Team Red Wheel

Diamond Blackfan Cyclocross Challenge Pics

 

R.I.M. race report

Chris, Sonya, and I made it to Landahl for the Rapture in Misery 6/12.  Sonya and Chris took on the 12 hour solo challenge, while I pussed out and opted for the 6 hr.

For the LeMans style start, we all laid our bikes down so we would run the shortest distance possible.   I hung out at the back of the start line until the race started, when I started to move up.    For the second straight race I managed to crash in the first mile or two.  There were two big rock slabs with a gap between them just big enough to get your front wheel stuck in it.  So I did.  I wound up with the bike on top of my back - damn, I'm smooth.  I crashed again on the second lap, just for good measure. 

Chris rode really well.  We finished our first lap together.  At the end of the second lap, he was just ahead of me.  He went out for a third lap, while I stopped to refuel.  I didn't see him again until he stopped to refuel.  I had to fix a flat tire on the fourth lap, soon after that Chris flew past me like I was standing still.  I didn't see him again until I finished my fifth lap.  He was sitting under the EZ-Up drinking a beer and hanging out with Garet.  He decided to call it a day.  Results haven't been posted yet, but I think he must have been way up towards the top. Sonya was still on the course when I left.

I finished 8th out of 16th in 30-39 class.  I completed 5 laps(50 miles) in 6:40 or something close to that.  The first 3 laps were fun, but the last two were pretty tough.  Which was to be expected considering my longest MB ride prior was only 3 hours.

Anyway the big race isn't till the end of this month.  Something called the Tall Oak challenge.  Hopefully, now I have a better idea of what to do and what not to do.

Chris and Sonya - let us know how you finished up.

Missouri River 340 in progress

I checked out the website to see if they are updating the racers progress.  I found a thread in the Rivermiles.com forum that is being updated. Here is a link to the thread

Andy and Daryl have so far made it to the first checkpoint.  There were several teams listed as DNF. Here is a spreadsheet with the results so far... Missouri 340 results in progress

Spazz-ma-tazz race/training ride report

Even though I still don't know what spazz-ma-tazz means, I went to Smithville with the intention of racing.  After having a decent race at Rhett's run.  I decided I would try to get out a little faster and try to avoid traffic the first lap. 

At the start, I got into the top half of the field, which is a first for me in a MTB race.  A couple of minutes into the race, we went around a sharp turn, and the guy in front of me swerved at the last second to avoid a small tree on the side of the trail.  I wasn't able to avoid it.  I went over the handlebars, and the bike came down on top of me.  So the rest of the field passed me while I was lying face down on the side of the trail, with my bike on top of me, trying to get my foot unclipped. 

I was able to get up and chase down one rider, then skidded out on another corner.  I didn't go down, but I dropped my chain and was passed by the 40-49 group.  At that point, I decided it just wasn't my day.  I never have done well riding any trail the first time.  I decided to take it easy and treat the race as a training ride, just finishing to get points for the overall series.

By my second lap, I felt more comfortable and started passing a couple of people, except for one guy.  He pedaled up the hills in granny gear, and then would bomb the downhills.  He'd pull away on the downhills and once I caught up he would take off again.  I kept thinking that there would be a chance to pass coming up or he would just get tired of me being on his wheel and let me pass.

The last mile and a half I was still riding strong and passed 4 people riding through a muddy field at the end.  I finished feeling like I could ride another lap or two at the same pace. 

9th out of 12 in sport class,  Not what I was hoping for, but oh well. I should have done the expert class.  There was only 1 rider in the under-35 division.  I could have gotten 2nd, just for finishing.

Does anyone want to pre-ride the Show-me games course?  It's less than two weeks away, and I would like to get familiar with it so I don't wind up hurting myself.

Rim Wrecker pics

Here are some pics from the mudfest that most of us(hmm...hmm...Chad) participated in on Sunday.  I guess I was the only one with a camera, so don't hate on the quality.

Froze Toes race report

I NEED SOME F#CKIN SHOE COVERS!!!  The race definitely lived up to its name.  Of course, wearing triathlon shoes might not have been the smartest idea.

