Mooch Recap
Morning crew at the Mooch. Jake looked up a tree when I said look at me and smile. That boy ain't right. Dave Carson doesn't post pics of himself on his blog. As a psa Dave is the dude on the left in the Stewart t-shirt.
The day started with me getting to Mooch around 6:20 am. Since I would be racing I wanted to get there early to do my part in helping my team put on Mooch Madness. I worked the registration table with my team mate Robin, its fun to see everyone showing up and it takes my mind off the anxiety associated with racing. I did notice that my bro Spence never showed and grammar Glick was absent as well. Wonder what happened to them?
When it got closer to post time I split and Mandi and Pearl took over for me & Robin. I changed and did the short 15 min warm up for doing a 4 hr + enduro. At 9:00 Fred gave us the megaphone siren to go, the mass start was a mass start.
Fred is pretty, I'm no homo but if I were a homo I would think he is hot...am I allowed to say that? I must say he did a great job as MC Madness.
OK back to me racing. First 2 laps seemed easy to do in under 44 minutes. I was trying to pace myself and keep my HR from getting too high which would lead to cramping and fading toward the end of the race.
The 3rd lap I was with young sexy Rob climbing the hike a bike section at the 3 mile mark. On the descent we came upon a dude with some funky socks, he was wearing all black but his socks had every color of the rainbow and then some. He was going too slow so I lead the way to pass, he gave us the green light and we went around him. Soon after the pass I wiped out hard on a big slippery rock on the other side of ice cream. Some might know were this is, it you don't just enjoy the fact that I worked in the word ice cream into my recap.
I was stunned after the fall but instinctively hopped back on the bike and kept going. Colorful socks passed me and I lost touch with Rob. I kept it kinda conservative for the balance of the lap. After the wipe out it was tough to see through my muddy foggy glasses. I remember telling Norm to dry the rocks off when I saw him on that 3rd lap.
By the 4th lap I caught back up to Rob but was feeling just a bit fatigued. Rob told me he was hurting and faded, later he told me he got ill in the parking lot and decided to bag it. I pressed on and rode with Segundo for the rest of the race. He was on his SS riding platform pedals since he forgot his shoes. Every time I thought he was done on a hill he would rally and pass me. He ended up finishing a few minutes ahead of me, and won 2nd in SS open class...which I think is impressive.
Along the way I passed Rob Hayes on the 4th lap. Rob is in my class and we rode for awhile. I passed him on a climb but he is a good tech rider and great down hiller. I offered him the pass on the downhill but he said I was good. I managed not to hold Rob up and was able to stay out ahead of Rob as I looked for Dave Clapp. Oh and I passed colorful socks again and this time stayed upright to make it stick.
As the laps wore on I became slower, my 5th and 6th lap were 48 & 51 minutes. I had no chance of catching Clapp but wanted to get a 6th lap in just because and hell maybe catch Clapp cramping. I finished the 6th lap pretty much alone, I thought I was the only guy left on the course.
I ended up with 4th, behind Dave Clapp. Rob Hayes told me Terry Blanchet was a fast dude up front but I didn't know about Paul Wojciak, he registered day of and took 1st. Paul was one of the only 2 guys who managed to get in 7 laps, Monte was the other one.
45 + was a small class of 9 guys, but the cyclists that showed up were no light weights. I am happy with how I rode the tech stuff and enjoyed racing with Clapp & Hayes.
The Vibe
Listening to feedback from other races I hear alot of folks saying the race had a great vibe. If you were there you know what there talking about. For those who didn't make it to the race I think this picture sums up the vibe from yesterday.
Thanks for coming out yesterday to help create the vibe, even you first aid dude man.
