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Didn't even finish a race at Farmall this year. Major Bummer. This last race I was following A. August around the course and on the 4th lap passed by someone smoking a pipe (there was tobacco in it sheez!). It ended up giving me a major asthma attack and I had to pull out. It sucked big time. I went to an acupuncturist yesterday and taking my meds as usual, but its been really bad this season.

Yesterday I had to keep the normal routine alive and headed south for a round in Bristol. I ended up hitting 4 peaks (Stid Hill, Cutler, OCP, Bristol) and got 4 hours of ride time in. It was a nice epic solo affair, probably my last one.

I did manage to score free beer in the parking lot from Doug who takes care of the scoring for the NYSERS series, then had to skip out on the post ride festivites and managed to score free slices of pizza at the gas station. Couldn't have been happier.

No racing for me this weekend as I'm packing up and we are moving out of our apartment this weekend. Heading to my fathers place for a few weeks until we make the dash out west.

~J

Plattekill/Willy Lake

2 days of racing in some downright shitty weather over this past weekend. I don't think I've raced at Plattekill in decent weather in years. The races dropped off the calendar, but came back last year. They are working hard to bring xc racing back as they are more known for their downhilling. I enjoy the new course at the top of the mountain, as you have to ride the lift to the top, but the old course where you rode to the top did the loop and came down was quite a bit more fun. It is a really technical course and even though it was cold and rainy, traction was excellent due to it being the top of the mountain and quite rocky.

I really rode the course quite well, I had a decent lead right off the bat and up the first climb, then disaster struck and my chain went over the cassette and into the spokes. I tugged and pulled and yelled at the bike while every single rider in every class rode by me. That was alotta time to loose, but I finally got it out and charged as hard as I could back to the front of the race. I managed to move thru the field pretty quickly, but still had the chain jump into the spokes 2 more times. I ended up 1st in my age/ 3rd overall. I was only down by 3 minutes. Even with the chain problems, if I didn't get an asthma attack on the 3rd lap (of 4) I think I would've made that time up. I was coughing so hard and couldn't breathe. I had to slow to a crawl for half the lap and stop to take my inhaler. It was crazy as they usually hit me after the race and not during, so that definately sucked a big one.

Williams Lake, there was actually a separate pro/semi-pro field for this race and the weather was nice at the start of the race. I prerode the course and it was brutally technical, by far one of the most technical I've ever ridden. I was liking my chances, and got a good start and into the singletrack without the legs exploding and falling backwards like a lead balloon. The 1st part of the singletrack was tough because there were lots of run-up sections to deal with, but I moved up after the 1st lap and the start of the second was going fairly well, but the rain and the 100 or so riders thru the course had torn it up completely. I was getting no traction, and sliding all over the place. I crashed pretty hard and took the handlebar to the groin, after about a dozen more crashes on the rocks and having to run about every section, I gave in and decided to just call it a day. I was either going to get hurt bad or spend the 4 + hours out on the course as we were set to do 4 laps, and the 1st one I did in 50 minutes or so with good conditions. I wasn't the only one who pulled out. I'd have to say 75% of the fields abandoned. It was just too hairy in those conditions, and not even fun.

I would have to say the course was kick-ass and would've been awesome had it not rained. The cool part was the 100 meter or so section thru the cave. You drop into this cave and all of a sudden its pitch black, can't see a damn thing only a few red flashers marking where to go, then out and back onto the course. It was cool, but freaky as you lost your sense of sight and hand to literally 'feel' the ground with your tires.

BTW, during warmup at Plattekill, I broke my chain again!! But fixed with a spare powerlink I had.

I'm racing farmall tues night, hopefully I can actually finish this time.

No racing this weekend as we are moving from victor to my father's place back in the 'loo for 6 weeks before we head west!

~J

Bristol/Naples Ride

Wednesdays are quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. They are reserved for Epic rides. I made sure to throw my Hac4 onto the Paragon and get some data to share. Can't wait till we can get a full ride in and hit all the peaks, plus our 100 miler will be incredible. Our final descent down to the Lock Stock and Barrel, was in the pitch black dark.

At least I didn't break my chain, I only lost 2 bolts on my small chainring so everything after cutler was in my middle. My legs were starting to crack near the end...

That will teach me

Well, the streak of bad luck continues. Broke my chain at Farmall AGAIN last night....Lesson learned; dont' buy the cheap stuff.

I also got DQ'd from the O Cup #2. I flatted about 7 miles into the race, no co2! So I asked some fans for a pump, well a marshall at a road crossing overheard and even though I continued and finished I was DQ'd. The good news is I got a good portion of the course down for the 24 hour race their in June.

