Hell of a Day...

So it started with a phone call from work. Apparently there was some sort of miscommunication and I had a client for a fit at the shop at 10am. It's my day off, so I get up, shower, eat, grab my bike and ride in. But it wasn't that smooth...about halfway to work, I got hit. I was traveling down a one-way street behind a car. They had their left signal on and started pulling to the left. I moved to pass them on the right when they cut the wheel to turn right into a parking lot (with the LEFT SIGNAL on). Instinct took over, and I steered with the car to avoid hitting them. Then my tires slipped out on the wet leaves. I slid towards the car, stopping myself with a well placed foot to the door. Front wheel went under the car, rear car wheel went over mine, toasted bike! Bent handlebars. I'm fine. Minor scrapes and stiff joints. I won't go into the gory details of what ensued, but in the end, I got paid to repair my bike and the authorities didn't have to get involved. Still got to work, did the fit and got home in one piece. I'm slowly getting stiffness here and there (as to be expected). Gonna build a new wheel and get some new bars up on the bike and we'll be good to go. PLEASE be careful out there this time of year. With a toasted wheel, bars and minor scrapes, I'm VERY lucky! Things could have been much worse and I thank my lucky stars! Hope you're all getting out to ride even with the cold weather!

Putney Race Report

Yeah...so I arrived in Putney around 8AM-ish. It was cold and windy, but the sun was out. I knew that it would warm up as the morning progressed and was looking forward to losing some layers so I wouldn't sweat so bad. Saw Tony and Tina pull in shortly after I arrived. Took my time getting my stuff together, marveled at how the port-a-john had frozen from the evening prior (was the lucky one to christen it, I believe) and went in to register. It was a nice change to be able to register inside somewhere warm! Got my pins, and number, went back to the car, grabbed the bike and started to learn the course.

The first grass section had 2 barriers and I noticed that everything was frozen and slippery upon first dismount. The course wound around a bit, then had a short, steep down-hill to 90 degree turn to steep, log run up. Take a straightaway around the bike shop, through the dirt jumps, down a wicked steep, slippery downhill, to a path, to and around some corn fields (iced and chunky now), then back onto some pavement, up a SUPER steep run-up (probably about 30' long) and back onto the course. Good, fast, FUN course. Got in a few more runs. Retried a few technical spots that gave me trouble. Got more comfortable with the steeps with every lap. Made mental notes of where my lines should be. Had a few issues with the chain throwing itself again, fixed it. Went back to the car and ran the heat to warm my feet up. Was pretty sweaty and decided to loose the tights, instead opted for knee warmers, and pinned up my Ignite jacket.

At about 9:45 decided I'd take one last run, at about half speed through most of it, full speed on a few sections. Lost my arm warmers before leaving the car because it had warmed up so much. The light jacket was more than enough. Opted for a cycling cap instead of a beanie as well. Started getting the blood flowing, and wanted to be ready to go right to the start line. When I made it to the run up, everyone was already lined up. Saw Tony and cut the line to post up right next to him.

Got the 'gun', started my '45mins of Pain' mix on the iPod, and we were off! Spun like a bastard and stayed with the front of the group. Going into the barrier section, one guy bumped arms with me (purposely as far as I could tell). Noted it as we went over the barrier section. Winding around to the first run-up, he tried it again and I went aggro, pushing him back off of me. He tried it again, and I gave him the "watch your line!". He backed off and gave me some lame excuse. As we were going up the first techy run-up, some guy cased it right into the first log. He went straight down, his bike went up, another guy crashed into the brush next to the run-up. Bikes and bodies flying everywhere! I pushed through, and kept pace with who I was with til the cornfields. That's where the chain blew off. Fixed it cursing all the way, and noticed how all the frozen stuff was now a greasy mess! The corn field wound up being a crash fest for a ton of guys every time I went though.

The rest of the race I spent trying to pick off guys ahead of me. I noticed that the only place I really got dropped was on the flat paved section because of my gearing. The rest of the race (in most of the technical sections, especially the mud) I was catching and passing guys. I knew that I wasn't in contention, but I wanted to finish and see how many I could catch. Went hard. By the time I got to the finish, I was choking back vomit. Couldn't really talk. Just coughed a bunch. Tony got worried and actually had Tina check on me to make sure I was alright! Tony did great, finishing 5th!

Got changed, ate a burrito, drank the rest of my water, checked out the shop, watched some other racers, waited for the results FOREVER!, saw that I somehow didn't make DFL, and took off. Stopped in Northampton for a coffee, some used CD's, a new shirt and belt. Then went home. A great day with some super fun riding and good friends. Always a great time!


-Pushing HARD up the last few steps of the brutal run-up. photo by Tina McCurdy


-rep'n Ghostship and Ignite (Orange County Hard Core!) photo by Tina McCurdy



-the mini dirt jump in the middle of the course. super fun! photo by Tina McCurdy

VT Cyclocross.

Raced Putney today. I'm SUPER tired and am heading to bed right now! (9:30pm). Here's the quick run-down...more detailed report to follow:
Got up super early, cold, frozen slick ground, thawed greasy mud, lots of crashing, jumping over bodies, bike failure AGAIN!, Tony kicked ass! (5th place), drove to Northampton, coffee, used cd's, new shirt, drove home, Eli's w/ the Sunday crew, here, bed. Photos to arrive as well (hopefully).

Putney...

Last minute decision...Heading up to the VT tomorrow for the Putney cross race. It's been going on for 16 years (17 counting tomorrow) and promises to be an old school cross course...with a dirt jump in the middle! Sounds like a good time. Stories and photos to follow...

Vegas Photos...Finally!

Here're the photos from our trip out to Las Vegas for this year's Interbike show. No descriptions yet...coming soon...enjoy!

Photos From Chainbiter

Here're some photos from the cross race this past weekend. All photos by Tina McCurdy.

Cursed...

I'm seriously beginning to think that my cross bike is cursed. Every race, and I mean EVERY fuck'n race, something breaks or fails. Flat tires (curbed by running higher pressure), dropped chains (fixed by running single-speed rings and cogs)...today I broke the pulley wheel on the singulator IN HALF. Of course it happened during the race. The first lap. About 1/8th of the way through. Couldn't have happened last night, or the day before, or during my practice run. Nope. Had to happen during the race. Once I figured out what happened and fixed it the best I could, all 3 fields (the Cat 4s, and both Master's classes passed me). I spent the rest of the race trying so hard just to catch up. When all was said and done, I got pulled with 1 lap left to go. DFL because of a stupid plastic part.

Other than the frustrations of my bicycle, I had a good time. The Ghostship Terror Squad was in full effect. Got to see some old friends and catch up. Did the dollar prime thing with Ghostship and met some new folks. Got to ride an awesome course, spend the day with great friends, eat some food, drink a couple beers. Life is good. I'm so tired I'm gonna crash on my couch and nap for a bit. Hope you made the best of a rainy, cold, windy day.