This was the first race of the US Cup 50 miler series. Scott and I prerode the week before and I was ready to go on the new Marin. The course is a mix of mostly road climbs and excellent single track descents; two laps for the 50 miler. The Rodder crew rolled out together in the Eurovan - stylin! Scott and I went out together, pretty hard, but not too hard. The new bike was riding well and things were going smoothly through Wrangler (fun) and Bronco (some hike a bike). We picked off some riders as we climbed back up to Four Corners. I went into the red a bit here and backed it off as we headed into the aid station. Scott got out of there and pulled away on the road climb up to Los Pinos. I wouldn't see him until the finish (nice work Scotty!). Over the top at Los Pinos, down the fireroad on the other side. Feeling invincible on the new bike, I picked up a huge amount of speed... oh, better soak up that water bar. Oh shit, I hit that fast... getting bucked... coming down on the front wheel... too far forward... ground rushing up... ow, big crash. It seemed like it took forever to get going again. Looking at my Garmin data later, it was only about 5 minutes. A bunch of guys went past in that time. Once I realized I was able to ride, I started worrying about the bike. Everything seemed ok, but I was afraid I'd miss something and have another crash. I thought about packing it in - I could just coast down the road to the start finish. But that would be a lame way to go out, and it would hurt just as bad there as it would riding. So eventually I got going again, and limped down to Spur Meadow trail. I ran into Matt at Four Corners. He'd had flats and was done racing, but helped me with bottles (thanks Matt!). The crash took some of the fight out of me, but I hung in. Bronco was no fun - getting on and off the bike hurt. The second climb up to Los Pinos ws a grind too, but I enjoyed the ride down Spur Meadow, what a great trail. Descending Kernan, I caught up to Danny Munoz. This guy is crazy fast, why I catching up to him? He'd had a nasty crash (into a Jeep!) and had to replace a wheel. Bad luck! We rode in the rest of the way. I ended up 8 out of 16 in the Open men 30-39 category. Not so bad considering. Scott finished 2nd, awesome job.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Marin Team CXR 29er carbon HT - first impressions
After racing the Spring Challenge on a borrowed bike, I had two weeks to figure something out for Sage Brush. Warranty replacement for the Motobecane was going to take a while, so I decided to get a new race bike. The Marin Team CXR is a carbon 29er hardtail. The frame is tube to tube construction, where carbon tubes are bonded together to make up the frame. Cool features include a tapered head tube and bent chain/seat stays with the rear caliper located inside the bend. The front end and BB areas are huge (= stiff!). It comes with Black Flag wheels and Fox RL fork with 9mm QR. I swapped out the wheels for my Stans crest wheels, and installed my old Reba with 1-1/8 steerer. Basically, I didn't see the point of a new fork with 9mm QR setup, so I planned to sell the OEM fork and upgrade to a thru axle fork and wheel eventually.
Ride impressions Using my old wheelset and fork made for a direct comparison with the Motobecane Ti frame. The Marin climbs like a goat. It's stiffer than my old Motobecane Ti 29er, which is evident in climbing, tracking through turns, and pedaling out of the saddle. At the same time, there's a subtle smoothness to the ride. It's clearly a hardtail, but an element of mellow takes the harsh edge off the trail - even in comparison to my old Ti frame. It handles tight switchbacks nimbly, unlike some 29ers (like my FS RIP9) that navigate switchbacks like an 18 wheeler. It picks up speed super fast on the downhills. The stiffer front end definitely shows up the flexiness in my old Reba and front wheel. Need more ride time to get familiar and dial everything in, but it's good so far.
Ride impressions Using my old wheelset and fork made for a direct comparison with the Motobecane Ti frame. The Marin climbs like a goat. It's stiffer than my old Motobecane Ti 29er, which is evident in climbing, tracking through turns, and pedaling out of the saddle. At the same time, there's a subtle smoothness to the ride. It's clearly a hardtail, but an element of mellow takes the harsh edge off the trail - even in comparison to my old Ti frame. It handles tight switchbacks nimbly, unlike some 29ers (like my FS RIP9) that navigate switchbacks like an 18 wheeler. It picks up speed super fast on the downhills. The stiffer front end definitely shows up the flexiness in my old Reba and front wheel. Need more ride time to get familiar and dial everything in, but it's good so far.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Idyllwild Spring Challenge
I was really looking forward to the great Spring Challenge course, and a weekend in the mountains. But Tuesday before the race I discovered a crack in my frame. Not good. After some scrambling, I borrowed a bike and even got in a shake down ride. The bike was a Banshee Paradox - a 29er hardtail with super short chainstays and slack head angle. I couldn't handle it as well as Mike (it's really suited to his riding characteristics), but I could work with it. I was racing in open category so I could do the long course. At 27 miles, it's shorter than a marathon, but longer than a typical XC course. All the climbing and single track made it feel longer too.
We went out fast for the first climb up to Keen pass, and were soon on May Valley fireroad. I was pretty far into the red at this point, but there's a lot of downhill in the second half of the course, so better go at it now. The Banshee and I got acquainted on the singletrack Bonita Vista trail down to the base of Lower Southridge. Ah, Southridge: rock and root infested hike a bike climb. I do actually kind of like it, though in the race I tend to dismount readily rather than try to clear everything; the spirit's all wrong, but it's faster. I settled in back on the fireroad, enjoyed the fun singletrack section near the top of MVF, then hit town at Astrocamp. Diana met me near the top of the course to hand off some bottles... thanks D! The final climb is some nasty steep road through town. The payoff is a great downhill singletrack, Mid Southridge. I had passed Coach on the road climb but he went hauling past on the descent - Coach has skills! After the initial steep trail, we raced Snakeskin, Cahuuilla, and Tres Hombres trails. This is where the early hard climbs catch up with me. It's downhill overall, but the trail twists left, right, up, and down through lots of tech sections. In other words, awesome trails, but not the sort where you can just sit and spin. This year the final section went back across Keen meadow and down the Keen pass trail. It seemed a little easier than the usual course; at that point, I wasn't complaining. I finished in 2:57 for 3rd place (of 11) in Open men 30-39. Would've been 10/16 in Cat 1, though... keeping me humble.
We went out fast for the first climb up to Keen pass, and were soon on May Valley fireroad. I was pretty far into the red at this point, but there's a lot of downhill in the second half of the course, so better go at it now. The Banshee and I got acquainted on the singletrack Bonita Vista trail down to the base of Lower Southridge. Ah, Southridge: rock and root infested hike a bike climb. I do actually kind of like it, though in the race I tend to dismount readily rather than try to clear everything; the spirit's all wrong, but it's faster. I settled in back on the fireroad, enjoyed the fun singletrack section near the top of MVF, then hit town at Astrocamp. Diana met me near the top of the course to hand off some bottles... thanks D! The final climb is some nasty steep road through town. The payoff is a great downhill singletrack, Mid Southridge. I had passed Coach on the road climb but he went hauling past on the descent - Coach has skills! After the initial steep trail, we raced Snakeskin, Cahuuilla, and Tres Hombres trails. This is where the early hard climbs catch up with me. It's downhill overall, but the trail twists left, right, up, and down through lots of tech sections. In other words, awesome trails, but not the sort where you can just sit and spin. This year the final section went back across Keen meadow and down the Keen pass trail. It seemed a little easier than the usual course; at that point, I wasn't complaining. I finished in 2:57 for 3rd place (of 11) in Open men 30-39. Would've been 10/16 in Cat 1, though... keeping me humble.
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