Jungle Recap

pooriggy

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Let the fun begin. I want to hear from Panhead and Mattyb!

Cat 2 40-44

A beautiful day to race today, I cruised to Jungle in about an hour and walked over to the pre-registration table and grabbed my number. Racing 2 wknds in a row removes some of the nervous feeling you get before a race. I did a warm up lap with Rob, Robson, and Steve336. Rob talked the whole time we where warming up and I just said yeah a lot. But I should give Rob some credit for getting Team Town Cycle to write out cat age group on our legs. Score Costanza.
At the line up there where 20 something guys in my field, we go off on time and unlike Blue there is no large hill to climb at the start. At the start of the single track on warthog I am sitting 7 or 8th wheel. We all stayed close until the climb up the otter slide, this is when we lost some racers and put a gap on the field. The strong riders who usually podium where in the lead, Kirt, Dave, Eric…I was on Eric’s wheel. This was becoming very similar to Blue last week, as I rode Eric’s wheel the whole 2nd lap of Blue and finished behind him. I should mention that some local riders where in this mix as well, guys from Team Town Cycle.
Towards the end of the first lap (animal chute) I was on Eric’s wheel and could see that he was working hard to clear the little climbs. I felt my fitness was strong enough to pass him but my tech ability to make a pass stick on animal chute was not my best move. I waited until we got to the fire road, which leads to the tunnel to put the hammer down. This worked and I was able to keep out of Eric’s sight and blew by the Team Town Cycle guys who where really sharp on the tech stuff.
At the beginning of the 2nd lap I came upon Dave on the twisty single track of warthog. I was happy to see this and stayed on his wheel, Dave is a regular on the podium. I did not entertain any idea of catching Kirt who was in the lead, he has mad skills. My goal was to try and get around Dave. My strong point is my climbing so my plan was to stay with him on the course and wait for a hill to make my move. We road together for the rest of the way and he did not crack on any hills and I could not make a strong move to get by him. I finished behind him.
I wasn’t sure how I finished at the line; Dave said he thought he was behind Kirt for 2nd. At the finish Kirt told me he battled for 1st with Sasha? which put Dave in 3rd and me in 4th or almost podium as I call it.
Well what can I say I finished 2 min. behind Kirt, which for me is good, at Blue he beat me by 6 min. I am happy with a 4th at a technical race, I came in 6th at Blue. I like how the H2H series is winding down, Blue than Jungle and in 2 weeks Ringwood. Racing at Blue and Jungle was a good experience to help me get better at the tech stuff.
Campmor and Team Town Cycle put on a great race. The leg marking was great and the results where posted quick and times where adjusted, none of this -12, -7, -19, crap. See everyone at Ringwood.
 
Cat2 15-18 3rd place.

Good race.
All the regulars showed up in my cat so it was pretty cool to not get beat by someone who only does 2 races a year. So everyone in my cat ended up where they were supposed to. I was 3rd off the line then was following one kid, then SCCRREEACHHH a bunch of us come to a stop and turn around. Wrong turn😡. So I turned around and sprinted to catch up with the 2 towncycle kids. My plan was to follow the slower one then pass towards the end. That didnt happen haha Jungle is there home turf and they know it well... too well.

So I knew I would end up in 3rd if everything went as normal. But of course they didnt. Chain poped off going down hill, So I just rolled down till I came to a stop to put it back on. So I went crazy trying to make up for lost time. Then the chain skipped and I smashed my knee into the stem.. VERY hard:cry: After that I couldnt seem to push as hard as I normally could. So by that time I knew 2nd was out of reach. I just tried to save the bike from breaking and hold onto 3rd. No sence in breaking the bike and ending up in last instead of 3rd. I came up with a plan to push till I reach someones wheel, Rest, pass, repeat. It was working for me and my knee was starting to go numb. I decided to try and give it some gas. Soon as I did so I found a zombie-Capers on the trail. Then a matching pissed-off-Pearl Not too far up the trail. By this time I felt good.. REAL good. So I gave it some more gas. POP!! My knee completely blew out, Thankfully I was very close to the end and rolled to the finish. Got 3rd I think my time was like 1:29 or something

After the race we had some peeps come over to the tent to eat some spicy hummus and guacamole. It took forever for them to post the results. But I didnt care since I was icing my knee.
 
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oh yeah i should add that I endo'd at the end of goat, I think i landed in a soft bed of poison ivy. capers saw it, I think i had my hands in the air like superman.
 
