Monday, May 31, 2010

Tweety Chair & Cheese Filled Hot Dogs

If you don't win it, go for the Tweety Chair (4th place).


Home court advantage at the Draper ICUP race has never paid off for me. This was the 3rd year in a row that I crashed. This time, it was early in the race (lap 1 of 3). I finished the race with a wicked wobble in my front wheel (gotta love disc brakes).

4th place was not the result I was hoping for but I had a great time seeing my friends both on the course and after the race. (Congrats to Rico for a 2nd place finish in the SS div. He crushed it).

Maybe one day, I'll remember to pack some food for the post race recovery. After waiting around for what seemed like hours for the awards, I treated myself to a cheese filled hot dog from the Chevron. It was the saltiest thing I could find. I was so hungry, I would have paid $20 for it.

The races get harder from here on out. Maybe I should dig up that 20t cog for the 2nd half of the year.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Thursday Night Race Championship

The first ever Thursday Night Race Championship happened last night in the hills of Draper. Conditions were perfect. Warm temps and a full moon. 26 of Utah's most talented racers showed up to compete for the cash purse (red barbie purse donated reluctantly by my 4 yr old daughter- Sage which was stuffed full of cash) and the championship belt.

Behold......

(pic stolen from Miles)

The course was carefully selected to reward a rider who can climb like a goat but descend without fear and do it all at night.

In the end, it was Brandon who showed us all how it's done. (From this point forward, please address Brandon as "The Current Night Ride Champion" and allow him to lead out every ride and pick the route.)

(pic stolen from Miles)

Brad and Corey came in 2nd and 3rd respectively with Nick and Gregory taking 4th & 5th.

Post race chill was at Village Inn.

I have a feeling, there will be a 2nd Night Race in the works sometime soon. This time, maybe we'll head south to the UC and ride the steeps and technical pipe move.

Thanks to all those who came out to support the ride and especially to Miles who sacrificed his race to take some cool pictures.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Thursday Night Cometh....

It's Wed. Do you know where your lights are? Are they charging? Things are coming together nicely for the big night ride on Thursday. From what I hear, the UC crowd might be bringing their top brass.

Hugo from Hugo's Shoe Repair in Orem is working on the Champions Belt. Final touches will be added by my 4 yr old.

(Update: Just picked up the belt from Hugo...now my 4 yr old gets to go to work on it.
)


The number plates have been created (by hand). If you want your lucky number speak up now otherwise, you'll get what you get.


The prizes are boxed up and ready to be raffled. (If any of you out there have something you want to donate, let me know.)

Now we just the need the trails to dry out.

If you get out today or tomorrow in CC, please post a comment with a trail report. Also, if anyone has a good GPS of the Clarks/Jacobs/Ghost loop, please send my way.

How this will work:

We will meet at the EQ in Draper ready to ride at 9pm
  • $5 gets you a number plate (I'll provide the plates and zip ties)
  • Prizes will be awarded based on a random drawing of your number plate
  • Fastest rider over the entire loop (up & down) will get the cash purse (and it will be a purse. Most likely a princess purse). So if you are slow on the climb but have mad skills on the down, this route should be fair for you.
  • In addition to the cash, the winner will also get a champion belt
Post ride breakfast at Denny's or Village Inn (bring some cash)

Hope to see you there.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

ICUP- Soldier Hollow

Perhaps the best new technology in mountain bike racing is Twitter. I woke up at 6am, looked outside and saw 4 inches of snow on my lawn. Not great weather for bike racing.

After mixing up a batch of chocolate milk for the 4 yr old, I logged on to Twitter to check out what Ed from ICUP had to say.

"Rain/snow mix. Can see the top of the course. Race 3.5 hours away"

I went back to bed. An hour later logged back in and saw this:

"Snowing. The geese love this. Radar still clear in the west"
"Snow stopped. Great points today"
"Race on time. Some course changes"

Then Brad sent me a text asking if I wanted to carpool up the race. I was already up, I had the hall pass from Rachelle, so I got ready, picked up Brad and made the drive up to Soldier Hollow.

A lot of racers showed up. The usual crowd. I was surprised so many made the effort to be there with questionable conditions.

I lined up in the SS group, did a quick look at my competition and noticed a guy next to me I didn't recognize. Someone from Jackson, WY. I would later find out he is a pretty big deal. He looked fast and had the build. Small and skinny. After getting the hole shot and leading the pack for the first 10 min of the race, he came around me and pushed the pace. I decided not to keep his wheel. It was early in lap one and there would be plenty of time to settle into a good pace once the nerves settled down. Besides, I couldn't match his speed even if I wanted to. My only hope would be that he would have a mechanical or blow up. Chris Cole came around and chased him for a while and started to closed the gap. I was riding in 3rd position with about a 30 second gap on Shane in 4th place with the rest of the SS group no where in sight. And that was how the race would finish. Fast guy from WY in 1st, Chris in 2nd, and me in 3rd....Meh. I guess as long as I'm standing on a box I can be happy with the result.

