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Closest thing I have to racing right now is the Move MT Challenge. It's a fundraiser for the food bank and probably also a little bit for the timing company putting it on with no events to time. Both the organizers are good friends of mine and we were all working together to put on the Missoula pro XC and an amateur event to go along with it when this all happened. Anyway, there are a bunch of distance and elevation challenges and it goes from July 4th to sept 4th. Anyone can sign up and back date all their rides, runs, swims, whatever if they want to. I signed up for the two biggest ones (1947mi, 116k feet), thinking well, it's not really out of the ordinary for me to ride that much in that period of time but it gives me something to do. Then poo poo got real because a friend in Bozeman is on this quest to climb 2 million feet this year. 1 on skis, and another on a bike. So I thought, maybe I'll try to keep pace with him for awhile. Now I've been averaging over 5k feet a day since it started and just got passed for 2nd by a guy who's put in two 9k days this week. I did 10k today to get back ahead of him. WRT real racing, seems pretty ridiculous that people are out doing it right now in the US. I'm pretty doubtful our local cx series is going to happen, which I was going to be helping organize this year, and with how well we've managed gently caress all this up I'm even wondering about next year. Think I'm still the Missoula XC race director and we should probably figure out a date and I should possibly work on some stuff for that at some point. Whitefish guys for some reason decided to start up the weekly XC series. Not sure what the gently caress that's all about. jamal fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Jul 27, 2020 |
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Jul 27, 2020 04:59
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Our organizer has been floating the idea of small "bubbles" of racers. The regular A/B groups are generally against racing at all. but guess what group has about a 75% "yes" rate? I'm ok with a year of not racing but it does suck for the kids/juniors. Ivan for example is a 2nd year UCI 17-18 racer so it would have been a pretty important season. I think they're considering just sending him to europe.
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Sep 2, 2020 04:48
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Oh yeah I did a zwift race yesterday and realized there have been a few other things I could consider "racing" that happened this year. A guy in town has done a pretty good job of getting stuff going like the distance/climbing challenge thing this summer that resulted in me having two pretty absurd months and has put me on my biggest year of riding ever. This spring he did a zwift series in place of our mtb racing but I was content to just go ride outside and also didn't have a smart trainer or zwift. In august, he put on something called "d.e.a.t.h. ride gravel." The death ride, which stands for Drop Everyone Ascending The Hills, has traditionally been a spring group ride where we go up a bunch of climbs around town. Race to the top of every climb, regroup, and ride together to the next one. There are points and prizes and an aid station or two and it's a hard, but fun day. This year Shaun had two of them planned, the standard, plus the gravel version, but they turned into a DIY thing. The gravel one had a little better organization with an official day to do it and some water and snacks placed in a convenient spot on course. I did it by myself and there were a couple of small groups out and so you saw some other people over the course of the day. Total for the route was like 68mi and 11k feet plus I rode another 30 or so getting to/from the route. I took my hardtail and wound up with the fastest overall time.  https://www.strava.com/activities/3957254713 The other thing that happened was our hill climb. A local bike club had been putting that for about 40 years but stopped doing it recently. So a guy in town started a strava version last year and collected prizes to give out. Due to my summer of riding I was in pretty good shape for this but on the other hand had not been doing any short or hard efforts so I wasn't sure how it would go. Wound up at PR pace and getting 3rd so can't complain. Got a gift card to a pizza place. No bottles, no flat kit, almost nothing in pocket for run. I wish the wheels were lighter but you go fast enough on the climb that aero is important.  https://www.strava.com/activities/4142894104 Oh yeah also that zwift thing. Organizer of the spring series and the death ride got another wed night zwift series going in place of cyclocross. Last week I borrowed a trainer to try to do it but didn't get into the meetup and missed it. Then i noticed my shop had a couple of kickr cores and realized that if I wanted to do any zwift etc this winter I had better buy one, so I did. Yesterday's race was fun, it was all the people I'm used to riding and racing with but have barely seen all year and it went a lot like our wed group rides and races usually do. The route was sand and sequoias, which is pretty short and has a small climb in the middle. I got the "kom" and thinned the lead group down to about 8. In retrospect I should have gone harder, but it's hard to see what's going on behind you and you don't really know how everyone else feels like you do when they're right next to you. You want enough people to make it over and have the energy to work and stay together to the finish. That's pretty much what did happen and I wound up getting 3rd and it was my first zwift race so I suppose it went pretty well. The way Shaun is doing these is through meetups instead of in an official race which is nice since it's just the group of racers on the road and it gives you a finishing leaderboard at the end. Although I definitely pipped that guy at the end but in the results it shows him ahead of me and gives us equal times so maybe the precision isn't as good. Other thing is with the group going into the finish it's harder to notice an attack happening. 3 guys got a little bit of space with less than 1k to go and I didn't really notice, and then we're getting closer and closer to the line and no one was doing anything so finally I went and caught the one guy right at the line. https://www.strava.com/activities/4256663861 It was good timing on the smart trainer too as it's cold af and snowy outside so I'd otherwise be sitting on my rear end every day. This zwift thing is a lot better than the old fluid trainer staring at nothing or a tv show and I expect I'm going to spend a lot of time on there this winter. Did a little goon group ride last weekend too. jamal fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Oct 30, 2020 |
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Oct 29, 2020 19:27
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Another wed night zwift race, this time I tried out doing a livestream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYYcJPz3eGs (it's pretty full on from about mile 7 to the finish) Pretty flat course, I'd rather have some hills in the mix because I don't consider myself very good at sprinting. Especially on a trainer. The finishes of zwift races do seem kind of different where someone can sneak away with like 1k or less and then the pack coordination/drafting dynamics never seem to work as well to reel them in. I'd say I was maybe overly aggressive in my racing but hey someone's got to make some attacks. Upon review, though, I should have done some recon of the course ahead of time and picked some specific places instead of half assed ones I did from too far back. Especially going into the end, I would have liked to be a little fresher to try a solo break, although I was at least making it hard for everyone. And it was fun though. While I didn't make any commentary while I was riding I didn't realize there was no sound other than zwift (turns out my mic was just on mute). Also should have put the window in the bottom left so it didn't block the map and grade and top of the leaderboard. I think we've got two more of these, it's great to be with the group of regular wed night cx guys plus a few extras from out of town. 3rd again. Going to keep doing the livestream thing but try to get some working commentary/sound from myself. My cheap laptop can just barely handle doing it. Zwift told me I set a new best 20min at the end of that but I've only been on it a week so I haven't really tried doing that or an ftp test or anything yet and also this is the time of year where my fitness is well into a downward slide. https://www.strava.com/activities/4287752160 jamal fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Nov 6, 2020 |
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Nov 5, 2020 06:26
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First XC race in a long time tonight. We're still not doing mass start, so the way it works is you can show up any time between 3:30 and 7:30 and do your laps. The course is all taped, there's timing, food, beer, etc. And you can get some friends and start in a small group. I'm working part time for the guy who took over putting on nearly all the local bike racing this year so I was up there last week doing some trail work on the course (after managing a trailwork day sunday morning), and then up there this morning setting up the course. So I guess what I'm getting at is that I could use a day off or two. Once things were all set up and people were starting and it didn't seem like I needed to do any "work" stuff I got ready and warmed up to do my own laps. Conveniently, 3 friends of mine were about to get started so I hopped in with them. Cory, Kory, and Owen. Kory is always fast, Cory is on a good year and we had fun racing in zwift this winter, and Owen owns the cycling house and has been riding a lot in warm weather. Course was simple for the first week, mostly up the road, then straight back down, avoiding the pretty technical bottom part of the pro course descent. Next week we'll race the full course and I'm gonna have to get up there and do A LOT of work because it's all overgrown and lumpy and hasn't really been used in two years (it's on private property). We did go through a little bit of singletrack right off the bat, and Cory, after taking the hole shot out of our little group messed up and we all had to get off which was kind of funny. Then we hit the road and Kory took off, I picked up the pace a little and got some room on the other two but he was out of sight by the top of the climb on the first lap. Then I dropped my chain at the bottom because I was riding my old beat to poo poo hardtail with worn out everything because it's way faster uphill than the new Hei Hei and the descent is pretty easy, just a little fast and lumpy in spots. Next two laps I went through that section a little slower and in an easier gear to give the chain more tension and it stayed on. Owen was always back there but I stayed ahead of him to wind up 7th, behind all people I'd generally expect to be behind. Howard Grotts lives here now and is racing with us so he won by a pretty good amount. I would have liked to be a little closer to the next two guys but to be fair I don't think I've every beaten them in an XC or CX race, plus I did lose a bit of time with the chain thing and slower descending. And all the recent walking and physical labor didn't help. Anyway, we've got 6 more of these plus a weekend race. I'm going to try racing the hei hei next week because there's a lot of places I can save time vs the hardtail and it has fresh XC tires and new carbon cranks so it's a little lighter and faster than it was a week ago. Last night I thought it actually felt like an XC bike, it's just still almost 28lbs. Really wanted to get a new hardtail xc bike this year (would have gone with an Orbea Alma), but I didn't commit to it back in like December so no bike for me. I think this summer I'll try to order one and then maybe it'll be here by next season. jamal fucked around with this message at 06:00 on May 8, 2021 |
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May 8, 2021 05:30
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First real bike race in quite awhile for me today. Yeah I've done some zwift, and TTs, and Friday's XC race (which was mostly TT format) but this one was an actual mass start. Which, when I noticed how many people were registered I second guessed my participation. But I'm vaccinated, and so is pretty much everyone there I know, so maybe it's fine? Anyway, somewhere over 60 people started the 74 mile race, part road and part gravel. (there was also a shorter version). I was really unsure on what bike to use as I have my road bike with rim brakes and 25mm tires, and my cross bike, also with rim brakes, but 38mm tubeless maxxis ramblers. The first part of the race is 13mi on pavement to a pretty short dirt climb, with a really loose and rocky descent, and then back on the pavement, up a bit of smooth dirt, onto more pavement, then a 10mi each way out and back on dirt. Pam, a teammate who lives up there, was starting on her road bike and she knows that area best so I went with the supersix. Plus side, my 25mm corsa controls measure more like 27-28. Minus side, they have tubes and a 32 would be better. Approaching the first climb I started moving forward in the group and got next to Ivan. He said he wanted to go for the KOM (there was a banner and timing mat at the top), mostly because he had to stop and pee. So he went for it, Dan was 2nd and they started rolling down together, and I crossed in a group of like 4 right behind them. Mostly I wanted to be up there so I could go slower on the descent but if I'd realized the KOM paid out the top 3 I probably could have snagged 3rd as I was pretty comfortably there and then eased off. Anyway, some guys went absolutely flying down the descent and I didn't. Kevin Bradford Parish passed me going into a corner full of giant loose rocks with his foot out, sliding. 5 wound up in a break and then I was in the 2nd group with about 9-10, with all my skin and air in my tires. Conveniently, with Ivan up the road, myself and another teammate, plus Cory from the cycling house, got to sit in while everyone else did work chasing. Things were pretty uneventful and then we got to the turnaround out on the dirt and I realized that Ivan and Dan were solo with a big gap on the next 3, who were not that far ahead of us. So now I'm in it and start taking pulls and trying to get the group going smoothly. Which doesn't work. Guys are going too hard (probably myself included), other guys are sitting in/barely hanging on, a small group of 3 sneaks up the road and I burn a big match bridging to it and then we're caught after like 2 minutes. Back to where we were and then it's up a hill. I guess I deserved it though. Cory gets a flat, a few guys get dropped, another guy sneaks away but only has like 30s as we go into a 10 mile loop before heading to the finish. This is where it gets a little hilly and I'm thinking will be my chance to get away or up to Eric before the finish. But as we're at the bottom of the loop making two right hand turns, a guy drops a bottle trying to take a drink, looks back, misses that we're turning, and clips Kevin's back wheel. Pretty good crash but he was the only one who went down and seemed ok, just had a flat tire. The rest of us stopped so Eric and the 2nd group of 3 were home free to the finish leaving like 6 of us racing for 7th. Oh also it had started raining. The ride into the finish has some rolling dirt hills then a descent down to the finish line. It flattens out a bit at the line but it's only like a mile mostly downhill over the top so l made a big attack. But it's the 2nd to last rise and I look up and realized I've made a huge mistake. Thankfully, no one has anything for a counter attack as I climb the last hill trying to look backward at everyone at the same time, now there are four of us. Then just as we get up to speed a guy goes and actually gets a reasonable gap, I'm chasing, have a few bikes on the other two, but Kevin, the road state champ, is sitting on the back, waiting. I'm hoping he'll spin out his 1x cross bike, but no. He goes with a few hundred meters, passes me, and gets the other guy at the line. It was pretty close between the 3 of us, but I had nothing left at that point. Finished 9th, Ivan won. Not too much to complain about but I definitely made some tactical mistakes. I guess that'll happen when you haven't ridden in a group or raced for so long. Should have not chased those three guys alone, and should have done a better job with my attack at the end. Think it would have worked if saved that effort and done it at the right place. Our 2nd group when it was all together on the dirt out and back  hosed my bike up pretty good. Will probably need to do new brake cables, tape, BB bearings, take the headset apart, service the freehub, replace the chain...   
