Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A break from Winter

So, obviously I haven't written in a few weeks, and unfortunately, a lot has happened since then. I kept meaning to write about the races that I have done since then, but never really felt like it. So, before I get into the meat of this post, I'll give a quick recap of the three races you missed.

1. Leverich Canyon Crank Up:

I actually hate this course. It is so steep going up and so steep going down, and since those are the only two things you do on this course, there is never a moment of relaxation. The first lap was so bad for me, that I actually walked a section. And did my awesome manual derailleur move when my front would not work (get off the bike and manually put my chain on the small chain ring). After the first lap, I started feeling better, but still ended up getting last place finisher. It also rained and stormed and hailed at one point during the race, and I got so hypothermic that I started thinking some really weird things (like the loudness of my breaks was making the thunder louder).
This race also started the in-house challenge: The CAF Bozeman chapter has three guys in it and we have a weekly race challenge and the loser has to do something weird or stupid that is decided on before-hand. I lost and had to deliver a heart-shaped Jello mold to our neighbors that we had never met before.
8 Hours of Labor:
This race was kind of fun, but mostly disastrous. I was doing really well the first lap, leading the pack, when all of the sudden I had to stop for cows. They did not want to budge, so by the time they finally got out of the way, I had lost my lead on second and third. Then came the big cow shit piles. I ended up getting cow shit in my nose. That makes for some pretty bad racing when you can't get that smell (or the shit) out of your nose. Then on the second lap I took a wrong turn and got lost. Then once I got back on track I flatted. After my break and Trevor's laps, I went back out with new optimism. Unfortunately, it's Montana. And racing in Montana just wouldn't be the same for me if I didn't get hailed on at one point. So I did. Then on this same set of laps I got another flat. When I came in for that lap, I decided I was going to be done before anything else bad happened.

By the way, the CAF weekly challenge was whoever had the fastest first two laps, which is why I was going so fast in the beginning. The challenge was neutralized, though, due to cow stampede and me getting lost.

3. WERKS XC:

Finally a good day to race in Montana. I felt pretty junky my first lap, probably due to lack of sleep all week due to first week of school partying, but I recovered and it ended up being a great day and a really fun race.

Now for the really fun part. The collegiate race that was planned for this weekend was canceled, so the original plan was to finally have a weekend with no racing. But the weather on Friday turned for the worse (big surprise). So at 9 pm, some friends and I decided we couldn't handle the weather any more and chose to go to Utah instead. We ended up getting in at 5 am, with a 7 am race start for a 12 Hour race. The race was at Sundance resort; here is a picture of the sun rising up on the mountain:
Even though the sun was coming up on the mountains, it was still dark at the start line, with Zach taking the first two laps:
Since, we did not sleep at all the night before the race, any of our time off the bike was spent trying to sleep under the truck and the tarp. Its actually pretty amazing how comfortable concrete is when you are really tired.
The race was really awesome. The course was so much fun, with a lot of awesome singletrack and no really big hills. The Maples were starting to change, so the first couple laps when the sun was rising, the trail was pink with the sun coming through the red leaves. This trip was exactly what I needed after riding in wet, cold weather for the past few weeks. I am actually averaging once a week for getting hailed on during bike rides. But it was sunny and warm and the leaves were starting to change and the trail was awesome. I was happy.

Then after sleeping for 12 hours, we went for a fun ride outside of Salt Lake City. We shuttled, so the ride was almost completely downhill. Once again, the trail was sweet and the leaves were changing. The aspens were all turning yellow, and they smelled so good. Once again, I was happy. This was the most fun I have had since I was back in Michigan in May.

This weekend is the Bangtail Ballbuster, the race weekend I am hosting. It includes a point-to-point XC, about a 15 minute downhill Super D, and a short track XC.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

you forgot to mention 8 hours of karaoke

Mr.B said...

Sounds like a couple normal weekends for your typical bike racer. Really great blog Nick, sounds like life is good or at least not to bad.
Always thinking about you, look forward to Iceman.
Mr. B