Tyler, two things;

1) That spicy hummus was freaking on point. If you can't finish it or want to give me the recipe, holler.
2) You are killing it.

Here is my recap from my thread:
Peezy Recap said:
Peezy Jungle Recap

I think I was the seventh car in the lot. Pre rode with Dustin and Tyler. I don't normally warm up that much but I felt good. We finish our warm up and are tooling around the upper lot. Dustin cracks a joke about my chain being loose. Didn't notice it until now. It can't be that bad.

Before I know it I am in the front of the starting line. Not sure how I ended up at the front, but whatever. It looks cool. I only recognized a couple of people this time around, which I didn't know would be a good thing or a bad thing. I try to focus with 15 seconds to go. Dudeman blows the horn and were off. I somehow miss my cleat and feel like an idiot, but it doesn't cost me anything.

My goal was to stick with Dustin as long as I could. I get in front of him and I would say we are the front of the second group. I'm cool with this. Follow Henry from Campmoor into this section and the beginning of the course is just up my alley. Smooth and flowy. I'm relaxed and feeling good. Dustin chats with me and says I'm keeping it steady and flowing good. Thats encouraging. I keep this for maybe 2 miles. All the sudden I have no pressure on my cranks. WTF. My chain is off.

Matty ends up passing me and asking if I was okay. This happened at Blue once (Which I thought was a fluke and didn't check it like an idiot) so I figured this was the one time. Cool. I catch back up to Matty and he lets me pass him as I try to hawk down Dustin up otter slide. I see him at the top of the hill but I never catch him, or see him again.

I come around for the end of the first lap and all I can think of is that took forever. I can't keep this crap up. I grab another fresh bottle from Mandi and head back in. Knowing it was a little smoother in the beginning gave my bones some time to rest.

-----
I can't remember all the details at this point, but here are some key points:
-Chain falls off another five times for a total of six.
- Me and Joaquin (I only know his name because someone yelled it) Battled for much of the race. He's a cool dude. Eventually I couldn't keep my damn chain on the bike so I fell way back.
- Some geared guy gets pissed that I got in his way on this tight single track. He doesn't give me any notice or tell me he wants to pass. I told him that he should have told me which way he wants to pass me. 45 seconds later he has a flat. Karma.
- My rear tire rubbed the WHOLE RACE. WTF? It's never rubbed before. I have to throw something smaller than a 2.2 on it and see what happens.
------

Not much else happens here, I get smoked by ChrisS and Kirt at one point who were on fire the whole way. Tyler eventually blows by me too. He is getting freaking fast.

Towards the last fire road towards AC, I come up on a SSer in a Team Town Cycle jersey. YES.

I fall in behind him and ride his wheel up the fire road. He asks if I want to pass and I say no. I'm totally spent at this point and knowing that Animal Chute isn't making it any better. As soon as I said No he tries to lay down the juice. This lasts for about 10 seconds and he peels off. I pass him right after the entrance to AC and give it all I got. It isn't much, but it was more than he had. I end up getting too tripped up and hike some of these sections. I hear geared bikes munching behind me and at this point I know that guy is toast. I climb to the top and see the Campmor ladies hanging out. I know I'm close and try my best to keep myself composed. I don't see the TTC guy and that means I made it stick. That never happens to me. I pass under the tunnel and pop some bottles. I spray Chris in the face with my water bottle. Boy was I happy that was over.

Me passing the guy kept me from DFL. Not much else I could have done better this time around, besides learn how to tighten up my EBB incase shit happens again.
Click to expand...
 
Almost podiumed too, 50+. 4th. Haven't raced since Kitt. Was like doing the 1st all over again but still a fun race. No big log jams like I expected. Great job by Town. Real good tight crew we have in the 50's. Going to miss the races.
 
Cat2 40-44

last week at Blue I started way back from in the field which might be fine for someone who can pass the whole everyone at will but that isn't me! today I was determined to get a good start and see what happens so I hammered right from the start and got the hole shot. It wasn't one of my better bike handling days but my engine was there so I was able to hold the lead for a lap and a half thru tons of stragglers and some very questionable lines through the rocks 'n trees. In the second half of the last lap, a fast dude in front of me dismounted to run up a climb, I bobbled and decided to run up too. that's when the cold sweats and cramps started to creep in! I held 'em off but a few minutes later Kurt sailed by and disappeared, he's like a bike ninja, fast and silent! I gave it a go to try to catch him but no love! 2nd place, my best finish yet in the H2H, I'm psyched. Town Cycle did an awesome job with the trails, timing, correcting timing and awards!
 
pooriggy said:
oh yeah i should add that I endo'd at the end of goat, I think i landed in a soft bed of poison ivy. capers saw it, I think i had my hands in the air like superman.
Click to expand...

