Something Wicked presents... 6 Hours Of Cathedral Pines

nice write up james.

I'd just like to echo everyone else's thoughts on the race. wow what a great job everyone did.the promoters, scoring , track crew,and everyone else involved.

Having little time to train and being my first endurance event my goal was just to finish the 60 miles. Boy was I for a journey never expected! The mass start turned into a nice pace lap. probadly about 20 riders in our group nice easy pace. kept thinking to myself slow and easy here. Passed my wife at the road crossing, big thumbs up. It was her first mt bike race shes attended.

2nd lap things open up. track is really starting to dry out I turn my fastest lap of the day.

3rd and 4th lap still feeling good stop for some food and water. track conditions are getting better every lap. ride a nice pace with a women rider.

5th lap is grueling, almost coming to a stop at some sections legs are on the verge of cramping up. stop again at the road crossing for some food and drink. by the time i get back to the start/finish line I find I can spin again amazing! game on lets finish strong.

6th lap was just and blur and couldnt beleive i actually made it to this point . Ive never felt anything like it before in any of the other sports ive competed in and there have been alot!

Cross finish line with final time of 6.12:41 and end up 5th overall for cat3 40-49. holy crap!!

4 months ago I starting riding bikes. bearly making a 3 mile road loop around the house. Saturday I finished a 60 mile event.

lap 1 63 mins
lap 2 59 mins
lap 3 61 mins
lap 4 61 mins
lap 5 66 mins
lap 6 62 mins
 
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that was an interesting race....

the course was cool, very flowing and smooth. NOT much room for passing though..it made for a really frustrating first lap.

I didnt like the mass start. I think they should have broken up the start by a few mins. with SS starting second in the group, with all that straight road ahead, it made for an annoying 1/4 mile of cat 2 racers trying to elbow their way through. one guy almost took out myself and another rider by trying to squeeze inbetween us..thankfully he only took himself out. once we hit the singletrack it was like a group ride. Your pace was set by the slowest person in front of you. no room for passing unless someone made a mistake and fell.

once we cleared the ST and rounded lap 2, things spread out more, and people were realizing that if you had someone behind you on your tail, you should let them by...the race went much smoother from then on.

i got my 6 laps in 6:03...damn...if i was only a teeensy bit faster....if only...

i also learned the value of chamois butter :cry:
 
james said:
What a great race and a great venue for an endurance race! The layout was just about perfect- just enough fire road to down a water bottle and eat some food on the bike before diving back into the singletrack. And what singletrack: Smooth, flowing, tight and endless turns, linked one after the other for miles.

The mass start was pretty interesting, the whole first lap was like a huge fast paced group ride. It was pretty hectic and you definitely had to be on point to pass people. Once I got a good space around me on lap 2 I really put the hammer down and managed to bang out a 41 minute lap. I throttled back a lot for lap 3 and tried to maintain a steady pace while saving myself for the remainder. Lap 4 was 3 minutes slower than lap 3 and lap 5 was 3 minutes slower than that- I was losing ground steadily at this point and fighting the occasional leg cramp.

Lap 6 was the blow-up point. I was barely pedaling for the whole lap, really just concentrating on getting back to the start/finish and seriously contemplating throwing in the towel. My knee had overtaken the occasional cramps as the main focal point of pain. It was also the tipping point timewise, taking over an hour to complete. Once I made it to the feed zone I popped 3 advil and downed a bunch of goo.

I then noticed Dan Sirota pedaling through the start/finish area. I knew I was in 1st place at this time but the 2nd place rider had just caught up to me! I got back on my bike and we cruised around the fireroad together, talking about how neither one of us had wanted to push hard on the last lap but now there was no choice.

Once we ducked into the singletrack I decided to make my move and put the hammer down. Either I could drop him or I couldn't but I decided to find out right at the beginning of that last lap. Dan hung with me for quite a bit but then I noticed a gap opening and then getting wider and wider. I caught up to a duo rider who picked up his pace quickly and we both started whipping through the corners, each one encouraging the other to go faster and faster.

