Chain Stretcher Recap Thread
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
I know MTBNJ gang laid down some good results. Word in the pits was that the course rocked. Did witness a lot of blood left out there...
Cat 2 40-44
As I sat at the breakfast table this morning eating my cereal and on the laptop the weather forecast didn’t seem too good. It Looked like definite rain for my 10:30 race…I am glad they were wrong. Not a drop of rain at all, this was a blessing. The course would have been a bear if the technical stuff got wet.
As I headed up to the course to do a warm-up with Robbie, Robson and Steve 3336, I saw Soundz at the end of his race. It was good to see him in one piece with no injuries. He was not enthusiastic about his finish but we both agreed that it was a tough course, especially at race pace. You have some good parts of the race and some not so good parts. This is a course of small personal victories.
My goal for today was to be competitive but don’t get hurt. This was reinforced when I saw a cat 3 racer on a stretcher being put in an ambulance. At the line up of the race I felt good, I think there was about 20 guys in my cat. The first 3rd of the course had a lot of climbing, which suits me. I showed up with a full pack on matches and was planning to burn them all by the end of the race. We started out hot and did not slow down until we came to the first tech section. I was behind Kirt and dropped my chain at the slow down. The expression haste makes waste comes to mind when I think about how long it took me to get my chain back on and try to catch the lead group. I was kind of a mess trying to catch back up, screwing up the technical sections and wasting a lot of energy. My first lap was sloppy but I made it through and was looking to find the leaders.
After the climbs at the start of the 2nd lap I was able to shake the guy who was on my tail for practically the whole 1st lap. I am not lighting fast but I am not used to racers being able to hang on my wheel, so I was happy when I was able to lose him. Along the way I passed a lot of other racers who were running out of gas. With about 5 miles to go in the 2nd lap I came up to Eric M., one of the guys who was in the lead and a strong rider who won a couple of H2H races this year. At one point I passed him on a hill but could not make it stick and he came around me at the start of the next climb. Once out of the climbing sections we were into the technical/flow/technical/flow sections of the course. At this point I knew I was not going to pass Eric and make it stick so I opted to just stay on his wheel. We were running a good pace and my HR was at 90% capacity, which for me is pretty good at this point in the race. We chatted a bit and he told me he is sitting 5th or 6th from the leaders. I think he was giving me a heads up if I wanted to make a run for the podium. I told him I was good. The leaders where nowhere in sight and pushing myself harder would mean riding outside of my abilities(getting hurt). We continued on to finish the second lap. Eric got 5th and I got 6th.
I was happy with my results and looking over the times for cat 2’s my race was competitive. My weakness today was my technical ability, this was a course for skilled mtb handlers. Going at race pace and taking technical sections was rough, this is what I have to work on over time, that and just racing more. I preached to Soundz before his race to do the best you can and ride within your ability and that’s what I did today. Thank you Westchester MBA for putting on a well run race and getting race results out quickly to riders.
As I sat at the breakfast table this morning eating my cereal and on the laptop the weather forecast didn’t seem too good. It Looked like definite rain for my 10:30 race…I am glad they were wrong. Not a drop of rain at all, this was a blessing. The course would have been a bear if the technical stuff got wet.
As I headed up to the course to do a warm-up with Robbie, Robson and Steve 3336, I saw Soundz at the end of his race. It was good to see him in one piece with no injuries. He was not enthusiastic about his finish but we both agreed that it was a tough course, especially at race pace. You have some good parts of the race and some not so good parts. This is a course of small personal victories.
My goal for today was to be competitive but don’t get hurt. This was reinforced when I saw a cat 3 racer on a stretcher being put in an ambulance. At the line up of the race I felt good, I think there was about 20 guys in my cat. The first 3rd of the course had a lot of climbing, which suits me. I showed up with a full pack on matches and was planning to burn them all by the end of the race. We started out hot and did not slow down until we came to the first tech section. I was behind Kirt and dropped my chain at the slow down. The expression haste makes waste comes to mind when I think about how long it took me to get my chain back on and try to catch the lead group. I was kind of a mess trying to catch back up, screwing up the technical sections and wasting a lot of energy. My first lap was sloppy but I made it through and was looking to find the leaders.
After the climbs at the start of the 2nd lap I was able to shake the guy who was on my tail for practically the whole 1st lap. I am not lighting fast but I am not used to racers being able to hang on my wheel, so I was happy when I was able to lose him. Along the way I passed a lot of other racers who were running out of gas. With about 5 miles to go in the 2nd lap I came up to Eric M., one of the guys who was in the lead and a strong rider who won a couple of H2H races this year. At one point I passed him on a hill but could not make it stick and he came around me at the start of the next climb. Once out of the climbing sections we were into the technical/flow/technical/flow sections of the course. At this point I knew I was not going to pass Eric and make it stick so I opted to just stay on his wheel. We were running a good pace and my HR was at 90% capacity, which for me is pretty good at this point in the race. We chatted a bit and he told me he is sitting 5th or 6th from the leaders. I think he was giving me a heads up if I wanted to make a run for the podium. I told him I was good. The leaders where nowhere in sight and pushing myself harder would mean riding outside of my abilities(getting hurt). We continued on to finish the second lap. Eric got 5th and I got 6th.
