mohican wilderness race report 2011

mohican wilderness - ombc #2 - 6th expert/open - sunny, windy, 50 degrees

This picture pretty much sums up how my race went:


A closer view:

Not so good.

Tim and I drove to Ohio on Friday night. Despite his best efforts to kill us by power sliding around the on and off ramps, we didn't crash or blow up the engine in his little Hyundai Elantra (although it was shaking like an electrocuted chipmunk above 65mph.) We were supposed to race the Mohican Wilderness on Saturday, then head to Big Bear that night, camp, and race Big Bear on Sunday.

It was a great plan. Until it thunder stormed and Mohican was bumped to Sunday.

So I went and watched Colleen's track meet, which was not canceled by the strong winds and threatening clouds.


It looked like this for 25 laps:

No thank you. I'm so glad I started riding bikes.

Tim called while I was at the meet, and after a long council we decided to go camp at Mohican that night.

We did. It rained and the wood was wet.

Once we got the fire blazing everything was swell. Then it rained harder and we had to run for the tents. It was like a repeat of the thunderstorms the night before the Mohican 100 last year. I was terrified that I would drown in mud again.

Sunday morning was cool and breezy. The rain stopped, and it looked like it might turn out to be a nice day. We packed up the tents and headed over to the starting line.


There was only one other single speeder there, so I registered for the Open class. I thought it would be alright. Tim made it sound like the course was nice and flowy.

I went to the port-a-poty one last time, smeared A&D ointment on my crotch, then lined up. "3,2,1 go!"

(I don't know why the guy on the white bike was wearing aero shoe covers in a mountain bike race. But they must have done something because he beat me.)

Everybody went hard through the first field and into the little piece of single track. I was right behind Tim when we popped back onto a field on the other side. The wind was cutting across the empty field like the blast from a jet. I tucked behind line of guys in front of me and everybody slowed way down. Tim jumped out of the pace line and took the lead.

As soon as we hit the first climb I knew I had no chance of placing well. It was so damn steep. I was giving it everything to keep turning the pedals over, and there was a big root in the middle of every switch back. I would lose traction then have to run until it flattened out a little.

The climb was two miles long. By the top the leaders were way out of sight and I couldn't see straight. I tried to make up some time on the down hills, but I wasn't very smooth there either. Didn't ride enough last week.

On the bright side, it was a beautiful day and the trails were in perfect shape. I was having a great time, but I just didn't have the legs to go fast.

Every downhill was the same. Rocks, nice carving bends, then a sharp 180 degree turn at the bottom that pointed right back up the hill. I had to scrub all my speed going into the corner, then start the climb with no momentum. It was about as hard as a course could be on a single speed.

And it went on for three laps. I felt better on lap two, but on the third lap I was totally spent. I had to hike and run most of the steep stuff.

I rolled into the finish, saw Colleen holding a camera, and made the most disgruntled face I could muster:


Tim knew all weekend that he would win, and he did. By a fair amount. He had a great ride. It was a cool race, but I wish we would have gotten to hit Big Bear as well.

The new bike held up well, with no creaks or slips from the Biocentric ebb, so now I feel like I can properly introduce it. Tomorrow.

mountwood challenge race report 2011

1st SS - 2nd Overall - Dry, sunny, 85 degrees - 25 miles - 2:06 hours

I picked Don Powers up in the tiny convertible at 7 to start our Big Gay WV Adventure. We were cruising down 79, and Don Powers kept begging me to put the top down so he could feel the wind in his hair. I told him to wait. We would put it down in a few minutes when the fog burned off.

Then the transmission popped out of gear. I put it back in. It popped out again. Everything started rattling and grinding in a horrible way. I put it in forth and crawled to the last exit in Pennsylvania. We were six miles from Morgantown.

I pulled into a gas station and called Rob. They were a few miles behind us, but he didn't think his small VW would be able to take two more people. Probably right. So he had Aaron start calling people. He got a hold of Joanna and MJ, who were also a few minutes behind us on 79.

Rescued by the women in the big pickup truck, we abandoned the tiny convertible and our Big Gay WV Adventure. But we were still going bike racing. The whole ordeal cost us about 15 minutes. It's good to know nice people.

When we pulled into Mountwood Park the place was packed. The turn out was huge since it was a combined WV and OH series race. The sun was out and it was legitimately hot for the first time since September.

We lined up on the road and I punched Nate Annon in the ribs a few times as we compared the size of our emaciated biceps.

"20 seconds. No, hold on. 3 2 1 go!" the starter yelled.

I clipped in and sprinted hard. I took the lead on the road climb kept it until the top of the hill. I thought the single track started when the pavement ended, so it seemed like all the work to get the hole shot would be worth it.

It wasn't. Turned on to a long section of rolling gravel double track. Hell. I was breathing hard and loosing ground. Went way to hard off that start.

