Winding Trails 2012, or be careful what you wish for

I wished for rain.
I knew the competition would be tough and I hoped foul weather might give me an edge.
When I left my house it was just starting to lightly rain.  It seemed so insignificant that I wore my nice shorts.
It was WT after all, which even in the wet isn't very bad, so what's the harm?

On my warm up the trails were awesome.   The moisture starved earth was really soaking it up giving the trails a fine tack.

The line up was one of the most efficient I've seen, without riders jockeying around to get into the right group or the need for the officials to ask everyone to move back.

Even so waiting 8 minutes after the Pros taking off was freezing.

The rain had picked up.
Not a down pour, but steady.

We have a good size group, 14 the official says.
Chris blows the whistle and we take off.   James, Josh Wilcox, and Todd Bowden quickly open a gap.
I'm leading the rest.
We are packed tight; there is no gap going back to like tenth place.
About 3/4 through the first lap we catch out first 40-49 rider.
I call out "on your left" and jokingly add "and block those guys"
Jake yells "I heard that"!
To emphasis his good hearing he blasts past me on the next fireroad like he has a motor hidden in his bottom bracket.  I think he's going to catch the leading 3.
I get that sense of doom and failure; oh well fifth isn't so bad.
Then Chris LaSalle passes me, but he's not opening up the gap that Jake did and we go through the start finish close.

As we get to the next singletrack section we begin to catch more 40-49s.  This brings Jake back to us a bit.
On one of the few climbs on course I do what little men do; I attack.
I pass Chris, and the guys we caught and now have Jake in my sights.
On the next fireroad section I'm able to pass him before the singletrack.

He, Chris, Kerry and Royce are right behind me.
I'm not opening anything up.

Near the end of the lap there is some singletrack that is progressively getting sketchier.  We catch another guy and I think he might have slowed the train down because as I get to the run up I realize I've got a little breathing room.
(Fabian was on top of it cheering and he would have cheered for Jake too if he was close).

The third lap things are getting soupy.  Usually WT is pretty fast even in the rain, but they cut some new singletrack to make the course more interesting which is turning into a fine loamy slurry.
I'm trying to stay seated and remind myself I've got the skills to handle this slop.
I catch more back markers, which is always fun, and think I'm in the clear.  But as the trail turns back on itself I see Kerry all too close behind.

Keep cool and keep the power on.
The conditions are really getting dreadful.
Going down a hill with an off camber turn at the bottom I pull my rear brake lever.
Nothing happens.
When it's sloppy I use the rear brake alot for control.  Guess I'll have to use something else...like my foot.  I remind myself conditions are just as shitty for everyone else and try and keep it upright.
I do and cross the finish line where James is waiting (covered head to toe in mud).

He won!  Josh got second.
I ask what about Todd?
"He hit a tree and messed up his knee".
Bummer.
Not the way I want to get on the podium, but as "they" say "that's racing".
(doesn't make it any better).

Kerry comes in less than 30 seconds behind me and Royce was less than a minute back.

If Todd had finished, I assume ahead of me since he was up with James and Josh, I would have tied my best result at WT.  Due to his misfortune, this was my best result here.

Good day for Createx / Benidorm with James and I on the SS podium, Josh E and Jay G on the 30-39 (2nd and 3rd) and solid results from Craig TJ and Miles E(7th, 10th and 4th respectively).
I don't know how our riders from the other CATs did, as this is all about ME.

 My choice to wear my race shorts, the shorts I'm not allowed to train in that I've only worn twice; they ripped when dismounting for the run-up on lap 2!  Just barely grazed the saddle and ripped!

Thanks to Berlin Bike for their generous support, Winding Trails, and Jim and Johnathan for all their hard work,


Sorry for the crappy camera phone pictures but here's the SS podium

and here is the artistically enhanced 30-39 podium (Due to Jay's absence)

WT Fat Tire Classic 2011

First off, did anyone figure out the theme of the songs?  Did anyone realize there was a theme to figure out?

