Chronicles of a Cat 3 Schlub

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's

Damn it @jimvreeland you just stole my ENTIRE RACE REPORT!!!!!!

Without the watermark....
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So I rode them clean on lap 2. This happened on lap 3.
I kinda hurt my wrist. There was a fair amount of loose washed out turns in the woods after this, so I ducked under the tape 50 yards after the barriers and called it quits. I was already having trouble and not having complete control would have ended even worse that the barriers.

Next up.... Marty CX in two weeks.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Damn it @jimvreeland you just stole my ENTIRE RACE REPORT!!!!!!

Without the watermark....
View attachment 58100 View attachment 58101

So I rode them clean on lap 2. This happened on lap 3.
I kinda hurt my wrist. There was a fair amount of loose washed out turns in the woods after this, so I ducked under the tape 50 yards after the barriers and called it quits. I was already having trouble and not having complete control would have ended even worse that the barriers.

Next up.... Marty CX in two weeks.

Ha. You should've taken Vic's advice!! Paraphrased, "they're hoppable, but it's not worth the risk".
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
In true schlub fashion, I've been slacking off on race reports. But really, how many different ways can I write "I was off the back the entire race, but still had fun"?

Since going OTB while going OTB, there have been five races.

Marty CX - 11th of 14, lead lap
HPCX 1 - 21st of 23, -1 lap
HPCX 2 - 17th of 18, -1 lap
SCCX - 5th of 6, lead lap
Bubblecross - 7th of 10, lead lap

Highlights
Marty CX - bloody lip from double handup from the Hb tent. Beer in one hand, while Eric Paulsen smashed my face with a handful of cheesy poofs. I also handed up a lot of Munchkins to the earlier racers.
Lap times were ok
8:01, 8:15, 8:07, 8:37, 8:29
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HPCX 1 - Tried to take a beer from @StayHydrated , but smashed the cup with beer everywhere. I was licking it off my arm as I went up the climb towards the steps.
Lap times were bad, and they felt worse
9:13, 9:21, 9:42, 9:57, 10:15. Fart noise.
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HPCX 2 - Sandy muddy monsoon. AWSEOME weather. 3-4 smallish crashes. No biggie. This race hurt. A lot.
Lap times
10:14, 10:13, 10:45, 11:34, 12:08
Post race maintenance included new BB, headset, front wheel truing, and straightening the rear der hanger.
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SCCX - Smallest field of the year. Front row for everyone!!!!! I almost took the hole shot, and realizing the error of my ways, was releived when Chris "It's my first year and I will crush everyone" from Jalapeno took the lead as we made the turn onto the grass. Soon after, almost everyone else passed me too. Chris LaBudde and I danced for a lap or two, before he finally realized there was a race going on and left me for dead with about two to go.
Consistent lap times (it's a relative term)
7:35, 7:39, 7:48, 7:55, 7:59, 8:00
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Bubblecross - I heart this course. This and Caffeinated are my favorite two courses in the NJ series. It was cold AF for the first few races. Luckily, by 12:something it was about 35 degrees. First time cold enough for the fleece lined skinsuit!!!! (Not good for use in 70 degree weather in September @seanrunnette ) A little embro kept the legs nice and toasty warm too. In anticipation of the cold weather, I brought the trainer with me and had the MTBNJ.com tent set up with three sidewalls on. So much warmer with the walls to block the wind. I got only two pre ride laps in earlier in the day, and attempted to hop the 12" barriers and failed miserably. Thankfully, neither the bike or my body suffered any injuries, however, Barrier 1 - Ego 0 on the day. 25 minutes easy spin on the trainer then over to staging 5-10 minutes prior to start.
There were 10 of us in the starting grid, and I was in the front row. Quick whistle, and we're off. We head up the pavement towards the gazebo and start making our way up the grass field. I was in a good spot, mid pack as we made our way across the top of the field, and then 2-3 turns after that, Rich (the Hof part of Von Hof Bikes) hits the deck and two guys go down behind him. I had to dismount for a few steps, and it allowed the guys ahead to get a little (more) gap. There were a few of us in a small group as we came thru the finish area before the double up/down section below the ball field. I bobbled the second "up" and had to run it. Chris LaBudde was either right behind or right in front, until he flatted. The rest of the first two laps were clean, and about lap 3 or so Rich was closing in. He was back there for a while. He's catch up on the climbs and barriers, and drop back thru the woods and the sand. After two laps of this, he was right behind me coming out of the chicaines after the barriers. I tried to put in a dig before the downhill off the ball field, and it held thru the exit from the sand, but by the time we went thru the swing set area and back onto the starting straight, I was gassed, he wasn't. He passed me as we passed the pit area, and I grabbed his wheel for a hundred yards or so, but by the time we were halfway up the grass field he had a gap. I kept him in sight as best I could for the next lap, but I couldn't maintain.
Going into the final lap, I could see the leader, Chris entering the climb up the grass field as I was coming down and about to pass the pit. There was nobody between us, so I knew as I crossed the finish line to start my final lap that I would be the last one out there. I rode the first half of that last lap at my "race pace" just to ensure that the 1/2/3's that would be entering the course for pre ride after Chris finished didn't catch me. Second half of the last lap I kinda mailed it in and sat up a bit.
Lap times
2:34 prologue, 7:38, 7:42, 7:59, 7:48, 7:58, 8:30
I need to bring the trainer to every race and use it. I could feel the difference of not struggling the first lap or two to get my legs moving. The results may not show it, but I could feel the difference.
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Screen shot of pics from Don Madson


One weekend, two race left. Supercross Cup Weekend. Masters 40+ both days, 10:45am.
Then I'm done.
 
