IGVENTURE

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
So it begins, the start of another race season. These days I ease into racing, using the early races as spring training. We lost the Short Track series earlier this month due to weather for the 2nd year in a row, we'll get one in on Sunday but it's not the early season tune up that it once was and I'm ok with that. Honestly I prefer xc skiing for half of March over mtbing, especially when the weather is still cold and snowy.

The weather is now shifting toward warmer temps, making the focus to mtbing more of a reality. The Mayhem race on Saturday was a good start to the season, the weather was perfect and the course was a solid punch in the nutz. I've never raced this course, no one should drive 90 minutes to ride flat, twisty, sandy trails but racing on them against 23 other dudes was worth the drive. Disclaimer, I didn't win but this post is filled with anecdotal Ignitorisms and visuals and visuals which may offend some people.

On the line I chat with Victor S making and checking out whose here. I see Dave Kahl and talk with him, I notice Edwin Sanchez in our race, which surprises me because he usually does endurance and wins. Frank O is missing, but that's fine, we don't need another sandbagger in this class. Sharpshooter was supposed to race with the younger guys in front of us but I didn't see him, it's probably better he didn't show up, racing Cat 1 15+ for 26 miles as a first race ever...lol.

At some point I asked Victor @Superfly100guy where Roger
A is and he responds with, he's standing right next to you dummy. I have to admit, despite lining up with Roger at races frequently, I never recognize him. As I turn to the right, he's standing there in his Fincraft jersey and I strike up a conversation about xc skiing, as I know he is a fellow advocate. The race in front of us goes off and with less then a minute to go, I look right and see Roger whipped off the Fincraft kit and is wearing his xc national jersey, stars and stripes and all...i was just like
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The horn goes and we go, running 2:1(32/16) on my rigid SS is a bit of a grind from a dead stop but I spin it up and go into the single track 10th out of 23rd. The next 10 minutes of ST slows down, someone up front shouldn't be up front but I see Kahl is caught in the traffic as well, Roger and Edwin are gone but they're out of my league at this point. I use this slow down to rest and be ready for the jump when we get out to fire road. Boom, fire road, Dave jumps, I follow and we go around 4ish guys?

Me, Kahl and Victor chasing Roger and Edwin.
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Kahl keeps the hammer down as we enter ST and I can't hold his wheel, some guys bridge up behind me and keep me working hard to stay ahead of them. We battle back and forth for the remainder of the lap and come around the start finish and the clock says 36 minutes. At the time, I forgot that this is a running clock which starts when the pro class goes, then women pro's followed by 15+ then us. I'm like 36 MINUTES, I SUCK.

Going into lap 2 leaves me feeling disheartened at my time and the fact that I have to do 4 laps. I shake it off and race, trying not to think. One observation so far is how hard it is to pass some women on this course. The ST is tight, when I ask for a pass there was some awkward situations with the pro women class. I come up and say calmly, can i get around you?...and I get no response. So, I'm like did they not here me? are they ignoring me? Probably a little of both, since all of the 15+ guys passed them and now the 45+guys are coming through and there getting annoyed by the traffic. Some women responded when I asked to pass with ok, hold on, there is a fire road 3 minutes ahead or a women would say ok go, without moving over an inch...lol. I want to pass but I don't want to make contact. This is a difficult situation but a part of racing. If someone in front of you doesn't move and displays poor racing etiquette, don't be an asshole and force a pass. We're not racing for paychecks, if you get on the podium, all you get are some likes on FB and IG.

Finishing out lap 2 spectors cheered us on and I heard people rooting for Carl, a 45+ guy I couldn't shake. The start of lap 3 is uneventful, Carl and I slog along silently in our pain cave. Things perked up when we came upon Victor, which surprised me. Apparently someone T-boned him when he took a wide line in the ST and knocked him off his bike, he was ok but lost some time.

Me with Carl chasing.
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It was mentally refreshing to ride with Victor and talk, it distracted me enough and I felt encouraged when he said we're sitting 4th and 5th, I literally had no idea where I was, Vic reminded me I was in south Jersey at a mtb race and Kahl, Roger and Edwin where ahead of us...ok got it, race bikes.

Victor, myself, Justin(teammate racing younger class, kicking ass in 1st cat 1 race) and Carl finished out the 3rd lap and headed into the 4th together. I liked the first half of the course the best, it was more flowee ST, so I lead for most of this section. When we came to the fire road Justin clicked gears with Victor and threw down some power. There is a distinct whirling sound from centripetal force that carbon bikes/wheels make when this much torque is applied, I heard this noise and desperately hung onto there wheels, spinning my 32×16.

Jumping back into ST I didn't realize how exhausted that effort made me until I clipped a tree with my bars. The aftermath was me trying not to kill myself as inertia threw me in directions I didn't want to go in. Luckily I was able to land on my feet without killing myself but I lost sight of Victor and Justin, and as I was standing there collecting myself Carl rolled by me. At this point the exhaustion of the race set in, my quads where screaming while I felt delirious but I remounted in the hopes of latching back onto my group.

When I caught sight of Carl, it motivated me to bridge up and pass him. Surprisingly he was happy to see me and let me pass him. What was strange was the fact that I could catch him but not lose him, he told me later he was gassed. Carl hung on my wheel to close out the lap, while Victor and Justin where out of sight. In the final yards to the finish I thought Carl would whip around me with his gears and take me at the line but alas he did not contest a sprint.

