Peezy's Black Magic 2013
- Thread starter Pearl
- Start date
onetracker
Well-Known Member
Pearl, It was nice to ride together. Wish I could have sat-in on that climb but I wanted to save some juice for later in the day. Too bad you were not with us going over Tussey; we had a good, smooth group and we rode the whole thing save for a couple of dabs. I was happy to not do the conga like last year.
soulchild
Well-Known Member
Man am I late to this party.
Great writeup and good job homie! Must have felt good to have come in almost 30 minutes ahead of what you initially thought.
BTW, 'bottling up that magic potion' is called doping
EDIT: Did you guys ever figure out what that cult was there for?
Great writeup and good job homie! Must have felt good to have come in almost 30 minutes ahead of what you initially thought.
BTW, 'bottling up that magic potion' is called doping
EDIT: Did you guys ever figure out what that cult was there for?
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
My Lewis Morris Race
This start time, drive time up, the fact i prerode the course, this comfortably warm weather, pretty damn good conditions; All things that lead to a great day of racing bikes. Gather up all my goods, watch the Cat 3 start and talk to everyone. I still get a good 30-45 minute warm up in. I wanted to treat the start like a cross race and hopefully die and pace myself the rest of the way. I got a really good sweat and recovered pretty well from the Stoopid 50, as far as I can tell right now.
6 of us at the start, enough to line up all the way across the road. Cool. I really haven't had great starts against these fools, so I was kind of focusing on that. I felt that the start was just long enough that I could hit it hard and not be fully toast before the first climb. All the sudden the whistle goes off for the Pros. Almost go time.
Horn sounds and I kick like no other. I don't miss my pedal and I'm going. Dillon has perfected his starts and is 2-3 bike lengths off.
Where is everyone else?
We get to the first left hand turn and I'm second. Strange. We start climbing and this guy in a Campmor jersey passes me, but still no gap. Cool. Paul is behind me and gives me a some compliments on how I've been riding. I ask him why they all the sudden started to be nice to me. He asks to pass and I give him the spot, but latch right onto his wheel.
The molten lava start becomes a slow boil. I do a quick systems check and everything is where it is suppose to be, and I'm in this lead group. I look behind me to see if Mandell or Mancuso is going to run us over, and no one is behind us. Today feels like it is the day that everything might come together. We are climbing at a pace that I'm comfortable with and can maintain. Bike feels good and is floating and climbing well. All of those other crappy starts and crappy days are behind me and I'm going to have a good ride here.
And then I flat.
I stop and wait for what was probably only one minute to see Mandell and the 30-39's pass. I realize this is a sidewall tear and my day is done. Sure I could have put a tube in it and rode my three laps, but that wasn't the point of signing up for this. I wanted to race the big boys.
I usually don't get too worked up or upset about this, but I feel like I lost a golden opportunity. The walk back to the car was long and thankfully so; I needed time to vent to myself and reanalyze my life and my absolute shit luck in these H2H races. That tire was pretty much brand new, lasted 37 miles at the Bearscat and 50 Miles of the Stoopid 50, but can't make it more than 7 minutes into Lewis Morris.
By the time I get back to the start finish, I think I'm able to hide my emotions fairly well and try and enjoy the rest of the day. To say that I am now foaming at the lips to race is an understatement. Back to the calendar.
I spent the rest of the day throwing Cicadas at everyone. Lou hates bugs.
Thankfully I had something to cheer about since Mandi won her first Cat 1 race. She's my sugar momma. Somehow her podium picture isn't anywhere to be found, whats up with that!?
and I got this cool photo that Iggy took
So yeah, $30 entry fee, $50 tire, and 7 minutes of "bike racing".
This start time, drive time up, the fact i prerode the course, this comfortably warm weather, pretty damn good conditions; All things that lead to a great day of racing bikes. Gather up all my goods, watch the Cat 3 start and talk to everyone. I still get a good 30-45 minute warm up in. I wanted to treat the start like a cross race and hopefully die and pace myself the rest of the way. I got a really good sweat and recovered pretty well from the Stoopid 50, as far as I can tell right now.
6 of us at the start, enough to line up all the way across the road. Cool. I really haven't had great starts against these fools, so I was kind of focusing on that. I felt that the start was just long enough that I could hit it hard and not be fully toast before the first climb. All the sudden the whistle goes off for the Pros. Almost go time.
Horn sounds and I kick like no other. I don't miss my pedal and I'm going. Dillon has perfected his starts and is 2-3 bike lengths off.
Where is everyone else?
We get to the first left hand turn and I'm second. Strange. We start climbing and this guy in a Campmor jersey passes me, but still no gap. Cool. Paul is behind me and gives me a some compliments on how I've been riding. I ask him why they all the sudden started to be nice to me. He asks to pass and I give him the spot, but latch right onto his wheel.
