A single speed MTBer in the pro RFK crit..

Chrissy #276

Narcissism Credit

Welp fan, Memorial Day weekend left us with out any off road racn'.
So I stayed in DC and doubled up down at the RFK crit, Masters and Pro1/2 stylie.
The Pro1/2 had a $10,000 purse so by-golly we had way too many non-day job pros there...ugh! That can only mean a whole lot butt kicking...done to me.
I stayed tough though.
I moved and shaked in the masters race but did not sprint.
Ahh come on, I race single speed mountain bikes 100 miles...I aint got no sprint!!!

Oh, I finally mtb rode on some DC area trails (it only took 4 years).
That handsome devil Roger M. and I headed out to Schaffers Farm in the Md. burbs.
Wicked fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gunnar did some crit in "Da Burg" and Bunny slept I think. And JR dug himself a big hole that he'll be climbing out of all season if he doesn't slow down.

I am headed to those country roads tomorrow to meet up with Bunny and the Director Sportiff.
Then off to the Mohican 100.
Wish us luck fan!!
Da lyfe begins.


May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris

WVMBA #3: Tour Dah Lake

Fan, this weekend we hit the dirt again for WVMBA #3 down at the Tour Dah Lake. We arrived on time and the race was delayed by 30 minutes so holy smokes we got to warm up. At 12:30 off we went and I hit the woods in 4th. SWEEET! I had one SS guy (Benji) in front of me, a few geared guys (which included Gunnar) got by, but I was feeling good so I kind of stayed with them, as they rode I ran up the muddy climb. About 3 miles in my rear tire "burped" but luckily the Stans seal worked, so with about 15 psi I kept motoring. I got around the 1st place SS (Benji) and found myself in 5th overall with only a few minute gap between me and the overall leaders. I had to stop 3 times to pump up my tire as it did continue to leak slowly, but I kept focused and continued the chase for the overall. The last ¾ of the race I spent alone hammering along. I rode hard and had a blast but never caught those silly geared boys. So, a 1st place SS and a 5th overall. Win number one for the season, yippy. Great times, a good pay out and some sweet trails pho-sho!!!

CHA-CHING!!!!!!

Gunnar battled in the front group of four and ended up 3rd, while Bunny got an early lead in front of some pretty fast ladies and walked away with the win, “girling” many boys in the process. We are all happy that she is out of retirement. And sickly JR beat up on the big boys. Good ride team!!!

It was a sweet weekend without spotting any turtles, but we did see a big ole Blackbear chilln' on RT79. Really, crazy I know.

In our future, a rest weekend with some road racing, the Mohican 100, Hoo-Ha Kenda Cup and the 24 Hours of Big Bear. Sweet!!!!

Some results

"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris

A restful "off" weekend from racing, so why not do back to back crits!?!?

Well fan, it was a lovely “off” sort of past weekend. All the mountain bike race plans, three off them, were cancelled because of logistic issues or because of mother nature reaping complete hell on the trail conditions. One more weekend for this racing gypsy to sleep in his own bed was just dandy though.

But don’t fret fan, I scoured endlessly over the regional road racing calendars to find something to entertain ya and me. I headed up to the Fort Ritchie Crit in Somewhere, Maryland. Now I was expecting some ugly-suburb-monolithic-gross-industrial park setting but I was rather pleasantly surprised. After exiting the interstate I followed a rather picturesque babbling "crick" up to the gates of Fort Ritchie. The base it self aint so piteruresques but the mountains in the foreground….sweet!

The course was surprisingly pretty cool too. It was not some super macho down crit with crazy fast turns and swarming groupies but thank Buddha it was not some boring rectangle industrial park. It came complete with sixish turns, some S action, a fast hard back straight and Joe J. talking all sorts of mad smack on the P.A. My favorite, “ they are strung out like Lindsay Lohan on a Saturday night.”

