"We watered it down for you last night," the awards announcer stated. He was talking about the course everyone had just suffered through at the 2008 Raccoon Rally cross country race. Rains that had fallen over the past few days had left much of the course a bit wet and muddy. The driest part of the course were the trails that stayed close to the top of the ridge.
The day started with the beginner race at 10:00 am. I'd ridden part way into the trail to watch them come through and take a few photos. A few boys from Port [Allegany] were riding in the race as well as my dad, Steve. I found a spot on a rock and within a few minutes the pack of cyclists came tearing up the muddy trail, some swerving all over in the mud. Anthony, Brian, Craig, Steve, then Kord all went by as I yelled at them. Heading back to the field at Camp Allegany, in Allegany State Park, NY, I took one more look the lines I should take through the mud.
I got some final warming up in and headed for the start banner in the field. At 10:30 the experts took off and the sport class rolled up to the start. We received the final notes on the course and took off on the air horn. I jumped off to a good start sitting in the top 10 as we exited the field onto the dirt road then tucked into the draft of 6 or 7 guys in front of me that had fallen into a pace line. At the end of the half mile dirt road, the grade kicked up, and I found myself in third. Then we turned into the trail, which was immediately a muddy mess. 2nd Place was swerving all over in the mud and I easily passed him riding a straight line up the edge of the trail. Shortly after I stepped into first place for a short period, only to be passed by two guys just before the turn onto Snowsnake trail. The first piece of down hill proved a glimpse of what was to come. The grassy 'road' was quite soft and the bike just started turn all over the trail on me. It was going to be a surfing kind of day. The down hill was short lived and soon we were going uphill. A few more guys passed me, but no one was going too fast. Rear wheels were slipping all over the place as we tried to hold traction up the hill. There were three spots on Snowsnake that forced me off the bike, the grade was just a little too much and the trail too slippery. I'd been riding a lot more than some others, though their walking wasn't much slower than riding. Finally, we re-entered the Patterson trail where I grabbed a sip of water from the water bottle my uncle Jim had taken for me. Patterson was much more solid and my speed increased significantly.
The course rolled through some small ups and downs as it cut some extra loops off the main ridge trail before joining the ridge trail just prior to dropping from the top of the hill back to the base. Going up Snowsnake I'd caught a few experts and one had caught back on and passed me. I jumped as best I could, though he opened a small lead. It was a perfect rabbit though. At some point I caught and passed him on a small uphill. He was wearing blue and white, and then I realized as I pulled away, I just dropped Adam Craig. Okay, so it wasn't really him, but it was nice to think so. The trail turned downward, and once again very muddy. The bike drifted all over the trail. Finally I came out onto the steep switchbacks on the Bova ski hill.
For lap two we would climb straight up Patterson, on what I thought would be a bit more solid from what I saw at the top on lap one. It wasn't, in fact it was pretty soft and muddy. I was also finding that all this climbing in soft muddy ground had really taken a toll on my legs, they were pretty much shot. I just kept pedaling though as the final guy to pass me, ever so slowly pulled away. I went into damage control mode, just keeping the legs turning as best I could. Thankfully at the top we cut straight across the ridge trail for lap two. I couldn't press too hard or my legs would start to enter a cramped, locked up kind of spot. So the survival spin would continue. Finally I hit the down hill and surfed the bike through the mud as fast as I could using minimal brake. I re-entered the dirt road for the final push to the field and the finish.
Rolling across the finish I was done, in every way. The mud had slowed me 30 minutes and change from last year's time, my legs had nothing left. 2 hours and 30 minutes of all out effort.
Results: (click here for the results page)
Beginner - Anthony, 1st in age group, 6th overall
- Steve, 3rd in age goup
Sport - Scott, 1st in age group, 7th overall
Expert - Pat (my cousin), 1st in Single Speed, 7th overall. He probably could have won overall had used some gears
For a few photos of Raccoons playing in the mud, click here.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Chris got bored
Chris apparently got bored, and I showed him too much about my camera, so I had lots of video of the trails at Putney. One was sort of funny, so I figured I'd share it. Youtube doesn't seem to want my videos to go live, so I reverted to Google video which had failed for me in the past. I think there is a conspiracy against me, but anyways, the video loaded successfully. You can watch it here.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Just add Water
Some days are just meant to be good. It's like you can grab a packet from your box of good days, add water, stir, and wala, you've got yourself a good day. Sunday started off great, with a super scrambled egg, cheese, and bagel sandwich. An extremely tasty breakfast. Then when Taylor arrived we found that the third bike rack would fit on his car no problem, as if there were doubts. So no worries, we could get all the bikes on top and all fit in the car without being crammed. At the last minute Jake was joining us for the ride, but we were able to pick him up and get on the road without really falling behind schedule, a big plus. I'd also been able to warn others to bring any rain gear they might have before they'd left their houses after see the radar while eating breakfast. Another plus, I don't think anyone had planned for rain. The rain looked like it should pass through the Putney, VT area before we would race though.