jamal fucked around with this message at 20:29 on May 23, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 04:09
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Week two of our xc series tonight, and the first time I've worn full spandex on my hei hei I think. Doing the full xc course lap it is nice to have a more modern bike but it definitely doesn't climb like the old king kahuna. I was in a good spot for about the first 5 minutes and then guys started pulling away and one more passed me. Then I stayed there and held off the fastest masters racers (here we do 40 plus and I'm gettin close to there and we all started together). Thankfully it was only two laps because I was not having a good time. It was the first warm one and that always gets me. Like halfway up on the 2nd lap it seemed to be a little cooler and then I felt alright to the end. And the hei hei does make up decent ground coming back down. Comparing my best lap on strava I'm even for the first five minutes, and then lose 37 seconds in the next ~7 to the top of the last road climb before you get onto a kind of rolling bit of trail across the top of the course. There it's pretty even- gain a little ground going down, lose a bit on the short climb back up, then lose a bunch on the last stretch of road to the top, at this point I'm 52 seconds back on about a 20min lap. Then I come back to within 36. picking up 22s over about 3 minutes. So maybe this will be an xc bike yet. As it it's close to 5lbs heavier than my hardtail, but for the most part I was glad to be on it, and I have some lighter parts hopefully coming in the next few weeks. The guy in front of me kept riding away on the road and then I caught him at the bottom of the first lap. Then did it again on lap 2 and was almost in a sprint finish. Also, I did my fastest 2nd lap ever so that's something. Comparison says I did the 2nd half from the top, across, and down about 30s faster, and then was only significantly slower on the first part of the climb where you're basically sprinting. Kind of promising that I can put down a lap a good amount faster than I've done if I can just put it all together. Behind Howard, Ivan finished 2nd and then his dad was 2nd in masters so we got some decent team points tonight. I was 10, after a 7th last week. jamal fucked around with this message at 15:53 on May 15, 2021 |
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May 15, 2021 06:16
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Friday xc #3 tonight. As usual, I was there all day but had to set up most of the course solo as a couple of the regular guys couldn't make it right away. Just me and the mule and a lot of stakes and tape. And candy. I got there at 10 and then was down at the bottom with everything marked by 2, just as the course opened for racers. The way things work is that there's a mass start, but if you don't want to do that you can ride it alone or with friends whenever you want. Today we went at 6 so I had some time to kill, ate, went home for a bit because I forgot my garmin, tried to relax, and started wishing I'd just gone and gotten my race over with because the weather started to be not quite as good. This was the top when I got up there doing setup  Kids start  They went at 430, and after that it started snowing. By the time we got up to the top of the course it was almost like a blizzard going on. Course went pretty much straight up to the very top trails and then right back down, over just one lap, so it was at least pretty short and you stayed warm until the very end. I was a little far back at the start. Missed my pedal, had to put a foot down taking the wrong line trying to pass someone, but slowly closed in on Jake and got on his wheel near the top. We've been going back in forth in both real life and on zwift, but he got me pretty good last week. Plus it's a long way up, so I didn't try to make a move to pass him. I really should have though. I had a little left and then think I could have gotten some space on the descent. As it was we came out of the trees into the finish together and he got me at the line. Last week was hot and I definitely appreciated the cooler air. Did the first part of the climb that was the same as last week a touch faster while feeling better and pacing myself to get all the way to the top. Then it was a PR down the descent, but like I said I think I had more in it (and haven't done that full ride down on my hei hei in a race situation). at the top behind Jake   Post race festivities  free beer from big sky, food from burns st bistro, free drink coupons from dram shop. Plus the organizer gave me a sweet patagonia puffy because I work there. The last finisher coming in, she started solo after everyone I think  Howard Grotts did it in about 30min, I haven't checked times or results but I think I was in the 36ish range. A number of people went earlier in the day so our mass start only had 6-7 cat 1/2s. Like I said I kind of wish I'd done that because I likely would have gone a bit faster, but it's more fun getting out there and actually racing other people. Not quite an xc race bike but way way better than the old beat to poo poo hardtail going downhill 
jamal fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jun 7, 2021 |
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May 22, 2021 06:00
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Oh yeah we had another friday XC race last week. This year all of our races are at the old closed down ski hill where the pro xc course is. The bottom half with the pro course is private property, while the top half was bought by a land trust who let us build a bunch of mtb trails. It's the only place around with bike only, downhill only trails (a whole two of them). Last week we rode the xc course and then cut over and up to the very top and then down for one lap. This week we bypassed most of the lower course and went straight up roads to get to the top. Then used flow trail into the xc descent which is the longest way down. 1200ft. 20ish min climb, then 10min descent. Two laps. Because of the long descent with jumps it was hard to not want to ride the full suspension bike. But also with a steep road climb twice I wasn't looking forward to getting up there on it. Plus I never go into these completely fresh and rested. This week I did two workouts, a trail work day, and then was there all morning setting up the course. My "warm up" was also a bit excessive as I wanted to get a better handle on the descent. I hadn't ridden that upper trail since last fall and my first run down it on thursday's group pre-ride wasn't pretty. After two laps I was feeling a lot better though and even set a PR. At the start I actually got my pedal which helps a lot. Being like 4th wheel instead of 10th goes a lot way in that start sprint and I was right on Toby's wheel. For about the first, uh, 6 minutes? Then he drifted away a bit but I felt alright and was pushing pretty hard. Then a junior came by me on his new fancy lightweight hardtail, but I beat Jake to the top and was not far behind Toby or Travis, the guys usually battling for the next spot behind Howard (not here), Ivan, and Dan. Plus another fast junior and a guy from out of town were just ahead. Then the hei hei and my practice laps got their chance to shine and I caught that guy plus the local junior on the descent. Jake was right behind me and about halfway up the climb on lap two got to my wheel and attacked. I stayed with him and he bobbled a bit on a tight uphill corner so I went by again, then the other guy passed us both. I stayed with Jake to the very last part of the climb that's really steep, and was dying, and he got some space on me. We both caught and passed that other guy but he got to the line about 20s ahead of me. Edged out by Jake again, wishing I had a modern hardtail xc bike again. Pretty soon I'm going to try to get an order in with Orbea for an Alma with the hope of having one for next season. But I don't feel too bad about the climbing this week and am also pretty happy with being one of the fastest guys down the course. That was about the hardest I've pushed it in awhile and I had to lie down in the grass at the finish. My fitness seems to be in a good spot and I have the state championship road race coming up this weekend. That will also be tough as I need to be out there early to put up signs and sweep corners. I won't make it up the climb with Ivan and Andrew and Dan but that does allow me to sit into the chase like at the gravel race a few weeks ago and be fresh for the return trip. Then another friday xc or two and the Butte 100 at the end of July. Fancy new wheels for the hei hei are supposedly going to be available this week as well but I'm not fully confident I'll actually be able to snag a set. oh hey a picture appeared 
jamal fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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May 31, 2021 18:54
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Another friday xc race last night. It's been hot all week and I've had a lot to do with the pro xc coming up next weekend and the amateur usac version today. Last monday and tuesday I went up to get some of the course straightened out which had a fun highlight of our utility truck deal dying at the very top of the mountain and me having to get it back down. Thankfully, being at the very top of the mountain means gravity was my friend so I only had to push it in like 3 places and got to the bottom before dark. So anyway, friday we still had a good amount more setup to do like adding a shitload of course marking for today's races and getting started on the start/finish area, which is all lined with fencing and involved putting a lot of stakes and wood posts in the ground. Also we didn't get a new battery for the mule so I had to jump start it with my car and then leave it running every time someone needed to use it. Also it was hot out. I got there at about 930 and by about 3-4 we had things pretty well set up. My watch said I took 21k steps and walked 12mi. Race start was at 6 so I sat in a chair for a little bit and then got ready and didn't really warm up. Low turnout I think because of today's races and the heat. I think there were less than 10 of us in 1-2. A fast junior went out hard off the bat and I kind of chased him a little and went harder than I wanted to and was 2nd guy out there behind him after the first lap. Then i started to be impacted by the error of my ways and started getting passed. First by Dan, who got there late and started late and is really fast, then this guy Kirby who's pretty good, then some of the masters- Cameron, the leader, and Phil, a teammate. Kenley, who had the same "worked on the course all day" handicap as me, was also back there. Kirby was gone but Phil and then Cameron got into the descent just in front of me. Phil's pretty fast downhill but Cameron is not, and I was on his wheel before the bridge crossing near the bottom, then he pulled away again on the start of lap 3 and caught up to Phil. And then I caught Phil and passed him near the top on the road, somewhat motivated because Kenley was still right there. I thought I had a good gap but Kenley got right up to me going into the descent and then we caught Cameron, who let us by. It's a bit uphill going into the finish and I just didn't have anything to stay with him. So that was way harder than I wanted to go and I lost and I have a road race tomorrow. I get to set up the signs on the course tomorrow and put on trail work today. Rest has not really been a thing for me lately. Plus side my road bike is real shiny right now and ready to go after a bunch of maintenance. here's a picture of me looking better than i felt 
