xc62701
Well-Known Member
I'll be racing Saturday only at best if I do HPCX. The last time I did it it was in the snow. I'm still a little scarred from that day.
The Long Road Back
- Thread starter xc62701
- Start date
ryderX
Well-Known Member
Rockland Co NY is beautiful this time of the year. Take the bride here for a nice romantic getaway;
http://www.supercrosscup.com/
xc62701
Well-Known Member
The whistle blows and Esnes charges hard off the front then some other guy then me. At the top of the big hill Mike K. charges past me and it shakes up a bit. After the next few turns it's Mike, another guy and me and we are starting to open a gap. This holds for the first 2.5 laps and then they are opening a gap on me. I'm going as hard as I can but it's just not enough. Each successive lap they gain just a little more time. With two laps to go I see the two ahead of me split as the other guy takes off on Mike. So they are hanging close but there's room between. This is from my nice viewpoint way behind them. I'm trying damn hard but not gaining any ground. With 1 to go I see Mike and it looks like he's coming back to me. I am definitely gaining on him but there's just not enough course left. To make things worse I see two guys behind me charging HARD. They were closing on me fast. I put it all down to cross the line and hold my 3rd place behind Mike and hold off the two charging. I ended up 2nd in the state.
I feel like I raced better than how I felt. I went hard and am pretty happy being as close as I was to the leader given that that course was not playing to my strengths at all. I felt I could gain a little time in the corners but the open horsepower sections were killing me. I need a good hard techy course and I feel like that would play better. I'm laying it all out there and giving it the best effort I can. As of this morning I feel like total garbage. That effort didn't help this cold. I coudn't sleep and just generally feel like poop. Time for some rest.
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xc62701
Well-Known Member
Next up is SCCX and Bubble CX. I will finish out the NJCX series and maybe do one or two more. I'm still debating doing Apple Cross and Westwood. It looks like HPCX is out(Sorry Dan...) and that's probably good. I'm still feeling pretty crappy after Marty's. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies but I passed out at 8 last night and didn't sleep super soundly but 10 hours of ok sleep felt great. I'm thinking of doing the Apple Fat race as a warmup and then SCCX cat 3 the next day which should be good. Besides it's always fun to go fast and carve corners on the fattie. That also reminded me that it's shifting like crap and I need to work that out.
I will say that I do miss racing the xc bike but CX has been nice this fall. It's good to go hard for 45 minutes and the suffering is over. I'm definitely not in the mindset to race for 8-9 hours at this point in the season. I'll save that for next year. I have been falling back in love with the xc game. I'm hoping that cx is giving me some of that good 'ol top end that I've been missing just training for the endurance events and I can apply that to xc racing next year. At least that sounds good so far.
I will say that I do miss racing the xc bike but CX has been nice this fall. It's good to go hard for 45 minutes and the suffering is over. I'm definitely not in the mindset to race for 8-9 hours at this point in the season. I'll save that for next year. I have been falling back in love with the xc game. I'm hoping that cx is giving me some of that good 'ol top end that I've been missing just training for the endurance events and I can apply that to xc racing next year. At least that sounds good so far.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
That's about as scenic as it gets in these parts! Very true with the parent aspect. It was much easier with Marty's being 15 mins away. Besides the drive a 45 minute cx race usually takes up about 3.5 hours of the day. Then double the drive time and it starts to take more of a toll on the family.
I want to race this upcoming weekend but my race would be 12pm and it's an hour+ away. So right there would be 5-6 hours away from the family when I can wake up early and get a great 4-5 hour mtb in and be back around noon and only miss 3 hours of family time and save the rest of the day. That situation is hard to resist.
The latest NJCX cup standings were posted last night. Its disappointing that racers haven't done more races consistently but that's part of the game. I'm riding this thing out to see the end.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
The past week or so has been a blur. Mostly since I've been sick. I don't know if it's allergies or a cold or the plague but I've been trying to get by and keep riding going and it's been tough. I do feel like I'm on the upswing though. I got out for a 2 hour mtb ride last night and felt pretty good. I'm hoping I feel better day by day as Saturday I'm doing the fatbike race at Apple CX and Sunday is the next round in the NJBA CX Cup. I'm hoping to blow out the cob webs saturday and put in a really good effort Sunday. It looks like the morning will be wet too so I hope that makes SCCX a little more challenging than the typical grass crit. I'm looking forward to it and the end of the season is rapidly approaching.
