Three bikes in one. I'll never single speed, but the 27.5+/29 swap is easy.... and a great price point, in my opinion.
Chronicles of a Cat 3 Schlub
- Thread starter MadisonDan
- Start date
Three bikes in one. I'll never single speed, but the 27.5+/29 swap is easy.... and a great price point, in my opinion.
Like this bike??
Pass.
And it's the matching orange laces that ties the whole thing together, isn't it?
MikeyBikey2000
Well-Known Member
I have never considered racing before.. but the cookie monster jersey has me at hello
Po123
Active Member
Yes in the Cookie Monster jersey. I started with those guys and after the off course turn around ended up fading to 8th
My bad...
The Squirrel
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's what I was liking about it. We'll see if I ever pull the trigger. Thanks.
thegock
Well-Known Member
Ringwood Rumble
H2H Race #2
Cat 3 40-49
Ahhhh yes. Ringwood. I have very little experience riding anything that has even minimal amounts of rocks. I ride Lewis Morris. I ride 6 Mile on my CX bike. That's 97% of my trail experience over the past 10 years, of which, total mileage is well under 1,000 miles TOTAL. I did a race at Wayway 3 years ago, that's 1%, and two trips to The Tourne is 2%. (All numbers are approximate, and guaranteed to be 100% incorrect)
The Cat 3 races started at 12:45pm, with temps expected to be nice, to really nice. Most of my stuff was already in the car from Saturday morning's NICA practice at The Tourne. Had the 27.5 Plus wheel set on, cause rocks. So pull into the lot at about 10am, see @pooriggy @David Taylor (good to meet you!) @UtahJoe and Bobzilla, @Kirt @Chris26er @Santapez @MissJR @The Heckler and a few of the Marty's guys and their NICA kids. The Cat 2 race was just finishing up, and the Pro/Cat 1 was going off in 45 minutes. Iggy tells me that there's one rocky section that is probably faster to run up. Cool.
I roll over to registration, grab my number plate, hit the rest room and head over to the S/F area. I see @2Julianas and intro myself (Hi!!) and see @Dominique before I head out for a preview lap. My race is only one lap, so better to know what's coming up than go in blind.
I head out about 15 minutes ahead of the Cat 1 start. SHOULD be enough time. So the course goes something like this. Up rocks, down rocks, rocks, rocks, up more rocks, down some dirt, then rocks. Up switchbacks, down rocks, up switchbacks with rocks, down rocks. Some dirt. Little mud. Some muddy rocks. Got it? I saw @gtluke out there, and he said it was about to get fun. More rocks.
I made it out a few minutes before the race came thru, so that was good. I wondered which one of the 7 rock sections I walked that Iggy was referring to as "the only one you'll need to run".
Watched the fast guys and gals go thru a few times with D and was that you @Kaleidopete ?, and Utar , then headed back to car to drop jacket, grab gel (which I forgot) and Scratch bottle before staging.
Race time!!!!!
We head out at a not super fast pace, and I don't push to lead up the fire road. I'm sitting second wheel in a group of 3 or 4. We make the turn onto the first climb, and third wheel pulls thru and accelerates up the climb. About 2/3 of the way up he's cooked. Oh man, he's gonna regret that. One other guy came around me up the climb but didn't open any gap, so I sat in. Down the descent on the other side I let it fly a bit more than usual and passed one guy. Back in second now. We make the sharp left at the bottom, and I follow the leader as we hit the first rocky climb. We also started picking up the 19-39 tail end here, and passed a few when safe. At some point I took the lead, I think at the left turn where it was almost like a stream with rocks under the water. I hammered this section and just kept the straightest line I could. I stayed out front for a few minutes, until I bobbled one of the rocky sections, and the eventual winner passed me. I think this was about half way? I keep pushing, able to ride more of what I walked earlier, cause it's a race, right? I had the leader in sight for a little while, then lost him. Still second though.