Me and Carl finishing up the race. Does anyone know if he posts here, username?
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Iggy 5th place finish, 2:09:57
Carl 6th place finish, 2:09: 58

Thank you for pushing me Carl.
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
sounds like you had a good race @pooriggy, the kicker for me was this course reflected pretty closely the kind of riding iv been doing at lunch pretty much all winter long, and i was all packed up (even on my way to sleep early) and ready to suffer when the shit hit the fan :( .

o well, good job and see you at ringwood!
 

Mitch

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
'Fatigue makes cowards of us all.'

Nice write up Igniter. and nice racin. Do you think you had the right gear? Heard it was a bit more twisty then usual.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
disappointing. i was not offended once. :)
got close tho.

Way to mix it up on the SS! well done.
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
Nice recap. 32/16 for that distance, on that race course, would definitely need fitness. Nobody makes the drive there to J.R.A. It's closed to outsiders on mtbs the other 364 days.
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
That's Carl Reglar. I know his name because he's usually a pretty high finisher in the MAC 45+ cx races, but he's no joke on the mtb either.
It seems like anyone that's a serious contender in mtb racing has some involvement in cx. I dabbled last year in a few cx races and while I'm not boss about cx, it is fun on some level. The competition at races is hard to top.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The ST is tight, when I ask for a pass there was some awkward situations with the pro women class. I come up and say calmly, can i get around you?...and I get no response. So, I'm like did they not here me? are they ignoring me? Probably a little of both, since all of the 15+ guys passed them and now the 45+guys are coming through and there getting annoyed by the traffic.

I had a similar problem. When I came up on the pro women, @BrianGT3 was just starting to gap me and I was trying to hold on. He had a nice easy spot to pass them but when I came up it was sketchy. So I waited. When the opportunity to pass presented itself I blasted by. I said on your left and most heard me. The leader didn't and said something like "call it out dude". Then I heard another say "he did". And I'm sure there was another response but I didn't hear.
This was 2/3 of the way through the first lap.
I'm not complaining. I really didn't think about it until I read your post.

But I'm curious how the 45+ leader called his pass because he came up on me yelling to get out of the way. To which I replied, calm the fuck down, pass me when there's space. And when there was I made it easy.

Some people have no etiquette no matter how long they've been racing.
 

taylor185

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
nice recap. I'm thoroughly amazed how you, @BrianGT3 and @jShort can recall so much from your races. I sanity checked my recap for the team blog against strava Flybys and was easily 70% wrong on the initial draft. Those races-- cx included-- are just a complete fog.

Thanks for the wheel. It was a life saver as I was mentally cracked after losing Jeremy's wheel on lap 1.

Truthfully, this was my 2nd or 3rd Cat 1/2 race. Last year, I was blown off the back from the start and probably looked like an outta shape endurance rider when you passed me.
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm curious how the 45+ leader called his pass because he came up on me yelling to get out of the way. To which I replied, calm the fuck down, pass me when there's space. And when there was I made it easy.

This is always a tough situation. By the time I caught up to the women's class I got the sense that they where pissed after dealing with guys passing them. Again, this is all a part of racing, what should not be in racing is yelling, negative energy should not be brought into the tournament. :)
 

RNG1

Well-Known Member
I agree that negative energy has no place in racing. That said sometimes it’s fun to just yell random things like VIENERSHNITLE!! In a race. Laughter is a great calmer of nerves in racing and life in general. If people look at you weird you can just say sorry I have teretz.
 

rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Dear @pooriggy,

Why do you fight technology so? I get the rigid single speed for weight and ease of maintenance, that makes sense in some way. But how did you fall into the @Mitch vortex with your selfies?
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Things were so good for so long...What happened? Was it a recent update that reset your settings? Or was this by choice? I ask of you, nay I beg, please adjust your settings so that my brain doesn't have to work extra hard reading everything...BTW, where can I find Sretlah cycles?

XOXO

Your secret admirer :)
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
how did you fall into the @Mitch vortex with your selfies?
Interesting that you should bring this topic up. While I generally shun pop culture and the banal selfie, sometimes it's useful for documentary purposes. I try not to be too repetitive with the selfie, nothing irks me more then the over and over and over and over mentality found in life and the vapidness of it all.

Stereotypical people really annoy me as well, some could argue that I'm a stereotype, (wife, 2 kids, house, career...well a job, I work on a fucking golf course), but I conform somewhat so that I can infiltrate the masses and do my best to introduce counter culture ideas and promote individuality.

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What is difficult in all this is trying not to walk around angry, like Bill Murray in Ground Hogs Day. I'm working on accepting people and not reacting to those who post the same selfie every other day, say the same stupid shit and live such a predictable life.

I think I'm attracted to people like Woody and Paul because I find them odd at times, I can't explain their behavior...and I'm ok with that. They pretty much don't follow social media, live somewhat unconventional lives and are the opposite of a stereotype. I find this all refreshing and enjoy there company.

Finally, I read this quote from W Whitman the other day, I don't pretend to be a literary scholar, I basically read billboards, but this stopped me in my tracks.
Seeking my own truth and living honestly is important to me.

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
 

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."
:hugs:
 
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