After these it's the NJCX finale at Bubble and then burning off some turkey at Westwood and then game over. Moving on to 2018. December will be an off month with no real schedule and I'll resume the mania in January. I start coaching the ski team right after Thanksgiving anyway so that will be a good distraction from riding as well.
After these it's the NJCX finale at Bubble and then burning off some turkey at Westwood and then game over. Moving on to 2018. December will be an off month with no real schedule and I'll resume the mania in January. I start coaching the ski team right after Thanksgiving anyway so that will be a good distraction from riding as well.
Congrats on the Cat 3 NJBA CX Cup win....
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Thanks buddy! If you asked me if that would happen back in September - I would have said you are nuts. It worked out though!
xc62701
Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I've updated and since then I did Apple CX, SCCX, and Bubble Cross. I'll start with this. Thank goodness my season's over. Too much has been going on and I've been putting my best foot forward but it's been tough. I've been beating the hell out of myself, physically, mentally and emotionally, and I'm shot right now. I had a cold before Apple, it got better, and then with all the insanity last week and racing this past weekend I've destroyed myself to the point that I have a sinus/respiratory infection and it's kicking my butt. I just feel like crap and want to sleep all the time. Anyway...
Apple CX:
Apple was just to be a fun race as I signed up with a heap of other guys from my team. We wanted to come out in force to race and pretty much heckle each other from inside the race. It was great. It worked down to 5 of us in the race and we had a blast. I wanted to use it as an opener for SCCX the next day and it delivered. I played with the boys for the first half of the lap and then went super hard to try and get as many SS guys as I could. It worked. I got a great workout in, felt decent, got every SS guy but 1 and won the fatbike race. It was pretty sweet. I got a bottle of wine and my teammate will got 3rd and it was just a fun day.
That is until Lucky collapsed in the parking lot after. My soul was crushed instantly. I am still in disbelief that he's gone and not coming back. I think of all we have been through together, and all we were planning to do and I just can't believe that I won't get to see him any more. Life is so wonderful and so heartbreaking when you least expect it. The support that I have received and the hugs from my little one are keeping me sane right now. Besides that this has just been crushing. I think of him all the time and am thankful for all of the good times that we have shared...
SCCX:
I went hard for the start and quickly bridged up to the two leaders. I sat on their wheel for the first two laps until I realized they were bobbling the tricky parts and I just wanted to get ahead to see if I could gap them. It was just us 3 so we kept on hammering with me in the lead. It was so emotional thinking about Lucky the previous day I figured I'd try and win this from the front. I attacked on every hard part and opened some room but then they two with me closed it on the open sections. I was hoping to open a gap that would stick but I couldn't. The two with me attacked on the last climb and I had nothing left. I let it all hang out there and it wasn't the day for that. I finished 3rd in a hard fought battle and finished almost in tears hoping I could win this one for Lucky.
Bubblecross:
I had absolutely no motivation for this race. Nothing inside of me wanted to race. With Lucky passing on Thursday and the funeral the day after the race, I talked myself into going because that's what I do, and it wouldn't help to sit home and just think about the hurt. So I raced. I think I was in the middle or back of the pack at the end of the first lap and was getting frustrated at the people that couldn't ride the woods or the sand. So I got a few guys here or there. Each time in the woods I got angrier that people couldn't ride it smoothly so I went harder and harder until I heard Sean say I was catching up to 5th place. Now I had to stay on it and get in the mix. I attacked in the techy and twisty sections and got a gap but I erased that on one of the last laps as I absolutely ate it hard in the sand. My front wheel turned and I drove my head into the ground and piled it up bad. I got up and kept pedaling but it stunned me for sure. The guy I was battling for 5th got back past me and I had to try hard to get through him and I passed him as I rode the barriers and he ran. I put just enough of a gap to hold him off and finish in 5th place.
I'm thankful for a great CX season and thankful it's over. I just don't have it in me right now to keep going like I was. Pile that on top of the cold I have and I'm happy for it to be winding down. It's now family time and holiday time.