I saw both of your crashes. I'm amazed at your ability to recover as quickly and efficiently as you do, promptly getting back into the game.
 
Tyler, Those kids posted the 1st and 2nd fastest times in Sport. You youngins are silly fast!
 
Hey Chris,

Did the lucky spot worked? How did you do?

Got a pic of the starting line (attached).
 

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Sure did!

Cat 2 35-39 1st place

Started the day rolling around saying hello to all the great peeps I've met along this season. Its amazing the friends I've made this year of serious racing.

Lined up front outside(see pic above) with 10 or so guys in my group. My plan was to hit it hard out of the gate to get to the ST first but not to hard. It was going to be a short race and I knew the course well and knew if I could keep a good pace on the flats I could kill it on the hills and tech.

So I sat 3rd into warthog and kept the leader in sight all the way up goat and made my pass off the trail at the top to take second. Hung on his wheel all the way to the twisty birches and when he popped off after the big rock tight birch turn, I made the pass. I tried to stay smooth down the rocky decents and navigate through the guys scattered on the course. I kept the hammer down through the rest of the first lap and never saw my classmates till the end.

Rode alone the rest of the race and felt strong throughout. Came up on Dan(Portland rider) who was second in his class and together we tried to hunt down the leader of his class. We reeled in the leader and I realized it was Jeremy (JShort) ! Shouted some encouragement to him and when Dan slipped on the Animal Shoot climb Jeremy drilled it and wasnt seen again. So it was fun watching their race unfold as I was all alone. Crossed the line at 1:18:30!!

This was the first race where I felt I could of done another lap without paramedics, which is nice because its time to move up.

Congrats to everybody who survived
 
Chris, you were killing it past me. You had the course dialed in for sure. Congrats.
 
cat 2 45-49 2nd

Same start as Blue, with Rob in the lead, followed by Jim, Todd, and I. Rob is looking good in that first section of singletrack and I'm not liking it. As we progress, it is obvious that Rob has bike issues. He slows down and the three of us pass. Jim has the lead going up the first switchback climb and he is gone! Todd and I ride together for a couple of miles, and being the good guy that he is, asks me if I want to pass. I take his offer and settle into second place knowing that I'm never going to catch up to Jim. I rode maybe a tad tentative at this point, just settling for my position and not wanting to crash. Yes, I got passed by the town cycle kids, but they were fast! A funny moment came at the end of lap two, at the trickiest tech section before you hit the final pavement. There is a about seven of us all bunched up. Guys were making noises like they had just been tasered, it made it very hard to concentrate.
 
I thought the course today was aweful. Way too many rocks ... although I didn't feel well today and now have a full blown cold. I guess if I felt better I would not have said the course sucked. Usually for me the more technical the course is the more I feel at home. I did like that huge 12 inch log in the middle of the paved road, was fun hitting it fast "Cyclocross style". Speaking of Cylcocross, it's now a brand new season. Cross will be the main focus now and I can't wait! I placed 2nd today to Kirsten Begg-Swider who is a fast Cat 3 Cross racer, I beat her at Windham and today she was very strong, I'll see her again during Cross. I'm sad to see Mountain bike racing end, but pumped to start Cyclocross. Next year I will only do a few select MTB races, thanks to Campmor for putting on another super series!

RC ... :getsome:
 
cat2 19-29

This was my best, most complete performance since moving up to cat2. I have struggled in races to give 100% from start to finish, and today I really think I tackled that mental block. In areas where I have been prone to dial it back (flats, fire roads, the tops of climbs) I was able to stay on it.

This is odd as my day started off with me feeling really flat. I like Jungle, but from the time I woke up until after I registered, I couldn't really seem to get into race mode. I did a light warmup with Dustin and Pearl then just kept circling around the parking lot until it was time to line up.

When I lined up, I started to get into it. I was really disappointed with my start at Blue, so I decided I was going to go out hard. The last couple of races I have started slow and inevitably I would get caught behind people that I shouldn't be getting stuck behind. The top guys in my class are fast, and they go out fast, so I wanted to stay with them for as long as I could hold on. It wasn't long, but it was enough to give me a solid start and it put me right where I wanted to be. As I fell of the pace leading up to the switchback climb, I was in 5th.

