Seems odd writing about a race five days later, but I just haven't had time. I'll keep this one short(maybe). We thought Council Bluff had missed the brunt of the snow and it would be "OK". Turned out they had several inches of wet snow. It was sure perty for the start of the race. Lots of snow still on the trees, seemed cold and was really really wet, everywhere. We didn't even warm up, how could you? I figured I had a certain amount of life in my bike and planned on conserving it.
Marathon class took off with a spray of water from the rear tires of the leaders as we sped up the campground to the entrance. We made a wrong turn and did an extra loop-de-loop and laughed. Hey it prolonged the inevitable, muck mayhem. Dwayne led us into the woods with two other riders between us. I wanted to capitalize on my heightened ability to succumb to the forces of gravity, but was unable to. Uh, I was at the mercy of 2nd and 3rd. Once we hit the main loop I was able to get by and soon caught up with Dwayne. We "rode" together for a while and chatted. It was cool making the first tracks in the snow. This don't happen too often. I was redlining and Dwayne needed to be set free. So I jumped into the lake and pleaded for him to save himself. Not really.
He rode away from me after we crossed the torn up spillway. I needed to back off. I'm pretty in tune with where I need to be when and at that time it wasn't racing with Super Dwayne. Jason Stiger was the only rider within sight when I looked back and he was making huge efforts to close the gap. I almost stopped and hid from him as it was very intimidating. About 2/3 of the way up the big climb near the halfway point of the 13 mile loop, he finally caught me. It wasn't long and he had a little gap on me, Dwayne was gone. I looked at my timer on one of the open climbs and Jason was about 40 seconds up on me, still no one behind in sight. Now it became my race. I pedaled on up the hill to start lap 2 and shed a layer exposing my perfectly clean Ghisallo jersey. At least I'll get my ass kicked in style! I figure it's like those tear away goggles for your team kit.
I didn't see another Marathoner on lap 2 and it was becoming painfully evident that I was going to have plenty of time to start a 3rd lap so I pressed on. Not knowing how many would do three laps I couldn't waste any time. I was sure at the very least Dwayne, Jason and I would have the good fortune to finish off what was left of our brakes and drivetrains. On my second and third lap I was passing some racers and getting passed by others. Those doing the passing ended up being Chris Ploch chased by Dave Breslin, 1-2 in the open experts and later Greg Sandknop, singlespeed winner, chased by John Mathews dominating the 35+ expert class. I just kept telling myself, "you're doing three laps, they should be going faster than you!" I have long conversations with myself.
Oh, one of the racers I had caught and passed was Jason Stiger. The efforts he had dished out earlier had taken their toll. I closed in on him not like a cheetah, but more like a Komodo Dragon. Here's how they hunt.
"Animals that escape the jaws of a Komodo will only feel lucky briefly. Dragon saliva teems with over 50 strains of bacteria, and within 24 hours, the stricken creature usually dies of blood poisoning. Dragons calmly follow an escapee for miles as the bacteria takes effect, using their keen sense of smell to hone in on the corpse. A dragon can eat a whopping 80 percent of its body weight in a single feeding."
X x 80% = 172lbs You fugure it out. I wonder how much Jason Stiger weighs???? Sounds like I'm in the wrong skin!
Anyway, I've been there, I felt sorry for Jason. That had to be a rough last lap. Still cool that he was guaranteed 3rd place as we were the only three that did a third lap. I just rode conservatively and finished in 2nd, 15 minutes behind Dwayne and 25 minutes ahead of Jason.
I bought a set of Hayes Stroker Trail brakes last February and still have the original pads after a lot of riding and racing last year. The bike I rode in the Rim Wrecker had a 3 week old set of the same brakes. The rear pads are down to bare metal and actually wore a grove in my rotors once the pad compound was gone. The prize money covered my entry fee, two sets of pads and a chain, that's all! Not complaining as Andy Gibbs put on a great race. It would have been really easy to call this one off.
Greg Ott, LUCKY, did two laps which was good for 8th place. Dwayne is leading the series with 48 points, I've got 2nd with 42 points and Greg is in 3rd with 30 points. It's going to be a fun year!
