Mohican 100

i really need to start writing things down while there still fresh in my head... here is what i remember about the 1oo.

sticking with my plan to keep things short this year i signed up for the 100k. it took me a little while to get going, the breakfast i ate not too long ago was sitting funny and i didnt want to push it and chance puking. soon enough i felt better and started to ride hard, about 10-12 miles in my front derailleur started acting up and wouldn't shift into the big ring so i stopped and made some adjustments and got back on the bike.

just as i caught up to the guys i was in front of before my derailleur problems, i flatted...(i half expected to flat since i forgot to check my tire pressure at camp and about 2 min before the race started i gave them a little squeeze and they felt low) so i threw in a new tube and got going again. somewhere on the road i got in with three single speeders two soup can guys and gunnar shogren. me being on a geared bike i felt i should be faster on the road but they hung with me for miles, it was almost frustrating. gunnar was passing me on the descents! they stuck with me until we got on the wilderness trail.

by this time my legs were starting to feel it, they still felt good but i had to drink lots of water to keep from cramping. i stopped at the 3rd aid station and filled up on liquids while my bike was getting washed and lubed (thanks jeff) the 2nd and third aid stations are always great at this race.



just as im leaving the aid station i pass tim mould's dad and he says im in 5th, not bad considering all the time i spent fixing my bike, i'd be happy being in the top five. so i look back to make sure no one else is coming and sure enough there is a guy 50 ft behind and closing. he catches me and we ride down wally road together side by side introducing ourselves and talking about the race. we turn left and head up a monster hill that i think i walked up the first time i did this race. anyway we stayed side by side the whole climb, i felt i might have been able to drop him on the climb but there were still some tough miles to go and i didnt want to do anything just yet.

we topped out and marty started riding strong on the flats, i stayed on his wheel refusing to let him go. a few times he started to slip away but i got back on and would take my pulls when he slowed. we came up to aid station 5 and i rode past hoping he would need to stop... he didnt.

i was in front as we hit the single track with marty right on my wheel for about a quarter mile then my right leg locked up, marty passed me as i got off my bike and tried to get my leg to stop cramping, both my hamstring and quad were cramped up bad. i drank my water and rubbed my leg out.

as soon as it eased up i was riding again. i was pushing as hard as i could with sore tired legs listening for martys bike and after a few miles i heard it! then a minute later i saw him. oh snap! this is going to be close.

i caught him just after we started descending with about a mile of single track left "chip is that you?" yeah "did you cramp up back there?" yeah "nice recovery man!" ha ha thanks marty

i was faster on the descents but had no room to pass so i waited until we popped out onto the double track and made my move.

i wasn't sure exactly how the race finished but i figured it had to be close, so i got in front of him and put a little gap on him, then we started heading away from the finish and i got a little nervous, my legs were not going to last much longer and here we are riding away from the finish. i looked back and marty was right behind me...ahh this sucks! then we turn right and i see how it finishes just another 30 seconds or so. so i give it all i have and put a tiny gap on him and hold him off through the finish.

marty came over to shake my hand and we congratulate each other on the fun finish.

i finished 5th in 6 hrs a few seconds. congratulations to brad wilhelm for his first place finish.

next weekend were heading up to wisconsin to do the wors subaru cup for my second national race.

Dirt Sweat and Gears

a few months ago i was sitting at the computer with my credit card in hand seconds from signing up for the pro ss solo class at DSG, when i remember jeff talking about doing some 12hr races with me as a duo. thinking this would be a fun race to do together, i call him up. amy over hears me leaving him a voice message and when i hang up she asks what date the race is on.

may 15th, i say

thats the day i graduate (from college at the age of 33 and after going to school for some 15 years)

oh...

so ended the hopes of racing there this year. good luck to everyone racing today and hopefully the trails are dry.

greenbrier challange

this race did not have as big of a turn out as i expected but was fun just the same. my class had only five guys in it.

the man with the clip board did a count down and we were off. one of the guys took off and i jumped on his wheel for about two seconds before i decided to take the lead. i thought this was strange because i am rarely in the lead and never in the lead from the start.

the course was flat and open for the first hundred yards then turns uphill, at the top of this hill i had a decent gap on the rest of my class and was already running into the class that started before us.

this is where i was thinking i am going to win the race. i keep looking back and listening for anyone coming up behind me... nothing. the course is pretty rocky in places and on our pre ride i knocked my rim off a rock and now thats all i can think about.



i keep a good pace but have backed off some concentrating on riding smooth and hoping like hell not to hit my rim today and flat.

four laps later i cross the line in first place.

jeff won his class too and killed it, winning by 6 min or so. had he been in the pro class he would have at least gotten 4th, the kid is so fast!