Pretty soon Dan was only visible for brief moments when the trail looped on itself and then finally he wasn't visible at all. At this point I thought I had it in the bag. I hoped I had broken Dan and the next time I would see him I would be waiting at the finish line! It was not to be though. At first I wasn't sure but then I knew: Those glimpses of red out of the corner of my eye were Dan and he was getting closer every time I saw him.

We were past the road crossing at this point and less than 2 miles to the finish. I passed the duo rider I had been trailing and suddenly Dan was right on top of me. We hit the last fast section and again I put the hammer down, or at least what hammer I had left at that point. Whatever I did seemed to work, the slightest of gaps appeared again between Dan and I as we shot up the last little incline and out onto the fireroad.

At this point it was all I could do to force myself to kick up a gear and then another and another. I had a bit of a lead but he was closing in on me. I put my head down and did my best to stay out in front, diving dangerously into the loose gravel and sliding across the finish line, 1st place by 2 seconds!

To end that race with a sprint to the finish, after 70 miles in the saddle and to do it with a friend, well that's just icing on the cake. It's epic. And epic is exactly what I was looking for on Saturday. That whole last lap was a blur, my pain was gone, my fatigue forgotten about. It stopped being a trial to endure and turned back into a race that got my adrenaline flowing and put a smile on my face. The lap times tell the story, that 7th lap was the second fastest lap I turned all day and at the fringe, on the ragged end of my first endurance race I once again discovered why we beat ourselves up out there. It's bloody good fun! 🙂

lap 1 56.44
lap 2 41.01
lap 3 53.09
lap 4 56.33
lap 5 59.34
lap 6 64.03
lap 7 52.43

Total foodstuff consumed:
8 bottles of cytomax
6 Energy Gels
2 granola bars
2 fruit leather bars
1 banana
3 advil

1 pee break, somewhere out there on lap 5 (or was it 6?)

Chances I'll do this again next year: 100%
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Brilliant write up! I have been looking for someone to post up their race within the race. I LOVE reading these. We were honored to host you guys. Thanks for coming.
The 3 of us who make up Something Wicked have never run a race before. This was our guinea pig and we will make changes in the future. We do need feedback from the racers, both good and bad to improve things.
The mass start was not the initial plan. We ran a USAC event and were informed the morning of by the official that it had to be a mass start unless we were going to end the race beyond the 6 hourt mark. Our paper and pencil method would have made this almost impossible. I feel it was more important to get results accurate and quickly.
Just to be clear, we are not doing this to make a profit. We are mountain bike racers who want to challenge our brethren. Every cent brought in was and will be turned back into this event and the following ones. Our goal is to provide racers with an event in the vein of the Dark Horse 40 and help revive grassroots mountain bike racing.
We loved having you guys come see our trail (there are many more on LI too). Just be sure not to tell Santa you did Something Wicked.
 
EABODS said:
I pissed myself on the last lap, it ran down my leg and pooled into my sidi winter shoes. It was the only way I could hold off Nathan Kraxberger. I'm not sure how I feel about it today....
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Yikes. But why are you directing that info to me😕
 
Fun event, fun planning ,and fun reading the different accounts. I did 4 laps. The organizers did a great job with it, the racers and spectators were great as well. I cannot imagine happening on nicer weather in late November. That part was a real crapshoot and we lucked out.

I did not set any speed records , but I am still grateful to be able to get out there on a course like that. I was happy to be able to stay on my bike 100% which i can never seem to do in NJ. Although this was not a technical course at all, those who have ridden with me know I can be very skittish about even small obstacles so being able to stay on my bike was huge for me. Thank you to all who have ridden with me and encouraged me.

Heidi
 
EABODS said:
I pissed myself on the last lap, it ran down my leg and pooled into my sidi winter shoes. It was the only way I could hold off Nathan Kraxberger. I'm not sure how I feel about it today....
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I know how I feel about it, and I'm not even you🙂
Strong finish though!

James, I can't believe it came down to sprint after more than six hours of racing! That's brutal. Congrats on the win.
 
