Looking out the hotel room the morning of the race I saw some puddles and it was raining a bit as I went to bed so I just hoped for the best. The forecast was not good as it was calling for some severe thunderstorms to hit during the day. The best I could do was go fast and finish before the t-storms hit. So I got my stuff together from the Little Brown Inn, which is the best spot to stay for race day, nice and close to the start and finish and perfect for every aspect of the race. I left the room, enjoyed the mild and humid weather, and rolled towards downtown to get my warmup in and head to the line.
Promptly at 7 we went off and I was at the head of the massive peleton and worked my way to the right side and tried to stick with the fast kids. I got blocked by a few that couldn't hang on the hill but I turned it up, got around them and got to the back of the lead group and into the singletrack. I just concentrated on being smooth and consistent and picked off riders here and there and enjoyed the opening miles on that amazing place. I got stuck behind a few riders that were less than thrilled at the slick conditions. Since I raced two weekends ago in the greasy goodness that is Jungle Habitat I was fully comfortable on my small block 8's and sliding through. Conditions weren't horrible but definitely unpredictable in spots.
I blew through aid 1 and the whole time I kept thinking that there was no way to for me to ride the course faster than I was. I was riding well and I also could recall being in much more pain at this point in the past. So either my fitness was doing really well or I was about to fall apart...lol. I popped out of the singletrack and hit the road sections and was trying to get back to a couple of riders who passed me in the singletrack and were flying. I had to monitor my efforts to not max out on every hill. It's tempting but not the best way to pace yourself for one of these races. Through the gravel roads I kept it consistent and a good solid pace. At one point I saw Jim Mayuric coming up from behind and we worked together for a bit to keep the pace high. Then Mike Tabasko came up from behind and joined us for a bit too and we pulled hard into the singletrack before aid 3. They were riding fast and at a higher pace than I wanted at that point so I let them go. I could see them ahead for a bit but just couldn't get back to them.
Legs were starting to show the wear of the first half of the course as I rolled into aid 3 at the new location and I wondered how the course would be changed. It definitely seemed to have a few more hills thrown in just to get to aid 3. I filled bottles again and took off descending some new trails that connected with the old aid 3 site the the powerline climb to follow. I did well on the climb but the dreaded cramp monster appeared. Wonderful - 3.5 hours in and I was dealing with cramping already. I wasn't thrilled but I pushed through and wouldn't give in. I got over that climb and just wanted desperately to get through that rail trail with some people to work with. At this point though I was in no mans land and it wasn't looking good.
Then my chain started to show some signs of distress. It was creaking and moaning louder than I've ever heard it. It was going to blow up - I was convinced. So from the back roads I hit one of the gravel climbs that gets steep and switchbacks to the impromptu aid station. I had to tone it back thinking it was going to explode with one hard stroke. I begged the people at the aid for lube but no luck. I had to be happy getting a bottle topped off and praying aid 4 would come soon. On the next section, a SS guy Trevor came up and I let him go. I wanted to play it safe and the legs were still giving me some issues. So I popped out to the roads again and was by myself with Trevor somewhere just ahead and now Nate was sneaking up from behind. His presence was all I needed to pick it up a notch. Especially knowing that the rail bed was coming up. So I pulled and all 3 of us grouped up for the rail bed.
With me being the only geared rider of the 3 of us I told the guys that I felt like the hot girl at the gym - all the eyes were on me to do some work. So I put my head down and pulled. My legs were feeling it so I couldn't go as hard as I'd liked but it was good as I would take a pull and hide and then go again. I know the other guys were appreciative as they benefited from my gears and I benefitted from hiding from the wind inbetween pulls. We worked it pretty well and then hit glorious aid 4. I got the lube and food I needed and we set out for the final portion of the course. We kept together for a bit but then on one of the steep gravel roads I popped off and said goodbye at about mile 80. I was content with soloing in as hard as I could at this point.
