Going Long and Hard.
- Thread starter Steve Vai
- Start date
RNG1
Well-Known Member
Great job Jim. Course was great, really hard conditions for that 1pm race on Saturday but I still enjoyed it in a Darkhorse event kinda way. It was the first time my son has been to any cycling event with me and he had a great time watching and cheering for everyone. I'm glad his first experience was here and at something so spectator friendly cause now he can't wait to come again. You should figure out a way to build bleachers with heated seats into the side of the dirt where the mud pit is. That and a bonfire and beer (wait that will likely cause it to get it banned). OK how bout just porta pottys with windows?😛
Thanks jimmy for setting up an awesome course which allowed me to get my first podium with my mountain bike this year 😀
It was by far my favorite race of the year. The crowd was so into it, the mud and watching you guys suffer really added to the fun. Nice work son!
It was by far my favorite race of the year. The crowd was so into it, the mud and watching you guys suffer really added to the fun. Nice work son!
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Thanks son!! My favorite course compliment I got was while Amy Cutler and I were running around the course during your race. She said "Only you could design a course that a guy on a mountain bike could win on!!" Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't a compliment, but I took it as one😉
I've spent my morning so far going through BikeReg emails. We got a ton of good feedback from the racers. I'm not sure if anyone could understand the feeling when you're hard work is truly appreciated. Makes me wanna step it up even bigger for next year!! It's on!! Here's a couple😱
"....not sure who designed the course (only able to do saturday's race), but I wasn't expecting such a well-designed, varietal course! I am putting it on par with this year's Granogue and Fairhill courses. I hope this race continues and is on the same land. alot of possibilities."
"Brilliant course (a few vv minor tweaks) - raced Saturday, so nice to
finally have proper cross weather - there seems to be a passion this season
for courses that just have tight turn after tight turn - your course had a
great balance of turns/ tech bits, but strung together with 'easier'/fun
bits that you cold blast - if someone sucked at the turns or tech bits they
could still catch up on the power bits - great job - pit was way too small -
and perhaps the course narrowed a bit quick after the start"
We actually fixed both of those things for sunday😀
-Jim.
PS-Results are up. I posted the link in the Horeshoe thread. Here's my jibberish math...
ArmyOfNone
Well-Known Member
I vote for this race to be done earlier in the series.
I think it earned it.
I think it earned it.
I really enjoyed the course this year versus last and would say it included portions of a few world cups, especially Roubaix and Hoogerheide with the drop ins and muddy flats. It was obvious you designed it, bit I see that as a compliment. I loved parts on Sat and Sunday that I detested in the other direction; very strange, but in a good way.
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I also agree!! It could be #6&7 in the cup. Hillbilly and Westwood are always the first 2. Then we'd need to leave a little gap I think before another 2 day event. Earlier in November would be cool, gotta see what else is on the menu, we all know how that goes!!
Monday
Guess what I did? Go ahead, guess. NOTHING!! WOOHOO!! Well at least physically. I did manage to clean out the van in the morning. After that I spent until lunch going through emails of feedback and pictures, videos, etc, normal post-race chatterey stuff.
After lunch I spent all my time answering emails, messages, and texts about the results!! God damn!! Mike got on the horn after I sent him a few mistakes and I'm sure there were people that emailed him. Why is it always the results!!?? Anyways, the new results should be posted later today with all the corrections. Sorry, I knew I should've done it myself instead of hiring a guy. 🙄
Had almost 2 hours before I had to pick up the boys so I noodled on the 8-string, I may be starting to wrap my head around the fretboard on this thing. I'm starting to "see" all the scale and chord shapes hidden in that monster neck!! One of my old band mates has had an 8-string for a while so I'm gonna go over to his crib and rock out. He uses it to play Meshuggah stuff which isn't that complicated, fingering-wise anyway. And my old drummer wants to rock out as well so we may see where that leads. It could be the making of a math-metal-cookie-monster-band. The last project we were all in together I left because it was a bit too poppy for my taste and didn't allow for too much outside the formula...