Apple CX:
Apple was just to be a fun race as I signed up with a heap of other guys from my team. We wanted to come out in force to race and pretty much heckle each other from inside the race. It was great. It worked down to 5 of us in the race and we had a blast. I wanted to use it as an opener for SCCX the next day and it delivered. I played with the boys for the first half of the lap and then went super hard to try and get as many SS guys as I could. It worked. I got a great workout in, felt decent, got every SS guy but 1 and won the fatbike race. It was pretty sweet. I got a bottle of wine and my teammate will got 3rd and it was just a fun day.
That is until Lucky collapsed in the parking lot after. My soul was crushed instantly. I am still in disbelief that he's gone and not coming back. I think of all we have been through together, and all we were planning to do and I just can't believe that I won't get to see him any more. Life is so wonderful and so heartbreaking when you least expect it. The support that I have received and the hugs from my little one are keeping me sane right now. Besides that this has just been crushing. I think of him all the time and am thankful for all of the good times that we have shared...
SCCX:
I went hard for the start and quickly bridged up to the two leaders. I sat on their wheel for the first two laps until I realized they were bobbling the tricky parts and I just wanted to get ahead to see if I could gap them. It was just us 3 so we kept on hammering with me in the lead. It was so emotional thinking about Lucky the previous day I figured I'd try and win this from the front. I attacked on every hard part and opened some room but then they two with me closed it on the open sections. I was hoping to open a gap that would stick but I couldn't. The two with me attacked on the last climb and I had nothing left. I let it all hang out there and it wasn't the day for that. I finished 3rd in a hard fought battle and finished almost in tears hoping I could win this one for Lucky.
Bubblecross:
I had absolutely no motivation for this race. Nothing inside of me wanted to race. With Lucky passing on Thursday and the funeral the day after the race, I talked myself into going because that's what I do, and it wouldn't help to sit home and just think about the hurt. So I raced. I think I was in the middle or back of the pack at the end of the first lap and was getting frustrated at the people that couldn't ride the woods or the sand. So I got a few guys here or there. Each time in the woods I got angrier that people couldn't ride it smoothly so I went harder and harder until I heard Sean say I was catching up to 5th place. Now I had to stay on it and get in the mix. I attacked in the techy and twisty sections and got a gap but I erased that on one of the last laps as I absolutely ate it hard in the sand. My front wheel turned and I drove my head into the ground and piled it up bad. I got up and kept pedaling but it stunned me for sure. The guy I was battling for 5th got back past me and I had to try hard to get through him and I passed him as I rode the barriers and he ran. I put just enough of a gap to hold him off and finish in 5th place.
I'm thankful for a great CX season and thankful it's over. I just don't have it in me right now to keep going like I was. Pile that on top of the cold I have and I'm happy for it to be winding down. It's now family time and holiday time.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Here's the latest results for the NJ CX Cup in Cat 3. First real cross season I've done in a few years. Next year I can finally race the 40+ race. I'll have my choice of the 1/2/3's, the B's, or the A race really. I'll probably bounce back and forth between the races depending on my family schedule. It's been fun but glad race season is over so I can look ahead to some off time and ramping back up for 2018.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Well done Ryan!
Congrats on winning the series. More importantly - that is / was one hell of a comeback from knee surgery. I enjoyed following the progress.
Congrats on winning the series. More importantly - that is / was one hell of a comeback from knee surgery. I enjoyed following the progress.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Thanks it's been an unbelievable season! It gets me very excited for next year!
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Fuck yea! See u tomorrow @xc62701 !
xc62701
Well-Known Member
So Cathedral Pines happened. In full disclosure, I can't say I was really wanting to do this event. If I wanted to I would have registered. With that being said, it was the last race that Lucky had signed up for so it was my mission to race this...FOR HIM!!! He had registered for the fatbike race and that exactly what I was going to do, on HIS BIKE!!!
At least this year it wasn't 15 degrees at the start. It was at least 33 or something. A little better but that one year (2014?) was brutal. I got Lucky's bike ready to roll by simply raising the seat and adjusting the grips. In hindsight I probably should have done a little more. I'll address that a little later. So with the dirt still on it from his last race I jumped on and rolled to the starting line. With full 5" tires I got ready the best I could for the long haul into the woods. All I wanted to do was make him proud. I didn't know how I'd be feeling as I wasn't on the bike all week, and I haven't ridden more than 2 hours in months and the last endurance race was many cross races ago. Cross fitness and endurance fitness are two totally different concepts. I worked hard to get my cross fitness there so I knew my first lap would be ok but after 45 minutes who knows.