this guy is thinking - how many times is this guy on the polka dott bike going to pass me?

this is the first of three national races i can make it to and from what i understand in order to be able to upgrade and get my pro license i need to have three top three finishes. the next one is in wisconsin june 26th

catching up

During the winter I told myself that i was going to post a few times a month on this thing so one day years from now i could look back and remember how much fun we had. so im finally getting around to it and i have some catching up to do so here is a quick break down

This was probably best winter i've had in years. it was a long snowy winter and usually i would be inside watching AFV waiting for the sun to come out or in a wear house skate boarding or climbing on artificial rocks but this winter we had deuce and kokoe and they want to play 24/7.

amy and i started out taking them for long hikes/walks which was fun but not very exciting so we dusted off the xc skis and this made our time in the snow much more exciting.

see i was laid off for about three months this past winter and with amy in school full time i had a ton of free time with the pups so we made the most of it. i would usually try to get a ride in either on the trainer or out on the fixie in the morning then take dude and kokoe-mo out for a little skijoring come home and pick amy up and go out again. it was lots of fun and good cross training for the up coming racing season.

cant for the life of me figure out how to rotate this video...anyway here are some photos i do know how to rotate

I also got in a bunch of long rides with jeff "the freak, the animal, the machine, etc" pendelburry they were always cold hard and long but fun and educational we would usually ride down by his house in amish country. he would school me on amish life and point out different plants and animals along the way.

This year im focusing on shorter races 30 miles or less and maybe throw in one or two longer races. jeff and i are going to do some of the closer national races and hopefully do well enough to upgrade from cat 1 to pro. its something like three top three finishes or five top five finishes to get the upgrade.

The first race of the season was race 1 of the V-knob series and after training all winter i was excited to see how i would do. steve twining lined up next to me and said jeff told him i was the man to beat this year i just laughed and told him no jeff is the one to look out for.

the gun went off and steve got the hole shot followed by brad, dave hall, john proppe, and myself. jeff came by me and got past john and dave i tried to stick on his wheel but couldn't get by them so i waited for my chance. once we got out of the woods i passed john and tried to get by dave in a corner but was going too fast and slid out right in front of john who somehow didnt run me over. i got back up and took off. a few min later i passed brad with his bike upside down fixing a flat or something. somewhere on the first lap i passed john and dave and was sitting in third.

john was never too far behind and i learned from cross season john is a very strong rider and wont give up or back off so i kept pushing hard. i would catch a glimpse of jeff or steve here and there and couldnt believe how far ahead of me they were. i managed to hold john off for third place 8 minutes behind jeff! i figured jeff would beat me but i was thinking 3 maybe 4 min, not 8... i have a lot of work to do.

a week later was the first ombc race at mohican wilderness i wasn't looking forward to this race i've done a hand full of 24hr races there from four man and duo and the last two were solo. in 07 i was racing solo there on my single speed and after about 15 hours had to pull out because i thought my achilles was going to explode, 32x16 was not a good gear to run. the following year i made another attempt this time i came equipped with a 32/20 and felt much better still i left that race not wanting to ride my bike ever again. so coming back to this course is nothing i look forward to.

the race started off fast, a little pile up as soon as we got in the woods slowed things down but just for a few seconds. steve and jeff were really pushing the pace and i couldn't hold on. eventually i caught and passed teddy and tried to put some distance between us but he held my wheel and dropped me on the 2nd lap. i was just trying to hold on to my currant position and get the race over with.

then i see ross clark creeping up on me. he finally passes me on the third and final lap, i hold his wheel and figure ill make my move on the last climb and try to hold him off and sprint for the finish. but im climbing faster than him on the second to last hill with maybe 2 miles to go so i figure what the heck ill make my move now so i pick up the pace and just as im passing him i get bumped out of the saddle by a log i didnt see and into ross. i apologize and let him take the lead. its flat for a few hundred feet then a long down hill.

we both pick it up and ross tears off down the hill and im right behind him we come to a downed tree that we have to dismount to get over ross gets over it clean and so do i my bike on the other hand gets hung up on the trees roots and and i have to take a second or two to get my bike free, i jump on and my chain drops into the granny gear. sh*t! i look up and ross is standing up getting smaller and smaller finally i get into the middle ring (somewhere in the race i broke my shifter and was stuck in my middle ring so getting it back into the middle ring was a little challenging) and take off hoping i can still catch ross on the last climb. i get to the bottom of the climb and ross is already just about at the top i figure he's too far ahead now but i try to catch him anyways. i pop out of the woods and ross is no where to be seen. i roll across the finish line looking for ross to talk about the last fifteen min of our race. i cant find him apparently he hasn't come through yet. he must have missed the turn out to the road for the finish and kept going on for another lap.

i finished 6th