Can I get a freakin race report?

StayHydrated

Swedish Chef
Yay bikes! @StayHydrated looking like he ate too many jalapeños last night.

Damn, I look as bad as I felt.

Love the UVM dude waving, but sad me yelling "SUP FAM" got cut out. I forgot to even turn mine until the race was over so, yeah, that was my day.

Ultimate setup would be one up front and one rear-facing, and cutting the footage together all pro-like. I like how this came out.
 

hotsauce

Well-Known Member
Snow wow.
That was fun! I could do that single speed thing more often.

My quick and dirty race report since I don't have time for it anymore and blogging is dead:
Bend derailleur hanger on Saturday. Jam it into a reasonable gear before the race start. Whistle. Get run into and almost off the course by a King Kog boner. Watch King Kog boner overcook a turn and yard sale it 1/2 lap later. Laugh hard. 5th place.
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I have something to contribute!

Solstice 35+. Arrived early with my buddy Justin who is in his first season and has been crushing the 4/5's on my old bike. He started mid-pack and ended up sprinting to hold off the 3rd place guy. He'll be doing a full campaign, likely in the killah B's next year.

Snow started about 30 minutes before my race and conditions changed considerable from lap to lap. Initially it was "find the green" for traction, then avoid the green because it was covered with a slick layer of snow, then the brown line was covered with tacky snow, then it was avoid the slick as snot mud on off cambers.

My race went about as expected. I have about 5 turns worth of fitness these days. I took the holeshot, then Nick M took off on the first power sector and was never seen again. I fell back to 5th or 6th then worked my way back to the 3rd place guy with 2 to go despite a few silly crashes. Then I got eaten by the cramp monster. My legs have never cramped so badly. Every muscle on both legs was locking up whenever I'd get off the bike--either to run or because I crashed. Last lap was damage control just trying to finish. Ended 5th I think? Definitely the most fun I've had racing in a while.
 

vanseggern1

Active Member
Can we get some more freakin race reports?

You already saw and commented on mine in another thread http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads/getting-pulled.45449/

First cross race in several years and I'll definitely be back for more. Based on my limited experience, it seemed like a longish lap at 1.87(?) miles. Super fun and very well run race. How about you? I saw you briefly at one point prior to my race.
 

mbruno

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
My 1st race of 2018 did not disappoint.

Borrowed some Limus tubulars from Dan, which was much appreciated. First race on new disc-brake TCX. Bike is almost dialed.

No MAC points, so 2nd row call up. Slotted in behind BadAndy (solid choice). No 15 second warning, just whistle. Clipped right in, which was somewhat surprising since I sometimes have trouble when I don spikes (which were necessary for afternoon races). Headed into the first sweeper FAST in 2nd place. BadAndy and I quickly gap the field, and he quickly gaps me on the first straight, never to be seen (close anyway) again. If I had done Granogue, I think I could have stayed with him, just don't have that intensity in my legs yet.

Was in no-mans land in 2nd place for the better part of the race, maybe 4 laps. Kept a decent gap between myself and 2 philly guys, the field was really strung out. For the first 1/2 (3 laps) right next to/under the tape was the line to be had. Remembers kids, grass=traction. Last 3 laps, green was hard to come by, this was a freakin tractor-pull. The straight away after the last switchback on the switch-backy climb is a run now, ride-able, but much faster to run.

1 laps to go, I'm starting to get cold, legs feel really heavy, heart-rate is throttled between 186 -190. One of the philly guys who I haven't seen the past couple seasons makes contact, we stay together for 1/2 lap, until the long-flat straightaway into the wind, he gaps me a bit, we're together into the corner near the pit, gaps me a bit more, so long.

1/2 lap to go, I have maybe a 10 second gap between myself and 4th. Keeping pace to hold 3rd, need 5 1/2 more minutes out of my gams. 4th is closing in after the barriers, hold him off after the last 2 turns and put in a dig down the start/finish. 3rd, meh.

I wash off in the warm fire-hose water, fantastic. I have no more rear brake, pads are shot.

Cool down consisted of rubbing mud off of my body with a towel I accidentally got embro on when I was kitting up, nice.

Realized today that I won the MAC last year, I should have had automatic (and free) entry into this race. I want my $42.50 back.
 
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MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
My 1st race of 2018 did not disappoint.

Borrowed some Limus tubulars from Dan, which was much appreciated. First race on new disc-brake TCX. Bike is almost dialed.

No MAC points, so 2nd row call up. Slotted in behind BadAndy (solid choice). No 15 second warning, just whistle. Clipped right in, which was somewhat surprising since I sometimes have trouble when I don spikes (which were necessary for afternoon races). Headed into the first sweeper FAST in 2nd place. BadAndy and I quickly gap the field, and he quickly gaps me on the first straight, never to be seen (close anyway) again. If I had done Granogue, I think I could have stayed with him, just don't have that intensity in my legs yet.

Was in no-mans land in 2nd place for the better part of the race, maybe 4 laps. Kept a decent gap between myself and 2 philly guys, the field was really strung out. For the first 1/2 (3 laps) right next to/under the tape was the line to be had. Remembers kids, grass=traction. Last 3 laps, green was hard to come by, this was a freakin tractor-pull. The straight away after the last switchback on the switch-backy climb is a run now, ride-able, but much faster to run.