Matt, (the guitar player next to me) continued on to form a "Halo-Gen(eration) part2" called Venus Vegas which are now a signed band with a video on MTV etc. They're not my style of music in any sense, but they fit the mold are doing well for themselves. He's one of my oldest friends and the 3 of us have been playing together since high school so at the very least, it will be a ton of fun😀
I have nothing else. Shred.
-Jim.
Looking at the schedule this year, I'd slot our not-yet-planned Craigmuir race as #4. I really disliked that 3 week silence between Westwood and the Halloween weekend. The MAC had Granogue but if you didn't want to travel to that, you had to wait 20 days between Westwood #2 and Beacon, or like me a full 3 weeks for HPCX because I didn't want to drive to Alabama. I was ready to quit training at that point because it was all pain and no race day fun.
The scoring was an issue by 8:00 am Saturday, when Ellen and Mike were talking and some entity that was supposed to be there, wasn't. As far as I could tell they had it all right on race day, but the translation from race day to posted results was a bit of a hiccup. I don't think the results were wrong, they just made mistaked in posting them to print.
The scoring was an issue by 8:00 am Saturday, when Ellen and Mike were talking and some entity that was supposed to be there, wasn't. As far as I could tell they had it all right on race day, but the translation from race day to posted results was a bit of a hiccup. I don't think the results were wrong, they just made mistaked in posting them to print.
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I would love the weekend before/after Beacon/HPCX...Think about all the guys that come out for HPCX...Maybe the guys that come out for that will stay in the area a little longer? Granogue is one of the events people will drive for, it's one of, if not the best event on the east coast. Guys will hit that and not do any other MAC race, like me for example. Gloucester is the same thing. Guys will travel for it and not hit any of the Verge races. Wouldn't attempt anything on those dates.
In the long haul I want this race to be more than an NJ Cup race, the potential is there. I've even worked out a start that will be UCI legal, if it's ever needed. Roger was talking about trying to get Westwood to be a UCI event also. Although that's technically in NY. The UCI'ness will draw people out and get some of the big fields into our area. Hopefully. I think it's a better solution than trying to re-work the NJ fields into different segments, which only takes the guys we already have and moves them around, not add more.
-Jim.
In the long haul I want this race to be more than an NJ Cup race, the potential is there. I've even worked out a start that will be UCI legal, if it's ever needed. Roger was talking about trying to get Westwood to be a UCI event also. Although that's technically in NY. The UCI'ness will draw people out and get some of the big fields into our area. Hopefully. I think it's a better solution than trying to re-work the NJ fields into different segments, which only takes the guys we already have and moves them around, not add more.
-Jim.
I wouldn't suggestion going up against them, just fill in the empty weekend. This year you had Granogue, empty, then Beacon/HPCX. I want to fill the empty weekend. Many people north of 78 are like me - going to Granogue and Beacon is a tough drive to justify. So you end up with 1 race in 3 weekends, even though there are 4 races offered. Next year I may trek to Granogue but something else falls off the plate, maybe 2 things fall off the plate.
Of course, whatever you need in terms of helping Horseshoe get where it needs to go, I'm there. I enjoyed helping out with the race and being it's only 5 miles to my house, it's a no-brainer. I emailed Mike to get the contact for the park so we can possibly start building some trails back there. I'd love to make some year-round dual-use cx/mtb trails. Granted some of that stuff is rocky, but it just means you need to work a bit more.
In thinking more, you probably have a good venue to keep the date where it is. This year's race was classic because of conditions. As much as I hated that long back stretch on Saturday, it was memorable. If you had done it 1 month earlier that B race average speed goes from 11 mph to 14.5, and you really don't have people talking about it as much. Add to that the exposure you get here, as well as the central location and now the reputation for it being a good course, and you probably start drawing more and more people. Can we build a bigger parking lot?
Of course, whatever you need in terms of helping Horseshoe get where it needs to go, I'm there. I enjoyed helping out with the race and being it's only 5 miles to my house, it's a no-brainer. I emailed Mike to get the contact for the park so we can possibly start building some trails back there. I'd love to make some year-round dual-use cx/mtb trails. Granted some of that stuff is rocky, but it just means you need to work a bit more.
