What Have I been Up To?

Relaxing, thats what I have been doing. I decided to take a nice week off the bike after the last 24 hour race. It pretty much wraps up my season, so why not kick back and do some other stuff for a bit.

I bought myself an xbox 360, been playing that a little bit, but not all consuming ;). Need something to do when riding time decreases, as I don't watch tv except for football.

Rode some easy few miles with my babe Erin. One easily takes for granted that riding a bike/racing isn't really that easy. Plus it's nice to take a step back and just enjoy. She is doing really good and will only do better in the future.

24 Hours, Hot August Nights

Where to begin? Still recovering from the effort and a bit tired. We (Mark, Suzanne, Casey, my mother and I) arrived at the venue late Friday evening. Set-up camp and went out for a night ride. Course was tougher than last time. A bit more climbing and quite a bit of it was steep middle-ring grinders. Hit the hay afterwards only to be awoken shortly after by a bunch of drunk campers. Didn't sleep a bit at all and that really sucked. Arose with a massive headache and no appetite. Not good.

Race started well, perhaps a little too well. I had a killer first lap and was the first solo rider across the line. In fact I think I was somewhere in the top 10 overall when I crossed the line. I hammered out a few more laps and then started to settle into a decent pace. I led the race for the first couple hours and then was swapping places with a few other riders. Depending on who rested and when was the deciding factor. Pretty much was hanging in the top 3 the whole time.

I took my first break at nightfall (after 7 laps) to snag my light, get some food and head out. Turned over 3 night laps and came in for a short rest. I was starting to cramp up a little bit, and my back was aching from the constant pounding of the course. I grabbed some food and Casey's ma Wendy worked on my back, while Jeremy worked on my bike. I had just come in from my "wanderer" lap as it came to be called (2 hours). I was having some issues in which my chain jammed in the spokes twice, plus was just trashed and feeling the effects of my back, no sleep from the night before and a tough course. I scooted out for another lap and turned a good time for a night lap 1:10. Legs were feeling good and I thought all was well. I pulled my next lap and the back pain started to creep back, it was 3 am by the time I finished the lap.

I'd had enough. Pulled the plug, wiped out, finished, exhausted. I was still hanging in the top 3 at the point, but back pain and sleep deprivation had gotten to me at this point. I took a nap and was awoken at 6 to head out again. I was still feeling exhausted and decided not to go. Slept up a little bit, awoke at 7 and rolled over to go, and the stomach was in complete agony.

I'm happy with the effort, but not the outcome. Being only my 2nd 24 hour solo effort there are alot of variables. So it will take a few more to get things working properly. All in all I turned in 12 laps, winner was 20. 15 hours of racing and still finishing in a respectable 11th place

HUGE Congrats to Mark and Suzanne who raced it a s a duo and finished 2nd. Suzanne had some chammy problems and Mark ended up turning 13!! laps.


Ready to Roll at the Start Line


Coming out of the woods in the top 15




Off for another Lap



Transition Area



Mark Hartman gives it some gas at the start



Woohoo!! Podium for GBC



Kicking some Canadian ass!

Blame Canada!


Are you sure you guys were riding the whole course?
~J

Farmall #3

Well, not much to say here. I pulled the plug about halfway thru the second lap. The legs were crushed from Saturday's effort and I really didn't need a race in my legs before the 24hr HAN. I'm feeling strong going into this race and I want to be as well rested up as possible. No more racing the day before a 24 hour race ;), let alone a few days out.

The National Ultra-Endurance Series has a new website here. Looks like a kick ass series with 4 events right within driving distance and some of the 2007 Granny Gear dates are up.

Not much left in the season after this weekend. Might hit a few Plattekill races, but other than that hitting the double at the Highlander and the top secret 'Horrible Hundred'...

~J

Suicide Six-NYSERS Finale

Wrapped up a killer weekend at the Suicide Six. What a great day it was to be racing. Temps were beautiful, trail conditions were perfect, racers were ready. Harriet Hollister Spencer Park was where the course was. I haven't raced there since it was a normal xc race a few years back. But I have logged countless hours on the course and I am very familiar with it. If you've ridden the course you know how technical and difficult it is. I would say it is on par with Mt. Snow or Snowshoe for the technical aspects. Except there are no open ski hill climbs. This place is pure singletrack.

Race Summary: They were offering cash for the fastest solo and team rider lap. For the solo's this was for sure going to be our first lap. I settled into 2nd right off the start as it's my preferred position. Casey attacked at the top of the hill and I followed his wheel into the singletrack and down the infamous "rattler" descent. On the climb out I attacked and drew my compatriot (Matt D.) from last weekend's race. He stuck on my wheel throughout the next few sections. As we came out of the singletrack across the road, Casey pulled us back in with a great bit of riding and counter-attacked on the climb as soon as he caught us. I followed his wheel into the singletrack and not willing to chase my own teammate down I gave him some cushion as I was still being tagged by the solo rider behind me. Matt behind me never made a move and graciously allowed me to take the solo lap across the line a few seconds behind Casey. Halfway through the 2nd lap in the singletrack I dropped Matt who chased for a few laps, then withdrew. Bummer as I was really looking forward to the challenge. The majority of the race after that was just spent conserving energy on the climbs and hammering it on the singletrack. Lap 7 got a a little exciting when I took a drink right before the "rattler" and ended up crashing pretty damn hard before the entrance. At full speed pulled off a header, lost all the crap in my saddle bag and bent the hell outta my big ring. Managed to destroy my kneecap on the remount as the chain dropped. I had managed to finish my 7th lap with plenty of time to finish my 8th and squeeze in under 6 hours for a 9th. But the 8th time down and out of the "rattler" I couldn't feel my arms anymore and decided I would slow her up just a bit and skip the extra lap.