Havoc said:
Brilliant write up! I have been looking for someone to post up their race within the race. I LOVE reading these. We were honored to host you guys. Thanks for coming.
The 3 of us who make up Something Wicked have never run a race before. This was our guinea pig and we will make changes in the future. We do need feedback from the racers, both good and bad to improve things.
The mass start was not the initial plan. We ran a USAC event and were informed the morning of by the official that it had to be a mass start unless we were going to end the race beyond the 6 hourt mark. Our paper and pencil method would have made this almost impossible. I feel it was more important to get results accurate and quickly.
Just to be clear, we are not doing this to make a profit. We are mountain bike racers who want to challenge our brethren. Every cent brought in was and will be turned back into this event and the following ones. Our goal is to provide racers with an event in the vein of the Dark Horse 40 and help revive grassroots mountain bike racing.
We loved having you guys come see our trail (there are many more on LI too). Just be sure not to tell Santa you did Something Wicked.
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The mass start was fine, in my opinion. Most people set a good pace through the singletrack and start-of-race congestion is part of the sport. Keep in mind that those who want to be out front will get out front, for the most part. The singletrack supported passing admirably I thought, with open areas to either side of the singletrack. I know I dodged to the left or right of the trail for passing more than once. In the beginning I think it is more up to the rider who wants to pass to make it happen. Later in the event, when it is clear who is trying to win or place and who is just trying to finish it becomes more of the responsibility of the slow rider to get out of the way.

Some things I noticed:
The feed zone seemed to work well.
Timing seemed to run smoothly.
Laminated number plates were a nice touch.
Registration seemed to run smoothly.
Parking was not a problem.
People, as always, were very nice.

It would have been nice to have advance notice of the rules change regarding repair and service of bikes, I would have brought a spare bike or at least some spare parts. Maybe there was and I just missed it. For a first event I'd say a BIG thumbs up to you and your crew. I've seen sloppier organization at decades old events.

After the race I was fed by the Boy Scouts. That was *most* appreciated. The Scoutmaster told me they always have leftover food so a number of us racers lucked out with that. He half-jokingly suggested teaming up with the organizers for next year- the scouts bring the food and we get fed. Great opportunity for all if it could work out- A monetary donation or some form of compensation for the local Scout Troops, and of course, hot food for us 🙂

Personally I am going to find out which Scout Troop it was and mail them a donation. At the time that food was worth it's weight in gold!
 
Hey James, Dan here. Instead of telling my buddies about the race, I just have them read your write up it was so well written. Classic finish. I keep laughing at the fact that only we knew what was at stake, and anyone watching was probably like who are these idiots sprinting after 6 hours.

Seeing you at the beginning of Lap 7, I thought for sure you were a lap a head of me. Then when you told me what lap you were on and what places you thought we were in; I was thinking how am I going to hold on to his wheel. Well after a mile and a half, I couldn't hang on, but tried to keep the pace up. When I saw you again in the final 2 miles, I came too far not to give whatever was left. When we hit the fire road I kept spinning those pedals as fast as I could, but could not close the gap. That finish made the race. It's going to be tough to top.

You brought a lap time out of me that I thought was impossible heading into that last lap. It just shows that we have a lot more in the tank then we think. Thanks for a great race.

And Thanks Again to the Wicked Crew for putting on a top notch event. Hard to believe this was the first event for you guys. Great Times!
 
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james said:
It would have been nice to have advance notice of the rules change regarding repair and service of bikes, I would have brought a spare bike or at least some spare parts. Maybe there was and I just missed it.
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I'm sure the guys will convey that better next year now that they have a deeper understanding of USAC rules regarding material assistance. There were a lot of folks at the race not familiar with USAC rules who were expecting to be able to pit (like they can at any non-USAC endurance race), so it was a trade-off between frustrating those folks and upsetting those few who actually understand USAC's rules.

Of course, the USAC MTB board voted the weekend before last to change the rules for material assistance in endurance racing, so everything will change for 2010! 😉
 
This was my first race. First lap and first time up that steep climb,right over the bars and busted my unmentionables. I guess it was lap #2 and crashed again,this time going about 20mph, left knee bloody&swollen(later infected)face thru a stickerbush leaving about 7 big scratches on right cheek of face. Both crashes leaving nice bruises on abdomen. Battered and beaten I managed to complete 6 laps,but I couldn't even bend over and touch my knees when it was all over.Quit smoking 2 years ago,but on the way home I coughed and hacked for about 2 hours straight. Man that was great! Can't wait to try some more racing(I use that term loosely)next year!
 
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