Growl Growlin Growler in Gunnison

Ok....well I survived. It wasn't pretty at times, but how well can an endurance mountain bike race go for someone who has not raced in two seasons, never in Colorado, never against a Colorado filled field of some of the best mountain bikers around, not for some lazy bike shop employee (me) who hasn't logged a mountain bike ride this year that is even half the race distance......excuses. I'm good at them. But, it always takes something like this to get my ass in gear and get going. A front tire wash out and a faceplant to face to usher in my late start to the season. Luckily the only "real" crashing I did Sunday was in the form of caloric crashing......I did take two minor spills, but both were slow and only left me with a small raspberry to the left hip. Check out the beginning of the race below. Video of the rollout of town to the trails from www.singletrack.com. It gets more action packed as the video rolls.



Also I finally made it to the Interwebs in press!! Check this. Half of me made it into the photo. The far right hand side of the photo. Look for the BCC colors!

Inspired by Korps' Garmin post from the other day.....I give you the Growler Data. Second half.....not so pretty. See excuses below. Off to train more.



Finally some things I learned this weekend:
1) Train
2) Don't Bonk
3) Bacon is great around mile 50
4) Don't get food poisoning the day before an endurance race
5) Colorado mtn bikers are crazy strong
6) I hate single speed 29er mountain bikers.....or secretly I wish I was one.
7) 75% of the racers were on 29ers
8) I think I won the 140mm Travel full Squish 26" category
9) racing in the desert is odd. 38 degrees at the start and 80+ at the finish
10) Bacon really tastes good aroud mile 50....ummmmm

and last but not least....the Baily Hundo is 2.5 weeks away!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

The Baily Hundo is a 100 Mile Mountain Bike race organized by 4 Colorado State Senators and benefits Trips for Kids and the Colorado High School Mountain Bike Association. My entry is a donation that goes to these two awesome programs for kids and mountain bikes. If anyone would like to donate and add to my entry donation, please let me know or donate directly through the linked Baily Hundo Site. Thanks!!

"We have a good war chest of funds"?!?!

"We are at the races to prove a point. That point is to be ambassadors for all of those I just mentioned. (Y)our obligation is to know everything about every company on the kits as well as about every part we use until the season ends. We are at the venues to represent, and represent well. We (the team - you - us - the folks who raced here before 2009) give good brand.

"In an era and in a climate in which teams falter, vaporize, splinter, cease to exist, and just plain can't raise a fucking dime, we are flush. We are quite flush atmo. Data point - we're not Radio Shack flush, but heck - I can only panhandle so much, huh. We have parts. We have a good war chest of funds. And we have each other.

"Let's represent, let's make memories, and let's race."

Richard Sachs (aka The Professor's Eternal Idol)

The rest can be read here.

Kaboom

This past weekend Canadian Geoff Kabush won the UCI Mountain Bike XC race in Mt. Saint Anne, Quebec, against a full field stacked with Olympic champ Julien Absolan, World Champ Christophe Sauser, and the other fast European riders that have dominated the series for the last decade. During that period several North American riders have been touted as the one who might break a winning-drought that reaches back to Ned Overend and John Tomac. Several have come close, but until now, until Kabush's ride this weekend, the "W" has eluded North American riders (Note: I love how the US cycling publications have shifted to the more "inclusive" coverage of North American riders as its become clear that the chances for success ran higher north of the 49th parallel. I guess I'm in that group, too. I also recognize I might be among the few who actually still follow this series with any regularity). It's not entirely clear how to explain this new success. Maybe there are fewer dopers now than in the past. Maybe North Americans are training harder and seeing the results. Whatever it is, it's a new day.

2009 Cohutta National Ultra-Endurance Race

Last weekend, fearless singlespeeder JD and I, the less-fearless geared rider, competed in the first race of the National Ultra-Endurance Mountain Bike Series. Held on trails next to the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Duckworth, TN, and site of the 1996 Olympic competition, Cohutta served up 35 miles of rolling singletrack, beautiful views of the Smoky Mountains, and formidable rivals. The singletrack was separated by gravel logging roads that climbed at total of 11,000 feet in 65 miles (my race, see less-fearless) and 12,000 feet in 100miles (fearless JD). For the record, JD and I rode to the start from our campsite- another 2 miles roundtrip for each of us.