From there, I kept on it. Steady up the climb. Peddled hard through the top, past the tanks and into the technical downhill. At this point I was more engaged in the race than I think I have ever been. By that I mean I was closing gaps, passing people and just having a great time. I passed some of the single speeders, and before heading into the extended technical downhill, Jeremy passed me. I was glad it was a team member passing me and it was good to see he was out in front.

Shortly after, Kirt caught up to me. As he passed I let him know that he was the first 5 I have seen, to which he smugly replied "I Know". That gave me a laugh, just awesome. He said there was someone right behind him and I half joked that I would throw the block for him. To this someone behind me promptly replied "none of that blocking b.s." I told the dude to relax, I was just joking. He asked me to "let" him by which wasn't going to happen. I was able to keep Kirt in sight down to the road before Animal Chute, and the guy behind me never made any real effort pass. As some point I also passed one more guy from my class, putting me in 4th.

Animal Chute was a bit painful. Toward the top ChrisS comes by. He was riding fast and smooth. Coming through the Start/Finish I checked my watch and the lap was 43:xx, I was hurting a bit, and wondered If I may have pushed too hard. So I pushed harder. I figured if I was going to blow up, then I couldn't stop it at this point, so I'm just going to keep at it.

Much more of the same through the second lap. I focused on staying smooth and fast. The second lap seemed much easier. When I hit Animal Chute I knew I was still in 4th, so I told myself to just take it easy, stay smooth, and stay on my bike. I didn't want to lose any places at this point. As I was getting towards the end, it seemed like there was a train of people behind me. I slipped up and two guys passed me, but they weren't in my class. I pedaled hard through the finish finished in 1:28:34, in 4th place 😀

This is a victory for me as I took a good chunk out of the time gap between me and riders who have been consistently finishing ahead of me. It was great being in the mix, and only getting passed by the leaders of the classes behind me rather then tons of riders. This also really helped me throughout, because I was grabbing wheels here and there as opposed to most races where I just end up riding alone. I really feel like I learned a lot this race and I am looking forward to Ringwood.

Big thanks to team Town Cycle. I thought the course was awesome. Along with Blue these were probably my two favorite courses of the year. Enough climbing to keep you honest, and great tech, but tech that is well laid out and ridable.

Congrats to all the MTBNJ team riders and site members out there today, there were a ton of great performances.
 
Cat 3 40-49 2nd place

After pre-riding sat. morning I felt real good going into the race the only part I did not care for was the start or everything before warthog, I figured the fast guys would be gone so I knew I had to hammer down at the start if I had any chance of doing well, if I blew up so be it. We take off and my goal is to stay on Dave`s wheel (Mtnrider) but I can`t hang, best I can do is 4 th wheel and he is second wheel. Me and him have some very memorable moments racing and today I want to add another.We come out into the short paved section before warthog and I feel great to my amazement and can tell he is hurting a bit and I make the pass and now I`m third wheel, uncharted waters for me , I start ripping through warthog and top dog in my class who is second wheel is holding me up :hmmm: so either I`m on today or he`s not but he will not let me pass, I must of asked him 10 times. When we come out of warthog and get to that short steep climb its got a slow rider walking up so top dog gets off, so here we go first dismount and I run up and top dog is still walking into the entrance of otter slide climb and Dave is on my wheel so I yell at him to get on or get out of the way cause i`m coming and first place who is Segundo is pulling away.And when Segundo ( Pampa) goes he is GONE. He finally lets me go and I start ripping up otter slide but Dave is still close and near the top of the fence line climb he says on your right Willy and I cant believe it all that work for nothing and he passes me with percy now on my wheel. First thing I think of is what Steve 336 said to me , make a pass and make it stick., so much for that .I start going down that hairy section and I could see he( Dave ) is a little cautious so I put it in the big ring and pedal down and pass Dave on the left and start getting to my favorite part the trees.Steve336 will be proud of me now 🙂 I get through the first section with no problem and when we get to the rocky section where there is nothing but rocks I go over the bars. Not good bike lands on the derailler side but get up take off and no damage. At this point I realize that i`m still in second and podium is mine and no sooner that I think that I clip 2 trees but save it by grabbing them and remember reading Pixie`s post about only riding it at 85 % and back it down a notch or I`m going to screw up my first podium. As I get to the last paved section............Here comes Dave hauling so there go that thought and go back to 100 % into animal chute which felt like it took forever to get up and everytime I make a turn good ole Dave is 2 switchbacks behind and coming but today its my turn and keep grinding up and out and when I get to the tree which I always go over I turn around and see no one behind me and decide to be a WUSS and walk over it cause with my luck I`ll probably crash and break a coller bone or something and blow my first podium so its wuss time, get over it and stand and pedal the rest of the way to the finish! My first podium!!!!!!!!!!!! Second Place.
I would like to say Congratulations to Segundo ( Pampa) on his second victory And also congratulations to Dave Schwartz ( Mtnrider) on his third place and for pushing me like he did, we had some great races together and today did not disappoint.
Also thanks to Town Cycle for putting together a great race.Next up Ringwood then its up to Cat 2 were I`m sure I`ll be very humbled.
___________
Willy
 