In thinking more, you probably have a good venue to keep the date where it is. This year's race was classic because of conditions. As much as I hated that long back stretch on Saturday, it was memorable. If you had done it 1 month earlier that B race average speed goes from 11 mph to 14.5, and you really don't have people talking about it as much. Add to that the exposure you get here, as well as the central location and now the reputation for it being a good course, and you probably start drawing more and more people. Can we build a bigger parking lot?
RNG1
Well-Known Member
RE: Guitar stuff
The whole thing about the 8 string guitar reminded me of something Malcolm Young once said when they asked him why Angus played all the lead guitar in the band.
He said "playing lead guitar gets in the way of my drinking".
Or also related from that Amadeus movie "There's just too many notes"
The whole thing about the 8 string guitar reminded me of something Malcolm Young once said when they asked him why Angus played all the lead guitar in the band.
He said "playing lead guitar gets in the way of my drinking".
Or also related from that Amadeus movie "There's just too many notes"
Jim,
Thanks for putting my fork/headset together for me today. Here is my finished Jabberwocky. I'll try to get some better pics outside when the sun is out and post them to the "post your ride" thread. I can't wait to ride it. I think I'm gonna have to sneak out of work and run over to Lewis Morris for a quickie tomorrow afternoon.
-Jim
Thanks for putting my fork/headset together for me today. Here is my finished Jabberwocky. I'll try to get some better pics outside when the sun is out and post them to the "post your ride" thread. I can't wait to ride it. I think I'm gonna have to sneak out of work and run over to Lewis Morris for a quickie tomorrow afternoon.
-Jim
Attachments
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I've always been into the techy side of whatever I'm doing. Example, I'm a car fan, and I enjoy taking them apart to see how everything works, it's just how I roll. Same with bikes, I love to ride, but I love to work on them just as much. That part of my personality gets translated onto the guitar. I like scales and modes and seeing how that stuff all fits together. I'm one of the guys that knows 3 chords and 50,000 notes😀
-Jim.
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
So back to the other poop. I talked to both Rone and Mike for quite a bit today about stepping our CX race up for next year. We actually came out ahead after all is said and done and made a few bucks for the club. I'm going to begin the process of learning what I need to do to make this a UCI event. The official that was at our race is one of THE UCI guys in the US and has helped many a newbie promoter get the job done. He's had nothing but wonderful things to say about our event, which is remarkable if you consider the things he's been involved with.😱
I'm very glad that Rone came out on sunday and stood in the mud pit section to see what was going on, he got a good taste of the vibe and really enjoyed himself. Awesome.
And, the bike. Hey I rode today!! Sorta, I did trainer night at the shop. Mostly. I started before everyone else so I skipped the last set, not like I did any of the intervals with any heart. These things are really just a way for the team to get together and keep the vibe going throughout the winter. The guys did a great job during CX season. Here's a file, should be nothing special...On the video we did Robbie Ventura closes a gap on the road that takes nearly a minute, he holds 1,300 watts during that bridge, SICK!! I held like 120, it was awesome.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59118272
That is all ninjas.
-Jim.
I'm very glad that Rone came out on sunday and stood in the mud pit section to see what was going on, he got a good taste of the vibe and really enjoyed himself. Awesome.
And, the bike. Hey I rode today!! Sorta, I did trainer night at the shop. Mostly. I started before everyone else so I skipped the last set, not like I did any of the intervals with any heart. These things are really just a way for the team to get together and keep the vibe going throughout the winter. The guys did a great job during CX season. Here's a file, should be nothing special...On the video we did Robbie Ventura closes a gap on the road that takes nearly a minute, he holds 1,300 watts during that bridge, SICK!! I held like 120, it was awesome.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59118272
That is all ninjas.
-Jim.
ArmyOfNone
Well-Known Member
If the race was UCI would it still be a part of the cup?