Taconic 909 post race write up

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
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Well well well. For how I felt I had a good race today. It was slick and my times were slower than last year thanks to the conditions. I love this course but today it was very technical and my competition Kevin Kurie got his first win, I got second and my buddy Tony (@Riggedfmx ) got third in his second h2h race. The last race I felt way off but this week I took it sorta easy...kinda. I felt good about going into this race but once I started a short preride I got that "fluttery/lightheaded" feeling. I hydrated and ate well but felt off. Anyways, I lined up and it was off....I took the holeshot and pulled a pretty big gap bit @Riggedfmx was in tow and the others fell behind. I started feeling better and created a little gap. Then came the first tough tech climb(the big rocky one) and I unclipped because I had no legs. I heard Kevin behind me and he unclipped yoo but quickly remounted. I walked that hill to the top trying to let legs recover. I think I have just overtrained a bit. I did recover and made the first part of the crazy rock/tech section where the dudes yelling. Soon after I felt good and tried to do the simple log over but hit in the perfectly wrong spot, endod and went head first with my feet over my head into a tree. Garmin fell off so I wasted about 30sec recovering from that. In the end I unclipped way more than I have at any other race, walked way more hills, and just didn't have a W in me today. I tried realing kevin in and only 2 or 3 gear guys went by but kevin road great(top15 overall lap time today on an ss). Hopefully 3 wins and 2 2nds will be enough with the two drop rounds for the championship. This will be a little to no ride week leading up to stew45 and w101. The course was great, flowy, fun and tech but it was tough, many a white knuckle moments today. Hopefully it's back next year. Side note: If I survive w101 the goal is to race mt creek for fun the next day . On to the next one...
 
Nice work! It was hard to keep it upright out there. Anyone that rode most of that and kept it upright deserves a pat on the back.

The trails were slick as hell at 8 when the endurance race started. It started to dry up and of course at 10:30 or so it downpoured and made everything a river and greasy and slick as hell. I was happy to get 5 laps in and not end up on the ground. I may have even beat someone out there.
 
xc62701 said:
I may have even beat someone out there.
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You beat me, but at least I held you off from lapping me 😛

Since I had no knowledge of the course or trails there, I figured I would use my first lap as a gauge. First lap was just over an hour, so I figured I could either press hard for three laps to try and finish in time for a fifth, or take it easy and just cruise out four. My legs were sore and the conditions were pretty bad, so I did the latter. I almost ate shit pretty hard on a slippery rock on the endurance bonus mile which helped make my decision easy. This race capped off my biggest week ever, and I felt pretty good afterward all things considered. I managed to not crash, but I was close a few times.

This was my first time riding here, and the trails were pretty fun. It's not worth a 1.5 hour drive for me in general, but if there is an endurance option here again next year, then I'll be back.
 
@David Taylor - That place got me good two years ago. It rained all night, the family and I stayed in hotel the night before and I woke up and killed the automatic pancake maker. My nerves were shot and I probably burned an entire races worth of calories just being anxious.

The conditions were slick, my stem and tire setup were all wrong and I paid the price for it. I ate shit so hard on a fast flowy downhill, I am luck I didn't break a bunch of shit. I came out pretty banged up from that one. Usually I don't go back to places like that after I hit the deck that hard. Kinda like Jungle, the two times I've raced there, I fell and smacked my head. Call me crazy but sometimes, I believe that you just need to stay away from certain races cause they are out to get you. Jungle and Taconic are jinx'd races for me. Bulldog is my mechanical race. Both times had either a tire or chain issue which ef'd my race.

ANYWAY!!!! Good job on dealing with the issues and still finding a spot on the box! One more step closer to that goal!
 
JimN said:
You beat me, but at least I held you off from lapping me 😛

Since I had no knowledge of the course or trails there, I figured I would use my first lap as a gauge. First lap was just over an hour, so I figured I could either press hard for three laps to try and finish in time for a fifth, or take it easy and just cruise out four. My legs were sore and the conditions were pretty bad, so I did the latter. I almost ate shit pretty hard on a slippery rock on the endurance bonus mile which helped make my decision easy. This race capped off my biggest week ever, and I felt pretty good afterward all things considered. I managed to not crash, but I was close a few times.

This was my first time riding here, and the trails were pretty fun. It's not worth a 1.5 hour drive for me in general, but if there is an endurance option here again next year, then I'll be back.
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I sort of remember riding there in a non race setting and there were a ton of trails in there better than the race course. This was Koc3 days so what I remember may not be totally valid. I'd like to go check it out again sometime though.
 
soundz said:
I sort of remember riding there in a non race setting and there were a ton of trails in there better than the race course. This was Koc3 days so what I remember may not be totally valid. I'd like to go check it out again sometime though.
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Yeah I don't mean to sound like the trails there aren't fun. I just don't think it's worth a 1.5 hour drive for me. I'm rarely willing to even drive the 45 minutes to Waway, and that place is amazing!
 
back in the day these recap threads were always fire, now they are meh, does anyone race anymore?
 
The course was the same as last year, mostly. Easy twistys at start, climbing in middle, tech twisty rocky rooty punchy climbs at end. The rain made the tech stuff at end of lap really tricky. Last year it was a lot easier to ride Timbuk2 with flow, this year not so much.

I held onto Ken Welch's wheel for most of the 1st lap but then I couldn't. Some dude passed me in.my class who I did not know was in my class. Now I know who Terry Blanchett is. Was happy to get 3rd non the less on the hardest course to race this year.
 
Good for Kevin too...great rider, great guy...we used to have some awesome battles back in my cat 2 days. Glad to see hes having a good year.
 
pearl said:
back in the day these recap threads were always fire, now they are meh, does anyone race anymore?
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Sadly recaps are a thing of the past. With FB and Instagram, posting the pic is the preferred choice of communication through social media these days.
Norm should start racing Cat 2 and recapping his race. That may get the recap thread going again.
 
Big kudos to everyone that raced yesterday! I heard many good things about that place and this race in particular, so I was really looking forward to giving this one a whirl. For me (cat 3, does more waving and smiling than racing, see picture), this felt like the most challenging cat 3 course in the series this year so far. It definitely seemed like the conditions helped with that, but I think it still would have been a good buttkicker for me even if dry. It's a course full of fun surprises, and even more so if you've never been there and have no idea what to expect! If it was a race for picking worst lines and most times off the bike, then I certainly would've taken the cake on that one. As I was making my way through my one lap, it felt more like a pre-ride lap rather than a race lap, so I almost wanted the chance to go another round and try harder. Almost. 🙂 I'm wondering though, what's the trick to getting through that split V rock thing closer towards the end of the course?

My hat's off to all the racers, and endurance racers for sure, and of course anyone who had a hand in putting the race on!

It seems like a really fun place, and a great place to really practice some skills with the variety that's there. I'm looking forward to heading back there another time during drier days and riding with @axcxnj
 
ajcourain said:
I'm wondering though, what's the trick to getting through that split V rock thing closer towards the end of the course?
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Get up some speed to maintain momentum then stop pedaling and coast through. I think I kept my pedals in a 6-12 position going between rocks.
 
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