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War and Peace with paragraphs

Today certainly didn't go as planned for me. After putting a slight tear in the sidewall of my rear tire on Wed while preriding JH, and not being able to locate another tire in time I decided to just go with a tube as I did manage another preride lap on it and it held up. I was pretty well rested coming into this race and after a solid warmup I felt that I had the right stuff today as you sometimes can tell.

So we are doing our usual joking at the start line which I always like and off we go. I jump out in front and notice I have an immediate gap and my heart rate was really comfy. I didn't really want a lead so quick as I like to pace myself around these other guys and I actually found myself looking back and sort of waiting so that I didn't push myself too hard like I did at Blue. We hit the single track and I am feeling good and nice and flowy until I grab some rear brake and there is none. The lever comes all the way to the bar and it's a houston we have a problem moment. I just can't comprehend what the hell happened as it was fine like seconds before. Jim jumps ahead much like Cantador screwed Schlek 🙂( juuuuust kidding 😉 and I am trying to assess the situation while not letting Jim get away and also realizing that Todd and Dave want to pass as he sees something is up.

I am trying to calculate do I keep going knowing that this could turn out really badly with no rear brake. I have a vision of going over the bars on one of those rocky sections and and awakened from that as I hear something clanging around on the back of my bike now forcing me to stop. I see that my entire rear brake caliper has come off and both bolts are gone. I am dumbfounded to say the least. I can't even ride the bike back to the lot as it looks like it can get caught in the wheel. I start running back to the start. According to my garmin it was about 1.5 mi into the course. I run like a lunatic and while doing so I have another vision or really a recalled memory of when I was about 7 years old and my oldest brother had this pos fiat or something and I remember him telling my parents that he had an accident and that he had been hearing these noises and he had been tightening these mud flaps on the car for weeks and then suddenly a wheel fell off. I recognize the similarity of worrying for a few days about the stupid tire only to have the brakes fall off. I wonder if he remembers this. Anyway....

Back at the start area I ask one of the officials if there is a mechanic around or if someone might have the two bolts. He suggests I find someone who just finished but for whatever reason the lot is pretty quiet. I see young Rob and he says we should go to Matty's truck. On the way over I pass Art White and he suggests that I just tie wrap it in a non functional way and get back out. I have that vision of going over the bars and say no thanks. He says that I am not supposed to get help from anyone however in my mind I am not thinking that I could possibly catch up to anyone and am also thinking that I am planning to restart the race all over again but I don't have time to explain all this after all this lost time. I am however in never quit mode so I head over to Matty's truck where young Rob and I steal the needed bolts off Patty's bike in the sun and after goofing with it a bit I get going and start the course over and I am now sweating like a bastard.

Once I get going I really get cooking and can say that this lap is probably some of the best tech riding I have ever done. I am fast and smooth and actually start thinking that maybe I could catch some people but there has been a lot of time lost. I pass a guy I know who had seen me go into the single track in the lead and now 15minutes later he sees me coming out of the start again and asks me what am I doing so yell a 2 second explanation as I go by. I am totally alone out there but everytime I pass spectators they think I am in the lead and are cheering and I feel like the guy that walks into a surprise party when the party is really for someone else.

I ride a really good lap and start the other and about the same spot where I had the issues earlier I see a rider. I reel him in and I can see he has a #6 on his leg (man what a genius idea that is to mark legs). He is going fairly slow but somehow that gives me a burst of encouragement. Around mid lap I see someone with a mechanical also with a #6 on his leg, ask if he is ok and keep going. I catch a few women riders and then catch up to Racerchick on the last single track section, through the tunnels and its over.

So hopefully this will be my dropped race for the series. I don't remember who was so kind to say at the last race that I was Mr. Consistant this year....but thanks a lot.

Most interesting now is that myself, Jim and Todd are all dead locked tied for first place in the series with Dave only 8 points behind. This will make Ringwood a pretty damn exciting race.....
 
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