In the attempt to always make myself suffer more then I need to, I decided to sign up for the Elite Masters and Elite race. Knowing that there is little chance for me to place in a crit, except in the off-chance I get in a break or the whole field crashes, I felt 2+ hours of a crit effort would replicate any effort I was missing by not racing the mountain bike this weekend. In fact, it would probably give me a better high end and speed work out. The Masters race went well I suppose. Some older pro-ish dudes from Harley got up the road, team time trialed, and lapped us. There was some grumbling in the pack as to why “proish” guys race in the Masters but hey whatever. If they are old enough so be it. Me pappy always says “you are only as fast as the company you keep” so getting your ass kicked will make you work harder next time. The masters races are always a mix bag of characters anyhow. From your pro’s or ex-pro’s to fit newbie cat 4’s that lack the pack skillz. The racing is always hard but always a little sketchy do to the mix of experience with an always endless number of gaps to fill and bridge. I did some moving and shacking but mostly was in it for the training. I sat up with a half a lap to go as a “single-speed ultra-endurance specialist” I ain't got no sprint nor do I want to mix it up for the 8th place glory. I have no wife or kids to impress.

I had an hour break before the Pro1/2 so I grabbed some food and drink and spun around for a bit. This race was full tilt from the gun, but in a way it was easier. We were constantly going harder; however, we never slowed in the turns making the accelerations out of turns a little easier. In the prior race, with the disparity in experience we’d fly into the corner brake hard and accerate equally as hard out. In this race I barely touched the brakes and only stood up coming out of the finish line turn. ..which brings me to the conclusion… With about 20 laps to go I started feel a cramping twitch forming in my right leg when standing while exiting said turn. Now in a MTB race or even a road race you can ease up shake it out…etc. But in a crit not so much. With 12 to go that baby was in full cramp mode. Now remember by this point I had been racing close to 2 hours too. I also started to get that funky pre-bonk fuzzy grey vision thing going on. And again no time to eat. So with 10 to go I felt it most prudent for the safety of myself and my fellow homies to pull out. And by that point over half the field was gone so that aint so bad. By days end I raced 63 miles in 2 hours. Yup, it hurt!! Not bad for some silly mountain biker…what what!!

Alas we hit the dirt this coming weekend. I was supposed to do a double header but sadly the 100k on Saturday has been cancelled due to lack of participants..come on guys/gals buck up-- a 100k won’t kill ya!!! We Bi-atchs will be hitting WVMBA #3, the Tour Dah Lake. Last year we showed up 45 minutes after the start because we were saving wayward graffiti turtles. Hopefully this year we will make the start. Lastly I hope I am riding well because I am way behind in points now after skipping round 2 and we will be skipping round 4 for the Mohican 100. So I need a good finish. See ya out there!!!!

Sorry still no photos.

"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris

Plan D: Has to work

Plan A: 12 Hours of Creek to Peak: Betsy, Gunnar and I in a 3 person pro team. Bunny had a mad scientist obligation that made the logistics difficult. Gunnar is old, frail and has an AARP obligation. We dipped out.

Plan A.5: Me going at it solo. I felt my legs would be too cooked for the silliness I have planned for next weekend and we have a rough month ahead of us. I dipped out.

Plan B: A MASS race in Pa. Mother Nature worked over the trails…race cancelled.

Plan C. Some little XC race in Richmond Va. Mother Nature worked over the trails…race cancelled.

Plan D: Double day of crit racn’ up in Maryland….good training I suppose

See ya out there fan.

PEACE
Chrissy

Cohutta 100 Part 2: A bad day in the mountains of Tenn.

Well fan, The Smokey Mountain’s was one hell of a perfect place to spend Earth Day weekend. I had forgotten just how beautiful this region is. The New Leaf Adventure Company was the home of the 1996 Olympic white water competition and is smack dab in the middle of some of the country's most amazing scenery fo-sho.