I was super psyched to take the win and also to take the NYSERS Overall Solo Award!

Other GBC Notables:
Rob Allen: 2nd; 2nd NYSERS 19-29 Solo
Casey Conte/ Mike Wonderley: 1st Team with an incredible 10 laps!! and Casey took home the fastest overall lap.


Coming up is the Farmall finale!!

~J

Shootout at Farmall #2

Exciting night of racing last night at Farmall #2. Weather was much cooler than last week and it brought out a few more racers. After last weeks throwdown with my teammate Casey; I figured he would be hot and ready to go again. Legs were a guessing game as to how they would function after Highland.

I took a few second lead through the first lap, I was suffering like hell though and felt some pretty bad heartburn. Never experienced that on the bike before. I bobbled on a steep section in the woods, and Casey snuck by on the 2nd lap. I had to cool my jets as the heartburn was zapping me. I fell into 3rd and recovered for a few minutes. I recharged the ol batteries and the chase was back on. Quickly pulled 2nd place back and the chase was on to reel Casey in. He had about a minute lead on me which is super tough to close on a course like Farmall. I just put my head down, and gave chase after we both were running through lap traffic I finally caught him halfway through the 5th lap as he got stuck behind some riders. Passed him asap and worked on putting a gap between us. I ran it up but he is a fighter and closed it down to within a few seconds but their wasn't enough course for him.

It's been a blast and Geneva Bikes has finished 1-2 the last 2 weeks.

I got stung by a bee in the left quad on the 6th lap, luckily adrenaline kept it away till post-race.

Next up is the Suicide Six, looking forward to that.

~J

Highland Forest Classic

Wrapped up a decent weekend of racing at the Highland Forest Classic. Small showing for the semi-pro class but that didn't mean the racing was small. Unfortunately as nice as it has been around here it was flashbacks to the Highland Hex as the course was in really good shape in some spots and absolutely atrocious in others. As a result drivetrains everywhere were crapping the bed. We were on tap for 4 laps (28 miles); Haven't really raced a true xc race since Mt. Snow so I was in for it for sure. Was able to grab the holeshot; but as I was a little late to the venue I hadn't previewed the start, so naturally made a wrong turn, regrouped and dumped heading right into the first section of singletrack. Hopped back on the train and we rode around for a lap together; dropped 1 rider on lap 2. Rode around lap 2 and most of 3 with Matt D. We weren't really pushing it too awfully hard by any means. In fact I thought we were easily going to be caught by a few of the experts. Anyways as I was chasing Matt down I ended up getting a huge chunk of mud in the ol eye. Had to stop and pull the contact and clean it all out as I couldn't see a damn thing. That pretty much took the wind out of my sails and I gave a half-assed chase for the last lap. Ended up 2nd out of our huge group of 3.


Shout out to the rest of the Geneva Bicycle Center Team (GBC): We kicked some serious butt!
1st Female Expert: Suzanne Hartman
2nd 19-29 Expert: Casey Conte
4th 30-39 Expert: Mark Hartman

Rob where'd you finish?? email me...

Fed Up

Well, No Suprise

Here

, Steroid Floyd's B sample tested positive.

My POV I'm done with road cycling. Fed up; every incredible ride I've seen since I began cycling (96') is now under question. I have no faith that anyone's victories are clean. As far as I'm concerned Professional Road Cycling can go the way of the

dodo bird

.

I have some faith vested in US Pro mountain bikers, but not the Eurodogs. There is no other reason to explain why we barely make the podium in the World Cup's other than no one is on drugs.

NMBS visits Brian Head this weekend

, so we will so how things go there. I can remember when I was in Sandpoint and the new broke about Filipe Merhaige...

At least mountain bikers smoke their dope. F@ck road racing!

Farmall #1

Hot, Hot, Hot. That was what was on tap for yesterday's Farmall #1. Numbers for the race were a little low considering the brutal heat. But we lucked out, temperatures cooled a little bit halfway through the race and all the climbs were mostly in the shade.

Having not raced in about a month, I needed the hard effort to refresh the legs for the race upcoming Highland Hex. Boy, was the pain there. I don't think I'll let myself forget how to suffer like that again. Combined with the brutal heat, I almost bailed a few laps in. I had to stay out there and finish the race considering what happened in the last series (3 dnf's).

It ended up being a ball busting race with Casey riding my ass the whole time. He dangled just behind me for the first few laps, then closed the gap on #4. That light a fire under my ass and I had to ask the engine room for some more power. Luckily there was a little in there and was able to throw down and actually ran my fastest lap to get away from him. I managed to get my gap back up but only for him to remount another charge on the last lap. Luckily I held him off and crossed the line for the V.

Hopefully next week the heat dies down a little bit and some of the missing riders show up.

~J