I plan to dominate 50+ in a couple years!
2016 Singlespeed-A-Palooza Thread
- Thread starter Pearl
- Start date
I plan to dominate 50+ in a couple years!
jdgang
Well-Known Member
@jmanic your math is hurting my brain. @extremedave you did great and will do better next year. As for me this was my first SSAP, didnt know what to expect other that how much pain it is from @reggiehammonds. But I started and finished wasnt really happy with my time but I really didnt push myself either since my main goal was to finish.
I think we've established that it wasn't the top 12 racers.
Never mind: here's your answer:
@ReggieHammond
It drinks the beer or it gets the vuvuzela
If you're thinking about it, I'd say do it.
Everything you've heard about it being a great event is true. You'll have a blast.
jackx
Well-Known Member
I always thought I could not participate not having a dedicated SS, but I have since learned that all sorts of jury-rigging seems acceptable for FS bikes. I wasn't able to make the date this year, but will put it on my calendar for 2017.
The Stewart 45 is the next best thing...and it's in a few months
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
See you there...ss @jShort ? I'm the only open. Ss guy so far
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
I only race allamuchy, once a year, no desire for anything else there.
jackx
Well-Known Member
That seems to be the consensus.
I haven't practiced exchanging Camelbaks mid-race, so there's still that.
Here's my SSAP recap:
I had this crazy idea that I wanted to do SSaP this year. For the last 2 years, it's always been on the kids' spring break so it was never an option. But this year, it was. I floated the idea to @Norm but he wasn't really enthusiastic. But can you blame him... At this point, I had never ridden a singlespeed and never MTB for longer than 15 miles!
Registration happened while we were in Toronto, so I totally missed it. So when @Delish said he couldn't go because he was going to be in Japan, I jumped on the opportunity and we swapped the registration. Norm was going to be in Vegas anyways, and I decided this was going to be my birthday gift to myself. I know weird gift.
The original plan was just to zip tie my gears. But 2 weeks before the race, I checked in with George from Dark Horse to make sure that would be ok. He responded with, what size bike to you ride? So, in the end I got to ride an awesome medium Spot Cream bike, with a beltloop chain. I thought that was cool.
A week before the race @UtahJoe picks up the bike from the shop, and we meet him for dinner on Friday night. At this point, I'm trying not to think too much about the race because I have no idea what to expect. On Saturday morning, Norm and I go down to Nockamixon for an hour so that I can try it and adjust it if need be. The gearing is way harder than what I'm used to, but overall after some adjustment it goes pretty smoothly.
So the plan was to sleep in as late as I could, roll up to the start line and just go and try to finish this thing! No warmup needed! @Santapez gives me a lift to the race, which is good, because I was worried I would be a mess after the race and wouldn't be able to drive back home. In the end, we get there way too early at 7:45, and it's freezing! Finally, we line up, and the sport women go last. We are 10 at the line, which is pretty good for a MTB women's race. It's time to go! 5 women go hard right from the start and the rest of us just go at a casual pace.
I don't know what to expect but I know I have to keep a steady speed, hydrate and never stop. Somewhere after I see @gtluke and his impromptu team meeting, @Santapez joins me, probably for something like 15 miles. It definitely helps me keep going. We also meet up with Donna, another girl in my category and she's super encouraging, telling me where to push hard or when a tricky section was coming up. After a little while she pulls away.
Thanks Luke for the pic!
In the end I catch up with her and another girl, both of which seemed to have run out of steam. One guy says, I think you're fourth, go catch that third place girl! But I know that at this point I have very little left in the tank, I'm getting tired and I'm slowing down. At this point, it's all about just turning the pedals and looking back to see if the 2 girls I just passed are coming back or not.
The last 5 miles are long, but everyone I meet are really encouraging. I finished 4th and under 3 hours! Of course there's no one at the finish line ;-) but who cares, I'm really excited about this. And yes, I'm really proud! I really wasn't sure how I was going to do and I greatly exceeded my expectations. That's a really good birthday present
The post race food was awesome, especially the ice cream! Really good vibe and it was nice to hang around with everyone. Definitely a successful race in the books! Big thank you to Dark Horse Cycles!
I had this crazy idea that I wanted to do SSaP this year. For the last 2 years, it's always been on the kids' spring break so it was never an option. But this year, it was. I floated the idea to @Norm but he wasn't really enthusiastic. But can you blame him... At this point, I had never ridden a singlespeed and never MTB for longer than 15 miles!
Registration happened while we were in Toronto, so I totally missed it. So when @Delish said he couldn't go because he was going to be in Japan, I jumped on the opportunity and we swapped the registration. Norm was going to be in Vegas anyways, and I decided this was going to be my birthday gift to myself. I know weird gift.
The original plan was just to zip tie my gears. But 2 weeks before the race, I checked in with George from Dark Horse to make sure that would be ok. He responded with, what size bike to you ride? So, in the end I got to ride an awesome medium Spot Cream bike, with a beltloop chain. I thought that was cool.
A week before the race @UtahJoe picks up the bike from the shop, and we meet him for dinner on Friday night. At this point, I'm trying not to think too much about the race because I have no idea what to expect. On Saturday morning, Norm and I go down to Nockamixon for an hour so that I can try it and adjust it if need be. The gearing is way harder than what I'm used to, but overall after some adjustment it goes pretty smoothly.