jamal fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Jun 6, 2021 |
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Jun 6, 2021 04:39
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Our, uh, like one road race that's all actually on pavement was today, and was also the state championship again. Kind of a lower turnout because some people went out to tour of walla walla, and also because it's montana and we hardly have any usac road races there was only one cat 1/2 so congrats Kevin on your third state championship in a row. The other fast guys were Ivan and Dan. My hope for the day was for Ivan and Dan to get away on the climb allowing me to sit in while Kevin did most of the work chasing. But nope, Kevin made it over with those guys despite being pretty big. I hung onto them the longest and then waited up for the next two guys. No one else was even in sight at that point so we had a group of 3- me, Brian, and Eric. We didn't have the power to catch the leaders which included my teammate Ivan so I did actually work to stay ahead of everyone else. At the turn around we were 1:40 behind, 2:00 ahead of the next two, and everyone was pretty spread out in small groups. I was struggling but took my turns and hung on until the end, where I was beaten by both the other guys up the little climb to the finish. Lot of wondering if I'm fat and slow right now or just pretty fatigued from all the work I've been doing at races and on trails. But great race by Brian, he was really strong today. Since he hadn't done a usac race since like 2017 he was apparently downgraded to cat 4 from 3. Then Ivan, who won, in a sprint with Kevin, is still a cat 3, so I did not repeat my cat 3 state championship, but did get 2nd and 6th overall which I can't complain about too much. Now I need to actually get some rest and then start doing big weeks to get ready for the butte 100. Bike was good, thankfully. I hadn't ridden it since trashing it at the last race which was a lot of dirt and mud, and finally got it back together wednesday night. New bottom bracket bearings, new chain, wheel true, freehub service, tires, brake cables, bar tape, and a really thorough cleaning. The lower headset bearing is not so great and clicks I think, but thanks cannondale for having a weird headset.  oh and a cat 3 podium picture  really thinking about getting a haircut. additional fun fact, 3rd place is the guy who crashed in our group at that last road race when he looked back at a bottle he dropped while we were going into a turn. jamal fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Jun 9, 2021 |
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Jun 7, 2021 03:10
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Last friday XC last night. Last week I didn't ride at all between work and the pro xc. A lot of setup work had to be done plus I spent one entire day building a short bit of new course which was pretty annoying but people seem to like it so that's cool. Then the race days were like 12 hours, but this week I actually got to go ride my bike a bunch finally. Our other main course setup guy wasn't going to be there so I got there a little early thinking I'd be doing everything alone, but Danny showed up which was nice. Which wasn't nice was the mule utility truck being dead after Shaun said he'd go hook up the battery charger. And also he had the keys so I couldn't even jump start it (usually they're locked in the race trailer). Turns out a subaru forester can make it up all the old ski hill roads and is actually more comfortable and has a/c and a radio and whatnot. Format was a little different for the last one- "XC Enduro" so we had the start line up at the top of the mountain and the finish at the bottom in the usual start, with a little bit of traversing and climbing in the middle to make it about a 15min trip down. Start whenever you want after 2pm. Once I shuttled the dj to the top, I headed back down, got ready, rode up, and took my run. Man, turns out it's pretty hard to go as fast as possible on one downhill run and after I pulled myself off the ground at the finish I had to go into the walk in cooler and eat an ice cream. I had the fastest time so far and then just had to wait around and drink beer. Toby won, then Dan also got me by 30s or so. Dan raced with the pros at the xc and did fairly well, finishing on the lead lap in 29th out of like 65 from the back row. Anyway I held on for 3rd and also by virtue of participating at all the races got 3rd overall in the series. Kind of a nice surprise because I haven't been very happy with my performance this season, and also funny that my one podium was at the downhill race. Guess we know what this new bike is better at; maybe I should try an enduro. I have a gravel race in Helena next weekend so we'll see if that was mostly just fatigue from so much work at the races or if I'm actually fat and slow. 
jamal fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Jun 20, 2021 |
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Jun 20, 2021 03:33
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Went to Helena yesterday to race some gravel. Also brought my mtb and booked a spot at this "mtb city" campground geared toward cyclists. It was $20 and a place to put a tent and park a car. I'd never ridden the trails over there but kept hearing good things. I was a little worried there wouldn't be anyone at the race as it's a new event and there was a bunch of other stuff going on this weekend so I didn't want to go all the way over there to just ride with like 6 people. There were at least like 30 or so so not terrible for a montana event and 5-6 other missoulians including Jake, from my other race reports, as well as Meg,. who just did unbound and is going to leadville i think and has a few cool medals at home. Other fast guys I recognized were the two juniors, Matt from kalispelll and that guy Nathan from the roubaix and bearmouth. Course was an out and back over some hills, for 60mi and about 5500ft of climbing. We went right into a 1400ft climb at the start and I got myself right up there with Jake and the juniors because I didn't want to miss anything. My HR was pretty high pretty early and I was wondering if that was a bad sign or if we were just going fast. Well, I guess the latter because it was just Jake, me, and the two juniors, like 6mi into the race. As we're nearing the crest of the climb Jake goes sprinting away and I'm wondering what he's doing, then look down and see KOM and QOM written on the ground with arrows. So he won $40 there but at least bought me beers after. Then a descent, some flattish ground and pavement over to the next climb, which we took pretty easy, then rolling, potholed terrain out to the turnaround. Max, one of the juniors, got our pace going pretty good out to the turnaround and then we actually stopped for water and snacks before heading back. We were basically the biggest group on the road with everyone else pretty much alone, so it wasn't hard to stay away. Still, at one point I was on the front and sort of took us through some potholes at like 40mph and then was like "oops I'll chill out a bit" and let Ian, the other junior and a local, lead us back to the smoother ground. The race finished by going up that first climb the other way and finishing on the other side at the bottom. I thought things had not been super hard up to that but it was warm and lot of climbing and my avg hr for the ride was up there. My right leg started getting some unhappy twinges. Standing a litte and shifting forward a little helped, but then Ian went as we neared the top and I did not get with it. Neither did Jake. Max did, so it was the two of them and the two of us like 20-30s back over the top, taking turns but not really closing ground. Jake has been beating me in mtb races most of the time this year and especially that one time in a sprint so I was really trying to figure out how I was going to beat him. It was a headwind, so my thought was that he had to jump first and I had to get on his wheel and then come around. But then I was on the front and the finish line came out of nowhere and I got 3rd. we both laughed about that. A 1k and 200m sign and a better finish banner would have been kind of nice. drat kids with their better fitness than I'll ever have  Actually getting a few results this season is nice, although it would have been better to make it over that hill. I probably didn't eat or drink enough and actually had good opportunity to do so. And I've only ridden that bike about 4 times and need to make a few fit tweaks, but overall it's pretty close. Then it was off to set up camp, and then find some dinner  It's a pretty neat place, there's that big shelter there  Plus a deck, but most importantly showers and power and water and an actual indoor bathroom you can use, and even a washing machine. It's also near a lake and apparently people had been down there swimming before I got back. Only downside is the shitload of train horn noises from the nearby tracks. For dinner, I took a somewhat circuitous 14mi, 1700ft mtb ride through some of the trails to downtown  I had part of some really disappointing slices of pizza, then ice cream, then on my way back decided I needed to eat more so it was, uh, burger king. Because hardees was closed. Today I got out for a little bigger MTB ride, it was pretty good, and my lunch was better than last night's dinner, but it definitely will take more than that to figure that place out This is the mt helena ridge trail, probably the most popular one there, plus i did the two main descents from it to the road.  It's nice not having to set up events, I'm definitely more rested and feeling better than I was a month ago, and just got in two good weeks of riding (last week was 300mi 19hr, 17k ft). Butte 100 is in less than a month so as long as I can kind of keep this going I should be in a decent spot. Also have some wheels coming for the hei hei this week, hoping I can track down an xo1 cassette too plus maybe one of them fancy new fox transfer SL posts, which might get the bike under 26lbs. And I should probably service the suspension. Oh yeah beer 
jamal fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Jun 29, 2021 |
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Jun 29, 2021 01:47
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Yeah I do a 3rd in the back pocket, toss one when it's empty. One time I got the empty bottle to roll right under my car as we went through the start/finish area. Last time I forgot to go looking for it in the grass. It's probably still in that guy's ditch. I should check next time I'm out there. Or find out if there's an aid station that will have bottle handups. Last road race I think I brought two big bottles for 65mi and then wound up grabbing a bottle at about mile 50. Last gravel race I brought a 3rd bottle then we all stopped so I wound up not needing to carry that extra weight and have my pockets all jammed full. But I had to plan on us not stopping.
