Yesterday i had the opportunity to take part in the first Mn Mtb Series race of 2010. leaving my moms place in Plymouth the weather was looking bad. when i got to Salem hills is was sprinkling. that sprinkling quickly turned into a thunder and lightning storm. the sport class race was delayed and hour and a half, and they ran a short lap to take less time. this is one time im glad to be a comp rider. the sport rides had a hell of a race as i saw many torn derailleurs and other mechanical s due to the mud.
by the time my race started at 2:30 as opposed to 1:15 the sun came out and it got hot! we raced full laps instead of sports reduced length, however we raced 3 laps instead of 4. this year the series decided to run all single speeders in the first wave. this was awesome. for once i was able to get a good start and race my race instead of getting stuck behind the slower geared riders. Aaron Peterson and i played cat and mouse for the first two laps. on the 3rd lap i caught and dropped him. he finished 33.4 seconds behind me taking second place in comp single speed. that means i took 1st!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Butt Hill Thursdays
after years of vowing to never race at Butt Hill ever again when i completed my high school slalom days i went back on thrusday and took apart of the 1st 2010 Butt Hill thursday night mtb race put on by penncycle.
the race was an absolute shit show, it was muddy, sloppy, and absolutely amazing. i took 28th out of a field of 62 men. not too bad, i felt as if i could have gone faster, but i constantly got stuck behind riders with poor bike handling skills, or people with the inability to clear technical climbs. i finished in a time of 59.01 and apparently my name is now Wentz instead of Werts, but oh well guess you cant set you hopes too high for the Penn Boys to get shit right...
click me for results
after the race i met Joshua Collins of the singular race team, and got to geek out about his Singualr Gryphon drop bar specific 29er. the bike was awesome. fit me incredibly well, and the lever position with the drop bars was nice and low, something hard to get on a 29er. i loved it and i need one.
the race was an absolute shit show, it was muddy, sloppy, and absolutely amazing. i took 28th out of a field of 62 men. not too bad, i felt as if i could have gone faster, but i constantly got stuck behind riders with poor bike handling skills, or people with the inability to clear technical climbs. i finished in a time of 59.01 and apparently my name is now Wentz instead of Werts, but oh well guess you cant set you hopes too high for the Penn Boys to get shit right...
click me for results
after the race i met Joshua Collins of the singular race team, and got to geek out about his Singualr Gryphon drop bar specific 29er. the bike was awesome. fit me incredibly well, and the lever position with the drop bars was nice and low, something hard to get on a 29er. i loved it and i need one.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sandwich 50 recap
This past weekend i drove out to Rochester for a few days of racing riding and getting dirty. i stayed and raced with drew wilson. I got to Rochester late saturday night. i had hopes of being able to ride the course on Saturday, so i could learn the course and select a proper gear ratio for my single speed. However i could not get work off, so after a long day of work, i headed to Rochester. Saturday night we hung out in the garage and got our bikes and nutrition prepped for Sunday. Sunday morning we made a quick trip over to Perkins for some potato pancakes then headed over to Eastwood. The race enviroment was very relaxed when we showed up. Racers where hanging out and joking with each other. I knew it was going to be a good day.
Shortly after we arrived the race kicked off with a Le-mans Start to the Bicycles, then it was a quick prolog before heading into the single track. I had a very good first lap, the course was quite wet, however i was having no issues getting traction, and my 32x18 gear selection turned out to be perfect for the trail. racers settled into pace quite quickly, and i found my self riding at a very managable pace. i turned out a 44 min first lap. It was about a mile into my second lap that things went down hill for me, as i was just riding along, my front brake pads fell out of my caliper. i did a second 44 min lap with just a rear brake. the going was tough, and down hills were slow and frustrating. but i was able to complete the lap in good time. i got back to the base area and asked if anyone had any pads. no one did. turns out drew had some in his truck but i didnt find out till after the fact. i proceded to move my rear caliper to the front of my bike and rode another 4 laps with just my front brake.