Next ICUP race is Draper. The home court. I hope to see some of the Suncrest/Draper crew come out and play.

***Update- Thursday's night ride/race will be in Draper. Details coming....***

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

More On The Night Races...

Let's do a beta on a Night Race Series.

Where should the first Night Race be? Draper or Orem? Vote now, the most votes will be the location of the first venue (we can rotate locations if we decide this is worth doing more than once).

Draper has the better trails but the "UC" has the steeps and is home to some of the fastest dirt bag riders in Utah.



Vote by posting a comment.

Dug's vote is worth 3 votes but he has to show up.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Climbing With Gum

Ever notice how climbing with peppermint gum helps with your breathing? I don't always chew gum, but when I do, I choose Stride. Not only does it last all day, it has a cool blue color.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Sundance/Soldier Hollow Series & ICUP Preview


Last night was race #2 of the Sundance/Soldier Hollow series. They had us race the ICUP course (2 laps). For those of you getting ready for the Sundance ICUP race on Sat, the course is in great shape. Just a few sections of mud but all rideable. For those of you racing SS, good luck. There are two nasty climbs that don't look so bad but they hurt.

Sundance has to be one of the hardest starts of any of the ICUPs (maybe 2nd behind Deer Valley). It's a cold turkey start up a steep, paved road. Everyone is riding that thin line of getting to the single track in good position but doing it without blowing up.

On lap one, Brad broke a chain just in front of me. Normally I'd feel bad about that but I admit I was jealous that his race was over. I was suffering and considered offering Brad my bike.

I spent the rest of the race trying to keep Brandon's wheel but he was able to keep the pace high enough, that I couldn't close the gap. Maybe the stomach flu and the lost 5lbs was a good thing for him.

Kyle has found his groove and is riding strong enough to beat up some of the Pros. I think he will be unbeatable the rest of the season.

Seems like the pace at the Sundance/Soldier Hollow races is much higher than the ICUPs. Shorter races can hurt more that the longer ones. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I really do like the kick back setting and local scene. A lot of fast riders show up and for $12, you get to test your fitness while logging some really good training miles at race pace.



Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Night Races

Being a working man with a wife and three kids, it's not always easy to get the hall pass for the Saturday MTB races. Saturdays are usually full of family events such as recitals, games, etc. Which got me thinking. You know what would be cool? If the ICUP guys added some night races to the schedule for 2011.

A Draper/Corner Canyon night MTB race would be the perfect venue. Especially when it's 100 degrees outside in the summer.

Kids are in bed, no pressure to get back at any specific time. I'm just saying.....Who's with me?

Monday, May 10, 2010

Squaw Peak TT

Post your time here. I was all excited to post my time until I logged in and saw that Kyle just posted a faster time than his first attempt.

My time today was 27:08.

I've tried a few times to break the 27 min mark but can't seem to do it.

I need to pay Kenny or Brad or Kyle to pace me next time.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Another Video From Miles

Miles put together another cool video of the lunch ride scene. It's a pretty safe bet there is a group riding from the shooting range in Orem around 11:45 AM Mon-Fri. Come join us.

Friday, May 7, 2010

The Altar Likes CarboRocket

As much as I hate to move on from my podium pic, I guess it's time to update the blog.

I spent the last three days on planes, in hotel rooms, and in conference rooms. Making money isn't as fun as riding my bike. I needed to repent of my ways so I scheduled an early lunch today and made a trip to the Altar in the UC.

I made my peace.

If you think plain water is good enough for the Altar God, think again. I recommend CarboRocket (and maybe slip a couple of bucks under one of the rocks).

The trails down here are painful on a SS but at least we have the Altar.

P.S. Yes, I have white grips and yes they make you faster.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Top Step



Finally all those cold winter rides and 4:30am dawn patrols paid off. For the first time, I got the top step at an ICUP race in the singlespeed class.

The race report can be summed up in a few words. It hurt a lot. Short steep climbs. A lot of them. And long laps.

Kyle (Racer's Cycle Service) had an 18t vs my 19t and was able to drop the group on lap one but took a wrong turn and went off course. That made me feel better cuz I felt like I was chasing all day and could not see him at all. It wasn't until I finished that I saw Kyle roll in. Sorry man. That sucks. He was riding super strong and would have had it for sure.

I had to fight it out with teammate Nick Rico all day but I managed to save a little extra in the tank in case he tried to come around. Nick took 2nd by a very close margin. Too close. He is getting stronger every week.
With 30+ inches of new powder in the mountains and some of my friends heading out into the backcountry this morning, I knew I had to make this race count.

I shall now hereby announce my retirement from MTB racing. It's stupid and it hurts.