My race went much better than I could have expected given the limited training I was able to do since February. The singletrack was fun, especially the opening section which thanks to a pre-ride the day before the race, I was able to cruise through in my big ring (!) with little braking. But that singletrack was preceded by a stiff opening three mile road climb. Starting fifteen minutes after the hundie riders, we 65ers took off at 7.15am. Foolishly, I tried to stay with the lead group of riders up the climb. That worked for a mile and a half; the group split with me in the bottom half, and that group split again up the last pitch before entering the singletrack, with yours truly sitting last wheel. Three miles in and I was spent.. oof. But I tried to hold steady through the first section, hoping (like everyone else) I might gain time on the wide-open fireroad climbs and, what I discovered would be the blazing fast descents. I cleaned the first section of singletrack, the closing section, when I was tired, it was hot, and I wanted the race to be over, and even the "tricky" water crossing in between- so I'm happy with that. I kept pedalling, yo-yo-ing with a handful of the same riders: often catching them on climbs only to lose ground on the rapid gravel road descents as my frequently smaller size made for less gravitational pull. Note for next year- less tire pressure would have been a better choice. I ran (Chris- rubbed?) a higher pressure, thinking I would benefit on the gravel roads. In hindsight, lower pressure would have been better so that I could carve the turns a little more. Instead, I slide through the corners, floating and bouncing on top of the gravel.

The race was a surprise in many ways. I didn't expect to discuss Foucault during my ride, but did. Or 9-11. Thanks to John from Asheville for that conversation. Thanks also to Linus and Brian H, from the Bicycle Chain of Durham, who always keep my bikes running in top notch shape. Where would I be without them? Riding a mud-caked bike that doesn't shift or brake quite right. I'll leave JD to tell his story.

Sorry, no pics yet. They may surface later this week. I'll post if they do. I finished in 20th place. Don't get too excited it was more than 1 hour behind the winner, Tom Bender, who turned in an unbelievably fast 4.40.

Old School and TORC Tarwheel MTB Race

Ok...here is a combo post by Pirate and Brian. Brian's text will be dark red, John's will be black.

First let me start off by saying one simple thing. Champion......PLEASE SEND OUR KITS SOON!!! We are in desperate need of our new digs. Custom clothing Durham style just isn't gonna cut it in the long run. This is quite evident by the following photos.


Pirate rockin' his red bibs and custom BCC Non-American Apparel Custom Parking Lot T-Shirt. Now for sale on craiglist for $3.00. It's also available in a non-pit-stained version, but only if you supply the non-pit-stained shirt. And don't let me wear it.


The Professor hard at work designing a signature piece for his upcoming fall collection at Urban Oufitters. And if that whole PhD at the Nicholas School thing doesn't work out, Chris has clearly shown that he has a future in the world of fashion design. Look how the 1987 Oakleys pull his whole outfit together:

Ummmm. Not sure what to say about this. To be honest, it might be best not to say anything, as the sheer intimidation that we're displaying here speaks for itself. Except to point out Brian's massive guns. Ok. I obviously did not get the memo about bringing a white t-shirt. Instead I rocked my Old Lucky Carolina jersey to honor the first mountain bike race at Carolina North Forest.


And of course the rear view. Click to enlarge and view the amazing sharpie skillz. Or don't. Really, don't. Trust me.

When I say that we were rawking it out old school, I mean old schizool: since our kits aren't in yet, Chris "the Professor" Oishi and I took matters into our own hands. More specifically, we took sharpies in hand and apply our artistic skillz to some v-necked tees to make some impromptu jerseys. Needless to say, they were rad. Here's my attempt to take a picture of the back of my shirt myself; while ineffective, I think you can get an idea as to why I have avoided the visual arts:


It's never a good sign when you have to label your drawings so that people know what they are. In the future I think I'll stick to making goofy balloon letters. We did get many compliments and/or snickers about our 'jerseys.' At least BCC is making an impression. Our sponsors may be happy to know that they were not represented anywhere on the tees, and thus their reputations are intact.

Dave was also rocking it out in style, though perhaps a little more classically than the rest of us: Dickies and a tee do this man no harm:


And yeah, he's that good: rode in a t-shirt that didn't even have any sweat on it. This guy is the quintessence of hardcore. He also seems to be winking at the camera, but I don't know what that's all about.

And you might now ask was this a fashion show or bike race? Well the TarWheel race and the Carolina North Trails (aka CHHS trails, aka those trails) was a Bull City Cycling success. Dave, Chris, and Pirate lined up in the largest field of the day -- singlespeed. And once again...for some reason I signed up for expert. Consistency is about all I can say for myself. Each of my three lap times were pretty close and I tried to pace myself through the 31 mile course. Kudos to Alex Hawkins for a stellar loop. I haven't had that much fun mt bike racing in a long time.