Marathon class took off with a spray of water from the rear tires of the leaders as we sped up the campground to the entrance. We made a wrong turn and did an extra loop-de-loop and laughed. Hey it prolonged the inevitable, muck mayhem. Dwayne led us into the woods with two other riders between us. I wanted to capitalize on my heightened ability to succumb to the forces of gravity, but was unable to. Uh, I was at the mercy of 2nd and 3rd. Once we hit the main loop I was able to get by and soon caught up with Dwayne. We "rode" together for a while and chatted. It was cool making the first tracks in the snow. This don't happen too often. I was redlining and Dwayne needed to be set free. So I jumped into the lake and pleaded for him to save himself. Not really.
He rode away from me after we crossed the torn up spillway. I needed to back off. I'm pretty in tune with where I need to be when and at that time it wasn't racing with Super Dwayne. Jason Stiger was the only rider within sight when I looked back and he was making huge efforts to close the gap. I almost stopped and hid from him as it was very intimidating. About 2/3 of the way up the big climb near the halfway point of the 13 mile loop, he finally caught me. It wasn't long and he had a little gap on me, Dwayne was gone. I looked at my timer on one of the open climbs and Jason was about 40 seconds up on me, still no one behind in sight. Now it became my race. I pedaled on up the hill to start lap 2 and shed a layer exposing my perfectly clean Ghisallo jersey. At least I'll get my ass kicked in style! I figure it's like those tear away goggles for your team kit.
I didn't see another Marathoner on lap 2 and it was becoming painfully evident that I was going to have plenty of time to start a 3rd lap so I pressed on. Not knowing how many would do three laps I couldn't waste any time. I was sure at the very least Dwayne, Jason and I would have the good fortune to finish off what was left of our brakes and drivetrains. On my second and third lap I was passing some racers and getting passed by others. Those doing the passing ended up being Chris Ploch chased by Dave Breslin, 1-2 in the open experts and later Greg Sandknop, singlespeed winner, chased by John Mathews dominating the 35+ expert class. I just kept telling myself, "you're doing three laps, they should be going faster than you!" I have long conversations with myself.
Oh, one of the racers I had caught and passed was Jason Stiger. The efforts he had dished out earlier had taken their toll. I closed in on him not like a cheetah, but more like a Komodo Dragon. Here's how they hunt.
"Animals that escape the jaws of a Komodo will only feel lucky briefly. Dragon saliva teems with over 50 strains of bacteria, and within 24 hours, the stricken creature usually dies of blood poisoning. Dragons calmly follow an escapee for miles as the bacteria takes effect, using their keen sense of smell to hone in on the corpse. A dragon can eat a whopping 80 percent of its body weight in a single feeding."X x 80% = 172lbs You fugure it out. I wonder how much Jason Stiger weighs???? Sounds like I'm in the wrong skin!
Anyway, I've been there, I felt sorry for Jason. That had to be a rough last lap. Still cool that he was guaranteed 3rd place as we were the only three that did a third lap. I just rode conservatively and finished in 2nd, 15 minutes behind Dwayne and 25 minutes ahead of Jason.
I bought a set of Hayes Stroker Trail brakes last February and still have the original pads after a lot of riding and racing last year. The bike I rode in the Rim Wrecker had a 3 week old set of the same brakes. The rear pads are down to bare metal and actually wore a grove in my rotors once the pad compound was gone. The prize money covered my entry fee, two sets of pads and a chain, that's all! Not complaining as Andy Gibbs put on a great race. It would have been really easy to call this one off.
Greg Ott, LUCKY, did two laps which was good for 8th place. Dwayne is leading the series with 48 points, I've got 2nd with 42 points and Greg is in 3rd with 30 points. It's going to be a fun year!
4 comments:
You po' bastard - 3 laps is fo' suckas!
-Casey Ryback
If I hadn't left one of my lungs out by the spillway and felt the need to retrieve it, I would have stopped and partaken in a tasty Blue. Seagal definitely took the day!
Great ride report. Almost makes me want to get fit and get one of those fancy licenses. Almost. My NRS with exotic rim brakes would DOMINATE! And my taxes are done, so I've got that going for me.
Hay Komodo dragon. I weigh 150 pounds wet, so maybe you could eat me.Just kiding.I,m not going to be able to make the castle wood race,but looking forword to columbia race.Its raining every day here in Joplin and our trails are under water and i have not been able to ride at all. Good luck to you and Dwayne.Ride hard and give em hell. Jason.
Post a Comment