Sugar Mountain National!

Naionals went better than expected. The trip started on wednesday around 4pm when i left the homestead for the 700 mile trip to sugar. After stopping for pizza hut for a quick 1 hour large pizza in west virginia, i continued on my trip. Around midnight i stopped around 450 miles at beckley, wv, and slep in my car in the mall parking lot there. the drive resumed at 6am and breakfast was a leftover slice of pizza. I arrived around 2 at my aunt's house near charlotte, nc. i ate, slept and then went riding on some awesome trails around her house. After a day and a half there, it was time to ascend to the high country. I was looking foward to this, but was sure to miss the high level of pampering i receved while at my relatives house (my grandparents also live nearby.)

The trip up to high country was fine except for the cars tendency to slip out during right hand turns. This became more frustrating on the windy roads up there.

Banner elk is an awesome place. I stayed at a nice inn with a huge suite for cheaper than anything else around! I felt bad not sharing it with anyone! i went sleep to some movie with Samuel Jackson and Kevin spacey, it was pretty dramatic (haha.)

Saturday i picked up my registration packet and watched the women pro race. They were awesome. I watched it on the steep section of the climb with a very enthusiastic lady who loved 4 leaf clovers? Georgia Gould handily won the race by a and was flying the whole day.

Trying to take my mind off of the quest for semi-pro points i rode the course, then went to the local bar/restaurant for dinner. sitting at the bar, because it is what i feel is the proper thing to do when you are alone (who eats at a table of one?) i spoke with some funny southern guys, all very friendly. As i was leaving, a man seemingly from Texas wished me good luck and told me to say "howdy" to everyone up there (new york.)

Sunday went off without a hitch. I only got nervous a few hours before the race, but when it started i decided to try out the technique of taking it easy and saving a bit for the end. first place took off right away, the national champ for experts. I didn't attempt to follow but held a pace at 85% because it was enough to shred all but one rider from my wheel. The course was muddier than the day before, and the lines i had seen the pro women take were all but useless.We went back and forth, then on the 3rd lap climb, he caught up to me. I was mildly worried but held faith in my tactic. After talking to him for a while and telling him to be careful (he was guaranteed a podium if he didn't crash) we rode in silence. On the final climb i put everything i had on. A gap opened immediately and i knew if i got into the woods, the race was mine. Riding smart in the woods, i came out and finished with a 30 second gap i had opened in the last 5 minutes or so.

A few more norba races and the semi-pro is mine, and to top it off, i would have finished about 38th in the pro class out of about 60. Looking foward to the 24 hour race, which is purely for fun, and a nice late season.

Pictures to come soon.....

Howdy?!,
Chris

Corfu, overreaching and more.....

Well, my semi-weekly update of this is due. Well, racing at Corfu, on the road was fun. I was extremetly tired, and the race was suited for it. Jay Joslyn broke away, and despite my efforts to get someone chasing him, no one wanted to go. So i did some work for fitness' sake, and went about the race. It was 6 laps in a flat corse out by Darien lake with one little riser hill at the finish. So everyone more or less went easy in the laps ahead. About a mile from the finish another rider broke off. I just thought that he would be reeled in, but again, no one could or wanted to chase. So it came down to the last hill. I was out front, not wanting to be boxed in, but i was also going slow. A gentleman was to the right of me thinking the same thing. We accerated. I went harder and the guy next to me dropped back. About 15 feet from the finish 4 riders went past me. two on my left, and on rider on the right. My finish was 6th. Not bad i for how i felt that day.

After a rest day, and a light evening ride with some red door teammates, I thought i would be ready for the wednesday night race. went hard off of the start, but the same thing happened this week as last week. I was all of a sudden going slow. On the second climb, i was in second by a few feet, but i pulled off. Nationals are in 10 days, and i want to be back in shape for them. Hopefully i am not the definition of 'overtrained' and i am just a bit overreached. 4 days of rest of so could put me back. Lets hope so.
Chris

The Last Week.

Well, regionals did not go so well for me. The drive went well, fortunately the car held up great. But after driving 350 miles i set up my tent in the parking lot of the race venue in orange county, ny. The next morning was hot. About 100 degrees before the experts went off at noon. The course was about 5 miles long from my understanding, and experts had 4 laps. Beginner and sport riders had gone earlier in the morning. The semi-pro pro class went ahead of us, then the expert single speeds for some reason. The men 19-29 went off and i got into the dirt first. A guy on a trek 9.8 quickly passed me and made his escape. I floated in between second and third with another guy for the first two laps, then my seat cracked. I thought it would hold up, but at the beginning of the third lap, the seat portion left the bent rails and my bike. I had to now stand. After falling back to 5th place or so, i turned in for the day. The race would have done nothing but embarrass me with a poor finish. The drive home was pretty and uneventful. It also gave me plenty of time to think of my failure. Tonight was the first Wednesday night race. After getting off to a strong start, i started to feel a bit dizzy. Mike Loranty for Ag Edwards was catching me on the third lap. Towards the last downhill he passed me. It was a phenomenal finish, even though i expected to win. Oh well, some days are better than others. It was a solid race and a good effort on my part. I hope to shave some time off for next week.


Some pictures from the journey

BAD SEAT!

Sunburned and beat

Some cool diner




PRE RACE

The mess haha
Chris

Raccoon Rally Wrap Up

The Rally was today. Despite being sick the past week i felt ok. The race started out with a stacked field of the fastest guys around. After the mass start, everyone fell into a rhythm. The first climb to the top of the mountain wasn't anything crazy, and as i looked back from second i could see about 20 riders behind me. The pace really started to get fast after the first half of the first downhill, about 12 miles into the race, before we knew it, there were 5 riders in the group. We weren't going crazy fast, as it is really hard to lose someone on this course. Everyone sat in and bided time. I crashed down Bova ski hill while in first and fell back to 6th. Luckily nothing was broken (on the bike or me) and i caught back up to the group.The second climb, about 3.5 miles down from the 5.5 of the first lap was where the heat was turned up. Two guys broke off. A team hollyloft racer and myself bridged the gap and there were still 4 or 5 of us at this time. The last downhill took most people off, less 4 of us. Finally, the last Bova downhill i was in first, but i crashed in the same place as before! Then, the second place guy crashed in front of me, twisting his wheel sideways in the dropout. I bunny hopped over him, but the second and third place guys were right on me. Flying down the gravel road, team hollyloft passed me, i grabbed his wheel as third place came up. It was a sprint to the finish! The rider from full moon vista placed first, the hollyloft rider was second, and i was third, and it was all within a second. A good race. A big thanks to Shifting Gears Bike Shop, and Doug Bush at Endurancefactor.com they have helped me out so much.

Next up: race in the catskills.

Chris