Passed by Luke here:
Thanks for the photo @gtluke
(Note to self, move strap on Camelbak that's blocking team logo)
A little bit after this, I hit one of the shorter steep bits in the wrong gear, lost all momentum, and came to a dead stop. As I ran (walked) up the hill, dude in third comes by and is gone by the time I remount and get movin. Now third. We're only about 3/4 mile from the finish at this point. I hit it as hard as I can, but can't even see the guy, let alone catch him. Damn. Third place.
That was rough. Can't imagine how the endurance guys are feeling today.
Headed over podiums. The were just starting the Cat 1/Pro when I got there. The team had a great showing, Iggy won SS Cat 1, Jeremy was 3rd Cat 1 40-40, and @muddybike third in Pro/Cat 1 Open Women. The Cat 3 podium was another 30 minutes or so later, thanks Kristine for hanging out and for the pic.
Overall I'm very happy with what I was able to ride/brute force my way thru during the race, compared to preview lap. I would like to more of this stuff, and if I start any type of training, I should see some fitness gains and weight loss rather quickly. Maybe next week?
Not sure what's next. Can't make Mooch due to NICA race same day. Maybe Wayway?
H2H Race #2
Cat 3 40-49
Ahhhh yes. Ringwood. I have very little experience riding anything that has even minimal amounts of rocks. I ride Lewis Morris. I ride 6 Mile on my CX bike. That's 97% of my trail experience over the past 10 years, of which, total mileage is well under 1,000 miles TOTAL. I did a race at Wayway 3 years ago, that's 1%, and two trips to The Tourne is 2%. (All numbers are approximate, and guaranteed to be 100% incorrect)
The Cat 3 races started at 12:45pm, with temps expected to be nice, to really nice. Most of my stuff was already in the car from Saturday morning's NICA practice at The Tourne. Had the 27.5 Plus wheel set on, cause rocks. So pull into the lot at about 10am, see @pooriggy @David Taylor (good to meet you!) @UtahJoe and Bobzilla, @Kirt @Chris26er @Santapez @MissJR @The Heckler and a few of the Marty's guys and their NICA kids. The Cat 2 race was just finishing up, and the Pro/Cat 1 was going off in 45 minutes. Iggy tells me that there's one rocky section that is probably faster to run up. Cool.
I roll over to registration, grab my number plate, hit the rest room and head over to the S/F area. I see @2Julianas and intro myself (Hi!!) and see @Dominique before I head out for a preview lap. My race is only one lap, so better to know what's coming up than go in blind.
I head out about 15 minutes ahead of the Cat 1 start. SHOULD be enough time. So the course goes something like this. Up rocks, down rocks, rocks, rocks, up more rocks, down some dirt, then rocks. Up switchbacks, down rocks, up switchbacks with rocks, down rocks. Some dirt. Little mud. Some muddy rocks. Got it? I saw @gtluke out there, and he said it was about to get fun. More rocks.
I made it out a few minutes before the race came thru, so that was good. I wondered which one of the 7 rock sections I walked that Iggy was referring to as "the only one you'll need to run".
Watched the fast guys and gals go thru a few times with D and was that you @Kaleidopete ?, and Utar , then headed back to car to drop jacket, grab gel (which I forgot) and Scratch bottle before staging.
Race time!!!!!
We head out at a not super fast pace, and I don't push to lead up the fire road. I'm sitting second wheel in a group of 3 or 4. We make the turn onto the first climb, and third wheel pulls thru and accelerates up the climb. About 2/3 of the way up he's cooked. Oh man, he's gonna regret that. One other guy came around me up the climb but didn't open any gap, so I sat in. Down the descent on the other side I let it fly a bit more than usual and passed one guy. Back in second now. We make the sharp left at the bottom, and I follow the leader as we hit the first rocky climb. We also started picking up the 19-39 tail end here, and passed a few when safe. At some point I took the lead, I think at the left turn where it was almost like a stream with rocks under the water. I hammered this section and just kept the straightest line I could. I stayed out front for a few minutes, until I bobbled one of the rocky sections, and the eventual winner passed me. I think this was about half way? I keep pushing, able to ride more of what I walked earlier, cause it's a race, right? I had the leader in sight for a little while, then lost him. Still second though.