So the plan was to sleep in as late as I could, roll up to the start line and just go and try to finish this thing! No warmup needed! @Santapez gives me a lift to the race, which is good, because I was worried I would be a mess after the race and wouldn't be able to drive back home. In the end, we get there way too early at 7:45, and it's freezing! Finally, we line up, and the sport women go last. We are 10 at the line, which is pretty good for a MTB women's race. It's time to go! 5 women go hard right from the start and the rest of us just go at a casual pace.
I don't know what to expect but I know I have to keep a steady speed, hydrate and never stop. Somewhere after I see @gtluke and his impromptu team meeting, @Santapez joins me, probably for something like 15 miles. It definitely helps me keep going. We also meet up with Donna, another girl in my category and she's super encouraging, telling me where to push hard or when a tricky section was coming up. After a little while she pulls away.
Thanks Luke for the pic!
In the end I catch up with her and another girl, both of which seemed to have run out of steam. One guy says, I think you're fourth, go catch that third place girl! But I know that at this point I have very little left in the tank, I'm getting tired and I'm slowing down. At this point, it's all about just turning the pedals and looking back to see if the 2 girls I just passed are coming back or not.
The last 5 miles are long, but everyone I meet are really encouraging. I finished 4th and under 3 hours! Of course there's no one at the finish line ;-) but who cares, I'm really excited about this. And yes, I'm really proud! I really wasn't sure how I was going to do and I greatly exceeded my expectations. That's a really good birthday present
The post race food was awesome, especially the ice cream! Really good vibe and it was nice to hang around with everyone. Definitely a successful race in the books! Big thank you to Dark Horse Cycles!
jackx
Well-Known Member
Here's my SSAP recap:
I had this crazy idea that I wanted to do SSaP this year. For the last 2 years, it's always been on the kids' spring break so it was never an option. But this year, it was. I floated the idea to @Norm but he wasn't really enthusiastic. But can you blame him... At this point, I had never ridden a singlespeed and never MTB for longer than 15 miles!
Registration happened while we were in Toronto, so I totally missed it. So when @Delish said he couldn't go because he was going to be in Japan, I jumped on the opportunity and we swapped the registration. Norm was going to be in Vegas anyways, and I decided this was going to be my birthday gift to myself. I know weird gift.
The original plan was just to zip tie my gears. But 2 weeks before the race, I checked in with George from Dark Horse to make sure that would be ok. He responded with, what size bike to you ride? So, in the end I got to ride an awesome medium Spot Cream bike, with a beltloop chain. I thought that was cool.
View attachment 35592
A week before the race @UtahJoe picks up the bike from the shop, and we meet him for dinner on Friday night. At this point, I'm trying not to think too much about the race because I have no idea what to expect. On Saturday morning, Norm and I go down to Nockamixon for an hour so that I can try it and adjust it if need be. The gearing is way harder than what I'm used to, but overall after some adjustment it goes pretty smoothly.
So the plan was to sleep in as late as I could, roll up to the start line and just go and try to finish this thing! No warmup needed! @Santapez gives me a lift to the race, which is good, because I was worried I would be a mess after the race and wouldn't be able to drive back home. In the end, we get there way too early at 7:45, and it's freezing! Finally, we line up, and the sport women go last. We are 10 at the line, which is pretty good for a MTB women's race. It's time to go! 5 women go hard right from the start and the rest of us just go at a casual pace.
I don't know what to expect but I know I have to keep a steady speed, hydrate and never stop. Somewhere after I see @gtluke and his impromptu team meeting, @Santapez joins me, probably for something like 15 miles. It definitely helps me keep going. We also meet up with Donna, another girl in my category and she's super encouraging, telling me where to push hard or when a tricky section was coming up. After a little while she pulls away.
View attachment 35593
Thanks Luke for the pic!
In the end I catch up with her and another girl, both of which seemed to have run out of steam. One guy says, I think you're fourth, go catch that third place girl! But I know that at this point I have very little left in the tank, I'm getting tired and I'm slowing down. At this point, it's all about just turning the pedals and looking back to see if the 2 girls I just passed are coming back or not.
The last 5 miles are long, but everyone I meet are really encouraging. I finished 4th and under 3 hours! Of course there's no one at the finish line ;-) but who cares, I'm really excited about this. And yes, I'm really proud! I really wasn't sure how I was going to do and I greatly exceeded my expectations. That's a really good birthday present
View attachment 35591
The post race food was awesome, especially the ice cream! Really good vibe and it was nice to hang around with everyone. Definitely a successful race in the books! Big thank you to Dark Horse Cycles!
I enjoyed your Great recap @Dominique ! Soundz like your plan had a few weeks to get rolling and it all came together, except for the cold weather. The belt drive was probably great in terms of not having to worry about mechanical issues during the race, although the hard tail was probably not as comfy as a full suspension FS. You'll probably do even better next time if you ride FS. Great pic from @gtluke and the others are great also with your recap.
Also, it looks like you had a 44t chain ring, but your picture seems to indicate that you decided to keep your gearing a secret. I recall @1sh0t1b33r was going to run 44/12. lol.
Great job!
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Congrats, @Dominique! I'm always so impressed by the folks who don't ride SS that much (or at all) who line up for any SS race. It's just a totally different style of riding. To do 10+ miles longer than your previous longest ride and do it on a SS is really awesome! And then to go sub-3 hours and finish in the top 5? Wow! Great job!