KoB 2012

Adam the King with his Arm in front of Queen Ellen's head


How'd I do?
Officially all I know is I wasn't in the top 8 overall.
Unofficially I know Jonny Bold only beat me by less than 5 minutes.  On a longer course that some said wasn't singlespeed friendly that's a victory.  Hell, even if it was specifically designed for SS I'd be psyched with that deficit.

Technically I rode poorly.  Within the first mile I crashed in a very minor rock garden; the kind you shouldn't crash in.  On some of the new trails I was just sort of brain dead on how to approach the obstacles.  At one point I came to the end of a boardwalk that emptied into a rock garden and just sort of stopped.  I just couldn't figure out how to ride it.
So I ran.

Speaking of boardwalks, there were a lot of them.  Totally dry, totally safe, yet they freaked me out and I rode them with kit gloves.

The new sections of the course were awesome though.

They used a new timing system this year.  It had an elegant sounding electronic female voice (a hot robot!) counting you down to your start.  Unfortunately she couldn't do more than one thing at a time and to keep the race rolling along for all the classes, they couldn't stop to get more than the top 8 results.

I never do very well at this race, but it's a lot of fun and I'll keep coming back.

The waiting around for results that weren't coming did reward me with winning some goofy white socks in the raffle, but also sucked the life out of me; I had every piece of clothing I brought with me on by the time we left. This had a negative effect on the after race ride.  I look more forward to that than the race.

Next year, I'll skip the standing around part and get right to the good stuff.

No one remembered to bring a camera on the ride so I got this sweet shot of Alby putting on his sock

not to mention Dan refusing to use his bike rack

King of Burlingame

King of Burlingame came and went much as I expected; a bunch of old men (i.e. my age) from Corner Cycle came and destroyed all.
I was looking at KoB in a get the first race of the season out of the way kinda way. I don't usually race EFTA races, this was my first time at KoB, and I was looking more forward to the ride Rob had planned for afterwords.
On pre-riding I was surprised how wet and technical the course was. It wasn't really too difficult, but from reading descriptions of it I was expecting sandy fireroads, pavement, and an occasional rock garden to keep it interesting. My biggest concern prior to the race was if I had a big enough gear, but after pre-riding, I was considering going lower.
I guess I considered a little too much after pre-riding, because when I looked at my watch I was 4 minutes late for the start. No worries, the guy at registration said they usually start a little late. Oops, not today, they were right on time. I missed my start!
The German guy holding riders saddles at the start made some crack about not minding throwing away money, and how he hoped it wasn't important to me. I asked the starter if I at least was able to race, figuring I'd just take whatever time penalty I had accrued. He assured me of course and slipped me in (not Slip It In).
Woohoo! And I'm off. Yippie! I catch my 30 second guy! The euphoria was short lived as the guy who started 30 seconds down on me (Sam Morse I believe) catches me.
That's okay, it's a TT, just ride my own pace.
A couple miles more into it, at a marked corner, with course marshals, I make the turn and keep on turning until I run straight into the course tape along the pond. At this point Kevin Hines comes motoring past me; I think he started about a week after I did.
After one of the road crossings I catch another rider! Woohoo! Then Colin catches me (he started a week and a half after me).
The last muddy fireroad to the finish was putting the major hurt on me, sucking the life out of me.
33.43 was my final time. Good for 21th overall, but I'm not sure where that puts me amongst my contemporaries (you know, the old guys *edit* 10th). I never really felt fluid on the course.

Arcadia
I felt it only proper to bring that lack of fluidity to Arcadia. Didn't want to keep the suck only along the shoreline. I think I spent as much time in the air and on the ground as I actually did riding in Arcadia. I put to much energy into KoB, and didn't save enough for the fun stuff. My grand finale at Arcadia was doing a 180 and flatting on a descent! Awesome.
"Dinosaur" at Arcadia was without a doubt the most technical riding (walking) I have done.
The Res? Child's play. Hell's Kitchen in Nassahegan? "G" rated. Dragon's Spin @ Case? Bunny slope. Dinosaur is the real deal!
As Rob said with a chuckle, "Welcome to Rock Island!".
My left side will be remembering Arcadia for a few days to come.

Field Trip

I really wanted to ride on dirt today. One of the beauties of CT is you can go from the foothills of the Berkshires to the sea in about an hour. Usually the coast line has less snow. But to make sure it wasn't a sloppy mess, one needs to get an early start.




A beach is a place where a man can feel he's the only soul in the world that's real...

If an 18 is better than a 20, a 17's better than an 18. Ding dong! You're wrong! I thought I'd give my King of Burlingame gear a shot. Either Rocky Neck is too technical, conditions were too snowy/ice/softening, I'm a little girl, or all of the above, because no workie for Charlie.
Umm. Cookies. Is it good or bad that these cookies are still "good" and my parents have been away for 2 months?
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you The Who to perform the song in my head.