On the next climb, the right hander that goes up a valley, I saw Nate and Trevor ahead but couldn't close. Back to some more roads I knew that greasy grassy valley would be coming up. I just stayed steady and cleaned it knowing the suspension bridge and not much would be left. I crossed the bridge, got up the gravel steep sucker just off of Wally road and then knew I had one more gradual climb before the descent through the farmers field and the final paved section to aid 5 and the last piece of singletrack. Once I got to aid 5 I knew I'd be home free.
I got to aid 5 uneventfully and laid down all I had left to get over the final climb and to ride into the back of the campground. I was smoked but disappointed at how my legs felt. I was hoping they would be snappier but the greasy climbs took their toll. I was good with hydration and food and don't know what I could have done better. I turned my gps off knowing my goal of a 7:20 wouldn't be met and I didn't even think I'd be close to the 7's. I kept driving hard and flipped back to my clock approaching the finish and to my surprise I was still in the 7's. I crossed the line at 7:48 knowing I did all I could and hopefully I would place well. I was hoping for a top 10 but didn't really know where I was. Volunteers told me estimates but I never really like to trust them to get my hopes up. I see Jim at the line and he told me he was 7th and 10th overall and I was the next guy after him in the Open class. Really??? That means I was 8th in Open Men and 13th overall. Holy crap!!! TOP 10 at an NUE race!!! That is amazing. I know it's my favorite race but I'm still shock. What a great feeling. I'll be back for more at the Mohican and hopefully a few more top 10's at NUE events...
Monday, June 3, 2013
Mohican 100 Pre Race Issues
This was my 5th go at the Mohican 100 and it seems I would get most of my bad luck out of the way on the trip out. This is my all time favorite race course and I couldn't wait to get there and get my head in the right spot and be ready to throw down race day. My travel partner backed out last minute so I was doing the drive solo - which isn't necessarily a bad thing - but it's great to break up the driving. So I drove the 6.5 hours west and stopped just shy of Akron for a good night's sleep in a cheap hotel, leaving only 1.5 hours to drive the next morning. I checked in, ran my bags to the room, and went out to get my bike off the car and proceeded to lock my keys in the car. Really...
I just caught the back door before it fully slammed shut but it latched and there was no way to pry it open...trust me. So I gave in and asked the front desk for the local police number. No luck, it was a liability and they wouldn't do it. I then asked them for a coat hanger to try and pull some magic. They had none. The worst part is there were no metal coat hangers in the rooms - only ones attached to the rack that you couldn't steal. I asked a few passers by if they had any and no luck. I even went so far as to roam around the hotel grounds and check the garbage and nothing. I was screwed. The whole time I kept myself calm knowing stress would not bode well for race day coming up. At worst I would have to either shatter my window or call a locksmith. I wasn't looking forward to either knowing those A-hole crooks that stole all of my belongings had the satisfaction of breaking one of my window's not too long ago.
My only glimmer of hope was that i had about a half inch space that I could get something into the edge of the driver's side back door. The problem being that I couldn't hook the door lock and the keys were lying on the driver's side front seat. Great. Plus I had no coat hanger to even try to fish them out. At this point I went back to the hotel to look for anything I could cannibalize in order to try to fish my keys out. It would be a longshot but I was so pissed off at this point I was willing to try anything to get those keys out. I stared at the back of the mini-fridge thinking if I could rip the coils off the back to use but I'd probably have to pay for that one. Same thought went through my head with a mattress coil. It would be satisfying but a little too expensive to replace. Something had to work...
Then came my moment of genius - I'm proud of this one. I dumped out my gear bag and my backpack that I had with me. Nothing looked like it would work. Then I looked a little harder. I had a spiral bound planner with me. Lets just say it's not so spiral bound any more. I ripped out the metal binding and proceeded to straighten it out and use that to fish for my keys. It took about 3 different configurations to finally snake it from the back door, over the front seat, and finally hook the lanyard on my keys. Thank goodness for that lanyard. I gently dragged it over the seat, get closer to the door, and then have it fall off the hook. Really? It took over an hour to get to that point. Since it was closer I had to rework my wire and finally get the lanyard out the crack in the door and yank on it with everything I had to get it out of that small opening in the door. Totally psyched and amazed that it worked I couldn't get to sleep...lol.
