Darkhorse 40 2011

capedoc said:
I raced SS with a rigid fork at last year's DH40. My upper body felt completely pulverized by the end of the race.
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mr.chainsaw said:
lately towards the end of these longer races my hands are so done i find that i dont even reach for the brakes cause it hurts too much...
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actually I dont really have a problem with my upper body and I've never had a problem with my wrists or hands...it's my legs. without suspension you're using your legs to absorb the shock. hour after hour of my legs absorbing the blows (in addition to the normal excertion of just riding) and it just does me in.

at places like Hartshorne, Allaire (or even that place where we did 6 Hrs of Cathedral Pines) you dont need suspension so my legs arent getting pounded. thus, I have no problem doing long rides. I guess I just likes it flowy.
 
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You guys are such weenies 😉 I did Bearscat 50 on a rigid 😀

For me the key is to focus on keeping light on the bars. Unless I need to, I will never ever have a tight grip .. Well, at least I try, but natural tendency is to grip harder than you need to. So to offset the times you are putting a hard grip on, you have to compensate for it by putting a lighter grip on even when you seemingly don't need to.

Resting your hands on the smooth sections is key. You can have let's say a light grip on the fireroads and you think it wont' matter, but it all adds up over time. When I'm just cruising on the smoother sections, I am barely touching the grips at all. I really have to keep telling myself this, esp in the smooth sections. I will also ride with no hands every opportunity I get and constantly shake them out throughout the ride.

Keep thinking about it, even on your short rides .. and it will become more natural.
 
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larryt said:
Jim, I would think you would like going blind and having blood spill out of your ears. Isn't that what happens when you listen to your death metal?😀
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That's why I wear glasses and headphones when I ride😉

-Jim.
 
As usual, a most memorable event. My day was short of stellar but the course and the vibe lept me going. As we sat and enjoyed the post ride refreshments and food Norm described me as "one of those complicated Chinese puzzles - all the pieces have to be just right." Ain't that the truth. I pretty much rode the first 35 miles sub tempo and when I saw some people closing in I decided to try riding with some intent. Finally my back doesn't hurt and I hit the gas. I manage to pick off 6 people in the last 5 miles. Felt great after the race - my body is a truly mysterious temple.

Thanks to the Darkhorse crew for yet another great event.
 
That was a great course. My teammate put it well, "fun, but any more technical and it would have been annoying for 40 miles."

I felt ok for the fist lap, but then started getting cramps about half way through the second lap. I tried not to go out too hard during the first lap, but apparently I did. The descents were fun on a Jet 9. The one place I was able to make up time and catch people. The last 10 miles were rough, though, as the cramps probably cost me at least 10 places (not that it really matters as far back as I finished). Regardless, I finished in under 5 hrs, so I'm happy. Especially considering this is the first XC race I've done since the Mt Snow NCS in 1998. 😱 I definitely want to do it again next year and with better training.

Watch out for yellow jackets next year. I got stung on the fire road about a mile into the 2nd lap. Fortunately, I'm not allergic, so it was just annoying.

I spotted a lot of mtbnj.com jerseys as well as Jdog - who was about an hour faster than me on a single speed.
 
it was as usual a fun but fairly brutal event - not as tough as the bearscat 50 though..it was a tail of 2 laps for me..2:05 for the first and 2:30 for the 2nd (according to my GPS)..major cramps after 30 miles and the last 5 were hell...I would also like to suggest to some of the sport men that couldn't get over a few pebbles after the initial fire road that instead of racing mtn bikes they try criteriums - there is a great crit on Thursday nights in Rockleigh NJ which is a pancake flat course with no pebbles to make you put your feet down...and no I wasn't screaming at 40 people to get out of the way on the singletrack but it was frustrating...I thought the fire road at the start would have created more speration than it did...PS can we have a 26er only class as on the fire roads the niners kept freewheeling past me when I was pedaling like mad 😀
 
wonderturtle said:
actually I dont really have a problem with my upper body and I've never had a problem with my wrists or hands...it's my legs. without suspension you're using your legs to absorb the shock. hour after hour of my legs absorbing the blows (in addition to the normal excertion of just riding) and it just does me in.

at places like Hartshorne, Allaire (or even that place where we did 6 Hrs of Cathedral Pines) you dont need suspension so my legs arent getting pounded. thus, I have no problem doing long rides. I guess I just likes it flowy.
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It's odd that you'd have a problem in your legs from a rigid ss. I would agree with the other guys here -- it would usually hammer your wrists (and probably your triceps and upper back as you fatigued.)