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Jul 12, 2021 17:31
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Butte 100 this weekend. Will be my 3rd time, but the last one I did was like 2017 I think. I'm a little lighter and fitter and more experienced these days and am hoping to be somewhere near the overall podium. But also I could wind up hours behind or dnf. We'll see. I'm pretty pissed at myself for crashing the weekend before last. It was about the hardest one I've ever had where I clipped my hand on a tree and landed on my head/shoulder. Hand is not going to like 100 miles on a mtb and my ribs are still sore but I think with enough ibuprofin and tape I'll be alright. Plus side is that it gave me a really good taper. But I am still doubtful of my fitness. The results did improve at the end of june and I did get in some big weeks but at the same time I should have been doing more actual workouts and such. Got my snacks all organized today. There are 10 aid stations and you can leave a gallon ziplock at each one. I don't think I'll stop at 1 or 3 except maybe to top off water. I mostly focused on what I need at the last couple, where I want good variety as it gets really hard to eat anything. Also a spare water bottle for a longer section, a tube, some sunscreen, and chain lube will be out there. I think I might even stick a tire pressure gauge in one of the middleish bags so I can adjust pressure after it gets hotter. Maybe. lot of vanilla gels, shot blocks, and an assortment of bars and candy. Scratch in little ziplocks at every aid station  assembled into bags  Bike is pretty well dialed  New carbon wheels, new fancy cassette and rainbow chain, new pads and rotors. Would have liked to get a lighter dropper- I'm eyeing that transfer SL which will save a pretty good amount of weight over the 170mm standard transfer on there, and give me a spare for servicing purposes. I do have a rigid carbon post that's the right diameter but think I want to stick with a dropper. The stack on this is pretty low and it feels strange descending with a tall post. Only slightly paranoid I'm going to have the front wheel explode or the end of my handlebar snap off or the brake hose pop off. I feel like they took a pretty good hit but also had trouble even finding a scratch and the wheels are true The other day I did a lower service and took all the pivots apart. It would have been nice to replace a couple of the bearings but I didn't really want to get into that at the last minute. As is it comes in at 26.5lbs which I'm reasonably happy with. Fork feels good, shock has a couple extra psi to provide a little better support and efficiency. Thought about faster, lighter tires like aspens but the mezcal rolls well and I know these. Butte's about an hour and a half away, and the racer meeting is at 6. I'd like to get camp setup at the start/finish area before then because I expect it will be a little crowded, so I'll try to leave by like 3 tomorrow. The race start is at 6am at the top of homestake pass so it's nice to be up there instead of at a hotel in town to get that little bit of extra sleep and make sure you don't miss the start. No laps of this course- you go on a 50mi loop north of the pass and then drop down into the valley to the south/west of the pass and eventually climb up and come back on the cdt trail. One of these days I'll go ride out there for fun. During the race the thought that these trails are cool sort of occurs to you. jamal fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Jul 22, 2021 |
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Jul 22, 2021 21:27
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Well that was fairly hard. Like an idiot I followed the pros at the start and got my HR way, way, way too high for a ride that long. Justifying it by saying, well, it's still only z3. ok this is the top of z4 but it's just up this short climb and Tinker Juarez is right there. I got to aid station 2, where my first drop bag was, but struggled to eat anything and didn't take much out of it. Then get to AS3 and realize I didn't leave anything there so I'm already behind on food and drink mix. real smart. I had chilled out but by mile like 45 wasn't feeling so great and took awhile at the aid stations, just dreading getting to the bottom of the big climb at mile 68. According to the timing I was 5th through the first timing mats, and then started dropping positions. The course is two loops, one north of homestake pass, and then to start the 2nd 50 you drop down into the valley, ride a few sections of trail and on some roads, and then get to basin creek. This is where you go from the butte valley, at about 5700ft, to the continental divide trail, which touches 8k and takes you back to the finish at the pass. Coming into that aid station I was basically coasting along the road, and then forced myself to eat and drink and cleaned my chain. One more guy came in and left while I was there I think putting me 13th. I settled in on the climb, and while it's been 5 years since I did this race I had a pretty good idea of what was left and how I had to pace it. This section is kind of a shock because it's like 12.4mi and 3k feet to the next aid station where all the ones before that are much closer together, so people tend to run out of water and have a miserable time. I actually felt good, and just kept my HR under like 150. My screen on the garmin in front of me most of the day was just HR, lap avg HR, overall avg HR, lap time, lap distance, and I lit the lap button at every aid station. My time through this section was only a few min behind Josh Tostado and Dan (and 9 min slower than Rose Grant, who finished 3rd overall) and I caught the next 5 guys on the trail, rolling into the aid station with Sean and Eric. Eric had crashed and hurt his finger and dropped out there. I left with a guy from the Flathead, and Sean, a local jr i coach at nica and teammate. Sean and I spent a good amount of the first half together but he was going a little faster on the climbs once I realized how dumb I was being and got a bit ahead of me, although I was descending faster and got to most of the aid stations as he was leaving. I let the flathead guy lead for a bit but he was nursing a broken spoke and climbing slower than I wanted to I got by near the top of the first climb. This bit from mi 80-90 starts with a steep climb, then has a really rocky descent, does another climb, another descent, and then one more climb before descending to the next aid station. It's all on the continental divide trail and is super cool, but also fairly rough and technical and you really need to pay attention, which is hard when you're 85mi in. There are little bits on the climb you have to walk and then you're sore and tired and getting your rear end kicked by all the rocks. But I felt good, and was on my hei hei, which was loving awesome through here, and all day. I actually had fun on what they call "8 miles of hell." The new wheels and other weight savings measures and that touch extra air in the shock are making this thing feel like an actual XC bike on the climbs but it still rips downhill. I ate too much and drank most of a coke at the next, and last, aid station and left before the guys behind me got there. Usually you feel like you're all alone but get to an aid station and someone is there/leaving, and other people show up before you get going. But I was fairly quick at this one and had built a decent gap. Then it's straight into another climb, the last climb. I had been on the verge of cramps for awhile and was just pushing as hard as I thought i could get away with, but was starting to feel not great from all the candy and coke I'd just had. That took a bit to settle down and I was still not great by the time I got over the top. I was also looking at the clock. It'd been less than 4mi out of ~10 in 40min and I had been hoping to break 11 hours total time, and only had like half an hour left to make it. But, it's almost all downhill, starting with a pretty twisty, rocky, slow section, but then it opens up and lets you get moving. I dinged the rear wheel on a big rock and was worried enough that I stopped to see if I'd cut my tire but got away with it, and that was the closest I had to a mechanical all day. Then my stomach had settled and I was so close to the end so I picked up the pace and and made it to the line in 10:52, in 8th place. Not very close to 7th though. Winner was a touch under 9 hours, 3rd through 7th were all 9:50 to 10:10. I think if I had not gone out so hot and been more efficient at aid stations I could definitely have been closer to 10 hours than 11 but this was still pretty good, and 2 hours faster than the last time I did this. Strava does list my moving time at 10:04 but I think there's some auto pause not counted there on the slower climbs. I left a lot of stuff in my drop bags, on purpose, to give myself choices, but I frequently still got there and didn't grab things or open wrappers or eat when I should have, early anyway. Shot blocks and gels and skratch mix saved my day. Oh, I drank this whole bottle, that's 80 cal, and had this gel, another 100, and a few shot blocks, and part of a can of coke, I think that's enough for this hour? I was trying to avoid going 11 hours on gels and coke but that seemed to work at the end so maybe I should have just planned on that from the start. The winner was Max, that junior from the helena gravel race. Tinker and Tostado took a wrong turn early. Max was with them and said "hey this isn't right" but they didn't turn around with him, even though he lives in Butte and actually knows his way around there. The first 50 is kind of a maze of roads and trails and I just follow the very good course marking. So Tostado turned around and passed me at the start/finish and wound up 5th but Tinker dropped out. Dan got 3rd, and mentioned he crashed numerous times including one where he hit his head and couldn't see straight, but was in between aid stations and kept going forward and decided to stay in it. Jake won the 50mi race which was pretty cool and impressive. Anyway I got a mug and I'm tired and everything hurts  https://www.strava.com/activities/5681698630 jamal fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jul 27, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 00:59
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Well, it's here. This year I got a new cross bike, and am building some tubs for it. The rims appear to be finally showing up this week. Between our new junior dev team and the race organizer's weekly practices I've actually been out jumping on and off my bike and such a good amount and have even done some workouts. I'm relatively optimistic about doing ok in our local series and also having an actual cross season. Yesterday we had a skills clinic and practice race. I worked at it, so had to be there really loving early since it started at 8am. I don't like getting up when it's still dark out. We had 25 ish people at the clinic and split them into 5 groups and rotated them around. Training/nutrition, starts, barriers, cornering, run ups, all out at the course. I wound up in the cornering station and hopefully was helpful and there were a good amount of new people who stayed for the race. 11 of us in the A race, including Andrew, who's been out racing road in pro fields, Shaun, Kory, Brian, and Jake from previous race reports. Andrew takes off at the start to never be seen again, Shaun is 2nd, and I'm right behind him. I notice my HR is really high right away. Too high. But then I pass Shaun at some point and am leading all the rest of us for awhile. Few laps in (I think we did 8 or 9 for a 40min race), Brian gets past Shuan and then past me and gets a little space. I can corner better than him and run the barriers faster but he's just pedaling harder. Then Kory finally catches up and it's the same deal. I followed him for a little while and almost ran into the back of him through the two fast corners in the gravel parking lot but then it was a short paved climb and some thick grass so off he went, catching brian. Then a lap or two later they get tangled up in the 180s on the grass and Brian falls down so Shaun and I are back in front of him for awhile. He gets by again, builds a little gap, but then I feel like I'm getting closer. Shuan is on my wheel the whole time but by now it's just us. Brian falls over again in a slow 180 on grass and Shaun and I are past with 3 to go. 2 to go on the runup near the end of the lap Shaun sprints past me, then gets a little more room on the barriers because he's really, really good at running them, and holds it through the last lap. Kind of a usual result, Shaun and I have been going back and forth for years now, Kory has always had more power. Brain was really strong. I was hoping for a little better. HR was way up there the whole time and I was over lthr for too long, too early. Gettting up before 6am and having no warmup probably didn't help. And maybe I'm better off just not looking. I spent a lot of time mid race thinking "oh poo poo this is bad you have to slow down" but did manage to stick it out and go 40min. 15-20 more minutes would not have gone well though. I still feel like poo poo. That tends to happen after the first cross race though. Also first time racing on that bike and those tires (maxxis speed terrene, seems good- fast, good grip in the corners) and even tubeless tires. Not too different from the old one but definitely better. First wednesday is this week at a new course at a winery so that should be interesting. I also have to work at these doing course setup and take down and stuff which is a little less than ideal when getting ready to race. Plus side I get paid to be there, and it will be less work than climbing up and down and all over and XC race course like I was doing this spring. Little gallery here, I think this is public https://www.facebook.com/groups/1586490781420592/permalink/4251394321596878/ jamal fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Sep 19, 2021 |
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Sep 19, 2021 18:04