So after finally falling asleep at 12:30 - I checked in at 10 - I got that rest I finally wanted. That is until the hotel alarm went off at 7 am and the hotel had to be evacuated. It was just a fitting end to a lovely stay my first night in Ohio. Of course when I could go back in I couldn't go back to sleep so I loaded up the car and headed out for Loudonville. At least I would get there early and be able to relax and nap a bit to rest for the race the following day.
I headed out on my preride and went into the opening singletrack in the Mohican State Forest. I love that place. It has some of the sweetest flowing trails of anywhere I've ever ridden. I was just so happy to be there and riding. That was until I had a bee fly into my helmet and sting me right in the middle of my forehead. Wonderful. I was still sticking with the theme of getting all the crap out of the way before the race actually began. Ignoring the sting, I kept on and did my warmups and checked out any changes to the start and finish of the course. Everything made sense and was a little smoother so I was happy knowing what lie ahead. All I needed was to chill, check in, and throw down the next morning. The fun was yet to come...
I just caught the back door before it fully slammed shut but it latched and there was no way to pry it open...trust me. So I gave in and asked the front desk for the local police number. No luck, it was a liability and they wouldn't do it. I then asked them for a coat hanger to try and pull some magic. They had none. The worst part is there were no metal coat hangers in the rooms - only ones attached to the rack that you couldn't steal. I asked a few passers by if they had any and no luck. I even went so far as to roam around the hotel grounds and check the garbage and nothing. I was screwed. The whole time I kept myself calm knowing stress would not bode well for race day coming up. At worst I would have to either shatter my window or call a locksmith. I wasn't looking forward to either knowing those A-hole crooks that stole all of my belongings had the satisfaction of breaking one of my window's not too long ago.
My only glimmer of hope was that i had about a half inch space that I could get something into the edge of the driver's side back door. The problem being that I couldn't hook the door lock and the keys were lying on the driver's side front seat. Great. Plus I had no coat hanger to even try to fish them out. At this point I went back to the hotel to look for anything I could cannibalize in order to try to fish my keys out. It would be a longshot but I was so pissed off at this point I was willing to try anything to get those keys out. I stared at the back of the mini-fridge thinking if I could rip the coils off the back to use but I'd probably have to pay for that one. Same thought went through my head with a mattress coil. It would be satisfying but a little too expensive to replace. Something had to work...
Then came my moment of genius - I'm proud of this one. I dumped out my gear bag and my backpack that I had with me. Nothing looked like it would work. Then I looked a little harder. I had a spiral bound planner with me. Lets just say it's not so spiral bound any more. I ripped out the metal binding and proceeded to straighten it out and use that to fish for my keys. It took about 3 different configurations to finally snake it from the back door, over the front seat, and finally hook the lanyard on my keys. Thank goodness for that lanyard. I gently dragged it over the seat, get closer to the door, and then have it fall off the hook. Really? It took over an hour to get to that point. Since it was closer I had to rework my wire and finally get the lanyard out the crack in the door and yank on it with everything I had to get it out of that small opening in the door. Totally psyched and amazed that it worked I couldn't get to sleep...lol.
So after finally falling asleep at 12:30 - I checked in at 10 - I got that rest I finally wanted. That is until the hotel alarm went off at 7 am and the hotel had to be evacuated. It was just a fitting end to a lovely stay my first night in Ohio. Of course when I could go back in I couldn't go back to sleep so I loaded up the car and headed out for Loudonville. At least I would get there early and be able to relax and nap a bit to rest for the race the following day.
I headed out on my preride and went into the opening singletrack in the Mohican State Forest. I love that place. It has some of the sweetest flowing trails of anywhere I've ever ridden. I was just so happy to be there and riding. That was until I had a bee fly into my helmet and sting me right in the middle of my forehead. Wonderful. I was still sticking with the theme of getting all the crap out of the way before the race actually began. Ignoring the sting, I kept on and did my warmups and checked out any changes to the start and finish of the course. Everything made sense and was a little smoother so I was happy knowing what lie ahead. All I needed was to chill, check in, and throw down the next morning. The fun was yet to come...
