Thursday, May 22, 2008

TNT - Rayburn

Tuesday Night was the first of our 3 stops at Rayburn for the Time-Trial series. I love Rayburn, its got super tight singletrack with some punchy hills and some fun technical challenges. This is the type of course that you need to finesse. As I said before the start of the race its ‘how fast can you ride slow’ because all the tight switchbacks, you have to limit your speed here. I was expecting the results to be pretty close, but I did pretty good and won by almost 2 minutes.

Here are the results:
1. Adam: 5:48 6:03:34 (15:34) 6:15:55 (12:21) 27:55
2. John B: 5:58 6:14:43 (16:43) 6:27:49 (13:06) 29:49
3. Charlie 5:45 6:03:15 (18:05) 6:15:52 (12: 37 ) 30:52
4. Pat 6:32 6:49:45 (17:45) 7:03:15 (14:30) 31:15
5. Rick 6:12 6:29:50 (17:50) 6:43:32 (13:42) 31:32
6. Scott 6:10 6:28:02 (18:02) 6:41:39 (13:37) 31:39
7. Bryan 6:46 7:03: 59 (17:59) 7:17:45 (13:44) 31:45
8. Mike C. 5:20 5:38:02 (18:02) 5:52:04 (14:02) 32:04
9. Russ 5:34 5:52:45 (18:45) 6:07:07 (14:22) 33:07
10.Nate 5:35 5:54:15 (19:15) 6:08:52 (14:37) 33:52
11: Mary 6:47 7:07:05 (20:05) 7:21:43 (14:39) 34:43
12. Mike T. 5:36 5:56:10 (20:10) 6:11:25 (15:15) 35:25
13 Mike L 5:22 5:42:14 (20:14) 5:57:37 (15:23) 35:37
14. Laura 4:51 5:10:16 (19:16) 5:27:56 (17:40) 36:56
15 Chris 5:38 5:59:39 (21:39) 6:15:30 (15:51) 37:30
16. Liana 5:41 6:03:44 (22:44) 6:20:55 (17:11) 39:55
17. Dave S 5:32 5:54:36 (22:36) 6:12:06 (17:30) 40:06
18 Don G 5:33 5:58:44 (25:44) 6:17:07 (18:23) 44:07

EFTA NECS #1 - The Glocester Grind

This was a great course for the first race of the season. Mostly flat, with some buff sections to gain some speed on and some fun berms to rail, and of course there were some really muddy and technical sections thrown in for good measure.

Last year I blew up here, so when I went over the bars and all my GU got buried in the mud in the first half mile I was a little nervous that I was gonna bonk again. This year, I had more early season mountain bike rides so that helped and I felt strong the whole race.

I got a pretty good start, which is key as this race funnels quickly into tight singletrack with little room make any passes in the first mile or so. The group got spread out pretty quickly, but I did catch up to the one of the guys in front of me as he was apparently having chain problems. I didn’t realize it, but him and the leader of our pack DNF’d so I was quickly in the lead.

I held my position and felt like I was keeping a good pace, on my last lap I did get passed by a group of 3 Vet riders but I still finished strong.

Final Results:
1:42.39
1st Place Expert Senior I Men
13th Place in the Expert Class of 35 Men

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Last Pisgah TNT

Last night was the final TNT at Pisgah. It was a great night, 60 degrees, dry, and a good turn out. I was able to get a quick warm up in and then went straight to the line. My first lap was pretty good, I cleaned a few sections I missed the other week and found a good line down rock garden. My second lap started real good, I rode the first two rock spines as fast and smooth as I ever have; but shortly after that I got tripped up and it took a little while to get my rhythm back. On top of that I got held up a little as I was passing some other riders. Enough bitchen, it was a nice night and some fun riding so here are the results:

Name 1st lap 2nd lap Total
Adam 19:05 20:22 39:27
John 19:54 20:28 40:22
Rick 20:15 20:26 40:41
Charlie 20:38 21:33 42:11
Bryan 22:08 22:58 45:06
Scott 22:22 23:18 45:40
Laura 23:34 23:52 47:26
Mary 24:25 23:05 47:30
Nate 23:30 24:38 48:08
Russ 24:10 25:41 49:51
Mike T 23:55 28:41 52:36
Mike L 25:51 28:25 53:16
Chris J 26:35 28:10 54:45
Liana 27:41 28:36 56:17
Paul S 33:03 34:12 1:07:15
Pat 22:28 flat DNF

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

TNT

Last night was the first Tuesday Night Time-trial, well second; but the week before I chickend out because it was pouring.

It was good to get one race under my belt before the first EFTA series race. The time-trail course was pretty short, just a 3 mile loop, twice. John updated it from last year; it was actually a little shorter but we did two laps vs just one. We start mid-way up Pisgah, take a fast flowy down hill that has some good short climbs thrown in. Then from the bottom its a good climb back to the top, then we take a false-flat fire road over to the bone-yard. This section is new, and I never really ride it because it's a mess. After the climbs it's pretty jarring.

I guess I had a slight advantage as its pretty much in my backyard and I ride 95% of the course about once a week. In addition the hills here suite me well; anyway here are the results.

Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Total
Adam 19:41 20:16 39:57
John 20:28 21:26 41:54
Rick 21:37 21:31 43:08
Charlie 22:14 22:51 45:05
Pat 22:21 22:54 45:15
Laura 23:17 24:00 47:17
Scott 22:45 26:45 49:30 Flat on second lap, completed by foot
Mike T 25:28 26:22 51:50
Nate 26:30 28:08 54:38
Mike L 26:47 28:13 55:00
Liana 29:41 30:39 1:00:20 Rode two separate laps
Bryan 22:40 DNF DNF Flat on second


Next week is Pisgah again, then it's on to another course...

Friday, May 2, 2008

Wachusett Ride

On Saturday Kevin, my dad and I rode from my dad's house in Northboro out to Wachusett, up to the top and then back to Northboro for a tough and very hill 55 mile ride. Check out the map my ride below...

View Interactive Map on MapMyRide.com

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Rip it

Wow, 60 degrees this morning when rode in at 6:30am, it’s the kind of weather that makes you happy just to be on your bike. Another thing that makes me happy, riding past the gas stations when regular is at $3.55. I haven’t filled up since April 13th and I still have more than a quarter tank; I am thinking I will be able to go every other week before I have to fill ‘er up.

So occasionally when I pack my bag the night before I ride in I will forget something, usually it’s a belt. Today I forgot socks, so I am rockin my EFTA socks with the frog saying RIPPP IT on ‘em. Ha, they defiantly go with the dress shoes. Yeah, I am pretty much a fashion icon.

I also noticed a trend when riding in, of all the vehicles that buzz me; 90% of the time they are pick-up trucks with big American flag stickers or even the occasional confederate flag. If there is one thing red-necks hate while driving its skinny white dudes in spandex blocking their “road”. I am thinking if I put a big American flag patch on my bag it might persuade them to give me a little more room…

Sunday, April 20, 2008

First Mountain Bike Ride

I finally got out for my first mountain bike ride of the season this weekend. I did 15 miles at Pisgah on Saturday and 10 at Harold Parker on Sunday. I was surprised to find that my technical skills were pretty solid, usually the first ride of the season can be kinda shaky. I was psyched to clean a few lines that can trip me up even in the middle of the season. I also felt pretty good on the climbs, now I just have to build on the speed, first Tuesday-night time trial is next week.