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drat that's a long way, nice. Week 1 cx tonight. New venue- a winery. We were supposed to get out there at like 10, I showed up maybe 20 minutes after that, and then Shaun wasn't there yet. I start wandering around, and it appears the course is going through this giant field of rocks. poo poo. On the email with the plan for the day it was Shaun and I set up the course and pull rocks. gently caress. He shows up as I'm wandering around the field getting fairly annoyed. Then we start putting up some stakes and tape and cones and ez-ups and timing mats and all that poo poo that goes along with a bike race. Thankfully the course only goes straight through the lumpy field once, and after everything else is set up and we eat some lunch I go out there with a pick axe and start pulling out rocks. I'm sore and drenched in sweat and then suddenly it's like 4 and people start showing up, but at least now the field is mostly just lumpy and the rocks hidden in the grass are gone. I change, and then it's time to take the kids and juniors through the course for pre-ride. My first full lap at slow speed with children and I slice open my rear tire. Have I said "gently caress" yet? I consider patching it, or putting in a tube, but with how lumpy everything is I just drove home and got my hei hei. Take two laps, and it's time to go. Thankfully I get a front row call up because it's based on the overall results from the last series in the before times. There are a bunch of people there, all the usuals plus Howard Grotts, who I guess is a usual now since he lives here and was at the xc races. He's on the back row of men's A on a singlespeed cross bike. The front row is me, Toby, Robert, Dan, Andrew, Shaun, and that's as wide as the road. I have a decent start and get to the first corner fairly near the front which is nice because it looks crowded back there behind me. A and masters all started together which was like 45 people, looks like 19 in A. Howard got up to the front in a hurry and then dropped his chain in the lumpy part. Dan, Andrew, and Toby seemed to be the guys up there at the front. Then I was in the mix with the next group, which started out big, and then got smaller. There was only about one spot where the mtb lost time, the dirt road start/finish straight. Then it was good through the corners, except wide bars mean you have to take a wider line, and significantly faster down the lumpy back stretch. I could actually ease up through there a bit and recover and still rode away from the cross bikes. Then Andrew dropped out due to a sore back, then Cory got a flat when he was still close enough to me that I noticed. Brian was the next guy back, and maybe Howard had passed me again, but then his saddle broke off. Then on the last lap he's back there again, and well, despite having to stand the whole time and remount really slowly I couldn't hang on through the last lap especially with his really aggressive passes through lapped traffic. But I got 4th, so pretty good. I was pretty concerned after how bad I felt after saturday, and then tried to do some openers last night that went real bad, then was out there all day working on the course. This whole season is going to be the race for 4th-5th for me and it's going to be tough. Next week is the same course, I think we're going to try to avoid that lumpy field and make it more cx bike appropriate. Then we're at a golf course. Also my rims finally showed up so I should have my tubs ready for the next time if I want to use them, although I'll probably stick with the tubeless file treads. some pics https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=jsieberphotos&set=a.211380054316733 jamal fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Sep 25, 2021 |
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Sep 23, 2021 05:35
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Week two cx. This time I rode a cx bike and then did worse. But at least I had a cool new skin suit Last week's course was bumpy as gently caress so this time we cut that section out and tried to stretch out what was left into a little longer race. But it was still shorter than last time, plus mostly narrow and twisty, and that meant really crowded by like lap 3. I'm actually looking forward to the golf course next week, because despite the soul sucking grass it's a big, wide open course and we have like 100+ people out there at the same time. I felt like I was a little better rested but did get kind of hungry while setting up and also didn't get in any sort of a ride the day before. At the start I kind of just slotted in and was feeling pretty comfortable in a big group of like 5-6, then Howard, Toby, and Dan were out there off the front somewhere and finished in that order. But then I just started losing ground. My average HR was lower this week compared to last week but I generally felt kind of bad, and the traffic didn't help things. I was near the back of our group and then would not get around a lapped rider with guys in front of me and then there's a gap to close, which eventually you can't do any more, plus you feel kind of bad constantly like cutting around people and passing them in corners and stuff when they're new and just trying to make it around the course. Being nearer the front of the group would have been helpful. So I wound up like 8th, or 9th, and am now convinced I'm just fat and slow. Hopefully just was on the wrong side of the accordian effect and traffic, guess we'll see next week. Won't have to do as much setup and summer season is over at the shop so I'll have time to do a workout this weekend, practice monday, openers tueday, and chill out a bit more before the race. Oh also my tubs are built but the tires aren't glued yet. I probably should have put a layer of glue on the wheels and tires today since I didn't have much to do, but the shop owner was going to get started on it for me and then decided to wait for another set of tires to show up so he can do two sets at the same time.  light bicycle rims, 240 hubs, cotton team edition baby limuses. Why did I spend all this money on wheels I'll use like twice this year? Oh right the spirit of cyclocross. I even have rotors for them and we have a cassette in stock that will work that I might buy so I can more easily swap wheels even though I don't technically need it and the shop would probably rather sell it at retail. They'll be ready for next week but I think the speed terrenes will be faster on the grass. Was happy with them last night- good cornering grip and fast rolling and I made it through without getting a flat. Went 33/38 I think. With lower I noticed some sealant getting out so I might have been close to pushing the bead off the rim. Oh also there are some pictures https://www.facebook.com/jsieberphotos/posts/215690723885666 and a short video here, camera was on my bike, I might grab that video card and put more of it on youtube https://www.facebook.com/jed.zilla.5/videos/1723971217794032/ jamal fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Oct 1, 2021 |
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Oct 1, 2021 05:21
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Two more cyclocrosses, this time at the golf course.  Not sure what my problem has been this season, could be spending hours setting up the courses before the race or maybe I'm just a little slow right now. I felt like I was doing a good job at workouts leading up to the season but now I'm questioning that, feeling like I should have done more and gone harder. I've even been getting good starts, yesterday I was right behind Howard into the first turn and then 4th wheel in the spiral of death. Then I made some mistakes, just like last week. I made this super nasty off camber around a corner on rough grass, and had practiced the high line because it was shorter and you didn't drop down. But thought I'd probably run it on lap one. Then everyone in front of me went low, so I stayed on my bike, and slid out.Then I got hung up coming out of the back sandtrap and lost the wheels just in time for a headwind section on cart path. This week I made the off camber go the other direction, came into it in the same situation, and did the exact same thing. Then slid out again on another tricky corner and there went everyone I wanted to be racing with again. I felt better at least during the whole race but it's hard to stay motivated when you're by yourself. Next week is the big race at the brewery, with wed night being on the same course. So I'll be out there working all week, but hopefully will be able to relax a bit on friday and saturday and try to put together a better race. I'm doing a big mtb ride tonight, then will get in one more workout this weekend, and that will have to be enough. I'll also finally swap to the tubs. The brewery course also has grass but a baby limus should be a fairly appropriate tire for the big hillside and chewed up wet grass in the back yard. Sort of questioning that investment into a set of wheels and tires I'm going to use a handful of times a year... Then we've got a hill climb the weekend after so I can find out if I'm actually slow right now or just am tired and riding bad.
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Oct 14, 2021 22:36
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Wed week 5 - thunder week. Finally got to use my new tires This weekend is our biggest bike race of the season, well, for the regular people if you count missoula pro xc. Cross season usually consists of our wed series of like 6 races and then our weekend race called rolling thunder. In addition to thunder there has been a wild west series of races, in places like sandpoint, id, kalispell, bozeman, helena, and even down in victor, id. But there hasn't been much of that lately. Bozeman did put on a race but it was a weekend of a local nica race and then there's a sandpoint race on the 30th. But no series. We've kept our race going though and it generally has good attendance, with the fastest groups going at night. I think the men's 1/2/3 race start is at 8pm. It's at a brewery, there's free beer all day, so things get pretty wild. As I work for the organizer, I've been out there all week setting things up.   That left down there is a tough one. Today I didn't have to do too much. Get the course markings set up on the closed street where we have the start/finish, build a little ramp to get up a curb, finish a bit of taping. But I've been walking a lot this week. My watch says 24k steps for 14mi on monday. Plus side, I got a good night's sleep last night and took some laps yesterday to get an openers ride in. And have my new wheels on  The baby limus is a bit much for that grass infield but they're nice on the big hill and those off camber corners. Also, bike went from 19lb 8oz with the stock wheels and speed terrenes to 18 6 with these. light bicycle rims to 240 hubs, 11-36 pg-1170, and cotton team edition baby limuses. I went 26/28 f/r tonight because the front felt a little iffy at 25 on one of the fast downhill corners. I thought my tubeless speed terrenes were decent but yeah nah. I should have just tried these on the golf course last week anyway. Dropping over a pound just on wheels/tires doesn't hurt either. I almost missed the start, 545 instead of 6, and then was pretty far back going into lap one. A 12 year old closed the door on me in one of the first corners and I had to put a foot down, which was a little annoying. But then I pulled it together and started passing people instead of getting passed like in all the recent races. Got Rob, got Garrett, got Brian, stayed ahead of Alex and Jake, all guys who beat me the last two weeks. Almost caught Cory. Then Howard, Toby, Dan, Landon were out there on their own, so I got 6th. Don't need to do anything at the course tomorrow which is good, then more setup friday, then not much Saturday before I actually race. Will probably help out a bit with the jr dev team I guess, but mostly try to sit around and eat snacks. A picture of me 
jamal fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Oct 22, 2021 |
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Oct 21, 2021 05:06
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The flyover is just at this race, gets put together a week or so ahead of time by a racer who's a carpenter and then disassembled and put away after. If I could bunny hop those barriers it would be slightly faster. A couple of guys were last night. They're not our full height (40cm) ones either which makes it easier, but I haven't been practicing that at all and if you don't make it, it's not going to be pretty. I can probably do it. The lip out of the sand the last two weeks was about the same height but that was something you could just kind of roll up too and you weren't going to eat poo poo if you came up short. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=jsieberphotos&set=a.228497722604966 trying to stay aero in the headwind on the start straight 
jamal fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Oct 21, 2021 |
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Oct 21, 2021 15:54
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Another day at the race course. Today we set up the start/finish area, tents and stuff, and all the lights. Then made sure they were pointed in the general right direction. There are 8 of them. A couple of spots are a little dark but overall it's pretty good. we all were getting ready to take a lap in the dark to see how it works and my bike fell over and bent the derailleur hanger which is pretty annoying. However, soft hangers are a known issue on these bikes and I have a wheels mfg one already. Unfortunately it's at the shop so I have to get over there at some point to get it/put it on. I'm apparently the 7th callup tomorrow night, so uh, pretty cool to be on the front row of this one. I'd better not gently caress up my start or crash in the first corner (which is a loose 180). I think my goal will be to stay as far forward as possible around the infield and up to the off camber and then try to find a sustainable pace once we're through the sketchiest part on lap one. 11 laps probably. Howard was doing 4:55s the other night, I was clicking off consistent 5:20s. I think that means I get lapped. Also it's raining right now, but I have those fancy baby limuses. And if anything it will firm up the off camber.