We arrived at the race venue in good time, but it hadn't rained as I thought it would. Yet. Shortly after registering, it began to drip, then poor. A few claps of thunder rolled in the area as well. But, about 25 minutes before our start the rain stopped and the sun came out. The only issue with a bright sun is that it heats things up and turns the recent rain water into steam. It was a bit hot and humid, now. Oh well, there was some sweet single track downhills to rip.
Using the lock out on my rear suspension I was able to get some excellent acceleration off the start. I connected with the pedals immediately and got some good pedal strokes in, taking the whole shot. A good place to be when the course turns downhill within 100 yards; a good place to be when you're not necessarily the best descender. I railed the d0wnhill pretty good though and kept things at the pace I wanted. I led for a little while, but a few guys finally slipped by. Jake, riding in the Single Speed open class (the only SS rider on the day) started with us. He'd been hot on my tail off the start. We fell into a groove together which was pretty exciting. I'm not often riding close to other people in cross country races, but riding with a friend was great. It was just like we'd decided to go out for a ride, a really fast ride. We stayed together until the start of the 3rd and final lap.
I was holding 3rd place as I started the final lap. There'd been quite a few guys from the 30-39 age group that caught me, but I hadn't seen anyone from my class in some time. Then about a third of the way through the last lap I felt some cool rain drops come down. They felt fantastic, cooling me off a lot. I began to feel even better, and got a bit excited about the cool water coming down. The rain kept coming harder and harder though, until I found myself riding through little runoff streams and completely soaked. I was still excited about it, I'd mentally prepared for rain. Then as I was clearing the longest uphill grind of the course I realized, I'd pretty much cleared all the short steep technical climbs of the course. I'd ridden them all, living up to Chris's nickname for me, spiderman. I realized those bits would be really difficult when wet, and there were likely quite a few guys still trying to work through them. That meant they would be moving even slower and therefore falling further behind. I felt pretty confident that I'd locked up 3rd place and began to really enjoy some of the downhills that I was still bombing down.
It became a little more difficult as mud and water were flying into my face. I'd put my glasses back on, but couldn't see through them so I slid them to the tip of my nose to try and block the debris from flying up into my eyes. The lack of vision didn't bother me to much though, the rain was a blast to be riding in.
I climbed the final hill and chatted with Chris as he ran along cheering me on for a short distance. 3rd Place it was. I'm feeling some condition coming into my legs and the hills went fairly well. All good things. Taylor rolled in shortly behind me in 4th. Jake, the only representative of the single speed nation finished strong and settled for a 1st place in SS open. Of course it poured the hardest as we tried to get into dry clothes at the car. That was pretty entertaining.
We stopped at the Putney co-op for some hot sandwiches and I got some chocolate milk in a great glass bottle. What could be better, milk in a glass bottle. Of course, the fun didn't end there. Some very entertaining stories rounded off the day during the car ride home.
It was a good day, but a little water changed the whole dynamic and made it a great day.
Click here for a few pictures from the day, courtesy of Chris using my camera.
We arrived at the race venue in good time, but it hadn't rained as I thought it would. Yet. Shortly after registering, it began to drip, then poor. A few claps of thunder rolled in the area as well. But, about 25 minutes before our start the rain stopped and the sun came out. The only issue with a bright sun is that it heats things up and turns the recent rain water into steam. It was a bit hot and humid, now. Oh well, there was some sweet single track downhills to rip.
Using the lock out on my rear suspension I was able to get some excellent acceleration off the start. I connected with the pedals immediately and got some good pedal strokes in, taking the whole shot. A good place to be when the course turns downhill within 100 yards; a good place to be when you're not necessarily the best descender. I railed the d0wnhill pretty good though and kept things at the pace I wanted. I led for a little while, but a few guys finally slipped by. Jake, riding in the Single Speed open class (the only SS rider on the day) started with us. He'd been hot on my tail off the start. We fell into a groove together which was pretty exciting. I'm not often riding close to other people in cross country races, but riding with a friend was great. It was just like we'd decided to go out for a ride, a really fast ride. We stayed together until the start of the 3rd and final lap.
I was holding 3rd place as I started the final lap. There'd been quite a few guys from the 30-39 age group that caught me, but I hadn't seen anyone from my class in some time. Then about a third of the way through the last lap I felt some cool rain drops come down. They felt fantastic, cooling me off a lot. I began to feel even better, and got a bit excited about the cool water coming down. The rain kept coming harder and harder though, until I found myself riding through little runoff streams and completely soaked. I was still excited about it, I'd mentally prepared for rain. Then as I was clearing the longest uphill grind of the course I realized, I'd pretty much cleared all the short steep technical climbs of the course. I'd ridden them all, living up to Chris's nickname for me, spiderman. I realized those bits would be really difficult when wet, and there were likely quite a few guys still trying to work through them. That meant they would be moving even slower and therefore falling further behind. I felt pretty confident that I'd locked up 3rd place and began to really enjoy some of the downhills that I was still bombing down.