The molten lava start becomes a slow boil. I do a quick systems check and everything is where it is suppose to be, and I'm in this lead group. I look behind me to see if Mandell or Mancuso is going to run us over, and no one is behind us. Today feels like it is the day that everything might come together. We are climbing at a pace that I'm comfortable with and can maintain. Bike feels good and is floating and climbing well. All of those other crappy starts and crappy days are behind me and I'm going to have a good ride here.
And then I flat.
I stop and wait for what was probably only one minute to see Mandell and the 30-39's pass. I realize this is a sidewall tear and my day is done. Sure I could have put a tube in it and rode my three laps, but that wasn't the point of signing up for this. I wanted to race the big boys.
I usually don't get too worked up or upset about this, but I feel like I lost a golden opportunity. The walk back to the car was long and thankfully so; I needed time to vent to myself and reanalyze my life and my absolute shit luck in these H2H races. That tire was pretty much brand new, lasted 37 miles at the Bearscat and 50 Miles of the Stoopid 50, but can't make it more than 7 minutes into Lewis Morris.
By the time I get back to the start finish, I think I'm able to hide my emotions fairly well and try and enjoy the rest of the day. To say that I am now foaming at the lips to race is an understatement. Back to the calendar.
I spent the rest of the day throwing Cicadas at everyone. Lou hates bugs.
Thankfully I had something to cheer about since Mandi won her first Cat 1 race. She's my sugar momma. Somehow her podium picture isn't anywhere to be found, whats up with that!?
and I got this cool photo that Iggy took
So yeah, $30 entry fee, $50 tire, and 7 minutes of "bike racing".
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that sucks! racing blue balls.
Comma Police reporting for duty.
Thanks for having my back : )
soulchild
Well-Known Member
I spent the rest of the day throwing Cicadas at everyone. Lou hates bugs.
I'm a city boy, I hate any type of bugs. They totally freak me out!
No worries my man, you will murder faces at the next race! Also, while you said you were ticked off, you defintely hid it well.
Sorry bro, I did cycling voodoo the day before and my legs were cooked. I rode in from the lot with Brad and new right away it was a no go. We will have another epic battle soon, I promise!
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
I’m still here, I think it’s pretty obvious. I just have been slacking a lot on this. It’s pretty hard to be creative all the time, so I figured quality over quantity going forward on this. Let’s see if I can deliver now.
Since LM, I fell off of a bridge at SSSP riding the course. It was rather humorous; I left with a nice lump on my knee. It didn’t really slow me down on riding, I just happened to have another kneecap on my knee. And my clothes really smelled really bad.
So KVSP; Last time I wrote I was antsy to race. It was a long time coming for this race, but it’s finally here. Along with the heat that always seems to follow this race around. I got out for a pre-ride and was amazed at how fast this lap was really going to be. Tried to hydrate as much as possible without having to pee my pants. I see a bunch of people with ziplock bags with ice cubes in them, in the back of their jersey. Man, that’s a great idea. A nice cool drip on your ass crack the whole day. Noted.
Our field was going to be fast, I was some names I didn’t know which scared me. Whistle blows and I sit fourth on the grass field. Very gentleman through here; Let’s be honest, the race isn’t going to be won on this grass field. 2 minutes later, that all changes. Nick PUNCHES the slight road uphill and the race really starts. I stick with it for a little. Paul comes around me and I follow his line up the first rock climb. He passes another rider and I’m on his wheel and climbing away. Then I feel like I just kind of stop. I hit some sort of wall. I try to get out of the saddle and hammer it out, but I’m falling off the pace of these guys. I’m pretty redlined at this point, but its nothing out of the ordinary. I push through.
I gain sight of them through the flat, twisty section of the lap, but can never make contact. I slip up on a couple of rooty sections and eventually Jared and some of the 30-39 people pass. But I still have air in my tires and churn on. I keep hammering through the first lap and I’m at the finish.
23:22 @ 12.2MPH.
Either that’s wrong, or I am completely screwed. I can’t do that again, but how can the other people be going so fast? I don’t have much time to think about it, and of the rocky climb to start the lap, that I wish I pre-rode. I looked like an idiot trying to figure that one out.
Lap 2 and 3 kind of blur together, I’m completely maxed out and still pushing, but it feels like I’m standing still because of the people passing me. I start to settle down at lap 3 and ride more at my pace. I get chicked by 2-3 of the pro women who crushed it. I’m pretty empty at this point.
Lap 2 26:30, Lap 3 (I slipped and hit lap late, so Let’s say 27 flat)
I come through for Lap 4 and Lucky hands me a bottle that Mandi gave him. Oh man, that was a life saver. It was cooler than anything I had in my pack and bottle on my bike. I poured a little over my head and it felt good.
Lap 4 starts and I hear Mandis voice. WTF? I ask why she’s over on the side and she said she got hurt. Crap. I try and stay focused; She can’t be THAT hurt because she isn’t at the hospital or in an ambulance, and her voice sounded normal, so she isn’t dying on a gurney waiting for me. I push on assuming she is going to be okay for 25 more minutes. I hear Stacey behind me, let her go by before we climb after the FR. I’m more content on just riding this one out, but I want to ride the sections I didn’t the first 3 times. I cruise through in last, but finished with a lot learned the last 1:45 of this race.
http://app.strava.com/activities/67120787
I lay in the shade for a good 10 minutes and I just keep sweating, more and more. I feel like I jumped in the ocean as the salt burns my eyes. I try to wipe my eyes with my gloves, but they are also salty as shit. I later find out I was 15 minutes behind first place.
