Turbo's Tales

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Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Got a 50 miler in with some hart and huber yesterday. Trying to prep for stoopid. Was pretty surprised by the conditions. I rode into the darkness and ended with some pizza in Belford. What an awesome day!
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Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Well, Hop Brook XC has come and gone. I decided to try out the Pro Open class on my SS. No expectations orher than pain a d to get stronger. Wait, one goal. Do not be DFL and I wasn’t. I purposely ran a pretty stout gear(34/18) for a race with little recovery area and 2500’ of climbing.
I wanted to blow up and see what I have. It’s easy for me to do this in training, in 5 hour races, even on the road but I have a hard time pushing myself at XC. I definitely went harder than I have before and hubg with the lead group for almost 1/2 lap but not recoveri g well that big climb put me in the pain cave. I realed one guy in on the third lap and dropped him but ultimately about 5 geared guys got by me that started after. I made mental notes to push where I don’t and it worked. I got my pr for the finishing climb on the last lap and also a top 20 there. I’m going to try to latch on a bit longer at each race and hopefully by the time shenandoah comes around I can swing a top 5.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
It was a tough race for everyone. But a wise man once told me, "there's always another fucking race"
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I dont want to muddle up the h2h thread so I'll put this here...

Everyone keeps saying that. Today I didn’t do what I wanted to do.(This is open pro/cat 1 btw ;) ). I want to best myself. I should have held on longer today. The reason I am racing these is I want to hang in to the group and go as hard as I can u til I blow up. I keep leaving too much in the tank(just racing shitty tbh). I know it’s possible and I want to do it. For me it’s getting iver mental blocks. I always kill it in training and ride too conservatively in races. It’s been difficult to change.

Because this is the place of unsolicited advice, I have some :).

Race cat 1, in your age group. Maybe the reason you're not pushing the entire race is because you're getting dropped 5 minutes in and find yourself in noman's land. We've all been in noman's land so we know....
If you raced in the cat 1 group, you'd probably hang on ok, and push....the entire time.... The second half of your second lap was probably better times because you were in a group of riders you were a little more aligned with.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
I dont want to muddle up the h2h thread so I'll put this here...



Because this is the place of unsolicited advice, I have some :).

Race cat 1, in your age group. Maybe the reason you're not pushing the entire race is because you're getting dropped 5 minutes in and find yourself in noman's land. We've all been in noman's land so we know....
If you raced in the cat 1 group, you'd probably hang on ok, and push....the entire time.... The second half of your second lap was probably better times because you were in a group of riders you were a little more aligned with.
Thanks. I know I come off skewed sometimes. I guess it’s the nature of the beast. I didn’t get dropped until 1/2 a lap into Hop Brook. You’ll never improve if you always take the beaten path. My goal is to hang in a little bit further at each race. Mooch and Stewart should deal a better hand for an SS start. I agree I need someone to push and ride with but I think with a little time and training I can make it work. If not I’ll go back to age group.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Hey dave, I would just say...think of pro as a group of cat 1 winners...beating anyone in that class is usually a good day. Do whatever is the most fun... I mean im not winning the pro class anytime soon, but I like it because anyone I beat is a crazy fast guy. Just dont let it demoralize you.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
I'm with Germy, racing Cat 1 in your age group will push you farther than being dropped and just saying F it. It happens no matter what your mindset is. If you see a wheel in front of you, you will stick with it, regardless of what your brain or garmin says.

There is plenty of competition in those categories for you to bang bars with. If you go OTF in the age group category, then most certainly the open cat is your home. But until you do that, no sense in grinding your moral into paste
 