 

Goose's Ghetto-Camp

Their course was extremely physically demanding with a whole lot of gravel road riding…climb for 30 minutes, descend for 5, turn left and repeat…for 6+ hours. I certainly would have preferred more trails but man oh man did we climb a lot and the views at the top of the ridges….sweet!!!

We Bi-atch’s did not have a stellar weekend but an “ok” one. The Oldman DS and Bunny probably should not have raced due to a lingering and developing illness. Bunny has reported that she has retired from racing and will be taking up knitting. She will be missed. I fell apart BAD in between aid station 2 and 3 which resulted in me falling from 3rd with 2nd in sight to 6th. After crying for my mommy for about an hour I ate a whole lot, got it together and rallied like a champ putting myself into the pain box on my terms. Sadly, I was unable to regroup with 3rd-5th but they were flying so who knows.

By day's end, two of us made it in the prizes and one us rode in with an old fan making for one very happy old school MTBer supporter. This was not how any of us hoped or planned for but that is racing…riding hard, having fun and making the most of the experience.

Nars-- too tired to fake a smile

Bunny--note the feverish glint in her eye

Goose--looks like he needs some good homecookin' from Mammy

That is it for now.
RESULTS

Miss Jackie is begging Nars for some AC in this vehicle!!!

PEACE
Chrissy

Cohutta 100 Part1

Chilln' in Blacksburg, Va in some sweet Econo Lodge.
I got interweb and HBO so no VT hippy gals for me.
Life is good.
Back on the road in the late morn.
Then reg, set up camp, ride and look for the Shogren's hopefully before midnight.
Bring beer Shogren's.
Saturday 7am start...yippee!!!

Some press too..

Cohutta 100 or bust!!!

Spandex, camping gear and bike are ready to go in the morn.
Wish us luck fan!!!

Long Live Team Bi-atch and the Backyard Bike club

And whatever flavour you're racing for this year.
We will remain here... forever.

WVMBA #1: Big Bear

This is where you’ll find the Chrissy race reports this season fan so here we go….

Welp fan, I had a pretty good weekend of racing. I stopped by a crit in Virginia Saturday on my way to the first WVMBA race on Sunday. I was in a nice break that did not stick and it ended in a sprint so I sat up as I do not need to mix it up in that stuff these days. It was fun though. Then off to Morgantown….

Sunday was the WVMBA season opener at Big Bear. I was a little concerned about my fitness but at the end of the day I was pleased with were I am at. They had us single speeders start after the Pro/ex’s which stunk but it turned out well. The fast SSer’s had a lot of guys to plow through. I duked it out with Benji who lives literally next to the event so he knows EVERY rock and line. We were weeding our way through the geared guys when suddenly some skinny kid came bouncing by us. At first I thought it was a geared guy regrouping but shit no derailleur. I holler at Benji, he shrugs his shoulders and we continue on. I kept Benji in sight for the first 45 minutes. He helped design the course so chasing him all day kept me busy and on task. I lost sight of Benji for a bit but stayed focused and in the pain box when suddenly I caught the skinny kid, sweet I am in 2nd. I dug deep to regroup with Benji but by the end he did get the best of me so I ended up 2nd SS and 9th overall (with our delayed start). I am very happy with my fitness and riding so that is very cool. It should be a fun season and if with the turn out of over 200 riders is any indication WVMBA should have a good season too. There were many smiling new faces that are enjoying the lyfe which is great to see.

Photo Credit

Bunny got 1st, the old man 4th (Pro/ex) and Not So Fat Anymore Boy JR sandbanged and won the big boy class. Good work ByBc/Team Bi-atch/Cannondale.

We are headed out for Tennessee Thursday for the Cohuta 100 Saturday. A 100 miler in April is a little scary I have to admit. I suppose all the north-east-coasters are feeling that way though. Should be interesting. The Smokey Mountains are amazing so if anything the views should be great. It should be a painful blast no matter what. But I really feel a top 3 in the SS and a top 20 overall is very doable. Lets just see how many tan west coasters show up.

