Saturday night brought a unique format to the Mid Atlantic Super Series with a night XC race. Having done almost all of my riding in the evening and at night for the past 2 years I was really fired up about this event. Jocelyn and I made it to the venue about an hour and a half before the race which left us with enough time to set up the tent and for me to get in a nice warm up before going off. Fortunately Aaron showed up to race and he offered for us to stay at his place in lieu of the tent which was amazing considering that the temps were only going to drop down to 88 degrees which would make a tent feel like a slow cooker. During the race itself I felt great sitting near the front for the first few miles, then I took it upon myself to fulfill the duties of a pain sponge and take on the lead with Aaron following just behind. Once we came out to the next open section we already had a sizeable gap on the rest of the field and Aaron turned the screws getting an additional 10 seconds on me. Just up the gravel road we hit another section of singletrack, a steep downhill with a few switchbacks and a couple of rocks. I used it to my advantage closing the gap and rejoining Aaron. For the rest of the race we worked together, but also threw in a few attacks. Neither one of us could get away and it was beginning to remind me of the first Fair Hill race of the season. We wound up sprinting to the finish and were that close that neither of us knew who had won until the results were posted. It turned out that Aaron had inched me out by just a 100th of a second. Now I know I need an extension off of the front of my bike to hold my number plate so that it will register first in situations like these. After the race Jocelyn and I drove back to Aaron's and made it to bed around 2:00am, just enough time to get a great night's sleep and be up for 7:30am to go to The Liberty Crit a few miles down the road.
Not having any place in a road crit, my main goal was to go get a good workout and make some legs hurt. I think that my goal was well accomplished as my lungs were burning pretty good by the end and I managed to break away from the peleton a handful of times whether I was bridging up to a break on my own or just randomly going off of the front. Unfortunately none of the breaks were significant enough to last until the end, but this was just a training race in the end and I had a lot of fun (even if I didn't care to sprint for a mid pack finish). Now the only thing that is on my mind is the Wilderness 101 which will take place this Saturday in Coburn, PA. I am hoping to finish well under the 7 hour mark and crack the podium. I'll let you know how it all turns out.
-Brandon
Racing has been ON since the middle of June so I will give a not-so-quick recap, although my teammates have been doing an awesome job. I couldn’t describe blowing an endurolyte out of one’s nostril any better, so I will leave well-enough alone. My personal experiences are the following…
The Massanutten Hoo Ha stage race weekend (June 19-20) kicked off my high intensity training and gave me one of the first signs that my body was ready to take it up a notch…a very welcomed signal. This season began as a real challenge. Allergies were worse this year and my asthma was not allowing any hard training until the pollen calmed down. Fast racers such as Kelli Emmett, Krista Park, Anina Aaron, and the retired (but still quite speedy) Sue Haywood joined in on all 3 stages which included a Super D and Short Track on Saturday and XC on Sunday. Super D was my favorite event and is an awesome course there. Halfway down the 14 minute course I hit my rear tire/wheel on a rock so hard I thought I flatted for sure! Bam! Problem was, there were many squishy/gravelly corners anyway and I couldn’t tell. I spent the 2nd half of the race confused/hectic/a bit scared…hey, that normal racing! Long story short, I didn’t flat and should have kept up my speed…woulda, coulda shoulda. Short track took it all out of me, with all-out pedaling and a really, really dusty course. I finished 4th in both events. XC was a long battle with myself and though my goal was to hang on to the Haywood/Kraus duo in front of me, there was so much climbing and I just had to “ride my own race” as Sue said.
June ended with the Marysville Stage Race which turned out to be one hot weekend! I personally think we should re-name this event to “Turkey’s Breath” or “The Oven” or something fitting. Friday night’s time trial left the smell of the turkey farm burning in my nose for hours into the night. If I sniff real hard I can still smell it, in fact. This was another weekend of great training for me. I opted for the solo category which meant that I had an 8 hour on Saturday. I had a conservative start but a few laps in I added an iced tea to the mix and felt much better…I’m a caffeine lightweight and yes, one iced tea is all it takes. Selene had been in front of me early on but we were operating on much different personal conditions so that once we swapped, things stayed that way until the end! I was so relieved that my body was up for the distance at race pace and I was having a lot of fun.
