Charlie rides a bike
Monday, October 4, 2021
CT50 2021
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
VT50 2021; Not the words I wanted to write
VT50 has been my #1 priority since 2014. A beautiful, challenging course for a great cause.
I hesitate in writing this because I need to take responsibility for my choices. I chose how I handled the final month before my goal of the season.
Thus is how it went:
actually more like this
Everything started as expected. Shot out the back descending from the mountain, clawing back spots on the climbs, forced dismount on the conga line climb, then things finally open up.
The climbs are always hard, but today they are really hard. Well they are their usual hard, I'm just really slow. The dorkometer says I'm not working that hard.
What?!
This is a race guy.
I rejoin Alpaca and ask how he's feeling as I'm not great and he's usually up the road. I tell him I think this is becoming a ride for me and not a race. Next upward pitch, he smiles and pedals away.
It's getting harder and harder to maintain my off pace pace.
Then I blow through a corner in the dark and have to walk a hill I usually ride.
Just watching the HR go lower and lower.
Maybe I should stop watching?
On the descent to Skunk Hollow, I accepted I don't have another 4 hours in me. I rode off course and to Peter's car. I had planned on just letting him know, I was out and riding back to the condo, but he insisted he give me a ride as he had time to kill before meeting Alpaca and Monte at Greenall's. In retrospect I'm glad he did.
Got back to the condo, showered and booked. Got home before most of my friend's finished. Collapsed deflated.
Back to back race weekends followed by 27 hours of moving boxes is not how you prepare for a 50 mile mtb race. At least that's my guess. Went for a Covid19 test yesterday just to make sure I wasn't a special breakthrough case (I'm not).
Right now I'm not much feeling like putting all or even any eggs in this basket next year.
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Landmine Classic 20th Edition
Landmine is one of the biggest mtb events in the Northeast. For some it is the only mtb event It was unclear if we'd be competing in this year's because of other exciting events going on in my Lovely's life, Well it was unclear to me, she was adamant that we were.
Because of certain global happenings it was pre-reg only. There were more people signed up in the CAT1 50+ than CAT1 SS class (a lot more!), but being an elevationally challenged course the singlespeed class would be a better. Judging by who was already registered, John Skarupa and Ted Yobaccio, it was quality not quantity.
Race day comes, yadda yadda yadda, drive into the sun
Monday, September 13, 2021
Barn Burner Marathon
Sunday, July 25, 2021
The first 1000
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Domnarski Farm 6hr Marathon
This was going to be just the facts and nothing but the numbers and data.
But how bout a little story time?
I have raced Domnarski Farm many times. Even won it once (expert age group). The course is rugged, old school with a good deal of climbing; a few of my favorite things.
The marathon was an open class; any age, sex or bike. It also had the largest field of any category.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Coneystock Day 3
Day 2 was a winner of a failure. I got to donate toys and ride my bike, but couldn't stay on course. Will Day 3 be more fruitful?
After a rest day of shoveling snow and home projects with my Lovely (she got 8" of heavy wet snow), our riding options were somewhat limited.
We would have to drive a substantial distance somewhere to find rideable trails. We could drive almost back to my house to find something rideable. Or we could drive 1/2 hour out of our way so I could finally meet the latest Grandbaby, then almost an hour to The Summit General Store, ride Tiny Tim, and both have an hour drive home.
Some people are worth an extra hour and a half driving.
We both successfully uploaded the course to our prospective computers, emblazed ourselves in orange, lubed our chains, checked our tires, and HIT START COURSE.
Climb up a road through a residential area to a cul de sac, where our computers tell us to continue straight. Ok. We find the trail, navigating around giant puddles on a dirt double track. Above we hear the white noise of the windmills.
My Lovely has a tendency to smell the roses and snap pictures of them and other randomness along the way. I'm prompted to turn right. She's not insight so it would be best to wait, just in case. With an ear to ear grin, she blissfully rides past the turn.
Shouting after her, she pulls a U-ie and joyfully spins up to me with tales of all the nature she's captured in the last half mile.
Looking down at her computer, it's screen is blank. "Aren't you following the course" I ask. "I'm following you, but I have it if I need it" she replies,
Now I'm responsible for not getting two people lost...great.
Riding with eyes glued to the screen, waiting at intersections, comparing and contrasting my location on my phone with the image on my Garmin, looking at the sky, looking at the clock, wondering if Christine is warm enough, hearing shotgun blasts all around...nerve wracking.
But every time we reconvene, she has some positive spin; "aren't those canal like puddles pretty," or "doesn't that gun powder smell nice"?!
She's having a blast so maybe, just maybe I should mellow the fuck out?
I'm starting to see some familiar landmarks from Day 2; how often do you see matching gold Trans Ams? It's dark, but we are in the home stretch. I have blinky lights and my Lovely has a head light. As we yo-yo down the Trestle Trail, doing puddle slalom, I begin to relax and realize this might actually be fun and would have been more so If I could just be in the moment a bit more.