USCS #2- Round Valley

I learned a lot during the USCS Round Valley Race on Saturday.  For example, I learned when a 6'5" skinny dude lines up with the SS group at the start line with a pornographic spoke card in his front wheel, the rest of us are racing for 2nd place (or 6th place in my case.  I had a terrible race but still enjoyed every minute of it).  Nate M. from PC crushed it.  He was so fast, his time put him in 8th place against the Pro field (the guys riding gears).

Dan Z, B. Tolbert, and Corey L all had a great race as well and finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively.   It was fun to have such a strong showing in the SS group. 

I also learned that technology isn't always a bad thing.  Which is why I hereby announce my plans to purchase a geared MTB.  It's 2011 after all.  I hear these geared bikes have come along way.  Time to test one out.

SS is still my bike of choice but having some gears to recover on will be nice.

Congrats to the USCS crew for putting on another outstanding race.  Conditions were perfect and the course was a blast.  I'm a big fan.

SSCXWC 2011

I noticed that the 2011 Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship race will be held in San Francisco this year.  Turns out, San Francisco is my sales territory at work.  Something tells me I'll be scheduling a business trip that week and pack my CX SS bike.

New Bike

Here is my 11 year old daughter holding my new CX bike.  Turns out, aged wood and metal strings cost just as much as a nice carbon frameset. 

I couldn't resist.  She has been saving up her own money for the past 6 months and was finally ready to make the purchase (instead of rent).  I told her I'd match what she saved.  As a Dad, I find it very hard to say no to my daughters.

When I'm in my 70's and no longer racing, she can come visit and play "Devil Went Down To Georgia" for me. 

I think this was a good purchase.

Race Pics

Cool sequence of shots from the folks over at Zazoosh.com (Draper ICUP)

The Other Side

Last week there was a trail run/race going on in Corner Canyon.  No big deal.  We just dropped the other side of the mountain and rode Lambert Park- The other side of the mountain.  I live in a MTB paradise.

Once again Bagley captured it on video.  And once again, I hijacked it and put it on my blog.

(Riders are: Rico, Corey L., Dave, Me, Jon P., Corey's Dad and Brother, and a dog)


Corner Canyon to Lambert Park Pt. 1 from Dave Bagley on Vimeo.

Draper ICUP

I stayed in bed until 8am and watched the Twitter updates come in for the ICUP race.  Sent off a few texts to the guys trying to figure out who was racing . A lot of rain fell the night before and it was raining in the morning.  I wasn't sure the race was a go but after a 1 hour delay, the race kicked off at 10am.

We had 12 in the single speed class and they finally got the line up right.  Pro Men, Exper Ment, SS, etc...

Ed has us doing 2.5 laps (30 miles).  I knew this one was going to hurt.  I had heard about the nasty, loose, steep switchbacks that were new to the course this year but never pre-rode them.  I had no idea what to expect and decided to leave my 32x18 gearing on. 

B. Tolbert lead it out from the start and I managed to get into 2nd position.  We quickly got a nice gap on lap one until the upper switchbacks when Rico and J. Steele caught up.  Tolbert was able to climb away from me.  I had to walk/run parts of this section.  Too much gearing I guess.  For the rest of the race, it was me and Rico trading places trying to reel in Tolbert. Rico and I stayed together until the final half lap where Rico dropped me on the CreekSide descent.  I was more cautious.  I'm tired of crashing on my bad hip.  I hit some lap traffic and wached him pedal away.  It was a good move and he was riding super strong.

Tolbert 1st, Rico 2nd, me 3rd, J. Steele 4th.

It's days like today when I really like my single speed.  A lot of puddles and a few mud sections.  The bike got pretty dirty but I didn't have to worry No shifting problems.

Now I need to get revenge and try to move up a spot or two on that box.  Still looking for a win this year.

Oh and that secret powder I was bragging about in my last post.....C4.  Good stuff.  Keeps the legs feeling fresh.  Now I just need to find a powder to get my downhill confidence back.

Magic Powder

Let me be clear.  CarboRocket is still my #1 choice of drink during a ride; however, I recently found a magic powder that I take before a ride/race. 

Magic powder:

I will not disclose what this magic powder is until after the Draper ICUP race.  Nor will I disclose my gear ratio. 

I expect Draper to attract some very fast SS guys who don't normally race the ICUPs.  Getting a spot on that box won't be easy.  I need all the advantage I can get.