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MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
And we're back!!!!!
Ok, so nobody really cares, but here we go.


After the last two CX races of the year (that I didn't recap) I took a little time off the bike in December. Once BIYF started, I tried to get into a consistent routine of riding outside or on the trainer in the mornings before work. It was ok at first, but I'm having a much harder time getting out of bed in the mornings, so that fizzled. Then all the snow storms, blah blah blah. On the plus side, I did manage to drop some weight on the Isagenix plan, and most of it has stayed off. No short track, no Mayhem race, so first up is Ringwood. In Cat 2. In the newly expanded 19-44yr old group. Yay bikes!

H2H #1
Ringwood Rumble
Men's Cat 2, 19+


We're the first race of the day, with a 9am start time. I wanted to get up there to pre ride on Saturday, but yard work happened. It was cold and windy when I got to the lot, about 8:10am. 38 degrees I think? Parked, said hi to the people I said hi to, then got my number plate.
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Due to the temps, I was a bit flustered about what layers to wear. Ultimately, it was like this: Sleeveless base, ss jersey, and my team jacket, bib shorts, Lycra knee warmers (no fleece), and my warmup full zip tights. I also had a thin cap under my helmet, and the aeroshell. I planned to ditch the tights at the start, which I'll get to in a minute.
I rolled to the start area, and went up the fire road to the first turn, then part way up the climby bit, just to get the blood flowing a little and warmed up. Didn't really have much time, so that was it. I turned and headed back to the start with about 15 minutes to go.
After they started the Endurance crowd out on their four hour death march, we lined up. Very casual. Second row, everyone nice and relaxed. I was gonna ditch the warmups with two minutes to go, but I was shaking I was so cold. So I didn't.

We start, and I miss the pedal clip but make enough contact to keep moving and try to finesse it on. Nope. Slips off once, and then got in, after about 20 yards or so. I gave up a few spots here, and there's video on Facebook to prove it.
Once properly clipped in, I just went my own pace up the fire road and the climb, passing a few here and there, and not worrying about the ones that passed me. Some I could tell wouldn't last, and others should have lined up farther forward, cause they were kinda fast.
I bombed the descent behind Phil from Hb, into the hard left, then passed a few more guys on that little punchy riser. All was well at this point, I was probably around 10th or so.
As we hit the ST after the few muddy sections, I was really starting to warm up a bit, and as such, my glasses fogged up. Usually, I can move them down on my nose a little to let some air flow, but with the cap under my helmet, that wasn't really happening. So I found a flattish place where the trail widened a little and pulled off to stash them in my jacket pocket. Now my jacket and jersey both have what I would consider fairly high pockets. For someone as inflexible as I, this often poses a problem. Well god damnit, I stood there for at least 60 seconds fumbling around trying not to snap them in half as I floundered to stuff them in. Four, maybe five guys passed me here, and that's fine. Once I got moving again, I settled into a decent groove. There were a few guys just far enough ahead, and the trails were just twisty enough in some spots that I could see them, and where they had trouble. I think I did ok in the beginning of the rocky bits. I rode a fuck ton more than I thought. Then we hit the harder stuff. The sharp righthand up the uneven rocks. Yeah. That part. Everything went to shit here. Everyone else was mostly in the same boat, but shit. I wanted to do better, even if not fast, I thought I'd clear more than I did.
With about a mile, maybe a mile and a quarter to go, I had a little crash. One rock section was at a little crest, and the left side fell off about 3-5 feet. Somehow, pedal strike on the RIGHT side, which catapulted me to the left and over the side. I landed, like a turtle, on my back with the bike on top of me and still partially clipped in. FFS. I wasn't on the ground long, and it didn't hurt at all. I broke the fall of the bike, so thanks for asking, yes, the bike is ok. I took a minute to collect myself and quickly check over bike and body, and allowing the guys coming thru to pass easily, as they weren't in my class anyway. I cruised the last section, pushing where I could, but also not taking any undue risksto finish in 15th place out of 27.

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Not too bad. I figured somewhere in the middle was where things would shake out.
According to Strava, I did a bunch of sections faster this year, so I'm happy with that. I feel like I cleared more rocks than I was able to last year. I'm disappointed that i fucked up my layers. I didn't need the long pants, or the cap/shell on the helmet.


Looking forward.
I didn't race Mooch last year because I was 100% committed to coaching the NICA team, so I'm really looking forward to Sunday to see how I do on a course with less rocks than Ringwood, but one that is still more difficult than my usual riding.

Beyond that, well, every other H2H race. I bought the season pass, so I'm all in.

Now go register for Mooch Madness!!!!
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Good stuff Dan. Race as much as you can. With enough races under your belt, all the little things that add up against you will go away and you won't even have to think about them.
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Good stuff Dan. Race as much as you can. With enough races under your belt, all the little things that add up against you will go away and you won't even have to think about them.
Yeah, last year was 4 MTB races (excluding short track), prior to that was 3 over two years. Progress is the name of the game.
 

rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I rode the Mooch course this weekend, and holy crap is it fun! Jelly you will be racing...and its going to be like 60deg, so shorts and short sleeve. Period. Stop. OK, maybe arm warmers that you roll down after a bit, but none of the burkas or head wrap stuff.
 
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