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
H2H #3 Rumble in the Jungle
I had a fun day this past Sunday. I woke up to a slightly warm yet foggy rainy day and checked the weather to see that it would be a 0% chance of rain all day. Sweet! I figured the fog would burn off, and conditions would be slick but doable and it would be a cool race day. That was not to be the case. It rained, not very hard but steady. And it rained some more. I gave in to the fact that it was going to be a struggle through the slop but I know I can ride very well in the mud so what the hell. Here we go.
I hit the start hard and got in 3rd wheel and my teammate Shernce was raring to go so I let him slip through and followed him through the first section of warthog with the leaders just ahead. Shernce suddenly dropped his chain and had to stop so I kept going with Fast Eddie not far behind. I let him go just before Otter Slide and he was gone quickly. So I was now sitting 4th and through the rest of the first lap Gered from VT and Joe Petrarca came up from behind and I had to let Gered go through as he was moving fast. From a chat with him as we prerode earlier, Gered said he got 7th at Hop Brook so I knew he was solid. Anyway so now sitting in 5th and it was just Joe and I. We stayed together for the first lap and started the second together but he was just riding the slop better. I let him go figuring I would use him and try to shed him on the 3rd lap. That wasn't the case.
I just couldn't dig that deep for some reason and that extra gear was not there. On top of that I made a few mistakes following Joe and the gap opened. So I stayed steady in 6th and figured I'd try to reel him in on the last lap. At the top of the climb on the last lap I see Ben W walking backwards on the course not looking good - turns out he separated his shoulder. I asked him if he was ok but he wasn't. He had people with him so I kept on. I rode hard but Joe was riding just as well. I caught a glimpse of Joe and I was closing the gap but I think he had about a minute on me at the end. It was a hard day in those trails. It was a greasy, slimy mess but was tons of fun. It made for a hard race but all the more fun. I was happy to keep it upright and have a solid finish. 5th of 9 starters. Good day considering what the meteoroligists called a 0% chance of showers
I hit the start hard and got in 3rd wheel and my teammate Shernce was raring to go so I let him slip through and followed him through the first section of warthog with the leaders just ahead. Shernce suddenly dropped his chain and had to stop so I kept going with Fast Eddie not far behind. I let him go just before Otter Slide and he was gone quickly. So I was now sitting 4th and through the rest of the first lap Gered from VT and Joe Petrarca came up from behind and I had to let Gered go through as he was moving fast. From a chat with him as we prerode earlier, Gered said he got 7th at Hop Brook so I knew he was solid. Anyway so now sitting in 5th and it was just Joe and I. We stayed together for the first lap and started the second together but he was just riding the slop better. I let him go figuring I would use him and try to shed him on the 3rd lap. That wasn't the case.
I just couldn't dig that deep for some reason and that extra gear was not there. On top of that I made a few mistakes following Joe and the gap opened. So I stayed steady in 6th and figured I'd try to reel him in on the last lap. At the top of the climb on the last lap I see Ben W walking backwards on the course not looking good - turns out he separated his shoulder. I asked him if he was ok but he wasn't. He had people with him so I kept on. I rode hard but Joe was riding just as well. I caught a glimpse of Joe and I was closing the gap but I think he had about a minute on me at the end. It was a hard day in those trails. It was a greasy, slimy mess but was tons of fun. It made for a hard race but all the more fun. I was happy to keep it upright and have a solid finish. 5th of 9 starters. Good day considering what the meteoroligists called a 0% chance of showers
Monday, May 13, 2013
H2H #2 Wawayanda Spring Cleaning
It was a fun race last weekend. Probably lots of people with some nice sunburn/color like myself today from an amazing day. I don't think Wawayanda has EVER been that dry. It was dusty and powdery in sections. I had a decent day. I didn't feel super but I didn't feel horrible. Well I did a little from the start. As expected we took off down the gravel road for the start and made the right onto the waway entrance road and eyes were bleeding already. Strung out single file we made our way into the singletrack and my legs just didn't want to go. I drifted backwards and just hung in there hoping my legs would get better. I kept people in sight but it was just hard to get going. It didn't help that the race went off 20 minutes late letting everyone's legs get cold again.