That start goes off after Mitch makes a clusterf*ck out of the nicely organized group. That might have benefitted me more actually. He created the bottleneck earlier than ever. I was smart enough to swing around Jeff's truck to get out of the way of the bottleneck and barely escape the crash that happened in the first 30 feet of the race. I got on the pedals and just started jamming with the group and keeping my eyes on the other fat tires near me. I knew I wasn't going to be first into the woods but a decent position would help during the race. I stayed on the gas and passed a few on the early climbs and just settled in for the rest of the lap. I figured I would go hard on the first lap or two and then hopefully dial things back a bit. The problem was that I was talking to people and they said that there may be another fatbike ahead of me. Crap. I kept pedaling hard and kept looking for a guy in front when it opened up or could see a while ahead. 2nd lap was uneventful. 3rd same. I still hadn't seen anyone in front. At this point I was slowing down a bit on the climbs but still steady cranking. 4th lap was uneventful. By that time I had passed 2-3 fatties from my class. On the 5th lap I was looking forward to slowing down a bit.
I hit the mid section of the lap and I had a problem. I looked over to the section of the course that was probably 5? minutes behind me and I saw another fatbike. Crap. I couldn't remember if it was a guy I passed or a team guy or someone possibly gaining on me. Shit... I had to press hard and now. I immediately thought about what Lucky would say at that moment. It was "Go faster P*SSY!" That's exactly what I did and that's the exact thought that popped into my head every time I wanted to slow down. I just kept pedaling and keeping my pace steady. I was hoping to outlast if not save some juice for a potential battle on the last lap. Lap 6 done. Onto lap 7. I was riding with another guy and we hit the road crossing and they say 15 minutes until the 3pm cutoff mark. Crap.
I didn't think I could get there fast enough to do an 8th lap. I was cramping, hurting, and I just kept going. The guy that was with me was in the exact same spot and we coaxed each other through. We were in so much pain but just kept cheering each other on. It was awesome. We shot out of the woods with 2 minutes left! Damn...we could have to do 1 more lap now after being fully gassed out with that lap. But there was NO pressure any more. Unless someone was right on our heels there was no way they started the last lap before the cutoff. I starred back as we circled the field just to make sure. The last lap was more of a chill lap but I wanted to get it over with. I definitely wasn't charging any more but I wasn't riding slowly. The fatbike and those atrociously nobby tires had taken it's toll though. I couldn't feel my legs, arms, shoulders, and my sitbones were seriously hurting. Everything was sore. I couldn't sit for most of the last lap.
I crossed the line in 6:55 with 8 laps. Lucky was right there with me the entire time pushing me harder and harder each lap. I was so happy to have done this for him - it was without words. It was so emotional to have crossed the line with the WIN FOR HIM!!! If I had feeling left anywhere in my body I probably would have cried a bit but I had nothing left. I was so spent I couldn't even eat. I hung out and tried to stay warm and wait for podiums. It was just a great way to end my season, and honor my best friend that I lost tragically last week. On the way home I called his mother and told her that he was with me and I won it for him. She was so happy and couldn't be happier that it went this way. It was amazing. Later in the week I'm going to drop off the medal for her and put one of the Laps for Lucky stickers on there for her. She's such a great woman it absolutely made her day/week. That's what its all about.
As for the riding his bike part. It wasn't bad. It kinda fit me. I had to get used to it the first lap for sure. Turning was a little quirky and those tires were massive and had too much PSI. If I was on my fatty it would have been night and day difference. That wasn't the point. It had to be done on his bike. I should have swapped out the seats, as I can't sit down today. But that's not the point. The race had to be done and it had to be won - FOR HIM!!! Whatever happened, whatever went right, whatever went wrong, it doesn't matter. It was all done to honor him. I'm so happy that Jeff had a moment of silence and remembered him at the podiums as well. It was all for LUCKY!!!