Check the 08 archives at Team Bi-atch

Shout outs and such…
- JR’s lovely almost wife Gina for running WVMBA while her slacker almost hubby races
- All that came out to ride, suffer, smile and enjoy.
- Cannondale, Matt and Uncle Rob

- Mark S. and the Big Bear family for hosting so many cool events
- The purty ladies in the woods screaming for me…us


"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris

Fan our 09 posts will...

... be at The Backyard BikeClub blog

Save it to your favs. Enjoy!

Forget what he just said Fan.
He was mistaken.
Stay here for this.

Early season skinny tyre action!!!

Well fan, I do not have any fat tire updates but I do have a little double header road racing action. Saturday I headed up to the Tour of Walkersville a 70ish mile road race near Frederick, MD. The Pro1/2 was stacked with 80+ of the Mid-Atlantics toughest roadies and me the lone MTBer. We were single file and in the gutter from minute one echeloning Belgium Euro style, man was it windy, ouch. Then bam a big ole crash only three miles in. I did not go down but I did have to pull some super macho MTBer moves that found me with my foot down facing the wrong way. Eeck, a group of 15ish got away and a group of 20ish were heading out to chase. I chased, chased and chased some more. I got with a group of about 8 guys and assumed the “main” group would catch us in a lap or two. They never did. It was a good hard training day but as for racing not really. It was an odd day because of that early wreck. Sadly, there were a few other bad wrecks with one fella getting a lift out in a helicopter. I can only hope he is ok and that was only a precaution. By days end I ended up 22nd out of the 25 that finished. An epic in the mean wind and I did the fat tire peeps proud!!! Oh, I was only one there so I did myself proud. Yay me!!

I then high tailed over to Gunnar and Betsy’s house for another road race outside of Pittsburgh, Pa on Sunday morning.

The Mingo Road is a super cool little circuit. The P1/2/3 had 40ish guys lining up pretty and early. I do believe I was the only one in this group that had raced the day before and man were my legs stiff. I was a bit afraid going up the climb on the first lap as my legs felt like 2 by 4’s. Gunnar was moving and shaking with the mover a shakers up front while I was a spectator from the pack on the first two laps. The old man flatted going into lap 3 I believe at the same time things got real macho and fast up the climb. Sweet, I found my legs and crested to climb 3rd wheel. I engaged in some minimal macho moves near the front for a few laps but we stayed as a group of about 25 for the rest of the day. Gunnar snuck back in and kept the tempo high at the front but he was a lap down so he was tying to get a way to “unlap” himself…he failed but tried real hard. It came down to a 5 abreast sprint something I had no interests in playing in. So another good workout in the books. I can not wait to hit the dirt!!!

Betsy hand her hands full with two fast lady teammates from OH. They played those crazy reindeer games with her all day. She did great getting 4th in one super fast amazing sprint.

Uncle RobV. lent me his sweet ass Super-Six road bike for a few weeks so that I could be on a Cannondale during these pre-season road race leg and lung tune up. That thing is sweet, I need to get me one of them.

So one more weekend of road racing and then the dirt with the WVMBA opener the following weekend. Ah, then down to the Cohutta 100 in Tn. for the first NUE race. I am hoping to better my 3rd place in the SS series this season.

Well that is that. Some sore legs but I am safe and smiling spreading the Cannondale love.

Time for some mall laps with grandma. Spring Break in snowy NY!!!!!

PHOTO CREDIT: stolen from fans on FB, thanks

"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris

It has begun!!!

My gear bag is packed and at the door ready to go from now until December.
The lyfe has begun.
Such is the lyfe.
I heart the lyfe.

1 road race down
We are pre-reged for the 24hrs and Cohutta 100.
So it is on like Donkey Kong fan.
And we all look real sexy in our Italian made Cannondale kits too.
We all are too sexy.

"May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face" and may your wheels always find it safely back to the ground.
PEACE Chris