Stanky Creek Time Trial

I placed third at the Stanky Creek time trial today in a field of six riders for my group. My time was 14:24 over three miles, which is just absolutely pathetic. I know climbers are notoriously bad time-trialist, but I’m still disappointed with my performance. I never knew how hard to push it so basically raced my regular cross-country speed.

Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow in the cross-country race, but I doubt it. This trail is pancake flat (except for one downhill on the XC course) and doesn’t favor me at all.

This is one of the monkeys scattered around the course.

This is the "big downhill" on the XC course for Sunday.

Racer Wins Road Race - on a Mountain Bike

Here's a cool story I found on bikemagic.com.

Whyte racer wins road race - on a mountain bike
By Mike Davis
It's hard to beat a road bike on the road. Generally the best you can hope for is to grab a wheel and then time your attack so that you can pull off into a side road and hide before your lungs fall into the gutter. But Whyte-sponsored Luke Smith has managed the reasonably impressive achievement of winning a 75km road race on a mountain bike.

Having travelled to South Africa with just a Whyte 19 (and some clean pants and socks and stuff, obviously. And probably a toothbrush too), Luke had been doing a fair amount of training on the road. That's one thing, actually racing on blacktop is another. We're not quite sure how it happened, but Luke ended up on the start line in Gabarone, sat on his knobbly-shod 19 next to a load of skinny blokes on carbon road bikes with deep-section rims and all that stuff.

Over to Luke:

"The race started off a fairly decent pace with everyone keen to establish a good spot near the front of the peloton. I managed to work my way up front without too much difficulty, much to the surprise of many competitors as I rode past, my big knobbly tyres buzzing as the pace was wound up.

"The route was a fairly straightforward out and back circuit with a few corners near the finish. The wind was on our back as we headed out on the circuit which meant we would face some fairly strong winds at the turn.

"There were a couple of guys whom some friends of mine had told me to watch, one of them is apparently a pro roadie in South Africa. It was no surprise that it was these guys that made most of the attacks. What was surprising was the fact that I was able to go with them! Each time, though, we were pulled back by the main group.

"As the race neared the finish some of the riders made a last ditch effort at getting away but it was destined to come down to a sprint finish - however the guys trying to get away had done a pretty good job at stretching the field out. I managed to constantly hold second wheel behind the lead rider with the pro road rider sat closely on my wheel.

"As we hit the finishing straight I launched my attack and as I glanced back I realised I'd gapped the others. I even had enough time to make the most of the win and celebrate in style.

"The crowd and other riders were shocked that an MTB had won a road race. When they later asked what was the secret I replied, 'Whyte - Great British Mountain Bikes, they can't be beaten!' Too be honest, though, I'd really surprised myself.

Hopefully I can keep some of this form for my imminent return to the UK..."

What does this tell us about the relative merits of MTB and road bikes? Not a lot, really. We can safely conclude that Luke Smith's a pretty strong rider, though - if you want to emulate his feat we suggest that you pick your opponents with care...

Weight-Weenie Bike Lust

I love my Mavic Crossmax wheels. They are lightweight and completely bomb proof. These things have hit some seriously nasty stuff and kept rolling like a stolen truck. My Shimano XTR crank isn't shabby either. However, I’m a weight-weenie and am prone to love anything that sheds grams.

I recently stumbled upon two items that have my gram shedding heart all a flutter - the Stan’s ZTR Race wheels hovering somewhere near 1300 grams and the Race Face Next carbon crank at a slender 730 grams.



All I need to do now is win the lottery.

Six Weeks to Clear Creek Challenge

Click the image for a larger view.

The Clear Creek Challenge is 6 weeks away and it’s time to start getting serious with my training. I have a good history on this course and I want to keep the streak going. Clear Creek is an important race for me because it’s my home trail. In fact, I put this race right up there with Chickasaw Trace and Bump ‘n Grind on my value chart. This is race #7 in the SCRCS and #4 in the state series, so the big guns from Memphis should be coming down for the event as well as the usual group from Mobile and south Louisiana. I’ve given some thought to trying the cat-1 group for this race. I’ll more than likely do it if there isn’t any good competition registered for my USAC category.

My next race is this coming weekend in Memphis at the Legend of Stank Creek. I really don’t have any expectations for this race since the trail is flat & twisty, which doesn’t favor me at all, so I’m treating it as a tune up race more than anything else.

The Forgetful Mind.

I hate it when I forget things. I seem to be forgetting things more often these days. I'm not sure if I'm getting senile or if I've clipped one too many saplings while out blazing down trails. It just bugs me to no end.


Case in point: I purchased this can of mushrooms with a specific purpose in mind. I know I wanted to mix them with something but that something escapes me. As you can see, it's a cheap can of Kroger mushroom buttons, so whatever I had in mind for them was nothing fancy. Maybe it will come to me later, but for the moment, I have a can of mushrooms without a purpose.
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August 10, Edit: Spaghetti! I got the mushrooms for spaghetti!

~ Fight Like Susan ~

Elden Nelson, the Fat Cyclist, lost his wife, Susan, last night after a long bout with cancer. Affectionately known as “Fatty” to his many readers, Edlen has entertained cyclist across the country with his humorous insights and inspired with his tireless fight against cancer.

My heart goes out to Elden and his family during this very difficult time.

With deepest sympathy,
Richard

Enjoying the Fruits of My Labor

The weather has been dismal the past several days, and I have neglected my bikes in favor of doing trail work at the Whirlpool Trails here in town. However, with the break in the rainy weather today, I decided to get out and enjoy the fruits of my labor and thread a little single-track.

I could have published more photos of the trails but my camera went on the blink, probably from condensation since it was in my jersey pocket and I was sweating like a pig. It appears the dog days of August have arrived. I had to stop every mile or so to wipe the sweat out of my eyes. It was simply awful! I perspired so much while riding that I lost close to three pounds in a two-hour ride.


This used to be a very nasty dip on the Weldy Trail at the bottom of a down hill run. It totally screwed up the trail flow, so I filled it with large sticks and packed everything down with a layer of dirt and sand. I also used some large rocks I found to give it a little "edge".

This downed tree on the Stunt Trail used to bring everyone to a dead stop. I piled up logs and sticks to create a “log pile” and packed it with dirt. I promise it’s stable and fun to ride.

Too far to the left and you clip the sapling. Too far to the right and you hit the root with your tires.

There used to be a vertical drop close to eight inches between the stump and the tree that was almost imposable to get over. The worse part was a root that protruded upward and would usually clip my pedal. I solved this by cutting the root back and constructing a “ramp” from sticks and dirt. Now this section is much smoother.

This section is just crazy fast. You zip one way and zag another.

The funny thing about this sapling is I debated if I should cut it out or leave it alone. I decided to leave it alone. Well, today I clipped it with my handlebar and took a dirt dive. The sapling is bent over because I bent it that way after my collision. I'd have cut it down on the spot if I had my machete.