Based on what some folks are saying here, I'd guess you probably just cooked and it wasn't so much about the bike itself. Like you said -- you can do the longer rides no problem, but how many of those have been in mid-nineties heat and late July humidity? And then there is the mind-f*ck "race" factor. Without personally having any scientific evidence to support this, I think that once you tag any long ride with the term "race", it changes the game on you. You can ride the same pace you always do, but because there is that line in the sand ahead of you (distance or time-wise) you are a lot less relaxed than when you do your own rides. Anything that goes wrong seems magnified and even your perception of everything gets pretty clouded (flats take forever to fix, climbs seem longer, etc.) I think the best racers are often the guys who can completely shut their minds off when they race. They probably couldn't tell you their name, but they'll pass by you like you're walking because they just flow.

Anyway, add the heat to all of that, and your body is likely to rebel a lot faster than it normally would if you were just there to ride the trails for that dustance.
 
The single track was a double-edged sword... on the first lap, it was tough because there were so many novices dabbing at bad times... or riding their brakes on downhills where you really just had to let it go... and then on the 2nd lap, the trails were mostly empty... but I was getting cramps and was too tired to enjoy it... 🙄

I knew I had no chance of winning or even finishing in the top 50%, so the only time I voiced any frustration to a rider ahead of me was when they seriously held me up on a descent, since it was safer for both of us to let me pass than to have me all over his rear wheel, trying desperately not to run him over.

Of course, I was about half way through my 2nd lap when I relaized I had forgotten to pack a spare tube (was wearing a new camelback). 😱 Fortunately, I never flatted.
 
I was just thinking to myself that bearscat was easier. Was for me anyway, but thats mainly because of the temps.

I had a great time as usual at a Darkhorse event. The beer, the chicken skin, the ice pops....its always a blast.

This race was made more fun by the fact that I got to spend about 35 of the 40 miles riding with my teammates, bullshitting most of the way, and enjoying the ride. Last 5mi is when the pain set in and it was a death march to the end. Wound up 18th of I think 53 in elite.
 
Ian F said:
Watch out for yellow jackets next year. I got stung on the fire road about a mile into the 2nd lap. Fortunately, I'm not allergic, so it was just annoying.

.
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I think I was with you when you got stung? I was in purple and white and mentioned how I've never been stung.
 
finished...

I managed 102 overall in my class. I was much faster last year and this was due to a few reasons. Riding this race on a full rigid just this year did me in. It wasn't the legs or lungs that were a problem like most my wrists and palms just hurt like hell. The lower back took a little of a beating. The heat this year was tougher as well as the course IMO. No cramps so I had the hydration down but there were so many times i just wanted to quit on the second lap. I'm glad I finished but I'm paying for it today. I realized I really need the front suspension for this race and the new bike needs a better fit.
 
wilks said:
it was as usual a fun but fairly brutal event - not as tough as the bearscat 50 though..it was a tail of 2 laps for me..2:05 for the first and 2:30 for the 2nd (according to my GPS)..major cramps after 30 miles and the last 5 were hell...I would also like to suggest to some of the sport men that couldn't get over a few pebbles after the initial fire road that instead of racing mtn bikes they try criteriums - there is a great crit on Thursday nights in Rockleigh NJ which is a pancake flat course with no pebbles to make you put your feet down...and no I wasn't screaming at 40 people to get out of the way on the singletrack but it was frustrating...I thought the fire road at the start would have created more speration than it did...PS can we have a 26er only class as on the fire roads the niners kept freewheeling past me when I was pedaling like mad 😀
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Have to agree with you - the Conga line on lap 1 was ridiculous - someone would get stuck then I would almost stop to avoid crashing into them a.d then someone is screaming at me because they have to stop
 
My DH40: One of my focuses this season has been work on my starts, and I knew the extended fire road would let me stay at the front until we hit the singletrack. At the gun we had a mob of idiots spinning like hamsters, coasting in tucks, and repeating.

Entered the ST somewhere in the top 15 or so, pointedly looked for Woody so as to get on his wheel for the first sections, knowing it would be way better for me to just focus on following his smooth lines rather than sorting it out on my own in the early going. Eventually we were joined by Old Charming Rob, whose chain was committing mutiny.

When we popped out for the fire road climb I was well warmed up, and put my head down to keep the effort going. Rob ended up on my wheel, and we rode out the rest of the first lap together, for the most part; a good team effort to keep each other going.

As we entered the second lap, I knew Rob was having continued issues, and then I was on my own again. Legs felt good, I kept my focus on maintaining the rest of my body and keeping my riding as smooth as possible, and I found I was picking people off little by little, and not getting caught by anyone.

