Something Wicked presents... 6 Hours Of Cathedral Pines
- Thread starter Havoc
- Start date
jontotman
New Member
+1 I just signed up for SS cat.
Havoc
New Member
IMPORTANT !!! Registration/Packet pick up officially starts at 7:00am. We will be at the park at 5:00am. It is in your best interest to arrive as early as possible to get the most ideal parking. If you are there before 7:00am we can also get you through registration before 7:00am too.
Havoc
New Member
The start will be mass. Obviously, Cat 1 and stronger racers will want to be in the front of the pack. The first 1/2 of the course is a dirt road. There will be room o' plenty to string out before the singletrack. In my experience, most multi lap races don't begin with sprints. Good luck to all!
DanBrodeen
Well-Known Member
1/2 the course is a dirt road? 5 miles of road? Can we at least call it a fire road?
Panhead
Well-Known Member
What happened to the 10 miles of fast, tight,twisty, hard packed single track?
http://www.somethingwickedevents.com/
VelocityBoy
"Sleeveless Joe"
mountainfreak
New Member
I think he meant to write "first 1/2 mile of the course"..... I hope.
DanBrodeen
Well-Known Member
Let's hope so!
thedoner
Member
Thanks...I figured as much. That would have been a very dirty trick! Can't wait for this race!
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DanBrodeen
Well-Known Member
Had an awesome time today racing! I've never made so many turns in my life!
It was a great way to end my race season. It was also a personal best for me. My longest ride ever was 51 miles on my road bike, I did 60 today!
It was a great way to end my race season. It was also a personal best for me. My longest ride ever was 51 miles on my road bike, I did 60 today!
Panhead
Well-Known Member
That race was great! Too bad I wasn't in race shape, cramps started after 15 miles, got the first 3 laps in about 2:45, had to take a break to stretch the legs. Went out and turned another 2 laps. TJ Walker is an ANIMAL, he dusted by me on my 5th lap, he was on his 7th sprinting up a switchback hill. Saw a few folks from the board, The Doner, Rutli and Velocity Boy. Already on my calender for next year.
6thElement
Member
I had a great day, questioned my sanity a couple of times as I normally do on these long races 😀
Managed to get into the singletrack in an okay position after the start, but got stuck behind a slow geared rider. By the time I got past the lead of the field was gone and out of site. Did a quick couple of laps to get some space then settled into a more comfortable speed. Messed up the start of my 5th lap, after almost getting knocked off my bike going through the start area I missed my pit area aiming at the wrong tent. Did that lap with only half a bottle. Pace slowed a little on the 6th lap, then I should have stopped in the pit to put some air in my rear tyre before starting the 7th. But not knowing how much time I'd got over the person behind me I carried on, nursing the rear where possible.
I think I was 7th overall in open SS, with a time which was fast enough to take the win in Cat 2 for my age group if I'd have entered that category instead of open. C'est la vie.
Managed to get into the singletrack in an okay position after the start, but got stuck behind a slow geared rider. By the time I got past the lead of the field was gone and out of site. Did a quick couple of laps to get some space then settled into a more comfortable speed. Messed up the start of my 5th lap, after almost getting knocked off my bike going through the start area I missed my pit area aiming at the wrong tent. Did that lap with only half a bottle. Pace slowed a little on the 6th lap, then I should have stopped in the pit to put some air in my rear tyre before starting the 7th. But not knowing how much time I'd got over the person behind me I carried on, nursing the rear where possible.
I think I was 7th overall in open SS, with a time which was fast enough to take the win in Cat 2 for my age group if I'd have entered that category instead of open. C'est la vie.
Havoc
New Member
james
New Member
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%
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%
