fun, and I had a crap load of that. So we threw in the towel. My bike was making funny noises and that powdery dust had working its way into parts that will take some TLC to get clean.
I'd like to thank my ipod for supplying the tunes during the lonely night laps, and beer, for killing the pain and putting a few more carbs into my blood.

Battle at Burke Farm 7/24/09

Tom Richeson got 1^st in Expert Vet 35+, and John Gaudio got 3^rd in the same category. Congrats to both! That was a hard race! I got 4th in Sport Women.

Conrad puts on a great race, I always look forward to his races, hope he puts more on next year. He always has a keg and pizza. He is very organized and the race itself went very smoothly, the volunteers at the intersection where different categories did different things were very good, no hitches. Well ok the results got a little messed up but it all got straightened out.

The course has a little of everything- an easier loop with rolling up and downs on single track with lots of corners (very fast and fun) and some stream crossings and lots of riding through a field, and then an expert loop with about a 0.7mile rocky uphill, rock garden at the top (reminded me of Massanutten), and a fun down hill with lots of big whoop-de-doos and a really steep downhill section (steepest I’ve ever seen), cambered single track, large log piles, narrow bridges, etc. (John and Tom got to do 2 of the easier laps and 2 of the expert laps, I got to do 2 of the easier and one of the expert laps.)

Diablo Race #2

The last trip to Diablo was without the bus. It was a more focused trip I suppose, with no distractions to worry about other than the race itself. It was a great change from the regular weekend expeditions in the bus, but I've been looking forward to returning in the bus ever since then. On this jaunt we had nine people - Rachel, Kaycie, Ashley, Jake, Jake #2, Sean, Nick, Chris, and myself. The ride up took its usual FOREVER, but this time we had plenty of room inside thanks to my recently built bike rack.



We showed up to the campsite around 3am on Friday night/Saturday morning, pitched some tents, and grabbed a mere three or four hours of sleep before our first day of fun. We rolled into the parking lot the next morning and split off in our two directions - some to the water park and the rest to the bike park.

The race course was tough to say the least. The upper section was only one week old and had little to no traction. The center of the course was new also - although the challenge this time was not limited to a lack of traction. Instead, this was the rock garden. A haphazardly spaced field of boulders, jaggedly pointing in every direction. Finding a line was a real task, and staying on that line was even more of an ordeal. Eventually I did come up with a strategy through the section, but I'm sure it looked like nothing more than a stubborn tear through the center of the garden. Once out of the woods, there was little left of the course. A large step-up followed by a steep left-hand turn that dropped about twenty feet simultaneously. This feature was appropriately named the "crap shoot" since it very often resulted in crashes. I came off the side of the turn once in practice and feel a bit lucky to have survived. After the "crap shoot" the course went through a few tight banks and then spit out into the bottom field. This was where most spectators could watch as riders took their last few turns and flew over a jump before mashing the pedals to the finish line.

After a day of practice we headed back to our campsite to build a fire, cook some burgers and hot dogs, and grab a decent night's sleep.



Sunday was race day! Sean had suffered a fall on our last run the previous day, so he decided to volunteer as a course marshal. Nick did the same in order to get two free day passes for our next trip. I took three practice runs while the rest of our group rode the rest of the park. Jake came back to the bus with a bruised leg and had to end his day of riding a bit early. Soon, however, the races began and I headed to the top of the gondola. My run down the hill was quick, but I decided to play it safe when possible since staying on the bike would be faster than a high-speed wreck. I rode about half of the rock garden with one foot on the pedals after barely saving myself from sliding off course. When I popped out of the garden I pushed the pedals as much as possible, sliding into the dry and dusty corners. My tires were slipping on the loose gravel and sand, but it was a feeling I'd become accustomed to in practice, so I just held on until they found some traction. When I passed the finish line the announcer reported my time and position - second place! There were still several riders to go, but my time held firm and I walked away with a great result.



We packed up the bus after the race, Ashley cooked the remainder of our hot dogs and burgers, and we were soon on the road. About an hour past midnight we pulled into the Rowlett's parking lot, tired and satisfied - looking forward to next weekend's adventure.

Snowshoe Race #1

One of the best trips to date - for sure! Where do I even start? How about the mud...



It was wet and slippery on Saturday when we prerode the course. Just the kind of conditions that I love. We took runs all day, taking breaks in between to relax at the bus.