Dave hit every jump, root ball, rock pile, skinny and put on a skillz clinic for all non-Chapel Hillians. Pirate once again proved that we should never listen to his constant babble about not riding enough and being blah blah blah.......in other words he was rolling and if it weren't for a late late crash at the end of his final lap he would have slotted in at 4th in singlespeed. Instead he had to settle for 5th I believe. The "Fashion" Professor once again managed to annihilate every single rock, root, and bunny (do not hurt the bunniez!) in route to another 2nd place finish in singlespeed. Second only to Alex Hawkins, who marked today's trail and most likely installed excessive high gravity zones in places along the trail to which he was of course immune. I mean am I the only one that is in on the excessive "on demand" gravity thing? Ferreal. I'm going to talk to my sister at NASA and see if I can get some help on exposing this.


Brian was pretty happy to be done with the thirty-mile expert race, so much so that his smile of joy almost broke his face. (Thanks Pirate this is not a pretty picture of me.)

All-n-all: good times. Thanks to all who helped make this race a success. Oh and Happy Father's Day to the BCC Dads and their Dads out there.

Things I hope never to see in person

This was the result of a car crashing into the pack while an organized bike race was in progress in Mexico:


I'm not sure how the picture was taken, but the result is pretty terrifying. I stole the article from CNN and I'm sure that there must be more information elsewhere, but the outlines are that a drunk twenty-something American fell asleep while driving and allowed his car to careen into the pack just south of Brownsville, Texas. At least one cyclist has died.

Be careful out there.


Edit, Wednesday, 9am : I eventually turned up a little more information from the local NBC affiliate, KVEO. Here's a snippet of the article:

The third annual bike tour "Matamoros-Playa Bagdad" started at 8 o' clock Sunday morning. Hundreds of people, from little ones to adults, joined the 21-mile race. They thought it was a family outing, but little did they know, 30 minutes later, a man under the influence of alcohol ended the life of Brownsville resident, 30-year-old Alejandro Alvarez.

Linus is the most Doughiest person eva!

No, really, I mean it: the boy cleaned up at the Doughman last week, so much so that he's even gaining some notoriety in the local press.

What is the Doughman, you ask? Is it like the Ironman, you ask? Is Linus our hero, you ask?

First things first: the Doughman, as described in the Raleigh News and Observer:

THE DOUGHMAN

Here's what Saturday's 14 teams had to do to earn the coveted marshmallow-and-pasta lei awarded finishers:

EAT: Egg, ham and cheese biscuit; side of potatoes and fruit at Foster's.

BIKE: 5.7 miles.

EAT: Paula Rocks Wrap (chicken, vegetables, sauce), kettle chips at Nosh.

RUN: 1.8 miles.

EAT: Chili dog and five hush puppies at Luther's

RUN: 2.2 miles.

SWIM ON BACK IN AN INNER TUBE: 25 yards

RUN: 2.8 miles.

EAT: Bacon cheese fries at Dains, lemon apple mint Loco Pop

RUN: 0.7 miles to finish at Farmers Market.

For more on The Doughman, visit www.doughman.org.


So basically yes, it's exactly like the Ironman, with competitors undergoing rigorous training, extensive endurance tests, and general all-purpose self-flagellation in order to make him or herself the most doughy of the men (and women). Needless to say, as Linus excels at all of the above, it's not surprising that his team "Dain's Team" (OK, so maybe it's Dain's team in name, but it's also Linus's, dammit!) rocked it out. There's also little doubt that there sponsor, namesake, and moral anchor Dain was instrumental in their win.

And yes, Virginia, Linus is Santa Claus. Er, I mean, our hero.

The coverage is pretty amazing actually, with write-ups in several local blogs: Bull City Rising, Carpe Durham, the Grinder, and MyMagicBean, just to name a few. Probably most impressive, though, is the story by Joe Miller in the News and Observer, complete with a photos by Chris Seward. (Be sure to check out this photostream on flickr, as well.)

It sure looks like a good time, and it's definitely worth flipping through some of the pictures to see our hero in action, not to mention the general shenanigans. The question that the rest of us have to be asking ourselves right now: where the hell were we? And how could it possibly been as cool as this event? There's always next year, I suppose.