Well it's as I suspected. Blogging is a dead art (at least to the contributors of this one), but none the less here is my entry.
I had a phone interview with Bike Magazine a few days ago. Went pretty well. I made them this: www.hu.mtu.edu/~rdlabar/bikemag.
So at any given point I could be moving out to Dana Point, California in 3 weeks.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
If the Beastie Boys were a bike race...
..I'm guessing they'd be the INTERGALACTIC PUMP TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS!
About a month ago, when I first heard about this event, I knew I it was time to put Blue Steel back together with the fattest, stickiest, blackest tires alive. Unfortunately, my chainstays are so awesomely short that even though there is enough clearance for a 2.7" rear tire, any tire taller than a 2.4 will hit the front deraileur. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for the 42 durometer Bling-Bling on the rear.
When I got to Sol Vista on Friday morning, I did a few laps on the pump track on each of my two bikes to warm up and then took the chairlift up to get some practice on the Super-D course, where I would be vying for the Men 19-29 Colorado State Championship the following day. Lots of tight corners, brake bumps, sand, berms, one short climb, and a series of flat corners to finish. I decided the pump track race would be done on my XC tires and the Super-D on the fat tires and my new tubeless wheelset.
The Super-D did what I call a reverse cowgirl start, which involved sitting on the front tire, facing backward, with both feet on the ground, and getting on the bike any way possible after the gun went off. I was in second position shortly after getting on the bike and easily passed the lead rider just before the singletrack, just in time to mess up a few turns before getting myself back together. I was still in the lead at the climb, pedal, pedal, pedal, but I could hear riders behind me, so no rest. Sand and berms and arm pump followed. I heard the 2nd place rider, who had beaten me at Snowmass, approaching as I took a little bit of a breather just before coming out of the woods, "On the left!" The guy wasn't even there when I set up a late apex to turn left down the fall line. At that point it was too late for him, as I was more that prepared to pedal my ass off and wail hard on the flat corners coming into the finish. Margin of victory: 3.3 seconds after 7 minutes of racing and 6 seconds adrift of the winning Open time. My third ever race win, first State Championship title, and first new jersey in about 3 years. Sweet!
Later was the pump track. The last time I actually hit some berms on Blue Steel was at the Nathrop DS three months ago. We were all instructed to "bring it, foo'." I brought my 'fu instead, probably because I was still amped up from my Super-D win and wanted to impress (and do my best to beat) Chris Boice, Lee McCormack, Brian Lopes, and the Princess of Slovakistan. My qualifying run was two laps, each 10 seconds, flat according to the UCI official timing system. Enough to get me in the top group. Don't remember much other than hearing Lee say "Nice corner!" and getting squirrelly out of the last berm. My first two race laps were again 10 seconds flat and I managed to uncork just a little more speed on the third and final lap for a total time of something like 29.83 seconds. Just under 4 seconds behind Brian Lopes! I think I tied with Chris Boice, which is pretty cool considering I've made a goal of cornering like that since the start of the race season. I definitely didn't expect to be mixing it up with the pros, but I suppose Blue Steel is a magical bike.
The first lap in the XC race on Sunday went well as far as climbing fast, but not the rest of the race. I also had a hell of a time being smooth on the singletrack and descents during the first lap, probably due in part to a weak front brake and worn tires. Thankfully I was able to make adjustments and have some fun during the rest of the race. I managed to find a safety pin with my rear tire on the last lap (not very safe, huh?). After a quick change of the inner tube, I was able to finish very smoothly at 15psi.
Next on the calendar are Eldora Escape, and a drive out to Michigan for the Copper Harbor Fat Tire.
About a month ago, when I first heard about this event, I knew I it was time to put Blue Steel back together with the fattest, stickiest, blackest tires alive. Unfortunately, my chainstays are so awesomely short that even though there is enough clearance for a 2.7" rear tire, any tire taller than a 2.4 will hit the front deraileur. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for the 42 durometer Bling-Bling on the rear.
When I got to Sol Vista on Friday morning, I did a few laps on the pump track on each of my two bikes to warm up and then took the chairlift up to get some practice on the Super-D course, where I would be vying for the Men 19-29 Colorado State Championship the following day. Lots of tight corners, brake bumps, sand, berms, one short climb, and a series of flat corners to finish. I decided the pump track race would be done on my XC tires and the Super-D on the fat tires and my new tubeless wheelset.
The Super-D did what I call a reverse cowgirl start, which involved sitting on the front tire, facing backward, with both feet on the ground, and getting on the bike any way possible after the gun went off. I was in second position shortly after getting on the bike and easily passed the lead rider just before the singletrack, just in time to mess up a few turns before getting myself back together. I was still in the lead at the climb, pedal, pedal, pedal, but I could hear riders behind me, so no rest. Sand and berms and arm pump followed. I heard the 2nd place rider, who had beaten me at Snowmass, approaching as I took a little bit of a breather just before coming out of the woods, "On the left!" The guy wasn't even there when I set up a late apex to turn left down the fall line. At that point it was too late for him, as I was more that prepared to pedal my ass off and wail hard on the flat corners coming into the finish. Margin of victory: 3.3 seconds after 7 minutes of racing and 6 seconds adrift of the winning Open time. My third ever race win, first State Championship title, and first new jersey in about 3 years. Sweet!
Later was the pump track. The last time I actually hit some berms on Blue Steel was at the Nathrop DS three months ago. We were all instructed to "bring it, foo'." I brought my 'fu instead, probably because I was still amped up from my Super-D win and wanted to impress (and do my best to beat) Chris Boice, Lee McCormack, Brian Lopes, and the Princess of Slovakistan. My qualifying run was two laps, each 10 seconds, flat according to the UCI official timing system. Enough to get me in the top group. Don't remember much other than hearing Lee say "Nice corner!" and getting squirrelly out of the last berm. My first two race laps were again 10 seconds flat and I managed to uncork just a little more speed on the third and final lap for a total time of something like 29.83 seconds. Just under 4 seconds behind Brian Lopes! I think I tied with Chris Boice, which is pretty cool considering I've made a goal of cornering like that since the start of the race season. I definitely didn't expect to be mixing it up with the pros, but I suppose Blue Steel is a magical bike.
The first lap in the XC race on Sunday went well as far as climbing fast, but not the rest of the race. I also had a hell of a time being smooth on the singletrack and descents during the first lap, probably due in part to a weak front brake and worn tires. Thankfully I was able to make adjustments and have some fun during the rest of the race. I managed to find a safety pin with my rear tire on the last lap (not very safe, huh?). After a quick change of the inner tube, I was able to finish very smoothly at 15psi.
Next on the calendar are Eldora Escape, and a drive out to Michigan for the Copper Harbor Fat Tire.
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