BASSO is the man Hands down the best rider in the pro peloton today!

Bristol

Been spending alot of my off road riding time down in Bristol/Naples area. I don't think that I need to ride my bike anywhere else. There are tons of trails and we are finding new ones all the time. Pulled the usual ride off down there this past Wed afternoon and found 2 new killer sections on Stid hill. Found a killer descent, but also found a major fire road climb that takes you right to the hang-glider jump off. It is directly across from Bristol Mt. and has one of the best views I've ever seen. Plus the major bonus is the insane descent that goes on forever. You ride right down the ridgeback and the trail just gets steeper and steeper and steeper. I was literally descending the trail in full drift as both wheels were locked up and I was just hanging on. I also got shown the snowmobile trail descent off of bristol which takes you right down to the post-ride party. The post ride at Lock, Stock and Barrels is just as much fun as the riding. Going to ride there this wed again. I will work on getting some good pics up and maybe a video...

With all the trails we've found down there we are making plans for a 100 mile off-road epic. Last year we easily pulled off a 100k, now its time to do 100 miles. Hell the mountaineer is 40k with 7,000 ft of climbing, can only imagine what we will get in 100 miles.

I found the giro online for free, probably not quite as good as the OLN feed , but I don't feel like parting with another 20 bones as I already paid for the premium subscription. I'll just work on my Italian.

How about Lance dissing Ullrich and touting Basso as the new face of the Tour?

Them's the breaks

I raced the Farmall hill Challenge #1 last night, I had taken the lead over on the 2nd lap (of 7) from the Champion of North Huron and was whipping myself to increase the gap and take over his title, but alas he still retains it as I frustratingly broke my chain while climbing on the 3rd lap. My chain tool wouldn't pop the pin out correctly after I had ran my bike all the way to the start line where I had left it (doh!). So I had to sit on the grass and be a spectator.

Oh well thats just racing....

I am excited that I have decided to attend the 24 hours of Cutler race. I'm planning on doing it solo. Let alone doing it solo, I am doing it after racing the NORBA Nationals XC at Mt. Snow the day before! It is going to be tough and will be my first attempt at a solo 24 hour race. I just want to get through it. Immediately after that I have another 24 hour race up in Canada, but this time I'm doing it as part of a team, as I'm sure that I will need the rest.

Thats it for now I gotta get some work done and then go riding

~J

Boulder

I was away this past weekend doing some house searching in Boulder. All plans look good so far for a move in mid-July.
we arrived on Thursday and immediately started our quest. We were lucky enough to stay with some friends and were able to skip out on the hotel. Friday was the super busy day, we must've viewed at least half a dozen places, we were pretty whiped out. But the saving grace for the day was having dinner over at Frank and Claudia Overton's house.

Saturday we decided to cancel all our apts and spend some quality time out and about in Boulder. Erin attended a local yoga class; and I hooked up with Frank and rented myself a ride and we headed up into the mountains. Here are a few pics from the top of the climbs, there were some good climbs and some awesome descents...



We also ended up signing the lease for our place in Lafayette, its a nice house about 10 miles East of boulder. So it looks like we'll be heading out sometime in early July!

This is gonna be our new place !


Don't forget that the Farmall Hill Challenge starts this Tuesday...hope to see you guys there.

Oh Canada

Headed up to the Great White North, for the Ontario Cup #1. What a well run and awesome event. As many people at their races as I see at the NORBA nationals! And USA Cycling needs to take a look at their sign in process. Pick up number plate, initial sheet...BAM that's it, no rider release to fill out for the 10,000 time.


The course and conditions were perfect, it was extremely dry and dusty and the trails were some of the best I've ever been on. They had that perfect u shape to them which means every time you corner there was no need to really lay on the brakes.

It was hectic at the start and my lungs filled up about halfway with dust. I had forgot how incredibly hectic and violent the start was to a mtb race compared to the easy rollout of the road. I suffered like a dog and was dropped like Britney's baby heading into the singletrack. Didn't really make much of a difference as it was all bottlenecked up. It was a tough course 5 laps on a 10.5k course. I finished around 2:24, not even sure where the leaders finished at, I'm awaiting the results. I did manage a pretty good sprint at the end and edged the rider on the left out by a tire width.


I'm still coughing up dust and my throat and lungs are pretty irritated from all the coughing.

The word on the street is that Roland Green and several other top Canadian pro's cut their teeth on this circuit. There were some good riders here and many were looking to impress for spots on the Canadian national team.

As soon as I get my results I'll post em

~J