A bunch of geared guys passed me, then a single speeder I didn't know, then Nate. When we finally hit the single track I was in about 10th. Tim Carson two other guys had formed a lead group and were breaking away.

I was still trying to recover from that start. Nate started making quick passes. I tried to go with him, but I was still recovering from that fast start. He pulled away.

After a few miles, I let Joey the Riddler go around me. I sat on his wheel and we started picking up the pace. Not feeling great, but not terrible either.

It was so hot. My vision was going blurry on the hills. I was putting out so much effort, generating so much heat, and moving so slow. The sun was beating down through the leafless trees, and there was no breeze. My hands were on fire and my head felt like it was going to pop.

We ripped down a switch backed descent and rolled on to the paved road around the lake. I went around the Riddler and started chasing Nate down. I reached out and grabbed a cup of water from the water stop and dumped it on my head.

Back into the woods. I caught some guy on gears first, and kept getting glimpses of Nate through the trees. He was getting closer. I pedaled hard and cruised along the flowing dirt.

Caught him in a field. We complained about how hot it was, then I went around him and put in an effort to get away. He looked pretty cracked.

Then I saw Tim Carson. He looked back at me, and his face was the color of a stop sign. He was barely moving. Even from a hundred yards back, I could tell what was wrong. His fancy new $8,000 Specilized Epic only had room to carry one bottle.

I caught him right as he was grabbing his second bottle from a post on the side of the trail. There were only six miles left to go. It was way to late for him. I'd drank 48 ounces of water in the same time he'd had 24. I went around and wished him luck.

That put me in 2nd overall. I passed some volunteers and they told me I was four minutes behind the leader. There wasn't enough course left to catch him. I rode conservatively into the finish. Nate came in a few minutes later.

I was pumped to finish 2nd and win single speed in such a big field. When I saw how dry and fast the trails were, I wasn't expecting anything better than a top ten overall. And with how bad I felt at the start, I wasn't sure I'd even be able to catch Nate. But as bad as I felt, the heat made everybody else feel even worse.

When it's dry, Mountwood is one of the best race courses I've ever been on. The trails are awesome and fast, there's room to pass, and there are plenty of tight turns and fun downhills. It's perfect.

After the race, we sat in a stream and Don Powers puked everywhere.

It was a solid first race, but not a good day for the tiny convertible. Poor guy:

The Wilds '10 Race Report

Remembering my dad's stories of sledding down parking lot snow mounds because Ohio had no hills, I fully expected the OMBC Wilds course to be smooth and flat. It was neither.

But I did get to enjoy some wide roads on the way there (quite novel for me as a hill dweller):


And although I was tempted to listen to this sign and pick up some calorie dense pickles for the race, somehow I stayed my wallet hand and kept moving:


After driving back the long dirt road to the start area, I was surprised by the number of people that were already there.

One team had an expansive setup that made the back of the Grumbler seem small and dirty in comparison (actually the back of the Grumbler seems small and dirty all the time.)


But I bet they didn't have one of these in their big fancy tent:

"Mwahaha. Send thar oral surgeon for me overbite"

I squandered most of my warm up time letting Aaron use my multi tool to fix his new bike, because roadies are too cool to carry tools. And apparently, they can only fix things with their heads upside down, closest to the up their ass position:


We headed back to the start line, and listened to the pre-race talk up while I apparently checked out my gloved fingernails (or gestured that a big a plate of spaghetti was magnifico):


And in a few more minutes, we saddled up and started the race. Prolouge is only a half mile long, all on gravel, all down hill. It ends with a sharp left turn into rocky and tight single track. There's no room to pass. I get into the woods about seven riders back and the front three guys immediately start to get away. Ben Ort has the twisty course nailed.

I'm trying to get around people, but the course is too full of roots, and the trail is only a few inches wide. The trees are close on all sides. I finally pick two or three off in a section of pines, but the top five guys are already out of sight.

Fifteen minutes in, I try to take a drink but I hit another section of roots and need both hands on the bars. I let my bottle dangle from my teeth. I drop it. Crap. Now I only have half a bottle of iced tea left.

I keep smashing along for the rest of the lap; there are no points on the course to rest. It's twisty and bumpy the whole time. For the first time I think I might be running a little too big of a gear. There are so many hard stops and punchy accelerations.

Half a lap in, I start to hit traffic. First the ladies, then the sport class. I have to get around them, but the course is still too tight to pass. It gets hard to keep any momentum. The field section comes up, but even it is too bumpy to get a rest.


I stop at the end of the first 14-mile lap to fill my bottle. I should have stashed a spare somewhere else.

I head back out and feel like I'm moving a little faster. I pass an expert or two. I'm a little smoother now that I know what's coming up on the course. Pre-riding this thing would have been huge. I finish out the lap without much incidence and sprint up the hill to finish.

1st SS, 4th or 5th overall. My lower back is killing me.