So anyway I kept on my pace and one by one started to either reel people in or pass people with mechanicals. First Szymon was having difficulties, then Rich W with a flat, then a few others with issues, then past Ilya, and worked my way up to Joe P. By the end of lap 1 I put in a good effort to close on sitting bear and I past Joe on the downhill to the start/finish and started lap 2 feeling better and wishing there were 5 more to go. So as I pass Joe he tells me Lombardo is just ahead so he is my new target. I tracked him down and he said he was going to try and hold my wheel, but I didn't want that. So I put in a hard effort and shed him. By Jim's bridge I was opening up a nice gap but then I ran into a walker on the bridge that wouldn't run and wouldn't clear the path. I had to slowly roll behind him as he was walking on the bridge and then dismount and run around him. This was perfect for Joe as he closed the gap as I was waiting for this guy to move. So with Joe hot on my heels I put down a good pace and just tried to keep him behind me. I got back to him in sitting bear so that's where the race was. Keep him behind and then open it up in sitting bear.
Through the new stuff I could hear Joe behind, and not very far behind so he was riding very well. He's never one I'll take lightly as he can be very fast when he decided to throw down. We got to the rock choke in the trees and I fumbled and I hear Joe yell from behind, "I saw that, I'm coming!" so I messed that up and I bobbled on another section just after that letting Joe get right behind me again. But as I know that trail very well, I hit each of the remaining hills hard and kept the rocky stuff as smooth as possible and crossed the line around 30 seconds ahead of him. It was great having someone so close as it motivated me to keep pushing and was really a lot of fun.
I finished 9th of 17 starters and put in a decent effort with a full extra big lap at the end to extend my day and use it for my training goals. I finished in the money on a beautiful day so I'm pretty happy. When I look at results too the other characters that I'm usually behind were only 3 minutes ahead so I'll take that margin. Let's just forget about Seamus and Christian that were 10 minutes ahead...and Seamus on a full suspension SS. Really.
So anyway I kept on my pace and one by one started to either reel people in or pass people with mechanicals. First Szymon was having difficulties, then Rich W with a flat, then a few others with issues, then past Ilya, and worked my way up to Joe P. By the end of lap 1 I put in a good effort to close on sitting bear and I past Joe on the downhill to the start/finish and started lap 2 feeling better and wishing there were 5 more to go. So as I pass Joe he tells me Lombardo is just ahead so he is my new target. I tracked him down and he said he was going to try and hold my wheel, but I didn't want that. So I put in a hard effort and shed him. By Jim's bridge I was opening up a nice gap but then I ran into a walker on the bridge that wouldn't run and wouldn't clear the path. I had to slowly roll behind him as he was walking on the bridge and then dismount and run around him. This was perfect for Joe as he closed the gap as I was waiting for this guy to move. So with Joe hot on my heels I put down a good pace and just tried to keep him behind me. I got back to him in sitting bear so that's where the race was. Keep him behind and then open it up in sitting bear.
Through the new stuff I could hear Joe behind, and not very far behind so he was riding very well. He's never one I'll take lightly as he can be very fast when he decided to throw down. We got to the rock choke in the trees and I fumbled and I hear Joe yell from behind, "I saw that, I'm coming!" so I messed that up and I bobbled on another section just after that letting Joe get right behind me again. But as I know that trail very well, I hit each of the remaining hills hard and kept the rocky stuff as smooth as possible and crossed the line around 30 seconds ahead of him. It was great having someone so close as it motivated me to keep pushing and was really a lot of fun.