It became a little more difficult as mud and water were flying into my face. I'd put my glasses back on, but couldn't see through them so I slid them to the tip of my nose to try and block the debris from flying up into my eyes. The lack of vision didn't bother me to much though, the rain was a blast to be riding in.
I climbed the final hill and chatted with Chris as he ran along cheering me on for a short distance. 3rd Place it was. I'm feeling some condition coming into my legs and the hills went fairly well. All good things. Taylor rolled in shortly behind me in 4th. Jake, the only representative of the single speed nation finished strong and settled for a 1st place in SS open. Of course it poured the hardest as we tried to get into dry clothes at the car. That was pretty entertaining.
We stopped at the Putney co-op for some hot sandwiches and I got some chocolate milk in a great glass bottle. What could be better, milk in a glass bottle. Of course, the fun didn't end there. Some very entertaining stories rounded off the day during the car ride home.
It was a good day, but a little water changed the whole dynamic and made it a great day.
Click here for a few pictures from the day, courtesy of Chris using my camera.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Riding in an oven
0600 hours and the temperature was 70°. Guaranteed to be a hot day. After riding the 2 miles to the Tour de Cure festival area and checking in at registration we waited for the remainder of the Sikorsky Cycling teammates to arrive. At 7:30am we began to roll on our way. The team stayed together for until the first rest stop, at which point some of us began to increase the pace. At about mile 30 I heard a nice pwang! The second spoke in less than a week had just broke, but it wasn't about to stop me today. After rest stop 2 we hit the flattest section of the ride that would last for approximately 30 miles, and we pressed the pace fairly good. The feeling of being in an oven was really really beginning to become a bit much, but I continued to take in fluid. I'd been drinking a lot, at mile 60 I'd probably drank more than I'd even drank on any particular ride. After a rest at the stop at mile 63 we continued on. A few miles later a began to drop the two club members that were still left to ride the full 100 miles. I didn't feel like I was pushing very hard, but they were falling back so I just pressed on. Then at about mile 75 the pavement oven I'd been baking on all day finally took it's toll. I'm not really sure what the temperature was during the day, but I'm going to wager a guess that with the ambient heat from the pavement it was around 100°. As we say, I sort of hit the wall. About two miles later I came upon a lengthy hill and one guy that was slowly struggling up it. I could feel my heart rate was much higher than it really should be and breathing was more difficult than usual; time to take a break. I pulled off in the shade as I noticed to guys walking their bikes just a little ways up the road. Sitting down for a while, I took in some water and rested while my teammates caught up. For the last 25 miles two of us just took it very slow and easy, resting often. We probably took more breaks in the last 20 miles than we had in the first 80, but it was also the hottest part of the day. Finally we rolled into the finishing festival and grabbed some much needed [real] food. I was completely smoked, and felt like an overcooked chicken, but managed to complete my end of the bargain.
A LARGE thank you to those who donated to this great cause. Your donations will go towards fighting a disease that affects millions of Americans. There a few pictures for you to view by clicking here. You'll probably be able to figure out which were taken near the start and which near the end but there are some captions to help. Cheers!
-Scott
A LARGE thank you to those who donated to this great cause. Your donations will go towards fighting a disease that affects millions of Americans. There a few pictures for you to view by clicking here. You'll probably be able to figure out which were taken near the start and which near the end but there are some captions to help. Cheers!
-Scott
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Broken Spokes
The shameless plug has been up for long enough now. Time to add new material.
I've no other thoughts than that darn spoke that ended my ride early this evening. I'd climbed route 42, known as holiday hill and had planned to ride up the painful mound of dirt at least once more, but I caught a rock in a funny way while looping back down the hill and the sideways shift placed enough tension on the wheel to fracture a spoke at the hub. Thus I climbed the hill only once, though I wasn't all that disappointed. I was questioning everything a mere 50 feet into the climb with my heart racing, legs burning, and no easier gears to shift to.
I've no other thoughts than that darn spoke that ended my ride early this evening. I'd climbed route 42, known as holiday hill and had planned to ride up the painful mound of dirt at least once more, but I caught a rock in a funny way while looping back down the hill and the sideways shift placed enough tension on the wheel to fracture a spoke at the hub. Thus I climbed the hill only once, though I wasn't all that disappointed. I was questioning everything a mere 50 feet into the climb with my heart racing, legs burning, and no easier gears to shift to.
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