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Oct 23, 2021 04:22
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Well that was a long week and I'm tired. Got out there early saturday morning to make sure the course was ready, but then was pretty free all day. Went to the bike shop and replaced my derailleur hanger then tried to relax for a bit. But I had to fix things here and there and had to wrangle the children a little bit and could really have used a little more sleep. We had a trailer and tents setup for the shop and dev teams and plenty of snacks which was nice. My callup position got bumped back due to some later signups, which was kind of annoying, especially since it was "sign up by wednesday to be considered for callups":, and then they didn't actually get done until friday morning, and then 4 people signed up after that and got on the front row. And then I didn't clip in cleanly and I'm like 20 guys back in the first turn. Not the start I was going for. But I was not doing too badly after that, moved up a little, got on the group with the usual guys, didn't feel too terrible, and came in a few seconds behind Cory and Shaun. Howard won, and lapped me and most everyone else. Andrew was 2nd, Toby 3rd. 15th (out of 37) was not what I was shooting for but it was ok after all the work this week. I think I was capable of being in the top 10 (Jake was 9th and I wasn't that far back from there) if I'd actually been fresh and rested and had a good start. But this has been the story of my season. on the plus side I do get paid for all this and race for free. So yeah, fun at least, it's really cool racing under the lights in front of the big crowd. Ellen and Gilly, two of the juniors on our dev team, went' 1-2 in the women's race which was awesome. They also won all of the nica races this season. Off camber/runup on the first lap https://www.facebook.com/MissoulaUnderGround/videos/1297510810709584 I think I got home before midnight, and then we were back out there Sunday for day 2 of racing. Much smaller turnout and combined starts. Juniors went at 11, which Gilly won, all the women next, which Ellen won, then 4/5 and single speed, then 1/2/3 and masters. After another bad start I actually got myself in the mix and was leading the race after attacking Brian through the start finish with a tailwind, which then allowed me to build space in the twisty infield and around the fast corners on the hill. But he caught me after about a lap and then at some point went by and got some space then it was 3 of us chasing him. Shaun is really fast at running and got a gap on the runup and then Luuk, a younger guy from Bozeman did too after I didn't get clipped in cleanly at the top a lap or 2 later. The runup was definitely my weak point on this course but getting a break on the way down the hill and the short hard efforts up it and the twisty bits all helped me I think. So I was 4th. But not too bad, the first couple of laps were my fastest of the week but then at the end my HR wouldn't go above about 160. Then it was a solid 4 hours of course cleanup but at least some volunteers took care of all the tapes and stakes so I mostly just had to deal with the lights and packing trailers and poo poo. Which I'm still dealing with because the one trailer has no working lights so I'm completely re-wiring it while it's empty and then have to get it to wednesday's venue. We're not done yet. 4 more wed night races, and I have a hill climb next weekend so I guess road bike comes off the trainer. jamal fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Oct 28, 2021 |
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Oct 25, 2021 18:51
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Another wednesday. This time I was actually racing for a bit After last week and two weekend races and all the work that went along with it i've been feeling pretty tired. Took monday as easy as possible but did have to go build a wiring harness for one of the race trailers because everything in it was hosed. Yesterday I rode my mtb up a hill and it wasn't great. Today I got there at 11 and made the course, which took longer than I expected. It was like 5 and we race at 545 and oh poo poo I better get ready and take some laps. Forecast was a lot of rain all day, so I brought everything- especially lots of gloves and a towel and dry clothes for after, expecting to possibly race in my full tights and a jacket. But it was pretty nice and stayed mostly dry. Dirt was a little wet, runup was slick, but I had spikes in the shoes. Good start. Dan led it out, then Jason chased him, then Brian, Cory, me, then Howard. Howard gets by me taking a ridiculous line into the downhill berm and then goes by like everyone else on a short straight. Jason blows up and I sit behind him for just a touch too long and there's a gap to Cory and Brian. Landon comes by me and is pedaling so hard that I don't even want to try to follow that, I ride with two jrs and Shaun for a bit, then leave them behind and those next three are still close. I keep on it and few laps later actually make contact. I feel like it gets slightly easier for a bit then Landon goes to the front. I was right behind him, and thought about following but sat on instead. Then we're in 2 to go and coming up on a lot of traffic and I'm on the back and don't get around some of the lapped people with them and there they go again. Being 2nd wheel instead of 4th might have helped there. But I felt pretty good about this one, actually turning some laps a little faster than those guys and then riding with them instead of the usual watching them get farther away. Went 26/28 in the baby limus tubs but that might have come down after a couple of practice laps. I probably should have checked. Felt good but I bottomed the front rim where we crossed a ditch and some pavement almost every lap and didn't really like doing that. Still possibly an overkill tire for the season so far but with one set of tubs you kind of have to play it safe. I'll probably build another set next year and then have a faster tire on them. I didn't mind the tubeless file treads but they're not the same. Course was pretty good, I tried to make it as different as it could be but this venue only lets you do so much. Shaun mowed out a lot of tall grass yesterday to give us some more options and we had a few things that were actually kind of new after like 10 years of racing here. Solid mix of turny parts, fast open, some technical bits, and we mowed and raked out the whoops section. Plus put candy and halloween decorations out there. I didn't wear a costume though. jamal fucked around with this message at 02:45 on Oct 30, 2021 |
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Oct 28, 2021 05:21
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Wednesday uh... 7? Extra long season for us this year, with 9 wed races plus the two day rolling thunder thing. Usually we have 6 leading up to that and then we're done. The next two weeks, being after the time change, might get a little dark but we're starting earlier. Sunset on the 17th is 4:59 though. The last two weeks were at the same course but we changed things around slightly. Moved the start finish, changed the lower section, but kept a lot the same which saved me some work. I even had time to rake leaves and create a nice clear grassy path through some trees. People seem to be liking the courses which is nice to hear. At the start I somehow wound up on the front. For long enough to start thinking "ok guys any time now." Dan passed me before the runup and then I let Howard and Toby by on the little paved section and followed them to the barriers. They all jumped them and then I was like 10 yards back and ok well see you that was fun for awhile. Then I was cruising in that position for a couple of laps while Brian, Shaun, and Rob crept closer. Then we were together for a few laps. Then Brian put in a dig and we lost Shaun, then at the start of the next lap (I think 3 to go) he seemed to be slowing up so I went around, really pushing it through the parking lot and around the baseball field because I had a little gap and didn't want to let him sit in my draft on that fast section. Coming out of the baseball field we make a sweeping 180 that goes from grass to dirt and then get into a couple of tight corners before looping around to the runup and I wanted to use that to widen my gap. But, well, I took that 180 a little too fast and the whole bike slid out from under me when i hit the dirt. Brian asked if I was ok as he went by, I think I said "I should have worn gloves." So that kind of took the wind out of my sails. I got right back up but my palm has a good scrape in it which was pretty uncomfortable. Knee and elbow also have good scrapes, but no holes in new skinsuit. Shaun and Cory both got past me. I did manage to get back up to Shaun but he got me in the sprint. I think I could have held onto 4th without the crash. But other than that, another good race, glad to be turning it around a bit although it's the end of the season for us. Unless I want to go to nats or something. There is a group going for our junior team but I'm not really planning on it. The money to go out and do that could buy me some new skis. Shaun, me, Brian on the runup that Howard was apparently riding 
jamal fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Nov 5, 2021 |
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Nov 5, 2021 18:08
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Literally Lewis Hamilton posted:I’m just now realizing this Howard mentioned is probably Howard Grotts. I’m very smart. Dude is a beast. Yeah. It's been kind of surreal showing up at the local xc and cx races this year and lining up next to him. Although Sam Schultz used to show up to them too. I wonder if Caleb Schwartz will show up to next week's race. He appears to be in town for a bit.
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Nov 6, 2021 19:00
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Another wednesday - slightly dark. We're down to the last two races, at a golf course again. A different one though, the university course which is right in town kind of up against a mountain. While being mostly flat it did let use use part of the hillside for a big runup. The cycling house was the sponsor for the night, so Owen and Brendan came and helped me set up the course, which saved a lot of time, plus they covered the bar tab and brought prizes, including $50 for a first lap prime in every category. Being after the time change, we moved the start time up to 5. With sunset being at 5:08. I put a light on my bike and off we went into some light snow. The start was fast due to that first lap prime and I was on the outside of the first turn which put me back and chasing a little. I'm sprinting down this cart path with my heartrate almost pegged like 30s into the race trying to catch onto this group of like 6-7 wondering wtf is going on. Jake was behind me and said he had the same feeling. I latched on as we hit the off camber then didn't ride it smoothly and was chasing again. But I got onto Cory, Brian, and Shaun while Howard, Dan, and Toby rode away. Especially Howard and Dan. Toby actually stayed in sight at one point I wondered if we might catch him.  Things chilled out a bit once that prime was out of reach and Garrett, Jake, and Alex and Elliot, both juniors I coach at nica, caught up, making us a pretty big group. Next lap on the off camber Cory takes the high line and I go low, and then he slides down into my line and forces me off my bike so I run the whole rest of the thing, again losing spaces and having to close down a gap. Then Jake takes the front before the runup and gets a little space on us with Garrett so we're all chasing, but I'm trying to be patient and letting Cory do the work. These are long laps by the way- over 8 min for us and we only did 4. Then on the off camber Garrett goes down while leading and Jake piles into him, Cory, I, Alex, and maybe Brian go by. I go to the front before the runup because I felt like Cory and Brian were going too slow around the sharp downhill corners after it, and Alex and I get a gap that Cory has to chase down. Then I turn on my light because it's getting pretty dark and the three of us go into the last lap. Cory gets back up and leads for the first part of the lap. I consider turning off my light to make him think he dropped me. He puts in a good push up to the top of the off camber and then again on the slight uphill cart path after it, but I can follow it and Alex is back there too. Then he blows the next corner around some trees, I come through on the inside, and things are on the other foot as I put in an effort up the long grass drag over to the runup. But Cory's still there and comes back around me before the barrier that forces the run.. But I out run him to the top and am clear of both of them going back down the hill. We're almost there and I seem to have a nice gap to Alex too but he closes down right before the finish, gets around me into a lapped rider, and beats me at the line. I guess I should have been pedaling harder there but nice ride by him.  I chose a loaf of fancy bread from the prize table. Course got a little slippery but was mostly on grass and gravel or paved path so I went up a bit with my pressures, to 28/31. Seemed to work ok and probably came down a bit riding in the wet, cold grass. I felt good, was able to get that little extra effort out, probably because the course setup went faster and easier. Sometimes I struggle to get my HR over threshold (LTHR for me is 171ish) but I managed to hold a higher average and touch 175 a couple times, signs I was just a little bit fresher than usual. Last weekend I rode quite a bit but just for fun on the MTB. Casual spin Monday, then a quick zwift ride tues for some openers where I put down some decent numbers up a short climb. Could have used a little more warmup and felt that at the start, but good race, was happy about it even after getting beat by a junior at the line. My fault for relaxing a bit in the last like 500m. jamal fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 18:18
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Week 9 - we're done now? Last week wound up being a really long lap so we shortened it up a bit, getting rid of a big loop around the far side of the course that was mostly on cart path and then some slow uphill grass for like 400 yards. Instead it was right over to the runup after the off camber. This made the laps a more reasonable length and we did 6 of them for a 40min race. It also snowed a bit tuesday night and was fairly cold. off camber  you climb up the ridge of that little hill, then go down the side, back up, back down, back up, and off the other end. Kind of had to pick your way across it with a foot out although it doesn't look so bad in that picture.  I took this today, yesterday during the race it was covered in snow. The barrier forces the run, unless you're Howard, and then there's that other barrier up there too that makes you run again to a little road above those trees. it's a long way. Maybe you think of remounting in between. I rode the middle once last week and then just ran it the whole way every time this week. It didn't seem to make a difference on time and running the flat was probably easier than remounting, accelerating, dismounting. Had a few new additions to the A field this time - Caleb Swartz, a pretty fast pro, and Max, the kid who won the butte 100. At the start Caleb had a huge gap in like the first 30 seconds and Howard was kind of blocked in. Caleb sat up and let us all kind of regroup then Howard hit the run up first, hopping both barriers and riding it, then at the next downhill turn Caleb was pulled off with a mechanical and DNF'd. Would have been interesting to see how that shook out. Howard was beating him at the XC races this spring but Caleb is in pretty good shape right now and has some pretty good results this season. Dan and Max I think stayed together most of the race in 2nd and 3rd, then there was Toby, then Cory and I got away from the usual group and were in our own race. Toby actually sat up and seemed to be waiting for us, then crashed on the off camber (glad I took the high line that time), then quit. The middle couple laps we were kind of just riding together, then with 2 to go, I got space on Cory on the runup and was away for a good while but he got back up to me at the start of the last lap, then came through with his own attack that I managed to follow. I was pretty cooked going into the runup and so the best I could do was stay with him just in time for a little bit of a rest back down. Except my shoes wouldn't go into the pedals because they were all iced up, and he got a gap. Not far from there to the end and mostly downhill, and I couldn't catch back up. Kind of same as last week but reversed. He got 4th, I got 5th. We were really close on series points and if I'd beat him I think I would have gotten 3rd overall (and a prize). Didn't feel as good this week I think because of a shitload of walking tuesday and wed working on the course. Last week I had more help and a golf cart to use, this week no cart and the fairly slight changes took longer than I expected plus the wind monday night ripped up most of the tape. Max HR was 172, on the last lap at the top of the runup it only hit 171 and that was going as hard as I could. I also wasn't happy with how I was taking some of the corners. There was a really fast right after a downhill that I never seemed to take right, and I wasn't really great at the downhill switchbacks this time either. Last week I felt like I was getting through those spots faster than Cory but not so much this week. Anyhow, fun season. I have good fitness but am probably done racing cross for the year. Put out some good numbers on my openers ride on the trainer tues night, like tied my best 20min power with a pretty low avg hr. We start a zwift series next week so I guess I have that. I've been joking that we should just keep racing cross outside until there's too much snow. jamal fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Nov 19, 2021 |
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Nov 19, 2021 01:39
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Yeah he was 10th at pan ams, be cool if he does well at nats. We have a good number of locals out there with our new jr dev team. I think Ellen and Gilly will have a good race in 15-16 girls. Elsa's in the UCI jr category, Ivan will try to put together a decent U23 race. here's one from that last race 
jamal fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Dec 11, 2021 |
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Dec 10, 2021 20:40
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We've had some local zwift racing going on lately but this weekend was the start of actual outside racing in mt. Saturday was a gravel race in polson but it, uh, didn't last very long. Few miles in we're still neutral, going along this canal on double track. Guy gets on the wrong side of a rut, goes over the bars, lands on his head. Thankfully our little lead group heard about it and went back when no one else was coming because a local er doctor was with us. They had to do CPR and thankfully the ambulance showed up pretty quickly. After we went back to the start we hear encouraging news that he was up and talking and asking about picking up his truck. But apparently he has a brain stem injury and it's not looking good. Some people went and rode a bit but I just headed home. We put on a crit yesterday and there was coursework to be done so I stopped to check on progress and help. But no one was there and nothing was done. Well not nothing, we had spent the last few days sweeping and putting up no parking signs and stuff, but all the course markings still needed to get put out there. Went and borrowed a pickup, spent a few hours moving all the cones and road closure signs into place, then went into the brewery and drank some beers. Guys showed up at like 630 but there wasn't much left to do. Also as much as I dislike leaf blowers they work really good for cleaning up corners. None of those streets had been swept by the city yet so we had to do it all ourselves. About that crit, we're doing a four race series, two crits, two road races, on sundays. We start with a clinic, then a beginner race, then experienced women, experienced men. 4 corners, around the block at a brewery, finish on a slight uphill. Better turnout for the last few local crits and our men's field had like 25 starters. I kind of forgot how to ride fast in a group and around corners and spent the first few laps struggling in the back half of the field and then some attacks went and there was a break of 5 up the road with basically all the fastest guys. The rest of the field was still a poo poo show with some people trying to get a rotation established and others refusing to work and the leaders were getting farther away, so one lap up the climb I went up the side. Things were a little strung out and Brian was at the front so I said lets go and there were the two of us. We got the gap down to like 10-15s at one point but those guys were all working together and it started creeping back up. And I was dying. We eased up the last couple laps and I beat Brian for 6th even though I though he was mostly going easy on me toward the end. Next week I should probably stay farther up and pay more attention. And there were some people in the "experienced race" who probably shouldn't have been there. Also wasn't feeling all the way the probably in part after what happened the day before plus a lack of sleep and no warmup and a lot of walking pre-race. HR only hit 172 which is a good sign I'm not at my best. I felt really bad the rest of the day and went to bed at like 9pm. 
