Tidewater Challenge, Foof, and Pogo Sticks.

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Sometimes everything falls into place. That is what happened this past Sunday at the Tidewater challenge in Williamsburg. I had decided to go on a whim with my new single speed bike that i had gotten two days prior, and ridden only once for an hour. Figuring that it was the single speed state championship, i might as well race single speed and see what happens.

So Kyle and i left the burg Saturday night and drove to Richmond to stay at his uncle's place. After a nice warm nights sleep we drove down to Williamsburg. Kyle was doing the 6 hour race. It was warming up and starting to look awesome out. The race is held at a horse farm with plenty of short steep climbs and roots. The dirt was tacky and brakes were no frequently used.

Shortly after the start i found myself in first place after the guy in the lead fell and i rode around him. Followed by a racer named Rob. We traded places for a few laps then i made my move. It seemed to have stuck. Feeling pretty good about things i made sure to ride fast, not to fast, and smoothly. In the last 10 minutes or so i saw Rob again, relentlessly chasing. Glad i had plenty of steam left in the engine i gave r' and came through for the win. The new bike worked flawlessly and is so sweet! Not as racy right now as my Scott, but i am a fan of the big wheels!

Prizes were awesome, especially the GIANT pogo stick. This thing can jump about 3 feet into the air, no problems. Maybe i have some resume-worthy material this year after all.

In other news, the last Blue Ridge Cup race went off in C-Ville although it didn't go terribly well for us Rocktowners. The numbers needed to pull the overall out of our hat weren't there and despite the best blocking efforts of Jeremiah, Mike, and Chris S, i couldn't hold my solo for the entire race. i was overtaken with about 1 lap to go. The green machine did prove itself and i was the second Rocktowner across the line.

Coming around with some fitness in the late season is cool, especially with no training structure and about 3 days a week of riding. Maybe some real cross' races are in the cards? First, i want to find some more mountain bike races and a costume for the six pack downhill and Halloween on Friday!

Blue Ridge Cup round #2

Yesterday was the second installment of the Blue Ridge Cup 'cross series. The Rocktown crew loads up in the white whale suburban and headed over the mountain for some backwoods racing.

The Charlottsville crowd was there in full force ready to throw down, but the Rocktown crew had the power. the first few laps started great with Jeremiah bridging the gap up to the first two racers, then i put my derailleur into the spokes again! My shot at second place quickly left and damage control mode came on. Creeping my way back from 13th, i was able to score a 10th place spot but just couldn't find my legs again after the bike broke.

Jeremiah and Mike got 1,2 again which is good and the course was more like a short track than a 'cross course which is fine by me. Rocktown was pummeled into submission by the sheer numbers of the foof.

The second part of the journey began after the 40 minute race. Mike, Andy, Jeremiah, Chris S. and myself rode home under the full moon. With temperatures in the mid 70s the ride was awesome! Lights were only necessary once in a while! We started on paved road, but we were soon in the backwoods climbing for 6 miles up a rocky, rocky, road tot he top of the Blue Ridge. Rewarded by a smooth 6 mile decent never felt so good! We killed it on the road home, partially because of Andy, who also beat me out for some KOM points. Two flats, 4 hours, and some cookies later we arrived back home, all pretty tired.

The ride over the mountain was pretty epic, like a lunch buffet at the Hut (and we saw a coyote.)

Next week! A properly tuned bike and a grassier course!

Gnarwal Part 1: The Apocalypse

So this past weekend West Virginia's favorite son came down to play in the Virginia dirt. Unfortunately it was rainy the whole weekend. That didn't stop some serious mountain bike riding. After getting lost, off our bikes, seeing one bear, and a whole lot of honey later we reached the summit of bald knob at 4125ft. Being treated to a decent decent (haha) we arrived back at the car right at nightfall. Pretty cool.

After some awesome bike repair the next morning we headed off to Massanutten and more importantly the gnarwal that was featured a few entries back in this blog. Andrew was eager to slay the beast that had called to him tauntingly in his sleep. Well, it was wet and the gnarwal got the best of us. But one day his ivory will be ours. Oh yeah, his blog has the photos of our rides, so check it out!

Hopefully in a month or so i will have a car and be visiting WV for some awesome ridez, yo.


Did a few cool rides this weekend with Matt and Ryan from work. The mud pond was fun, and i got rattled at by a snake, kind of freaked me out! The next day, Sunday, Matt and i rode some cool rockyish trails and made a good 2+ hours and 3 flats out of it, then had some real limeade from his grandparents, who own a fruit farm in FL!

I was going to ride some crazy epic stuff tomorrow, but someone enlightened me to a cross' race tomorrow night down the street. I guess i will have to try this cross' stuff out!