Nothing to really have excuses for here; I need to work on having that extra gear that can hit it hard the whole time at that pace. I can ride hard and be pinned the whole time, but It needs to be more. Either way, I’m taking my lumps and my body is learning how. The speed everyone else rides the tech stuff is something I really need to work on. I also think I need to not be afraid to drop the FD into the little ring from time to time. I was trying to muscle up stuff the first couple of laps, I don’t think that was the most efficient way to hit all of this stuff.
Oh, and Mandi is okay. She just has a nice knot on her hip/thigh that looks like another hip. Her last MTB race until she is mahhh wiffeeeeeee.
Feel free to ask more questions if you’d like; I think I covered everything
Since LM, I fell off of a bridge at SSSP riding the course. It was rather humorous; I left with a nice lump on my knee. It didn’t really slow me down on riding, I just happened to have another kneecap on my knee. And my clothes really smelled really bad.
So KVSP; Last time I wrote I was antsy to race. It was a long time coming for this race, but it’s finally here. Along with the heat that always seems to follow this race around. I got out for a pre-ride and was amazed at how fast this lap was really going to be. Tried to hydrate as much as possible without having to pee my pants. I see a bunch of people with ziplock bags with ice cubes in them, in the back of their jersey. Man, that’s a great idea. A nice cool drip on your ass crack the whole day. Noted.
Our field was going to be fast, I was some names I didn’t know which scared me. Whistle blows and I sit fourth on the grass field. Very gentleman through here; Let’s be honest, the race isn’t going to be won on this grass field. 2 minutes later, that all changes. Nick PUNCHES the slight road uphill and the race really starts. I stick with it for a little. Paul comes around me and I follow his line up the first rock climb. He passes another rider and I’m on his wheel and climbing away. Then I feel like I just kind of stop. I hit some sort of wall. I try to get out of the saddle and hammer it out, but I’m falling off the pace of these guys. I’m pretty redlined at this point, but its nothing out of the ordinary. I push through.
I gain sight of them through the flat, twisty section of the lap, but can never make contact. I slip up on a couple of rooty sections and eventually Jared and some of the 30-39 people pass. But I still have air in my tires and churn on. I keep hammering through the first lap and I’m at the finish.
23:22 @ 12.2MPH.
Either that’s wrong, or I am completely screwed. I can’t do that again, but how can the other people be going so fast? I don’t have much time to think about it, and of the rocky climb to start the lap, that I wish I pre-rode. I looked like an idiot trying to figure that one out.
Lap 2 and 3 kind of blur together, I’m completely maxed out and still pushing, but it feels like I’m standing still because of the people passing me. I start to settle down at lap 3 and ride more at my pace. I get chicked by 2-3 of the pro women who crushed it. I’m pretty empty at this point.
Lap 2 26:30, Lap 3 (I slipped and hit lap late, so Let’s say 27 flat)
I come through for Lap 4 and Lucky hands me a bottle that Mandi gave him. Oh man, that was a life saver. It was cooler than anything I had in my pack and bottle on my bike. I poured a little over my head and it felt good.
Lap 4 starts and I hear Mandis voice. WTF? I ask why she’s over on the side and she said she got hurt. Crap. I try and stay focused; She can’t be THAT hurt because she isn’t at the hospital or in an ambulance, and her voice sounded normal, so she isn’t dying on a gurney waiting for me. I push on assuming she is going to be okay for 25 more minutes. I hear Stacey behind me, let her go by before we climb after the FR. I’m more content on just riding this one out, but I want to ride the sections I didn’t the first 3 times. I cruise through in last, but finished with a lot learned the last 1:45 of this race.
http://app.strava.com/activities/67120787
I lay in the shade for a good 10 minutes and I just keep sweating, more and more. I feel like I jumped in the ocean as the salt burns my eyes. I try to wipe my eyes with my gloves, but they are also salty as shit. I later find out I was 15 minutes behind first place.
Nothing to really have excuses for here; I need to work on having that extra gear that can hit it hard the whole time at that pace. I can ride hard and be pinned the whole time, but It needs to be more. Either way, I’m taking my lumps and my body is learning how. The speed everyone else rides the tech stuff is something I really need to work on. I also think I need to not be afraid to drop the FD into the little ring from time to time. I was trying to muscle up stuff the first couple of laps, I don’t think that was the most efficient way to hit all of this stuff.
Oh, and Mandi is okay. She just has a nice knot on her hip/thigh that looks like another hip. Her last MTB race until she is mahhh wiffeeeeeee.
Feel free to ask more questions if you’d like; I think I covered everything
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