Passed by Luke here:
Thanks for the photo @gtluke
(Note to self, move strap on Camelbak that's blocking team logo)
A little bit after this, I hit one of the shorter steep bits in the wrong gear, lost all momentum, and came to a dead stop. As I ran (walked) up the hill, dude in third comes by and is gone by the time I remount and get movin. Now third. We're only about 3/4 mile from the finish at this point. I hit it as hard as I can, but can't even see the guy, let alone catch him. Damn. Third place.
That was rough. Can't imagine how the endurance guys are feeling today.
Headed over podiums. The were just starting the Cat 1/Pro when I got there. The team had a great showing, Iggy won SS Cat 1, Jeremy was 3rd Cat 1 40-40, and @muddybike third in Pro/Cat 1 Open Women. The Cat 3 podium was another 30 minutes or so later, thanks Kristine for hanging out and for the pic.
Overall I'm very happy with what I was able to ride/brute force my way thru during the race, compared to preview lap. I would like to more of this stuff, and if I start any type of training, I should see some fitness gains and weight loss rather quickly. Maybe next week?
Not sure what's next. Can't make Mooch due to NICA race same day. Maybe Wayway?
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Should I reinstall the beard? Might take some time. Shipping on all the parts is a bit sporadic, and kinda slow sometimes.
-YETI-
Active Member
@MadisonDan congrats on 3rd! It does seem a bit unfair that Carlos Sastre is racing in Cat 3 though...
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I knew he looked familiar!!!!@MadisonDan congrats on 3rd! It does seem a bit unfair that Carlos Sastre is racing in Cat 3 though...
And thanks....
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Thanks for introducing yourself @MadisonDan and good job racing! That was a tough course. Come back for more in two weeks.
Kaleidopete
Well-Known Member
Nice recap on the race, amazing how much more you can push yourself when you're actually in it and not just pre riding!
Yup, that was me kaleidopete, didn't introduce myself 'cause I didn't know you were @MadisonDan
Nice job grabin' 3rd
Yup, that was me kaleidopete, didn't introduce myself 'cause I didn't know you were @MadisonDan
Nice job grabin' 3rd
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
congrats on the podium mah dude!
Upgrades in your future
Upgrades in your future
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
nice work - this year's bike upgrade is panning out nicely...
I think that guy ate Carlos Sastre@MadisonDan congrats on 3rd! It does seem a bit unfair that Carlos Sastre is racing in Cat 3 though...
Update!!!!!!
There is no update.
My cycling life is relegated to CitiBike to/from Penn Station and office, and NICA practice with the team. I try to get there an hour or so early to get a little work in, but that's it. Haven't been on the trainer since January.
My next race will be Lewis Morris. After that I will probably miss H2H #7, and then there's Stewart 45. That will lead me right into CX season.
I hope to do a few of the group rides that we hold at various parks, especially Stewart, cause, well, there's a race there a month later.
That's all for now. I hope to start easing back into trainer sessions in the early AF mornings soon. I've really had zero motivation to go out on the road. May not even do GFNJ this year.
Gotta go, it's beer o clock.
There is no update.
My cycling life is relegated to CitiBike to/from Penn Station and office, and NICA practice with the team. I try to get there an hour or so early to get a little work in, but that's it. Haven't been on the trainer since January.
My next race will be Lewis Morris. After that I will probably miss H2H #7, and then there's Stewart 45. That will lead me right into CX season.
I hope to do a few of the group rides that we hold at various parks, especially Stewart, cause, well, there's a race there a month later.
That's all for now. I hope to start easing back into trainer sessions in the early AF mornings soon. I've really had zero motivation to go out on the road. May not even do GFNJ this year.
Gotta go, it's beer o clock.