jamal fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Mar 28, 2022 |
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Mar 28, 2022 18:14
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Crit #2 today. I showed up at around 730 to setup the course, moved all the cones in position, set up the road closed signs, put up a bit of tape, got out a broom and swept off little bits of stray gravel. Didn't need to coach the clinic and then course marshalled the first two races. And ate a couple scones and a pb sandwich. I kind of forgot to eat last week. Women's race ended and I had just enough time to use the bathroom and change and go to the start line. It was fast right from the start and I made sure to stay a little closer to the front and found myself doing a lot of work, pulling, chasing the potential break when some fast guys got a little gap, then things eased up a bit. I pulled through on the finish hill and found myself alone. OK guess I'm out here now. 6 to go? 5, 4, 3. Gap still pretty solid. Am I going to make it? 2 to go, oh poo poo they're getting closer. 1 to go, I still have a gap but they're right there. It widens a bit through turns 2 and 3. I make it to the last turn. Start sprinting up the hill. Top 3 from last week get past me in the last 50m. So close but so far.    there's even video of me losing https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb6c6ZQL76g/ jamal fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Apr 4, 2022 |
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Apr 4, 2022 05:03
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Looks like 27-28mph into the last corner and then 25 up the hill. not fast enough though.
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Apr 4, 2022 16:05
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Did a 3 day gravel event, the Montana Gravel Challenge. But also I worked at it and did all the course marking and stuff so that made everything quite a bit harder. Day one was a 15mi out and back TT, on dirt. But pretty smooth dirt so I took the road bike with some fresh tubeless GP5000s. I started last after working all day, and then immediately got a pinch flat on the first descent on the roughest part of the course. It sealed but I had to stop and add air, which was made more complicated due to my skin suit with no pockets. Thankfully I did bring a tube and co2, but strapped to my saddle rails so I had to unwrap everything and get the co2 out and then wrap it all back up since I couldn't just shove it all in a pocket. The other days I did keep a co2 and a plug kit handy in my pocket. So that put me a solid 3-4 min off the top of the leaderboard and I didn't particularly feel that great, but looking at the strava segments along the course I was 2nd to the top of the first hill and then tied for 3rd on part of the return so that made me feel slightly better. 15/40 with the flat, I probably would have been in the top 5 otherwise. Then after cleaning up and rearranging course signs I went home and got everything ready for the next day and barely got any sleep. Day 2 was the longest one and the most complicated course, making a ~55mi loop and going down this rough dirt road along the river. I was pretty worried about this section and decided the 40mm vittoria terreno zero slicks weren't the right idea after my experiences getting little cuts on basically nothing the week before. I went with my G-one Rs, and then put in vittoria inserts and that new fancy silca sealant. I didn't get a flat, but also couldn't hang with the lead group and got dropped on the 2nd short climb on the dirt road section. I got into the next group and we just kept going by people with flats and losing people. I hit some poo poo really hard at high speed and the inserts seemed to do the job. I managed to get 11th out of 50 guys in the "competitive" category (there was also recreation class), but felt pretty bad the whole time and then had to wait around for sweep and set up the Sunday course. I went home exhausted and feeling terrible and kind of decided to not even race the 3rd day but was home early enough to lay on the couch for awhile, get everything organized the next day, and then sleep for like 8 hours almost probably. Vs about 4 the night before. So I felt a little better the next morning and did race. This time we did our traditional "road" circuit out there, which is part dirt. But it's still more of a road race so I took that bike and once I got through the rough part that caused friday's flat in the huge bunch going really fast I was happy to be on it. Not a very exciting race, 4 10 mile laps plus the lead in with a little climb on dirt at the end of each one. But we kept a group of 20+ together and I was not all that interested in trying to get a break going and just kind of chilled out. Too far back at the base of the final climb and watch the sprint go away, wound up 8th? But didn't feel quite as lovely as saturday and then we were cleaned up and out of there fairly early in the day. So yeah anyway I'm tired and working at these things means I'm not exactly "racing." Plus I feel like after a pretty good start to the season over the winter on zwift I haven't been doing poo poo to train for the last month or two. Two weeks we have our first friday XC race out of 6 and then a road race that weekend. jamal fucked around with this message at 15:38 on May 5, 2022 |
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May 2, 2022 22:54
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Busy week last week. Our friday night XC series started and we had a road race. Monday and tuesday I had to build part of a new connector to the finish line since our flyover got torn down by the city. The nice easy part through the grass was scratched out by some high school kids and then Shaun was like "hey can you finish this?" So yeah I spent two days cutting out roots and making a little berm transition from the old trail to the new one. I probably need to widen it out and cut it a little lower before the pro xc but it rides fairly well as is. Also I bought an axe.  (and that rogue HR70) So that got done, then I did some riding afterward both days and got some video for the new pro xc course descent, which uses one of our new trails. Need to re-do one with the chest mount and also go faster. I got a good run in and then there was a blotch of some sort on the lens so I only have handlebar view of before i finished the trail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6rFvzH1zug With that done I worked a few days and coached some kids and went on a few rides and then it was back to marshall all day friday to set up the race course and then race. Well, two race courses because there's a cat 3/party class/kids race that is shorter and doesn't do the last part of that descent through the steep switchbacks. It looks fairly tame on the video but scares me a bit every time. Especially the bottom. So anyway I spent my warmup up sort of riding but also moving course tape around and then off we went. Dan set the pace and we had a small group right away. Like 10 of us in the first 5 minutes and then I'm not there anymore, Ben and Jake are a bit ahead of me, Ian is behind me. Ian passes me at the top of the first lap and then I can see him and Robert for awhile together and then Ian leaves Rob behind too. I was a little disappointed to not be able to hang with Ben but he's having a pretty good year and did win that crit awhile back. But also my HR wouldn't go over 160 until I got to the top of the first lap. Which, is like maybe just getting to the start of Z4. So fatigue from the week and course setup and no warmup I suppose. Next 2 laps I actually felt better and 3rd lap was reasonably ok. I caught Robert at the end of the descent and raced him down the dual slalom, but couldn't get by him on the finish straight. Also I bought a new helmet and glasses  Bike is lighter than it's ever been but still feels a bit sluggish on those climbs, especially if I leave the suspension open, and the fit 4 is more annoying to reach down and unlock. It kind of sticks due to hydraulic pressure on the mechanism I suppose. The 2.35 racing ray/ralph combo seems to roll and grip well enough but are heavier and narrower than listed and expensive. I think I'll go back to vittorias or try aspens or thunder berts or some other really light and flimsy tire. Still trying to get an XC hardtail, ideally an orbea alma but that new cannondale is another option and then maybe some treks later this year. https://www.strava.com/activities/7138360018 This is getting long enough and I'm tired so road race recap tomorrow or something. jamal fucked around with this message at 04:26 on May 29, 2022 |
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May 17, 2022 05:37
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After friday XC I don't get to just chill out, drink a beer and go home. because there's a bunch of race poo poo every where and tape and stakes blocking off parts of public trails, although I leave a pass through in most spots and try to be pretty minimal with the marking. So after changing I got in the mule and went driving around to clean up. Ben thought I looked hilarious and stopped me to take a picture. So that turned into a bit of a late night then i worked the next day and had to do laundry and go for a quick spin and get all my poo poo and the road signs sorted out. Sunday morning I went and put up all the signs and set up the turnaround and swept some rocks off the descent and spraypainted a couple potholes then got to the start area a little after 10. Race start 11. Registered, changed, had some snacks, and it was time to go. No warmup, but I feel like that's less important in a 3hr road race. 64mi (well, 62 something because we started and finished slightly farther away from where I started counting), and oh poo poo there are a lot of people for a montana road race- like 50 in the men's field but all cats started together. Some fast guys. Andrew. rides for team california but is from here. Gabe, rides for aevolo. Ian, who won that gravel race last year and is also riding for a real team. Max, winner of butte 100. Jake and Ben and Dan. Kevin, 3 time state champ. Some msu racers, a fast guy from the flathead. gently caress me how am I ever going to make it over the climb with these guys? The course this time did the 15mi rolling frontage road first, then climb, descent down other side a bit before turnaround, and back. We always do the climb section but the order changes a bit. One year it was frontage road out and back first, then climb out and back, with finish being like a mile from the bottom. The climb being so early in the race makes me a bit nervous. Last year it was early and the field was small and my whole day was suffering with 2 other guys. Andrew went off the front before the climb and then Gabe didn't hammer it and gently caress us all up so I was able to stick with the lead group and about 10 of us made it over. We still went pretty fast and I got the kom on the strava segment so that's fun. I felt actually good. Friday 160bpm was basically me dying, I was doing that at the start of the steep part of the climb thinking "this isn't so bad." Then I hit 175 at the top which is actually into my Z5. The way down the other side is basically false flat and we were flying with a slight tailwind. Like 30+ to the turnaround and then we saw Andrew was right there and the fast guys started pedaling hard. "What in the gently caress?" is going through my mind. This is unsustainable. Jake and Dan get popped. Ben, their team mate, ignores them. Me, Ben, and another guy are dangling and I give up. They keep chasing, get on, and then I get with Dan and Jake and we're riding a more reasonable pace. Group catches Andrew, slows down a bit, we get closer, then they start attacking the steeper rise to the top. That drops a few more guys off the group including Ben which is good since we're the only cat 3s up here and it's state champs. The lead group is the 5 really fast guys - Gabe, Ian, Andrew, Kevin, Max, then there are 6 of us together on the way back along the frontage road. There's a headwind, and some rollers that you can consider actual climbs, but no one is really trying to do much. Dan sets a solid pace up one of the bigger ones and Ben starts making bad noises, so then Jake and Dan are going a little easier, Ben is skipping pulls and sitting on my wheel and this reminds me to save something for the finish. I'm telling Dan and Jake they should attack the other two guys but Ben is like "please don't." So I really should have been more aggressive here. I guess I just wasn't all that confident after Friday night and was happy enough to be in that group and have made it over the climb. So instead of attacking and trying to drop Ben or something along those lines we all just went to the sprint together and he beat me, because of course, he's actually a pretty good sprinter and won that last crit. So 2nd again. Hilariously everyone else in our group was a 4/5 because it's montana road racing. No pictures of racing that I've found but here's a podium picture  https://www.strava.com/activities/7149139145 jamal fucked around with this message at 06:20 on May 18, 2022 |