July began with another hot one…the MASS Long Pine Classic. Though I handled Marysville, that didn’t mean that I was ready to race 7 days later. This race, heavy on the climbing, came a few days too early for my legs but moderate ‘n steady on the climbs combined with quick descending proved to be enough for a lucky win. Unfortunately my good luck meant bad luck for both my teammate Erica and Laura as well. Both experienced major flatting issues and were taken out of the battle early in the race. Erica also had the added challenge of dealing with running out of calories and had a rough road home.
July 11th took us MASS groupies to NJ for the Summer Sizzler. I hung onto Kathleen’s wheel until about halfway through when I bobbled on a root and she got a gap that I was never able to close. Is it me or have all our summer races been extremely hot this year?
This past weekend took the MASS back to Fair Hill for a second time this season. Once again, Kathleen shot out with a super duper start and I hung on for dear life. Top speed starts are still on my wish list this year. My birthday is coming up if anyone is feeling generous! Overall, this race was my best so far this year, although much of it was spent on Kathleen’s wheel. Without much excitement, I went around her once to lead and that lasted for about 10 seconds. The second time stuck since she just didn’t follow, so it turned into a time-trial to the finish.
I hope that you are all exercising intelligently in this heat, making recovery rides an important part of your mid-season training, and eating well!
Carolyn
Yesterday was was the fair hill classic. it was a great time with carolyn taking top podium in elite open women and erica taking fourth . brandon killed it and got a second place finish in elite open men, and yozell did a solid finish time despite the 100 degree temps getting the best of him. I decided it was a nice warm day to a 50 mile enduro option there. this is where the story begins. it was pretty smooth sailing for the entire time except about 1.5 hour in. It was already warming up fast so i decided to take 2 endurolyte tablets to help prevent cramping later in the race. ( this is basically a vitamin size pill of electrolytes for those who have never seen them) as i tried to swallow both at the same time i happened to cough at that given moment. this could not of happened at a worse time . when i coughed the tablet got stuck in my nasal cavity. in my years of racing this was probably the nastiest event to date. ( event worse than wetting myself in a100mile race to stay with the heavy hitters) . i tried not to panic and make it worse, after all i could still breath out of one nostril. i figured i would just finish the race and worry about later. well about 20 minutes later i guess the coating around the pill dissolved enough to bring me to sneeze. this part was really gross. all the powder shot out my nose like a smoke bomb coating my bike with white bedazzel . along with it was pieces of the outer coating. good times. i really wish i had video of this . it was a once in a lifetime moment. i hope. love, vegan rob
With some good races going on regionally it was almost hard to make the choice to race ten minutes from home, not really. Anytime I can race that close to home, you can pretty much count me in. Kara & I decided to skip the travel and settle for our own cooking and bed for a pre-race night. With the scorching heat we were having the River temp was at 85 on Wednesday. We were sure wetsuits were not going to be allowed. By Friday and two nights of rain the river was cooling down. Even though the water temp was above USAT wetsuit threshold the race allowed wetsuits. Sometimes non-sanctioned races do what they desire with the rules. I for one, was not complaining. I got to try out my new XTerra Vortex sleeveless suit. With all the pre-race goodies done, we saunter to the north end of the island and suit up for the downriver 1200. Immediately i notice the suit feels great. There is so much more mobility, with all the float. The swim seems effortless. I stay far left so I have my own personal kayaker to guide me. This comes in handy as I swam a perfect straight line while others strayed. As I exit the water i ask what place I am in. The volunteer responds"first". I reply "no, really, what place". "You are first". Great googly moogly, I sprint to the timing mat to ensure i do not get passed and low and behold. FIRST OUT! That puts me in a good frame of mind for my favorite part, the bike. I drill the bike with about a 26mph avg, good for 2nd best bike split. I head out for the run still in the lead, but seeing the second place competitor, Darryl Weaver. Darryl is by far the fastest regional amateur runner. Actually he is probably one of the fastest amateur runners in the country. My guess was i could hold him off until the turnaround. Sure enough, I turn and there he is. He goes by like a gazelle and I am by myself to the finish. I ended up second overall. So I was pretty stoked. I then turn my attention to Kara, and start to run backwards on the course to see her. She looks good and zips past me. I catch her at the finish and she is bummed about how tired she felt and how her recurring knee injury is flaring up. We need to wait three minutes to see if any women make up the wave start. Sure enough, tired and injured Kara still gets the win and repeats as the harrisburg Tri champ.
A great race for use and good prep for some Rivertowns action in August. Hopefully Kara's knee holds out. She is at the orthopedic doctor today.
Mike