That night at the campsite we returned to hear the whistle blowing on the Cass Scenic Train, which conveniently ran just behind us.



After that, we walked a mere fifty yards or so and found quite a surprise - zoo animals! When Sean and Puck initially returned from their discovery, the first thing out of Sean's mouth was "don't f'ing go over there - it's a f'ing tiger!" There were actually a bunch of animals - a leopard, coyotes, two bears, and ducklings - just to name a few.



The next day (race day) we headed back to the mountain in the bus while Greg took his cross bike down the mountain to Cass and then straight up again (10% grade) to meet us in the Snowshoe parking lot. That man's a machine!

After seeing the pitiful "dual-stunt course," Sean decided to race downhill instead. He and I took a quick run down the mountain to survey the conditions and soon after it was time to race. Sean went first and came in mid-pack, a very good result for his first race.



My start was after Sean's. I put in a pretty good run, making only a couple minor mistakes and having to sit once in a while to catch my breath on the fire road sections.



When I reached to finish line, Puck and Sean were sprinting down the hill to meet me. "I think you're winning" said Puck. Knowing that there were still plenty of riders to come, I had my doubts; but as we watched riders file in it started to sink in - I might have a chance of winning! I could hardly believe it - I came in first - over 15 seconds ahead of the next rider in my class! It was a dream come true.



On the way home, we stopped at the Confederate Breastworks to take in the view and unload a few bikes to do a quick bomb down the hill.



A few hours on the highway (with one tire losing its tread) and we were back in Richmond - an unbelievable weekend of fun under our belts.

The Hoo Ha Experience

I had a great time at the Hoo Ha. I had watched others do it last year and had told myself I would do it this year. It was quite an experience! I knew it would be a long climb, but when at 4.8 miles we were still climbing I was shocked. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest and that I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I had always heard of the dreaded "rock garden" on the ridge, but the whole ride up was so rocky I kept asking the guys around me "is this the rock garden?" "Is this the rock garden?" like a little kid. The actual rock garden ended up not being any more rock gardenier than the trip up! Coming down was a blast, I had fun on the banked corners. And did I mention the mud yet? Tons 0 mud! And lots of stream crossings! Lots of different trail to experience. Much to my surprise I placed first in my Sport category, my first Sport win! Many thanks to Tom, Jason, Lin, and Joe for hanging out until I got my award, they were great.

Snowshoe (West Virginia)

The bus is still in the shop after an electronic malfunction, so this weekend's trip was aboard Joey's Jeep Cherokee.



We left Richmond on Friday night and arrived at Snowshoe around 12:30am. Our friend Dave let us use his condo for the weekend, but the first night we crashed at his friend Darryl's house. The next morning we grabbed the key to Dave's place and headed over to make breakfast and prepare for the mountain.

The conditions at Snowshoe are well known to be muddy, rooty, rocky, and above all - slippery. I switched my tires over to Kenda Excavators in advance, and it seemed to pay off. The rain had stopped a day before, but the ground was still treacherous. I particularly enjoy riding in mud, so I was happy, even when I did slide out from time to time.



We kept making runs on the basin side, since the western territory had only a shuttle bus and we'd gotten a relatively late start on the day. It worked out well, and we put in a decent amount of runs.







When we returned to the condo I started making phone calls to find the rest of our party, which had left Richmond on Saturday. After checking in with them, Joey cooked us a FINE meal - steaks with roasted red peppers and broccoli - delicious!



On Sunday we got an earlier start and were on the mountain by 10:30am. Our group of seven riders stuck together for awhile, then eventually we divided into our own groups to ride our personal favorites.



At lunch, we met a couple guys from Asheville and I decided to ride with them once on the Western side of the mountain.



The trails there are much longer and varied and the shuttle bus can be timed almost perfectly to pick up as soon as you reach the bottom. The guys from Asheville, Thomas and Scott, showed me some great trails. After I'd found Nick and Joey again I took them to that side to show them what we'd been missing. On the shuttle ride back to the top we ran into two of Joey's friends (originally from Staunton, VA). We decided to make one last run with them to end the day. At around 5pm we were back on the road, headed home to Richmond. It was a great practice weekend and I'm looking forward to next week's race.

2009 Hoo Ha

Here are a few pics from the Hoo Ha yesterday. It was a beautiful day and we had a good team showing af 7 racers. I will try and post more about the day when I have some time. The first picture tells it all!