I'm a stalker.  When I sign up for a race I check all my competition's resumes to see just what I'm up against.
Things looked bleak.
Daniel Barry, the winner of KoB was registered (didn't he get the memo the Cat1 SS is the other Cat1 40-49?).
Gulp!
Cyclocross badasses Chris Borrello, Todd Bowden,  and Jeff Molongoski were registered.
Triple gulp!
I love Winding Trails but it isn't one of my stronger races, with such stiff competition it was going to be hard and fast (that's what she said!).

Being so close to home, I decided to pack a back pack and ride over.  Good way to warm up, and I just thought it would be nifty to do; how often do you get the opportunity to ride to a race?
First Root 66 race of the year is like a family reunion.  All the people you raced with for 7 months and have had minimal contact with since all come together to share something they love.

We line up and I'm just freezing.  I'm wearing my super suit, which is long sleeved, but the wind is blowing and I can't wait for the whistle.  At the last minute they decide the singlespeeders should be lined up in front of the 19-29 y/os and 40-49 y/os, which puts me now in the second row (this blows, but over the course of 4 laps really has little effect).

The whistle blows and I'm off in like 8th or 9th wheel.  They added a new bit of singletrack  right in the beginning that slows things down.  I feel like I'm riding with a governor on.  Although at the moment this is frustrating, is probably for the better so I don't blow up.

We get to some double track and I pass Jake, and Emile as we turn back into the woods.  I'm behind Kerry and a guy on a Superfly.  Superfly Guy bobbles on a log and Kerry gets around him.  I pass him and Kerry on the climb to the bikepath, which puts Kerry in his favorite position; on my wheel waiting for me to make a mistake.

The cyclocross allstars are still insight, but unless they have a mechanical, or implode at the 1 hour mark, I doubt I can pull them back.
Kerry and I are starting to reel in riders from the group in front of us.  I call out on "on your left" to one fellow and he gets ticked off  shouting "I know!".  He gives Kerry the evil eye as he passes.

Then it gets quiet.  I look behind me.
No Kerry.
???
As I come back out to the road he's walking with the sidewall torn out of his front tire.
Bummer.

From there it's all over but the shouting.
As fast men from the 40-49 catch me I latch on as long as I can to try and keep my pace up, and use guys from the 30-39 group as carrots, but I don't see another rider in front or back from the SS class until the end.

My laps were pretty consistent.  Lap 1 was the fastest @ 23:23, lap 4 was the slowest @ 24:55.  2 and 3 were in between.  4 could have been faster, but I try to be polite when I begin lapping the women.  They start last, and as everyone else is finishing up they still have a lap to do.  No point in being a dick about passing when nothing is on the line.

My mom and sister came out to watch. Although I'm in my extra special skin suit, the only rider in one, that has Singular plastered all over it, my mother can't distinguish me from any other racer and assigned my sister the task of looking for my number.  We didn't stay for the awards (sorry!  I usually do stick around), because were having dinner at my house and they still had to drive back to the shore.
I did peek over Jill's shoulder to look at the "unofficial" results before I left.
5th.
If this was a UCI race that would be the last step of the podium.  Heck if it was just a few years ago Root 66 used to go 5 deep (you know, before the "recession").
I "think" I was the top rider from CT.
When results are posted I'll have to do some further stalking to confirm this.

I heart opening day.

Be Like Mike

I raced a big (for me) gear at the Fat Tire Classic. Next weekend is Singlespeed-a-palooza, which will also require a larger than average gear. Swapping to my regular trail gear just seems like such a hassle to only have to swap it back at the end of the week, so I just left the big (for me) gear on my bike.
So anywho, today I was riding at one of my usual haunts, with the big (for me) gear and it was awesome. Never did I feel over geared, and I even made all but one of the little, short but steep technical climbs.
Hmmm, maybe Monte is onto something?
I wouldn't even think of pushing Monte size gears (sorry no numbers, but there is a race coming up, just take what ever gear you think is stoopid big and go bigger and you're almost there), but once you get accustomed to the pushing the bigger gear, it becomes ordinary.
Just need to take baby steps towards the big meat.
Only question; do I have time to get used to even bigger?