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Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Hey dave, I would just say...think of pro as a group of cat 1 winners...beating anyone in that class is usually a good day. Do whatever is the most fun... I mean im not winning the pro class anytime soon, but I like it because anyone I beat is a crazy fast guy. Just dont let it demoralize you.
That’s how I want to look at it. A few have done it on SS and that’s what I want to do. In the NUEs there are a few guys who can spin a 34/20 and beat the geared guys in 100 milers...go figure.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Here’s a quickie as I have lots going on the next few weeks. Not a pity party but life is crazy, stressful, sad and beautiful. 7 of 10 in the open class at Mooch was great for me. I was better than that but I will take that. Iron Furnace and French Creek up next before a break in racing with more training. I’ll definitely update the racin. Soon.
The beautiful is spending time with family, enjoying life, loving my boys and waiting for my daughter to arrive in one month’s time. I’ll add some pics to support the post.
The sad... my younger brother, father of three and husband to one fully relapsed to heroin two weeks ago and ODd twice in two days. He spent a week and a half in the hospital on a breathing tube and the wonderful system sets him free on the streets yesterday. I try to remain hopeful but I fully expect to get a call soon...
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Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Here’s a quickie as I have lots going on the next few weeks. Not a pity party but life is crazy, stressful, sad and beautiful. 7 of 10 in the open class at Mooch was great for me. I was better than that but I will take that. Iron Furnace and French Creek up next before a break in racing with more training. I’ll definitely update the racin. Soon.
The beautiful is spending time with family, enjoying life, loving my boys and waiting for my daughter to arrive in one month’s time. I’ll add some pics to support the post.
The sad... my younger brother, father of three and husband to one fully relapsed to heroin two weeks ago and ODd twice in two days. He spent a week and a half in the hospital on a breathing tube and the wonderful system sets him free on the streets yesterday. I try to remain hopeful but I fully expect to get a call soon...View attachment 67790View attachment 67791View attachment 67792View attachment 67793View attachment 67794View attachment 67795View attachment 67796View attachment 67797View attachment 67798View attachment 67799
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UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Such is life...Bittersweet. Great news on the racing front, very sorry to hear about your bro.

With regards to racing....IIRC, did I lap you at a short track race a few years ago? Like I was saying, you have come a long way since then.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Such is life...Bittersweet. Great news on the racing front, very sorry to hear about your bro.

With regards to racing....IIRC, did I lap you at a short track race a few years ago? Like I was saying, you have come a long way since then.
Thanks @UtahJoe . That was definitely me in 2016. In 2017 on Lando lapped me lol.
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Nice work man! You're racing game is definitely improving. Sorry to hear about your bro. Change can happen although unlikely. Where did you get those ski goggles? :)
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sorry to hear about your brother, that's a tough situation.
Nice job at Mooch, that was a good finish in pro class.
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
Ah, the Iron Furnace. Let's talk about the week leading up to it. I kinda, sorta came in with great fitness but poor preparation. It started when a friend called me last thursday and said the student bridge team from NJIT was in need of a big favor. They had a week to go before the competition and the bridge was only tacked together. This means 300 plus small diameter(like 1/2" and under) 4130 TIG welds and their fitup was crap. Long story short, 14 hours between last saturday, sunday and thursday with me hunching over my welding table in all the heat tig welding left my back feeling sore/tired. It wasn't out of place but I new it would make the race a lot tougher. Couple that with not sleeping great and a lot of over tired/race butterflies/nerves I was kind of a wreck.
So, onto the race. I know I have the fitness so I made notes, ate well, prepped all my bottles supplies very well and had a good gear. I took off and kind of sat back with Jaime C a bit and we chatted. Once we hit the woods I hammered a bit without burning too many matches. Alex Ciesla and Brian White took off from the start and honestly I never saw them again. I definitely would have seen Alex but in a few you'll see where my trouble started. I led Jaime, @Riggedfmx and myself up until a bit past halfway. I however slipped on the first wooden bridge and felt my back pop. I new it wasn't good but it didn't hurt so I kept truckin. Tony would follow me by every single rider I passed. Jaime sat in behind him. On one of the jeep trails Jaime went by me up the hill but I countered and reeled him back in. Then he did it again and the same thing. I got Tony to follow and kinda backed off hoping Tony would burn some matches and where Jaime down. Well at the end of lap one we were all in the feed zone together. I still felt ok but around a third of the way into the second lap I was sitting and something in my back popped. That was it, I was in survival mode. I had plenty of fitness left but most of my climbing was seated or standing but supporting my whole body with my arms as my back locked up. This was ok in some places but others like the tech I burned some matches. I tried getting off to run in a few sections but couldn't stand up straight so I managed the rest of the race sitting and hunched over and that was about the most comfortable. I finished in 3:07, 6 min behind second and 15 behind first. 5th place ss.
Big congrats to @Rigidnsingle (the cogfather) on 4th overall on the ss. Congrats to @Riggedfmx on 3rd and thanks to Team HB Hilltop for the support and @JDurk for the beers. I'm typing this as I sit here icing my back, praying my chiro will make a special sunday appt for me. Also, thanks to @onetracker and the Black Bear crew for an awesome race that really seemed to draw some of our top XC racers to and "endurance" event like @UtahJoe , @jShort , @pooriggy , @scotth etc. Until next time.
 
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