I finished 9th of 17 starters and put in a decent effort with a full extra big lap at the end to extend my day and use it for my training goals. I finished in the money on a beautiful day so I'm pretty happy. When I look at results too the other characters that I'm usually behind were only 3 minutes ahead so I'll take that margin. Let's just forget about Seamus and Christian that were 10 minutes ahead...and Seamus on a full suspension SS. Really.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
H2H #1 Blue Mountain Chainstretcher
This race is always one of my favorites. The amount of rock and techy goodness there really keeps me entertained. I often have to hold back from hitting drops and other features I normally like to play on in an effort just to go fast. Sometimes it's more fun to play. Anyway I rolled up there early to see the sports go off and to see how the conditions were and as I was thinking, it was going to be fast and dry.
I did my warmup, got ready and got to the line early not knowing what to think. There's so much less room for error than my normal endurance races and I just felt scattered. Probably with the fact that I couldn't find my co2 inflators and had to carry a bulky hand pump made me extra confident...not. Anyway I was in for the workout. I wanted to see how I would stack up and feeling ok it would be a good test of the legs and equipment.
The race director says go and we're off. I hit it hard and somehow grab 2nd wheel into the first uphill. Unfortunately right off the batt I forgot to unlock my lockout so I was thrown off my line and into a bunch of stuff that I didn't want to be in. I popped off my lockout and shifted and tried to regain the position I had. So with that I went from second wheel to 5th wheel. I was ok with that.
Through the first lap I had the Cannondale guy and Rich W in my sights and was hanging with them just a little ways back. I know blue pretty well and at that point I knew I needed more time to warm up. I was hoping later in the race they may fall back and I could benefit and gain some positions. That strategy went out the window when my front tire went soft. I rode it for a little bit and then knew I had to pull over and pump it up. Yes pump it up. That archaeic old pump I carrie actually was put to use. I jumped off, threw the pump on it, cheered on John and Ross as they passed begrudgingly, popped the pump back in my pocket and took off.
Within 2 miles I had worked my way back through John and then passed Ross. I was feeling pretty good and kept looking for the colors of the racers ahead. There was another problem though...the pumped up tire was still not holding air. I could feel it was deflating. In each turn it tracked wrong and felt it getting soft every time I placed the front down over a log. Crap... I didn't want to pull over again.
I kept going on the second lap just being cautious and it was soft but holding. I was still holding my gap to Ross behind and didn't see anyone ahead. I just told myself to ride smoothly to preserve the tire and go fast. I seemed to do just that. It had enough pressure to keep me upright while still being a bit too squishy. I rolled across the finishe line with my tire at about 10 psi and holding onto that 4th spot. I was in 5th but one of the racers ahead had to stop to fix his flat so I gained another position right there. This was great! I was happy with 5th, but 4th? I'll take it! Super stoked and feeling good I wish we had to race a few more laps - well that is if I could have had a non-deflating tire.
Thanks go out to the Blue crew for putting together a great race and using some superb trails. It was a bit of a chilly day, but the crowd was good and there was a lot of great racing going on in the hills of Peeskill yesterday.
Monday, April 8, 2013
6 Hours of Warrior Creek - The Race
It was a perfect race day. Cool in the morning but warmed up to the mid 70's later in the day under full sun. Wow...this was much welcomed after the cold and long winter in Northern Jersey. This race is tough since everyone goes at once and there is a good showing of duo guys amongst the solos. So it's hard to figure out who you are actually racing against. As it were we showed up for the prerace meeting at what was thought to be the starting line - and it wasn't. So we had to all move to the actual starting line which put me in like the 4th row. I wasn't happy with that so I knew I'd have to put in a good effort to get around the traffic and into a better spot for the singletrack.
I used my gas to get through a lot but I still hit the singletrack in 20-25th spot. I put in a good hard first lap but traffic, a few crashes in front of me, and throwing my chain into my wheel twice didn't help. I had to stop and wrestle it out of the wheel both times, regain my composure and catch back on, remember not to use my biggest cog, and try to get back to where I was. I rode super steady the first 3 laps and then knew I was running low on juice so I had to pull it back a bit.