Winding Trails Fat Tire Classic

Winding Trails is my "home" race being only a ten minute drive from my house. Fast, winding singletrack connected by rooty doubletrack. This years addition; Awesome!
We had 21 entrants in the Cat1 Singlespeed class this year; that rivals the size of the largest groups around here and was the second largest Cat1 field at the race.
The bikes ranged from the jury rigged geared frame to the blingiest plastique, to subtle, purposeful and elegant steel.
The start was a total cluster flock. The start time was published 15 minutes apart on two websites so people just showed up at the line and started lining up without rhyme or reason. The starting gate was too small and funneled us out onto a very sandy fireroad. A good deal of the field rode off to the left on the grass around a stand of fir trees. On consequent laps I regreted not taking this line, because I don't believe it was considered cutting the course and might have been faster.
Speaking of faster, Winding Trails is a fast course. Having 21 singlespeeders geared similarly on such a fast course leads to exciting racing. Full bore.
Entering the singletrack I think I was in the top 10. It was tough to tell because of the speed and the melee at the start. The pace wasn't really fast enough for me in the singletrack and I was afraid I was going to loose the front of the field due to the elastic effect. I dug deep and made a wholesale pass which brought me up to 4th or 5th on the next fireroad.
From there the top 5 spots swapped back and forth, but in such a way that we weren't slowing each other down. We were separating ourselves from the field, but not by much.
Coming into the third lap, it was time to give bottlestand 2000 it's chance to shine. But there was a lady standing in front of it in the feedzone! I'm waving and shouting for her to get out of the way, but she was oblivious. Kerry's wife Sandy even tried to get her attention to get her out of the way. In the end, I just rode straight at her and at the last minute she got the idea, and I got a bottle. Success!
This was the impetus for Steve from Bikeman to catch and pass me. I stayed close to him on the third lap and passed him going into the forth (that put me into third). Jim from Pawling Cycles was beginning to eat away at Will from IBC's lead; Will was running a 58" gear and I think it was beginning to wear on him.
Jim, got him, and on a climb, and soon after I got him too.
Not too long after though Steve passed me back on a fireroad. I actually wasn't too concerned because his breath was pretty labored. But he was going fast!
And Will was right on my wheel!
Rats! I thought I dropped him, instead he was getting what little draft he could off me getting a little relief. He passed me and then made a cheeky pass of a lapped rider going into the singletrack which gave him a little breathing room. I guess I could have tried to get around her in the tight stuff, but it was off camber, and tight, and the chances of making her crash, or even crashing myself were too great; passing would have ranked high on the Dick-O-Meter.
There was one hike-a-bike for us singlespeeders near the finish, as I approached it Jim and Steve are running up it side by side!
In the end Jim won the sprint to the finish. I got forth. There was only 49 second between 1st and 4th. Now that's racing! Full out, balls to the wall racing!

Mad Props and Notes
Tim Burton of CVC /Subaru of New England was in the mix for the first 3 laps, but cramps took him out of contention, but up to then he was crushing it.

503 Cycleworx again had a stellar showing with James Harmon taking 4th in the Pro class and Josh Wilcox snagging 9th. Brian Cantele grabbed 2nd in the Cat1 40-49, and Alex Combes took 2nd in his mountain bike racing debut in the Cat2 30-39.

Right before the race Kerry Robair from Biker's Edge told me he was running a 34x20. Although I said I wasn't showing my hand, running a 49" gear at WT would be racing suicide. I had an 18 in my truck that we quickly swapped out. The first couple of laps I'd see him 20 second or so back, but he began to drop his chain and lost some places. So I don't no if in the end I helped him or hurt him. From my pre-riding I think it was probably the former as I was able to trim 4 minutes off my lap time by running a 32x17 instead of a 32x18 (54.6" instead of 51.6").

4th place puts me in the lead of Cat1 SS class in the series...at least for now. I'll probably loose the lead next weekend as I chose to race Singlespeed-A-Palooza instead of the Root 66 race. Hopefully that will only be temporary.

*I've edited this stupid post a half dozen time today; hopefully I'm done now!*