The going was tough but it was managable with just a front brake, however i quickly became fatigued as i lost almost all of my hand strength in my left hand. managing just a front brake for 36 miles wears you out quickly. Thankfully Ron was camped out half way and kept me going with positive encouragement, bacon, and Hams Special Premium beer. i truly could not have done it with our rons kind words and positive attitude. he really kept me going. the beginning of my 6th lap i got my second wind after bonking hard during laps 4 and 5. i picked up the pace and didnt even stop for beer or bacon as i was feeling great. with about a half lap to go, i snapped my chain powering up a climb. i felt completely broken at this point. i was ready to give up. i walked back to camp and was told that if i fixed it i could go back to the point of the mechanical and resume my lap. it was at this point that some other racer kindly offered my his jamis full suspension to complete the race on. i finished almost dead last. But i felt awesome. i had never ridden a length like this before. 50 miles in 6hrs and 15 min. not too shabby for my first race of the season. i was awarded a wonderful prize of the Soppranos Box Set on VHS, sadly i left it in rochester with drew.
after a few hours of rest Drew and i rode down town for a few beers. we ended up logging a 60 mile day. on Monday Luke Boenish came over from mankato and we rode Stagecoach, Luke killed the downhill on his Kona, and i had the worst ride of my life. physically i felt great, but i had no strenght or energy, simple tasks like poping up and over downed logs were killilng me. i quickly became frustrated and fatigued. i crashed harder and more often in the recovery ride than i did during the race.i got to the point were i gave up on biking, i couldnt do it anymore. In all it was about a 70 mile weekend for me. by far the most i have every ridden off road in such a short time period. after a few days of recovery my body is still on the fritz, im still not as stong as i was. but i know now what i need to do to complete a race of that lenght. Im really looking forward to the Minnesota mountain bike series this summer. after this weekend i know that the Minnesota races will be a breeze both physically and mentally for me.
Shortly after we arrived the race kicked off with a Le-mans Start to the Bicycles, then it was a quick prolog before heading into the single track. I had a very good first lap, the course was quite wet, however i was having no issues getting traction, and my 32x18 gear selection turned out to be perfect for the trail. racers settled into pace quite quickly, and i found my self riding at a very managable pace. i turned out a 44 min first lap. It was about a mile into my second lap that things went down hill for me, as i was just riding along, my front brake pads fell out of my caliper. i did a second 44 min lap with just a rear brake. the going was tough, and down hills were slow and frustrating. but i was able to complete the lap in good time. i got back to the base area and asked if anyone had any pads. no one did. turns out drew had some in his truck but i didnt find out till after the fact. i proceded to move my rear caliper to the front of my bike and rode another 4 laps with just my front brake.
The going was tough but it was managable with just a front brake, however i quickly became fatigued as i lost almost all of my hand strength in my left hand. managing just a front brake for 36 miles wears you out quickly. Thankfully Ron was camped out half way and kept me going with positive encouragement, bacon, and Hams Special Premium beer. i truly could not have done it with our rons kind words and positive attitude. he really kept me going. the beginning of my 6th lap i got my second wind after bonking hard during laps 4 and 5. i picked up the pace and didnt even stop for beer or bacon as i was feeling great. with about a half lap to go, i snapped my chain powering up a climb. i felt completely broken at this point. i was ready to give up. i walked back to camp and was told that if i fixed it i could go back to the point of the mechanical and resume my lap. it was at this point that some other racer kindly offered my his jamis full suspension to complete the race on. i finished almost dead last. But i felt awesome. i had never ridden a length like this before. 50 miles in 6hrs and 15 min. not too shabby for my first race of the season. i was awarded a wonderful prize of the Soppranos Box Set on VHS, sadly i left it in rochester with drew.
after a few hours of rest Drew and i rode down town for a few beers. we ended up logging a 60 mile day. on Monday Luke Boenish came over from mankato and we rode Stagecoach, Luke killed the downhill on his Kona, and i had the worst ride of my life. physically i felt great, but i had no strenght or energy, simple tasks like poping up and over downed logs were killilng me. i quickly became frustrated and fatigued. i crashed harder and more often in the recovery ride than i did during the race.i got to the point were i gave up on biking, i couldnt do it anymore. In all it was about a 70 mile weekend for me. by far the most i have every ridden off road in such a short time period. after a few days of recovery my body is still on the fritz, im still not as stong as i was. but i know now what i need to do to complete a race of that lenght. Im really looking forward to the Minnesota mountain bike series this summer. after this weekend i know that the Minnesota races will be a breeze both physically and mentally for me.
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