It’s Tuesday, do you know where your bike is???
30 Aug 2011 2 Comments
Come on people, this is what we’ve been waiting for all year. Late summer/early fall weather. If you’re not riding outside, you are missing out on the best conditions possble.
Monday night trainer- We had the faithful showup last night. That is the faithful plus one; our buddy Kevin Greene. Sled, Mr Plymate, Philly, Val, Kevin, and me. We headed out at a real nice pace and for the most part kept it that way. Our buddy Kevin was feelin’ good and busted out on a couple of downhill tailwind sprints that would make a mother proud. When we’d catch up he had a big grin on his face which is always an indicator that someone is feelin’ good about their bike!!! I have to say I can tell that Kevin has a few more miles in the saddle this season we all know how that feels. We had a flat tire stop, which had an optional pee break in it, because the corn field was right there. We were able to talk about some episode of Jerry Springer that was as good as it gets in the drama/love/relationship area; all this while Philly gave an assist on the tire. You’ll have to ask Val about it or show up to a ride to get the story. It’s one of the perks for showing up to a ride!!! I can’t believe how nice everyone played last night; except for leaving me up front on the homestretch. I kept waiting, waiting, and waiting for the big move and nothin’; well, except for a big grin on Philly’s face and a “we left you up there didn’t we” comment as they cruised by me toward the end. All in all a great ride!!! Thanks to all for working so hard; together!!!
On another note; I want to give cudos to our Man Ty, for having a strong finish to a great mountain bike racing season; I know he was anxious to finish well and that, he did!!! Hopefully he’ll comment an give us the details of his race and how the season ended up for him.
Tonight I’m headed to Clark or the JCT as others call it. It should be as brutal as always. Good weather brings out the hammerfest in those guys; who am I kidding, all weather brings out the hammerfest in that group. If you want a challenge just show up and hang on!!! Others will be leaving the Shelbville high school at 5:30 tonight.
JJ
Aug 30, 2011 @ 14:29:02
The DINO series is finished for this year and i had a great time racing the complete series for the first time. This is a 7 race series that uses your best 5 scores for series points. The first race at Warsaw went well for my first time there and I finished 13th overall (37 total) in CAT 1 and 1st in my 40-49 age division. Brown County State park was next, and that race went along well and I placed 12th overall(46 total) 1st in age. The next race was at French Lick and this is where I made my first rookie mistake. Having been woke up in the middle of the night by a pouring rain and it still coming down heavy at 8am, I assumed the race would be cancelled and decided to hit the Buffett with the wife and kid at the hotel and try to get my moneys worth. Bad bad mistake, went across the street to the trailhead at 9am only to find the race was going on At 10am. Felt ok for the first 10-15 minutes untill the stomach started churning, this race was essentially over. I went ahead and finished the race in the mud and rain and and ended up 15th overall out of only 22. No big deal I thought, I could use that as one of my throwaway scores and lesson learned. Next was North Vernon, my favorite track. I was running around the top 10 overall of this race and feeling real strong when during the middle of the 3rd lap of 4, my chain broke! I had a quick link, but no chain tool which was necessary this time, so a DNF!! Next race at Versailles, felt great, had a chain tool and link with me and finished 6th Overall (36 total), 1st age division. Next race was at Logansport, a new trail for me. Pre-rode the course, felt fast enough and started the race real strong and feeling good. About 5 miles in on the 1st lap, I cut a sidewall on my rear tire that’s ran tubeless. A big deal, but I actually carried a spare tube for the first time as insurance, go figure! Installed the tube as fast as possible, but about 4 miles later it must have gotten pinched flat and with no more tubes or C02′s, another lousy DNF. My lousy 15th at French Lick was actually my saving grace as long as I could actually finish the last race and get my 5th race completed for the year end. Last Sunday was the last race at Town Run in Indy, a course that I never hardly ride due to no elevation change and dealing with the traffic up there. Big mistake, this is about the only track in the series where there is a HUGE local advantage. With so many tight and twisty turnes, the better you know it, the faster you become. Anyway, I rode it a few times in the last few weeks, found some speed (not enough) and was able to finish 10th overall out of 22. Was happy with the effort I put in at this race and it got me the 5th race points I needed! In the end, I ended up winning my 40-49 age series, and landing me 4th overall in CAT1 since a few of the top front runners didn’t complete the whole series. I learned from my mistakes this year, and look forward to next.
Aug 30, 2011 @ 16:05:59
Hats off to you buddy!!! Anybody that’s ridden with Ty this year knows he was real serious about this season and put forth a lot of effort. You know a guy is riding well and training hard when you hear everyone either gasp or say ” OH CRAP, Ty’s here”. AWESOME dude :^)