I decided to do this race two weeks ago, so I wasn't expecting spectacular results.  My only goal was to get in the pack and try to stay there as long as I could.  Well, I didn't even make it into the pack.  The race start was pretty unorganized, apparently someone said "GO", and I said "huh?" and I was twenty yards back before getting out of the parking lot.  I sprinted to catch up, only to have to slam on my breaks because someone had a mechanical 200 yards into the race.  I sprinted again to catch up to the back of the pack, someone else had a mechanical a mile or so later, slam on the breaks again. 

There were about 70 riders in the 19-40 cat 5 group, the 40+ cat 5's started a minute or two later, and caught up to us at about two miles.  So we had about 100 squirrely cat 5's riding together. We would be rolling downhill, and as soon as we hit the uphill, the front of the group would start yelling "slowing" and tap their brakes, so everyone behind had to hit their brakes as well, and then we would sprint to catch up. 

All that stop-and-go riding took it's toll on me.  I was off the back of the pack 5 miles into the race.  I pretty much rode alone the rest of the way.  My only motivation was getting out of the cold.  Even the lead pack of the women's group caught up and dropped me.  I was riding about 20 feet back of them, so I wouldn't interfere with their race, the support vehicle came up and told me I need to drop back, so I did.  I wasn't getting much draft that far back anyway, just a view of their butts.

The roads were pretty rough, I must have seen about twenty people along the road, changing flat tires, also heard there were several crashes.

Others from Team Red Wheel were Barry, Jason, and Mike.  Barry said he finished in the pack.  Jason rode with the pack for most of the ride, but did go down once.  Mike said he stayed with the pack for a while, then rode in alone.

Syllamo's Revenge

Registration opens for Syllamo's Revenge tomorrow (1/15).  This event is shorter than Ouachita (50 miles) but consists of all singletrack.  The guys in Arkansas have laid out some pretty good trail in the last few years and this event is used to showcase it.  An after event dinner is included.  Peat and I are interested.  Any other takers?

For more info check out http://www.syllamosrevenge.com/

Boss Cross KC MO

This was THE coldest race I've ever done. It was 34 degrees when we got there, the wind was blowing at  25 mph out of the north, the course was soft with mud, three sand pits, a muddy sandy run up, and it was COLD! Dude....it was awesome. The KC races are always fun.

Chris B, Jessica, Sonya, and Nick S (me) did the 4's race at noon. Chris needs to buy a watch, he was off warming up when the race started and just caught on the tail end of the group as we rolled out. That sounds like someone else i know (Jon boy). I took off and made my way to the middle of the pack, and stayed there for the rest of the race. Not too exciting. Sonya finally got over her fear of racing cross and found out it's not too bad, that is if you LIKE racing around in the mud and cold. Jessica had a great day of racing, mixing it up with the rest of the cat 4 women until the last lap when she broke away to take the win (she learned that from me). Jon boy was the only Red Wheeler to race 3/4 this weekend and after a bad start (he was probity late). After a crash or two he found himself in 11th place at the end of the race.

We all agreed that this was the hardest course we have ridden this year. every one of us crashed somewhere during this race. But other than the cold and wind making it hard to stand around it was one of the better races we've been to.

George Winter park Cross Race.

I hate flat cross courses! Never the less it was a fun race. We had a good group of guys (Jon L, Andy N, Peat, Nick S, and Chris B all raced, and Chadwick and Nate came up to hang out and drink beer. Chris had his first taste of real cross racing (sort of) on this wet, cold, muddy day of racing. he finished somewhere near the back of the pack, but he still got his moneys worth. Andy and i did a little better (he did a little better than me) finishing middle of the pack of 18 or so racers in the C class.  The big story of the day was the B race with Jon boy and Peat. 20 yards into race peat hit the barriers and went down and Jon boy was stuck in the back of the pack of 20 racers. by the end of the first lap Jon had worked his way back up to 6th place and Peat was.....well....still racing. Jon stayed in the front through out the race even leading a few laps. by the end of the race Peat had made his way up to the middle of the pack and Jon boy was able to sprint it out for 3rd place. Hell ya, 3rd place is worth $10. We took Jon's winnings to the local bar and grill, got $10 worth of chicken wings, a couple of pitchers of beer.   The End. 

Nick

I'm gonna win

every time i swing a leg over my bike i think to myself, how can i make Andy hurt? This Sunday at the Queeny Park cross race, I'm gonna make Andy hurt. So help me God, he will hurt.