At least this year it wasn't 15 degrees at the start. It was at least 33 or something. A little better but that one year (2014?) was brutal. I got Lucky's bike ready to roll by simply raising the seat and adjusting the grips. In hindsight I probably should have done a little more. I'll address that a little later. So with the dirt still on it from his last race I jumped on and rolled to the starting line. With full 5" tires I got ready the best I could for the long haul into the woods. All I wanted to do was make him proud. I didn't know how I'd be feeling as I wasn't on the bike all week, and I haven't ridden more than 2 hours in months and the last endurance race was many cross races ago. Cross fitness and endurance fitness are two totally different concepts. I worked hard to get my cross fitness there so I knew my first lap would be ok but after 45 minutes who knows.
That start goes off after Mitch makes a clusterf*ck out of the nicely organized group. That might have benefitted me more actually. He created the bottleneck earlier than ever. I was smart enough to swing around Jeff's truck to get out of the way of the bottleneck and barely escape the crash that happened in the first 30 feet of the race. I got on the pedals and just started jamming with the group and keeping my eyes on the other fat tires near me. I knew I wasn't going to be first into the woods but a decent position would help during the race. I stayed on the gas and passed a few on the early climbs and just settled in for the rest of the lap. I figured I would go hard on the first lap or two and then hopefully dial things back a bit. The problem was that I was talking to people and they said that there may be another fatbike ahead of me. Crap. I kept pedaling hard and kept looking for a guy in front when it opened up or could see a while ahead. 2nd lap was uneventful. 3rd same. I still hadn't seen anyone in front. At this point I was slowing down a bit on the climbs but still steady cranking. 4th lap was uneventful. By that time I had passed 2-3 fatties from my class. On the 5th lap I was looking forward to slowing down a bit.
I hit the mid section of the lap and I had a problem. I looked over to the section of the course that was probably 5? minutes behind me and I saw another fatbike. Crap. I couldn't remember if it was a guy I passed or a team guy or someone possibly gaining on me. Shit... I had to press hard and now. I immediately thought about what Lucky would say at that moment. It was "Go faster P*SSY!" That's exactly what I did and that's the exact thought that popped into my head every time I wanted to slow down. I just kept pedaling and keeping my pace steady. I was hoping to outlast if not save some juice for a potential battle on the last lap. Lap 6 done. Onto lap 7. I was riding with another guy and we hit the road crossing and they say 15 minutes until the 3pm cutoff mark. Crap.
I didn't think I could get there fast enough to do an 8th lap. I was cramping, hurting, and I just kept going. The guy that was with me was in the exact same spot and we coaxed each other through. We were in so much pain but just kept cheering each other on. It was awesome. We shot out of the woods with 2 minutes left! Damn...we could have to do 1 more lap now after being fully gassed out with that lap. But there was NO pressure any more. Unless someone was right on our heels there was no way they started the last lap before the cutoff. I starred back as we circled the field just to make sure. The last lap was more of a chill lap but I wanted to get it over with. I definitely wasn't charging any more but I wasn't riding slowly. The fatbike and those atrociously nobby tires had taken it's toll though. I couldn't feel my legs, arms, shoulders, and my sitbones were seriously hurting. Everything was sore. I couldn't sit for most of the last lap.
I crossed the line in 6:55 with 8 laps. Lucky was right there with me the entire time pushing me harder and harder each lap. I was so happy to have done this for him - it was without words. It was so emotional to have crossed the line with the WIN FOR HIM!!! If I had feeling left anywhere in my body I probably would have cried a bit but I had nothing left. I was so spent I couldn't even eat. I hung out and tried to stay warm and wait for podiums. It was just a great way to end my season, and honor my best friend that I lost tragically last week. On the way home I called his mother and told her that he was with me and I won it for him. She was so happy and couldn't be happier that it went this way. It was amazing. Later in the week I'm going to drop off the medal for her and put one of the Laps for Lucky stickers on there for her. She's such a great woman it absolutely made her day/week. That's what its all about.
As for the riding his bike part. It wasn't bad. It kinda fit me. I had to get used to it the first lap for sure. Turning was a little quirky and those tires were massive and had too much PSI. If I was on my fatty it would have been night and day difference. That wasn't the point. It had to be done on his bike. I should have swapped out the seats, as I can't sit down today. But that's not the point. The race had to be done and it had to be won - FOR HIM!!! Whatever happened, whatever went right, whatever went wrong, it doesn't matter. It was all done to honor him. I'm so happy that Jeff had a moment of silence and remembered him at the podiums as well. It was all for LUCKY!!!
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