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May 17, 2022 17:56
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Friday XC 2. Oh, maybe not. Forecast for this afternoon was cold and rain and maybe thunderstorms. I figured it was too cold for t-storms and went about my course setup starting at about noon. A guy is nice enough to let us borrow his utility truck, a kawasaki mule. It has some sort of an electrical drain/charging problem that I need to figure out because if you don't put it on the trickle charger it will die after about a day and a half of use. I barely made it down from setup and our medical people and course marshalls use it during the race so I was expecting to have to drive up there and jump start it to get them back down (but I didn't). Here it is in it's natural environment  All I need is that thing, stakes, tape, a hammer, snacks, and diet coke and you'll have a race course. I got things set up before 4 and the kids, party class, and cat 3 race starts at 4:30. We have a different course for them which goes back on itself at the bottom so I had to move tape around during the race. I got changed and all ready to race and rode "sweep." adjusting the course as I went and also getting in some sort of a warm up. Last week I did not really get to warm up which is not ideal in a race that starts in an uphill sprint. It was still dry and actually kind of sunny but I put on rain pants, shoe covers, and a good jacket because I only brought one kit and wanted it to be dryish for the race start and some unpleasant looking clouds seemed to be approaching. Pretty much right away I run into a crying child walking himself down, so I got him to the bottom and then went back up. I see some other kid who has given up and is coming down the road and he gets the speed wobbles and almost eats poo poo as I'm yelling at him "BRAKES!" but he pulls it together. I catch the last two people out there, a lady with her son, and send them on a shortcut down. Then it starts snowing on me. Or maybe sleeting is the better term. My garmin says it was 37f. I'm hearing on the radio that someone crashed and we're not sure where so I do a little looking and talk to some course marshalls but she turned up at the bottom and was fine. I head to where the 6pm race course splits and goes down the harder descent, wait for the last racers in the rain, adjust all the tape, and head back to the bottom. I went down the A descent and it was getting slippery. Drop pressure to 19f/21r, for normal trail riding I do 21/23. Take off my mostly waterproof cycling jacket that is completely soaked and exchange it for gore-tex and change gloves. I brought a lot of gloves and socks and also real boots plus my regular shoes and another jacket to possibly race in. I'm still mostly dry at least and we all stand around under tents and awnings waiting for the start. But it's cold as gently caress, raining hard, and snowing at the top, so we cancelled it. After about 45min the rain let up a bit so I changed and then went and cleaned all the poo poo up. It wasn't all that nice at the top of the course.  Racing in that would have sucked and probably would have trashed my chain and brake pads and rotors so maybe it's for the best. Probably going to helena to race on Sunday, the weather forecast is better. jamal fucked around with this message at 05:29 on May 21, 2022 |
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May 21, 2022 05:04
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Oh hi it's me again because I went to a race today. Scratchgravel XC in Helena, mt, the first mtb race I ever did. I seem to go about every 4 years. That was 2014 and the last time i went was 2018. It's uh... not an exciting course, with a whole bunch of doubletrack. But it's out in the open and south facing and so it's good for an early season race and also beginners. At the same time, while being non-technical, you hit pretty insane speeds on the old roads out there. My max speed appears to have been 40.4mph and I was tucked going into a loose hairpin and then braking as hard as I could at the last minute. The first lap I kind of missed that turn... Start was up a steep, loose doubletrack that is only about 4 people wide. The kids lined up on the front row then it was us old guys behind them. Max gets a gap in like the first 50 yards then it's Sean on our jr team and I think another kid from Butte, then me, some guy I don't know, Matt and Joel from Kalispell, Alan from bozeman, and I'm not sure who else. I think 1/2 men and women and masters all started together. You're on this mostly uphill rolling double track for the first 2-3min and then you hit steep, short climb to the high point of the course. At this point things are already strung out. I'm no longer on any wheels and there's a pretty big gap behind me. There's a short singletrack descent with a huge, high speed g-out that the hei hei handled nicely, little singletrack climb, the insanely fast road descent, climb back up to where you were, go across a road that's generally downhill and also fast, do a little singletrack out and back, then back over to the finish on road. After missing that fast turn and then not being exactly sure where I was going through two intersections on the road across, Matt caught me and I let him by at the turn and then he got a little gap on me. My first lap of 4 was like 22:30. Matt was a little ahead of me, Alan and Joel were back there somewhere, and it stayed that way for another hour until the end. Except one of the jrs up front had some sort of an issue and stopped for awhile and then finished slowly and the guy I didn't know apparently took some wrong turns and was DQ'd. Max won, then Sean and Matt, making me 4th. If I hadn't hosed up on the first lap maybe I could have stuck with Matt but he was going pretty quick out there. Hei Hei was too much bike and I didn't like lugging that extra 5lbs and squishy suspension around. I felt like the suspension was closed most of the lap and a hardtail on really flimsy tires would have been ideal. Dear orbea or cannondale or trek please get me a bike. I was reasonably fresh going into this one and actually maintained a highish heartrate and laps 2-4 were almost identical times although I eased off a bit at the end because no one was around me. Drank one bottle with about 150-200cal of tailwind but was pretty much out on the last lap, but I didn't feel like picking my 2nd bottle up off the ground. Also had maybe 6-7 shot blocks and a gel, and some candy before the start. So probably enough calories but maybe a little more water would have been nice. Also despite complaining about my bike my laps were mostly faster than last time when I only did 3, and I was pretty fast in 2018. jamal fucked around with this message at 05:06 on May 28, 2022 |
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May 23, 2022 04:12
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Friday night right now means XC, or, maybe not. After the 2nd week was rained out we had last week off too because of the long weekend. This week was something a little different, an event called the Mullet, which we've had a few times now. You get a partner, one person climbs to the top of the mountain, and the other descends. Results are done by overall time with a scale factor for the downhill. There's a start gate for the way down and the runs are spaced out but the uphill is a mass start race to the top. With a Le Mans start for some reason. In previous iterations there were party and business classes, along with male, female, coed categories. Party class meant you had to drink a beer before you could cross the finish mats, but we stopped doing that. Anyhow, I got there a little early because the setup involved a bit more work. I got the downhill finish chute built in the grass above the lodge while I waited for our timing guy to show up. Then we both went up to the top. We needed a finish line and timing mat for the uphill riders, and then there were two downhill options because the main downhill course is actually pretty hard and scary and there are kids and stuff so there's B descent that goes down a different trail but everyone needed to cross the same start mat. And then the mats had to be cordoned off so that no one went near them waiting to go. Then I brought Cory back down and went around marking the rest of the courses. I was done with that at about 4. Being called the mullet, there's a bit of a costume theme and an award for "best style." I haven't gotten a haircut since the before times so this seemed like a good opportunity. I planned to go to an actual haircut place but apparently you can't just walk into cost cutters at 10am on a friday because it was a 3 hour wait. So I sent Andy a text and he brought clippers and shaved the sides of my head in the parking lot before the race start. I didn't even really get a chance to look at it until I got home but I knew it looked good because he was apologizing the whole time. I also had a sweet molson canadian tank top and some short shorts and my blue mirrored 100%s and a pretty greasy moustache. I'm counting like 120 total teams which made the lemans start pretty hectic. But I made it to my bike, had a clean remount after a little bit of shouldering and bumping into other racers, and was top 10 at the bottom of the climb. I could see Dan, the juniors, Rob, Toby ahead of me, you know, the usual fast guys. The route up was fairly round about, taking most of the pro xc course up and around, then some road climb, a bit of a traverse, a trail climb, then road to the very top, which gets annoyingly steep at the end. Kory went by me and as usual was pedaling harder than I could handle. Jake also came by but I jumped on his wheel. Myke, on a gravel bike passed us as did some other guy I didn't know. Jake had spent a week in Minnesota drinking beer or something and was a little off, and I got by him when we hit the road and almost caught unknown guy by the top. I think I was 9th. Huge crowd up there, what with all the uphill finishers arriving and another 100 people still waiting for their turn to descend. I went to the bottom to go and keep an eye on things and then some thunderstorms rolled in. We were all huddled in the lodge, Shaun sent the last 20 or so riders down together, and we waited it out. Things cleared up and no one got struck by lightning and the party got back going. Band, beer, food trucks, etc. Except my wallet was in my car which I loaned to the medical people to drive up the course because the mule battery died. I think they were glad to have it on the drive back down in a thunderstorm. So I didn't really eat except for a hot dog from Andy, who had brought a grill and a whole mechanic setup and tent as well from our shop. Started cleaning up the base, awards started, and realized I had to get over there and take off my rain gear for the style contest, which was a crowd-based judgement deal. I think taking off my hat and cracking a beer one handed at the same time put me over the top and I won that contest which is cool because I get my name on a trophy, and also have a real terrible haircut that I'll probably keep for the pro xc next week. I'm sure Ryan Standish will love it. Then our team got maybe 5th, but maybe 6-7th overall. There were some issues with people not checking in and a few lost timing chips so results were not completely accurate last I checked. jamal fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Jun 5, 2022 |
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Jun 4, 2022 16:31
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Seeing surprisingly few pictures out so far. I had my phone with and took a couple at the start.  and found a few on strava  yeah I'm in this one. Arthur I think was voted 2nd in the style contest and then he and Sean won overall 
jamal fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jun 5, 2022 |
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Jun 5, 2022 04:32
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