In the last 5 miles I rolled up to, and got in front of, Doug Jenne, and we entered the final twisty section with him glued on my wheel. I pushed as hard as I could through the rooty turns, but couldn’t get a gap, and he popped by me just as we came to the line, putting me 10th in Open SS.

So 40 miles and 3.5 hours of riding ended in a sprint of sorts for 9th place. Awesome stuff.

As always, great work by the Dark Horse crew, and great vibes all around from everyone who attended. Days like this are what it’s about.
 
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My Disappointment

My goal for this event was to finish sub 5 hours. Alas it was not to be. 18 miles was all my angry left quad would allow. Tis ashame, as this is the only race I care to do and I trained for this. Last year's goal was a finish, which I accomplished.

I feel like everything is so right about the DH40. It's within an hour drive. The price is right. No stupid license necessary. The swag is nice. The food is good and plenty. The atmosphere is kool.

So is there anything else that can match the DH40 within an hour of Bergen County?
 
Fiasco Almost Forty

When I got #12 I was thinking very cool, it's a "lucky" number for me (birthday is 12/12 etc). That was incorrect thinking. The warmup ride down the fireroad I realize something is really wrong with my shifting as chain keeps falling off. Everyone keeps going except for Chrisru, ( thanks bro)you always seem to be around when I have a chain problem. Anyway I swing a uey and head back and find Ben who figures out that it is the chain that is broken and about to come apart and not the gears. He does some quick surgery and tells me to make sure I don't go big and big front and back and I will be fine. I tell him I love him and head to the start. I will foreshadow now and say that I am a D!CK.

Start is good and although I am sucking dust like crazy, the pace is good and I settle in behind Utah Norm and Bill with JV and others. I am happy with where my heart rate is all the way into the ST and liking the pace. Of course I am liking things so much that I don't pay attention to the fact that I am still in my big ring and the first right turn that goes up a bit I shift my rear derailer and BAM, total chain lock up. So bad that the rear derailer is wedged up into the rear cog. I begin the wrestling match with it and it is clearly winning. As I look at it, all I hear in my head is Ben's warning like a record skipping. Some guy stops and it becomes a tag team match and I tell him not to ruin his race and he says he is support and not racing. We keep at it and finally get a link over a tooth and am expecting it to pop as we rotate the cranks but it holds and drops down free. By now all the women and single speeders have passed and I take off like a bat out of hell. So much for the nice pacing and plan.

I start passing people back and am moving at a fast pace that I know I can't maintain forever but figure let me at least get back a little time. I eventually get to woody and then Iggy and we trade back and forth a bit and then eventually to Chris G and decide this is a good place to settle down a bit and I am the caboose on our titanium train. Chris and I stay more or less together for what was probably like 20 miles or more maybe. (Most of latter part of lap 1 and most of lap 2) We are going at a good pace and I am really enjoying life. I don't really remember anyone passing us and it is good to have company and it is keeping me focused and pushing until I feel my rear tire getting soft. I try and keep going cause I don't want to lose Chris but it is futile. I'm hoping it was just a burp so I hit with co2 but I hear air coming out and see that I got a small gash right on the tread surface of the tire. I hit it hard with co2 and flip it over as sealant bubbles out and after a little while it seems to have slowed it. I hit it again and it seems like it may hold. I go to take off again and see my sunglasses on the trail that someone must have just ran over when I was working on the tire. Fooey.

Over the next bunch of miles the tire keeps getting soft and I have to keep hitting it (nice to have that big 40oz co2 btw) I finally reach the last water station and I am out of co2 and there is no pump there. Fooey. At this point I would have thrown in the tube and regrouped but now I am thinking my best bet is to bail and stay on the road and get out before it goes totally flat. On the road back I pass a DH guy who offers me his co2 and says cmon put the tube in and finish it. I look at the long road that I would need to ride back to the water station to reenter the course where I bailed and after riding in circles for a few minutes trying to decide what to do I decide enough is enough. I felt like I had long lost the flow that I had and had slowed significantly and with the last 5-7 miles IMO being the PITA part, I didn't want to risk doing something stupid.

I was pretty bummed as this is the first time that I pulled the plug on a race but I'll get over it.

Trying to get something positive out of this and looking at my gps info it looks like my first lap was 1:42ish including removing what looks like around 2.5 min of chain issue. The second lap was on a similar pace as I was at mile 31 at 2:48 when the tire issues started. My goal was to do better than 1:50 each lap which looks like could have happened. So there is that.
 
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