As the laps went on I was feeling the power decrease but my spirits were lifted by the guys I was riding with. I was pulling a few trains of people here and there and I asked if they wanted to come through they said no. They were just trying to hold my wheel and I was fine with that. I just rode steady and hard and picked the climbs and fun parts to hit hard and just tried to relax for the rest.
I finished super solid and happy with how I rode on such a fun but tough course. I was even more excited to see that I finished 3rd. I've been close to the podium the past few tries at this race and now I finally got there. It was a great feeling especially knowing all that I'd been through with the break in on the way down.
I used my gas to get through a lot but I still hit the singletrack in 20-25th spot. I put in a good hard first lap but traffic, a few crashes in front of me, and throwing my chain into my wheel twice didn't help. I had to stop and wrestle it out of the wheel both times, regain my composure and catch back on, remember not to use my biggest cog, and try to get back to where I was. I rode super steady the first 3 laps and then knew I was running low on juice so I had to pull it back a bit.
As the laps went on I was feeling the power decrease but my spirits were lifted by the guys I was riding with. I was pulling a few trains of people here and there and I asked if they wanted to come through they said no. They were just trying to hold my wheel and I was fine with that. I just rode steady and hard and picked the climbs and fun parts to hit hard and just tried to relax for the rest.
I finished super solid and happy with how I rode on such a fun but tough course. I was even more excited to see that I finished 3rd. I've been close to the podium the past few tries at this race and now I finally got there. It was a great feeling especially knowing all that I'd been through with the break in on the way down.
6 Hours of Warrior Creek - The D-Bags...Part 1
This race is always a highlight of the season as the weather seems to be nice when the winter is wrapping up in the North. This year seemed like it might not work out that way. As I started out my drive I heard reports of an inch plus of rain plus an inch of snow on the ground near the course. I just hoped it would clear up for race day since that clay would not be fun in the rain or if really sloppy.
So my buddy Lucky and I headed down Thursday afternoon with plans on making it as far as Roanoke for the night and then an easy drive into Wilkesboro Friday morning. It was a great plan but I didn't want to forego riding Thursday just to drive. With this in mind I came up with the plan to ride Michaux State Forest and do a good portion of the Curse of Dark Hollow 20 mile course. I thought that might work well since Michaux is really techy and hard while the 6WC course would be super fast and flowy in comparison.
The ride went great, as it was fun bumping through the state forest and went a little long as we came out just after crossing the 2 hour mark. Then came the real fun. As we approached my car, my rear driver's side window was smashed in and all of the contents in the back of the car were gone. Camping gear, cycling gear, laptop, work bag, work keys, regular clothes, and all of the other contents gone. After making a list it's probably around 6k worth of items of mine gone alone. Lucky had all of his stuff taken as well which was probably about the same value. The part that hurts the most is that there is not much stuff that can be resold. The electronics, jewelry, and some other stuff for sure but all that clothing and cycling clothing that is so value and near and dear to me is gone. I kept every option I had in my cycling bag so that I was prepared for anything. It's gone...
With this totally screwing up our trip and our heads we filed the police report, sorted through the goods to see what was left and headed home with nothing. Well close to nothing. Thankfully the thieves weren't that thorough as they left our wallets that they missed so we didn't have to go through the headaches of dealing with replacing all of that stuff. We still couldn't press on with nothing though.
So we went back towards Harrisburg PA and stopped for dinner as we were just driving in a fog. I couldn't wrap my head around anything and hadn't eaten since noon. It was now about 7 so it was time to stop. We ate and contemplated our decision. Home or not? Was it even possible to press on? We would have to stop somewhere and buy everything. We didn't have camp gear, or clothes to make the race happen. We at least needed that and couldn't justify buying everything. Then I called Dan. Enter Mr. Dan Rapp. He lives just outside of H'burg and said to stop by. Hell even if it was just to chat and then go home. We chilled for a while and then gave us the pep talk. He said he's got everything we need if we want it. Camp gear. Clothes. Food. Whatever... On top of that enter Mr. Brent Lester. Through this Brent was doing the same from a long distance. Brent extended the same from Greensboro and said as long as we made it down there he would help us out. I couldn't believe the support. With all this how could we not go. With a little coercing Lucky and I decided to head back south and not let these Ahole thieves ruin our trip.