I was happy with my results and looking over the times for cat 2’s my race was competitive. My weakness today was my technical ability, this was a course for skilled mtb handlers. Going at race pace and taking technical sections was rough, this is what I have to work on over time, that and just racing more. I preached to Soundz before his race to do the best you can and ride within your ability and that’s what I did today. Thank you Westchester MBA for putting on a well run race and getting race results out quickly to riders.
pedals
Well-Known Member
I barely slept last night thinking about this race, among other things. The main thing that I was nervous about was the climbing, which I'm horrible at. All of the cat 3 girls go off together. I was in the back, as to let the climbers go ahead. Well, we were like dominoes in the 1st turn up the hill. Don't know why I found it funny. I was able to get up the 1st big climb, only to lose my chain at the top. Got passed by a few. It's distressing to me to see the girls disappear. Almost every climb, I walked...totally lame. Just don't have it... Anyway, by the time the tech stuff comes, I'm catching up and passing.(Despite the climbs, I am loving this course.) I'm learning the best way to pass safely without pissing people off. I'm usually real polite, but I may have aggravated one gal today. She was getting caught up in the rocks and holding me up. She wasn't making it easy for me to pass. Eventually a deal was struck. Let me pass you on the downhills and I'll let you pass on the climbs.She agreed, but I never saw her again. I ended up having a safe clean run and coming out 3rd over all and 1st in my group, so I am happy. I usually don't recap on my races but was told that I should do so by my top mechanic. So there it is !! Can't wait to hear how my friends in cat 1 & 2 made out !!
PS--Luke , I never saw you, and you were soooooo quiet !!!
PS--Luke , I never saw you, and you were soooooo quiet !!!
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Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
haha rob is unamused. here is my recap
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showpost.php?p=272550&postcount=669
How did George place?
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showpost.php?p=272550&postcount=669
How did George place?
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DanBrodeen
Well-Known Member
Anyone snap a pic of the Cat 2 30-34 results? Didn't race but curious who came out on top.
Cat 2 SS
Start off by saying this was my favorite course in the H2H so far. Technical, hilly, challenging. I was starting to get bored with these races before this but changed my mind after today. Thanks WMBA for good course and fast results, well run event.
Started day off driving up with RUChris. My usual routine is fast becoming not eating or drinking anything before riding and I continued this today. Got there, registered, got ready. After talking to Matty after his preride I decided to put a 20t on. Oops Matt grabbed an 18 instead of 20 so I used a 21 instead. This ended up working well because there was no spots where hammering really helped. I was able to sit and spin up every hill and this definitely worked to my advantage.
Prerode with the two Chrisss for about 30 minutes because the course started off with 2-3 miles of climbing and I wanted to be warm. We got back around 1020 and lined up. Race went off at 1033. Going down the first paved hill I was near the front. Up the loose left turn the guy in front of me spun out and I ran into him and had to dismount. This sucked as 6 guys were now in front of me. Was getting blocked a lot up the first hills where people were dismounting thru the rocky sections, finally got around a big cluster when I dismounted and ran through the nasty rock garden at the top of the singletrack climb.
By this point I was in third and had the guy in second, a darkhorse rider, in sight. The guy in first was long gone, he crested the singletrack climb when we were all at the bottom of it. Passed the DH rider for a while and than he passed me. Rode behind him through the rest of the lap. Could tell he was getting a little tired as he was standing on all the hills so I bided my time and waited to strike.
When we started lap 2 I passed the 2nd place guy and left him on the hills, put enough of a gap on him that he didnt really threaten to pass me for the remainder. At this point first was, in my head, out of reach. Hadnt seen him all of lap 1 or 1/4 of lap 2 so figured he was gone. Felt really good at this point so I kept the hammer down. Eventually about half way through I went around a turn and saw the first place guy exiting the turn. Only 20 sec behind him. Knew some hills were coming up so I got excited because I was gonna destroy them. Than my front tire hit a rock and I did one of those slow mo moves where the back end is lifting and youre going forward otb nooooo, oops. Saved myself somewhat from a full on crash, got up and cursed myself than went after him.
Flew up the hills and floated through the rocks and caught the guy. Passed and never saw him again. Ended up in first. Would do this race over and over, one of the most fun loops Ive done. Good job all good showing by many of the peeps from the site.
Start off by saying this was my favorite course in the H2H so far. Technical, hilly, challenging. I was starting to get bored with these races before this but changed my mind after today. Thanks WMBA for good course and fast results, well run event.
Started day off driving up with RUChris. My usual routine is fast becoming not eating or drinking anything before riding and I continued this today. Got there, registered, got ready. After talking to Matty after his preride I decided to put a 20t on. Oops Matt grabbed an 18 instead of 20 so I used a 21 instead. This ended up working well because there was no spots where hammering really helped. I was able to sit and spin up every hill and this definitely worked to my advantage.