1 laps to go, I'm starting to get cold, legs feel really heavy, heart-rate is throttled between 186 -190. One of the philly guys who I haven't seen the past couple seasons makes contact, we stay together for 1/2 lap, until the long-flat straightaway into the wind, he gaps me a bit, we're together into the corner near the pit, gaps me a bit more, so long.

1/2 lap to go, I have maybe a 10 second gap between myself and 4th. Keeping pace to hold 3rd, need 5 1/2 more minutes out of my gams. 4th is closing in after the barriers, hold him off after the last 2 turns and put in a dig down the start/finish. 3rd, meh.

I wash off in the warm fire-hose water, fantastic. I have no more rear brake, pads are shot.

Cool down consisted of rubbing mud off of my body with a towel I accidentally got embro on when I was kitting up, nice.

Realized today that I won the MAC last year, I should have had automatic (and free) entry into this race. I want my $42.50 back.
Haz no MACnCheese, but won the MAC?
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
WHIRLYBIRD STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS RECAP!

5:00AM. Don't hit snooze. DON'T WAKE UP THE KIDS OR DOG. Make coffee. Load car. Forget coffee.

Pick up @taylor185 & Bryan, who just bought @xc62701's old Cannondale. Rain on the Honda Odyssey windshield, 53 degrees. This is going to suck.

Arrive. Park. Where's the toilet. Oh, there it is. Inside. Running water. And toilet paper. And hand soap. Damn, it feels good to be a gangster.

Grab the bike, ride a mile to registration. Day-of. Never done that before, what a pain.

Help Justin and Bryan pin and get ready. Windy, rainy, 56 degrees now. I'm shivering. WTF? Grab jackets from Justin & @Magic and watch them suffer in the mud for a few laps.

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Still cold. Time to go pin and change.

In the minivan now. Much nicer in here. Maybe I'll stay. Full English breakfast seems like a better option. WWDD? (What would @Dominos Do?) Guess I'll go HTFU instead. Time to go back outside.

Ride around. Not too bad actually. Call to staging. Friendly banter with the old guys. Staging. 6 rows back...Last Row. I'll have some work to do.

Really go time now. No more banter. Whistle. Crap, wrong wheel. There's the opening. Another. Alternate line. Alternate line. Now I'm in ~12th. Another creative line. Now I'm 4th.

Ugh, hill. Deploy anchor. Now 6th, 7th. Ugh, power section. Headwind too. Peace out fast guys. 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th. No, F-that. Pass 2 guys before the woods. Clean line through the woods. That worked out well. Hello goats. Mud Puddle. Wet socks are uncomfortable.

More pedaling and turning. 9 minute first lap? Please god don't make us do 5.

Course is changing every lap. Frank O' and Yukato Yoga battle now. They don't know the lines. Another lap. Sign says 4 to go. ouch.

Get a gap on Frank and Yukato on the techy bits. Course recon is paying off. Back to the power section. Those guys can pedal. Gap is gone. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Crap, Frank and Yukato know the lines now. Going to be tough to get away.

Penultimate lap. Frank passes. Says "don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He lied. He goes somewhere.

Bell Lap. Frank is gone. So is Yukato. Sigh. Relent. Wait, F' that. Suck Yukato's wheel through the power section. Mud in the eyes, can't see a thing.

Really really go time now. Dive under and attack at the pits then into the woods. Hip check the tree. Hope that's not poison ivy on the trunk. Out clean, go haahd. Hello again goats. How are my legs not cramping yet?

Still have a gap at the barriers. Push hard. Frank is still gone. Daylight to Yukato behind me. Over the line. 10th?

44594658791_527b937226_c.jpg


Glad I didn't go get pancakes and bacon instead. RACING BIKES IS FUN!
 

choop

Well-Known Member
I was at Whirlybird. It was fun. The night before I couldn't decide on tires. I ended up mud on front and intermediate on the back, thinking there would be enough grass on the course for the first race of the day. We got there an hour early and got #'s for me and the boy and started getting stuff ready. Next thing I know it is 7:35 for a 8 am start and I haven't warmed up. Rollers are still packed in the car and I didn't want to take the time to set them up. So I jump on course to get the legs to move a little. Anyway, rode the course for a lap and gave the bike a quick rinse and got back for call ups. Whistle blows. It takes me a couple revolutions to clip in and 3 seconds later my legs lock up. They have no interest in working. That was kind of new to me. So I bleed spots. Then more. 5 minutes later they start to work a bit more. I make up a few spots on the long straight. The rest of the race I try to pick off people. By the last lap I kinda wished I had the mud tire on the back wheel as the grass was getting torn out with each lap. My heart rate and legs never really wanted to cooperate. The overall result was eh. Not sure if it was my fitness, the weather of the mud just sucking the legs out of me. I was dissapointed in my race though. After looking at the 4/5 40+ race results, I realized maybe my days of racing the open field are over. I like to pretend I can hang with the kids, but maybe that time is over as an ungifted 43 year old.