So thanks to Hotel Rapp, we crashed on Dan's couch and regrouped. Up in the morning with his awesome family, we packed the car full of our loaner gear and hit the road. With all that Dan gave us, and that Brent was bringing for us we felt like we could pull this off. We still had to pull off and hit up some stores to make sure we had the other necessities like toilettries(that I just bought that were stolen too), clothes, and underwear(yes that was stolen too). It was a lot of bumps and it make for one hell of a long ride down but we made it to NC and were ready to settle into camp and relax for the race the next morning. It was a little hard to relax but we did the best we could given the circum stances and just hoped the race would go a little better.
So my buddy Lucky and I headed down Thursday afternoon with plans on making it as far as Roanoke for the night and then an easy drive into Wilkesboro Friday morning. It was a great plan but I didn't want to forego riding Thursday just to drive. With this in mind I came up with the plan to ride Michaux State Forest and do a good portion of the Curse of Dark Hollow 20 mile course. I thought that might work well since Michaux is really techy and hard while the 6WC course would be super fast and flowy in comparison.
The ride went great, as it was fun bumping through the state forest and went a little long as we came out just after crossing the 2 hour mark. Then came the real fun. As we approached my car, my rear driver's side window was smashed in and all of the contents in the back of the car were gone. Camping gear, cycling gear, laptop, work bag, work keys, regular clothes, and all of the other contents gone. After making a list it's probably around 6k worth of items of mine gone alone. Lucky had all of his stuff taken as well which was probably about the same value. The part that hurts the most is that there is not much stuff that can be resold. The electronics, jewelry, and some other stuff for sure but all that clothing and cycling clothing that is so value and near and dear to me is gone. I kept every option I had in my cycling bag so that I was prepared for anything. It's gone...
With this totally screwing up our trip and our heads we filed the police report, sorted through the goods to see what was left and headed home with nothing. Well close to nothing. Thankfully the thieves weren't that thorough as they left our wallets that they missed so we didn't have to go through the headaches of dealing with replacing all of that stuff. We still couldn't press on with nothing though.
So we went back towards Harrisburg PA and stopped for dinner as we were just driving in a fog. I couldn't wrap my head around anything and hadn't eaten since noon. It was now about 7 so it was time to stop. We ate and contemplated our decision. Home or not? Was it even possible to press on? We would have to stop somewhere and buy everything. We didn't have camp gear, or clothes to make the race happen. We at least needed that and couldn't justify buying everything. Then I called Dan. Enter Mr. Dan Rapp. He lives just outside of H'burg and said to stop by. Hell even if it was just to chat and then go home. We chilled for a while and then gave us the pep talk. He said he's got everything we need if we want it. Camp gear. Clothes. Food. Whatever... On top of that enter Mr. Brent Lester. Through this Brent was doing the same from a long distance. Brent extended the same from Greensboro and said as long as we made it down there he would help us out. I couldn't believe the support. With all this how could we not go. With a little coercing Lucky and I decided to head back south and not let these Ahole thieves ruin our trip.
So thanks to Hotel Rapp, we crashed on Dan's couch and regrouped. Up in the morning with his awesome family, we packed the car full of our loaner gear and hit the road. With all that Dan gave us, and that Brent was bringing for us we felt like we could pull this off. We still had to pull off and hit up some stores to make sure we had the other necessities like toilettries(that I just bought that were stolen too), clothes, and underwear(yes that was stolen too). It was a lot of bumps and it make for one hell of a long ride down but we made it to NC and were ready to settle into camp and relax for the race the next morning. It was a little hard to relax but we did the best we could given the circum stances and just hoped the race would go a little better.
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