Prerode with the two Chrisss for about 30 minutes because the course started off with 2-3 miles of climbing and I wanted to be warm. We got back around 1020 and lined up. Race went off at 1033. Going down the first paved hill I was near the front. Up the loose left turn the guy in front of me spun out and I ran into him and had to dismount. This sucked as 6 guys were now in front of me. Was getting blocked a lot up the first hills where people were dismounting thru the rocky sections, finally got around a big cluster when I dismounted and ran through the nasty rock garden at the top of the singletrack climb.
By this point I was in third and had the guy in second, a darkhorse rider, in sight. The guy in first was long gone, he crested the singletrack climb when we were all at the bottom of it. Passed the DH rider for a while and than he passed me. Rode behind him through the rest of the lap. Could tell he was getting a little tired as he was standing on all the hills so I bided my time and waited to strike.
When we started lap 2 I passed the 2nd place guy and left him on the hills, put enough of a gap on him that he didnt really threaten to pass me for the remainder. At this point first was, in my head, out of reach. Hadnt seen him all of lap 1 or 1/4 of lap 2 so figured he was gone. Felt really good at this point so I kept the hammer down. Eventually about half way through I went around a turn and saw the first place guy exiting the turn. Only 20 sec behind him. Knew some hills were coming up so I got excited because I was gonna destroy them. Than my front tire hit a rock and I did one of those slow mo moves where the back end is lifting and youre going forward otb nooooo, oops. Saved myself somewhat from a full on crash, got up and cursed myself than went after him.
Flew up the hills and floated through the rocks and caught the guy. Passed and never saw him again. Ended up in first. Would do this race over and over, one of the most fun loops Ive done. Good job all good showing by many of the peeps from the site.
My recap on my thread:
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17166&page=77
It was a nicely run race and thanks to Rob for holding the rain off. I had a lot of fun riding it and learned a bunch in the process.
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17166&page=77
It was a nicely run race and thanks to Rob for holding the rain off. I had a lot of fun riding it and learned a bunch in the process.
wlee
Active Member
After Fridays pre-ride I knew a good warm up was key so i did the first gravel hill like 6 or 7 times. At the start I say to the guys if your on my wheel just ask and I`ll move over but please do the same for me. My Hr was 130 so either i was warmed up or nervous which usually happens. I tell my friend Fred to be carefull on turn 1. We take off hit turn 1 and Bam someone looses it and like everyone stops dead. I end up running up that gravel hill with about everyone else jump on the bike and start climbing which I am not good at. I think I`m in 5 th or 6 th which I`ll take considering the dismount but get caught by Percy and I just let him go .The first couple of techy sections I bobble and say to myself its going to be a long day but motor on. Nick Piscatelli catches me and is riding my wheel so I ask if he wants to go and he says no he`s good and see`s that I`m hurting and tells to take it easy (Yea right) On the powerline looking climb he passes me and I start to feel like I`m getting ready to blow up so I inhale a gel and within a few minutes I feel great. I am running alone which is wierd so soon in the race but I see someone who I battle with and realize i`m gaining on him and stupid me while looking at him in one of those criss cross sections for that split second I low side and hit the ground, No biggie get up and catch alot of earlier classes and I am feeling real good and everything if flowing with Hr rate in the high 170`s which is real cool for me.Get to that Ying or whatever its call section and overshoot the turn and get stuck in the wrong gear with the chain skipping so I decide to just get off rather than snap it and ran it. Very Lame but better than breaking a chain. I catch the guy who I looked at which was the reason I crashed ( not his fault ) and he REFUSES TO LET ME PASS!!!!!!!!!!!! even though he running his bike and he was next to me at the start and heard me make my statement. I asked twice then cursed with the third request and I guess he knew I was serious so he said JUST GO ALREADY. Climbed that last techy section and finished 7 th. Felt relly good at the end so I`m starting to feel better about cat 2 which is on the horison. Actually liked the course very much today.
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Willy
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Willy
I think you earned MVP & Rookie of the Year. Great job, you gots mad skillzzzz.
If that doc thing doesn't work out you can almost make a living racing your bike.
MtnRider
Active Member
Hey Willy - congrats - I think the official is you finished 6th (posting above)
Looks like most of the regulars continue to finish top 5 - thought some of them would have to move up by now?
Save the .gpx file - I'd like to give the course a shot in the next couple of months when there's a free weekend
Also - a shout out to Steve for breaking the top 10 in Cat 2....
Rode Jungle in the rain this PM - let's hope for some good weather next week as those rocks are slippery when wet and can cause major carnage... someone better start the "no rain" dance
Here are 88 Cat 2 photos I took. They are mostly blurry, but you can make out most of the mtbNJ peeps.
http://s918.photobucket.com/albums/ad25/soundzorg/Blue Chain Stretcher 2010/?albumview=slideshow
http://s918.photobucket.com/albums/ad25/soundzorg/Blue Chain Stretcher 2010/?albumview=slideshow