Sonya gets her first sport win!

The start of the Pro Race

Some of the guys getting ready for a long day.

Joe roling through the prologue.

Sonya on her way to victory!!!

Bishop crushing everyone.

Sonya crossing hte line first.


Lin rolling accross the line.

Joe busting a move and getting mad props from the announcer!

The now famous 'Joe Fish'.

Lin chillin.

Brandon explaining how he is super excited to do the XXC again next year!

The Hardy Boys rocking another solid XXC adventure. These guys are always smiling when they get done riding!

Great work everyone.

...Jason

Diablo Race #1 (Vernon, NJ)

At 2am on Saturday morning, Rachel and I reached the parking lot at Diablo. We decided to just lay our sleeping bags behind the car and catch some sleep in the lot before the sun rose. With the exception of one short visit from the security guard, it was a pleasant camping spot.

Once the sun came out, we ran over to the local Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and then I started practicing the course. After a few runs I decided to play it safe on race day. I chose to run the course at a comfortable pace instead of trying to crush the entire track - which meant running the risk of going off course or wrecking.

That night we hiked up the hill and set up my tent on the edge of the woods. It was another pleasant night of camping, even with the nonstop rain and thunder storms. The next morning we threw the tent and bags into our backpacks and quickly hiked back to the parking lot - all the while getting some confused looks from some of the Diablo staff. We just acted like there was nothing strange about us emerging from the woods on the edge of their park and again headed to Dunkin to start the day.

I took a couple more practice runs that morning to check out the condition of the track and then headed to the car to run through the race in my head. At 1:45 I headed to the start box and at 2pm I was headed down the hill. I kept to my original plan - avoiding any wrecks, but still pushing the pace while staying in my comfort zone. There were a few spots that I knew I'd run faster during practice, but overall the run was what I'd hoped for. When all was said and done, I'd landed in 7th place (out of 32 racers) - not bad for my first rodeo. I've now got a good sense of my abilities and have already started visualizing ways to speed up my run next time out.

After the race on Sunday we headed to NYC to visit some friends. It was a dizzying night, stopping by four people's houses and catching up on lost time with some of my absolute favorite people. Monday morning we grabbed breakfast with my friend Darryl and again hit the road - seven hours later we were back in Richmond. It was a LONG weekend, but man was it fun! I'm [reluctantly] taking a few weeks off from racing, then the bus will be headed to Snowhoe Resort in West Virginia. I hope to get two practice weekends in before their first race on June 21st.

Cap2Cap Century

Now that I am mentally recovered from the century yesterday, there are a few people I have to thank for an extremely painful day in the saddle.

Fuzzy pictures courtesy of Joni, my youngest one...

We rolled out with a strong team showing of eight guys. Fred Wittwer and Christine Williamson rounded out our ten spot with Ed chauffeuring Steve Tolley. So we were eleven deep. It was the making of a great day. Brent picked his way up to the front of the start and we never saw him again. He finished in the top group of riders, which had around ten guys and a ride time of 4:39. Christine rode her first half century, so congratulations to her on that. Criag did his forst century, on his second road ride. I believe he finished in 6:18. Steve & Ed rolled in maybe half an hour after that.

I knew that I was in for some pain and I was punishing myself for not riding all year. I was not disappointed. I am pretty sure that was the most painful ride that I have ever done. I must have looked like death on wheels. My legs just kept spinning, but the lack of miles in them took its toll with signs of cramping around 80 miles in and a small cramp at around 97 miles. Todd waited for me and I proceeded to do the one legged pedal for a while. Cramp gone and on to the finish. More than physical, it was a huge mental game for me. The team rocked, though. They never let me drop off the back without someone hanging back and pulling me back up. I am super stoked to be part of this team and it was awesome to see how much of a team we really are!

I have to give a huge thanks to Greg, Kevin, Todd & Fred for taking care of me all day long, especially the second half of the ride. Greg pulled like a madman - all day long. I think he was on the front for the last 5 miles, me barely clinging to his wheel. We ended up with a 5:11 ride time 5:50 total and it was pure punishment. Not bad considering it was four guys towing a fifth all day long...

Thanks again guys!

On a side note, we got multiple compliments on our team throughout the day. From pulling a lot of people around (not just me) to our kits and our colors.