Then I had an hour to get the boy ready for his race. He was pretty nervous about the conditions, but we got him to the line and once the whistle blew he went at it. It was his first time in mud and he handled it pretty well. For the juniors they cut out the woods section of the course (thankfully). I think that the mud in there would have eaten him up, and I am usually a proponent of juniors riding the same course as the adults. But cutting that out allowed the juniors to get 2 laps in which was good. He did some good stuff out there and was pretty stoked he was able to ride the "U" towards the 3/4 point of the course on both laps. He finished up and we head over to the fire truck to wash him down. This was a god send, thank you Guy's!

I pack up the car and head home after watching the masters 40+ race. I then spent the afternoon cleaning bikes and getting them functioning again.
 

taylor185

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Whirly Bird Recap: 4 bikes, 3 dudes and a minivan. Or why didn't @Magic make cookies FOR the race?

I can't outwit @Delish so this will be short.

First race of the season (and representing MTBNJ!) and it showed. Raced the 8am 4/5 race with Magic and a buddy, Bryan. About 68 racers toed the line out of ~ the 90 that registered.

I'm currently a 4 and, honestly, I was looking for enough upgrade points to make 3 following this race. I put in a solid block of training and felt good about my fitness, power numbers and the work I've put into to improve my technical skills. Insert a healthy dose of reality and a 9th place finish and I'll continue racing 4's until I find some top end power or a way to turbo charge my diesel engine.

Was it a recent vacation? Maybe the gnarly bike crash right before vacation? Who knows.

I started 3rd row, made my way to 5th after the start and somewhere by end of first lap was in a group of 3 fighting for top 10ish positions. We stayed together trading positions for most of the race. They had the power and I had the tech skills. We were down to two after one rider lost shifting to a second crash in the woods.

For the remainder of the race, the other guy and I continued to battle it out for what would eventually be 8th and 9th place. Entering the last lap I had the lead but got caught up with a lapped rider. I lost the lead but grabbed his wheel as we made for the wooded section together. I muffed clearing a fallen log and lost a little time. I caught up to him through a few corners and we stayed together through the off cambered section. With a few slick corners and a set of barriers I knew I could get out front and then hold the lead to the line. I created a gap as expected through the barriers and made for the line looking to close any passing opportunities by moving towards a lapped rider. I didn't close the gap fully, nor did I sprint with gusto. And for that I was pipped at the line. #theresalwaysmoreinthetank

While disappointed with my performance, the race and trip were a blast. Always fun hanging out with Delish and Magic. And, as Delish mentioned, this was our buddy, Bryan's, first CX race. He had a blast and may race Nittany next weekend.

Until next week.

IMG_0004.JPG
 

SSmtbr

Well-Known Member
Whirlybird - 2nd ever cross race - newbie report

After hearing about it from a post here on the boards, I'm riding for the Jalapeno Cycling devo team this year and Kate and Andrew have done a ton for the devo team coaching us and prepping us for the season since the first week of August. I've never been one to fully commit to any form of cycling racing season and usually dabble here and there with races and retire for the season when things don't go perfectly (which they never do) so I'm stoked to have a full season to stick it out through the worst and the best learning and improving with a passionate and talented group of crossers.

4/5 race -

Pre-reg order and lined up around mid-pack in the grid. Whistle blows and I get a good jump and hammer away. I've never been super aggro when it comes to starts and battling for the first turn, but came into today more confident and pushed myself to keep with the pack. At the first set of switchbacks after the start I can feel my Ravager/Rambler tire setup dragging me down and losing traction every time I tried to apply power out of turns..not the most ideal choice in tires for the conditions as my PDXs didn't arrive in time for me to mount. Make it up to the power straightaway section leading to the woods with heavy legs and a rainy headwind. Woods were a blast with mucky soup and wet roots.

The rest of the lap and next lap were uneventful. Mostly bleeding a position here or there after each climbing section since at this point my legs were so heavy and could feel my power output quickly dropping after every surge. Power section leading to the woods was brutal by myself battling the headwinds. Kept in sight a Rutgers kit for the first two laps which I made it my goal to catch him or at least not lose him. Third lap comes and I catch him just before the barriers. At this point I knew had 1 more to go and hadn't been lapped by the lead racer, but USAC official pulls us??? A little bummed and confused, but not sure I would've found the power for another full lap without completely blowing up. Learned a lesson over in the other thread about getting pulled - will pedal harder next time!

Watched the rest of the team come through finish and chat about our races. Turns out a few other guys got pulled earlier than expected as well. For the first race I learned a ton that I can carry through the rest of the season. By the third lap even though my legs were shot, I was making better line choices and doing what I could with caked up tires. I had no idea what to expect for this race but to just finish, and succeeded. Since I'm a cross newbie, dismounting and remounting had me worried leading up to the race but had no issue when it came time to hit the barriers and fought the urge to try to ride everything and ran a few spots when it made more sense (Cross 101 stuff). Hung around in the rain to watch most of the races to an all-out mud bog by the afternoon.

Had a blast, loved the vibe, #crossishere, will be back at it Sunday at Nittany. Hopefully my reports will become more exciting as the season progresses.
 
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