clouds. real.

This weekend the social group took a road trip down to FATS.  It was an adventure, to say the least, but one that I won't get to until tomorrow.  I've got other things to get out of the way first.

Things area about to get chronologically screwy here, so try to stay with me.

Thursday I rode the HiFi out at the Whitewater Center since I figured I should show it some love as I planned on racing it this coming weekend up at Uwharrie.  As I entered the trails it felt like I was riding on a cloud!  It was as if the HiFi was just floating over the trail chatter.  Everything seemed to be smoothed out as I flowed through the trail.  It was a unique experience to feel such a dramatic difference between the full suspension HiFi and the fully rigid Glow Worm on such familiar trails.  While I enjoyed the smoothness of the HiFi, I had to quickly change gears in my head (PUN) and return to the "sit and spin" method of climbing over the "quick let's conquer this bad boy" attitude of the One 9.  On the other hand, descending the back side of Goat was a bit more fun with the squish!

Sunday I finally took the Glow Worm to a local trail that I had determined would be perfect for a singlespeed, even before riding singlespeed.  I hit Sherman Branch for the first time on the Glow Worm with the gorgeous 18t on the back and guess what... PRs all over your face!  I also recognized on this ride how much I do love the rigid fork on root drops.  It is predictable and stable on the short drops.  No sag and recovery like you might find with a suspension fork up front - it's quite nice.  With the 18 tooth cog in the rear the Glow Worm was eating up the trail like a boss.

I have come to the conclusion that the 18t cog is the "boss", and the 20t is the "intern."  Although, with the way I feel on the Glow Worm it might not be long before the "boss" get's a demotion.  I still have to get back to the Whitewater Center to try to tackle everything there with the "boss" in charge before I start making any rash decisions.

I admit it.  I'm a single speeder.  I get WAY too lazy with gears.  Riding with just the one gear keeps me on top of my ride.  It honestly lets me enjoy the trail in a way gears don't.  Throw in the lack of suspension and (I know it's super cliche but hold on to your helmet) I do feel a solid connection with the trail.

Saturday it was determined that I will NOT be racing at Uwharrie this coming weekend.  With the closing for the new house happening on Thursday (YAY!) the responsible thing would be for me to miss the race so I can move heavy things to our new place.  Makes sense.

Now I have to find a replacement race - and it comes down to Virginia or Clemson.  Both are 2.5 +/- hours away - blowfest.  The positive, my start time for these two events wouldn't be until 11:30 - so not a super early morning with the drive time.  Not sure which I will enter at this point.  Google investigations didn't provide enough information to make an informed decision up to this point.  It might just come down to which fits the calendar better.  

Cat One or Bust

I wake up this morning to find this in my blogger feed:

Sorry joe aguero.... I don't need to "Lose Weight Today."  Why the hell has this taken over my blog feed??  I did a little investigating, cause I'm all crafty like that, and it appears TJ has neglected his blog for far to long and Mr. joe aguero snaked his address.  Hence, the flood of weight lose tips of uncertain validity.

Whelp, looks like catoneorbust.blogspot.com is coming out of the rotation.  Ahhhhh, all better.

Ok, race report time (finally)!!!

The Riverfront Classic is on my home turf I suppose, with it being at the Whitewater Center and all.  I figured if I'm gonna race it, this would be the race to break out the Glow Worm.  I had ridden the Glow Worm out at the Whitewater Center once before making the decision, and felt that I was able to clean everything on it.  But, to decide if I was going to race it I felt I should get back out there to really test if the 20 in the back would be too spiny on the vertically challenged sections.  On it's maiden voyage out there I had skipped Carpet, so when it came to Goat Hill I was fine and dandy - even enjoying it.  On my "pre-ride," pushing the pace, I hit everything that would  be included in the race... and the Carpet - Goat Hill combo produced less than stellar results - namely dry heaving 3/4 the way up.  You can read about that ride here.

Strava told me I PR'd a whole bunch of stuff on that ride, so I figured I'd be able to stay competitive (fingers crossed) on the Glow Worm.  A few days before the race someone on the local forums posted that the course was being adjusted and Figure 8 would be out and the powerline climb on the back side of Goat would be added.  I didn't know how to take this as this wasn't coming from the race promoter and I was figuring/guessing/HOPING this was just someone busting balls on the forums.  You see, I NEEDED Figure 8 to help thin the pack and allow me to pass/build a gap on the extended climb out.  That was my master plan really!!  Get up that thing fast, put in some time and then just go.  Hoping it would give me enough cushion to make it to each subsequent climb to gain more time...

I arrive at the Whitewater Center feeling tired and TomTom (who was course marshaling for the day - even though he could have killed it out there, so I guess thanks for not racing against me!!) confirmed that Figure 8 was indeed out.

CRAP.  Not even with an exclamation point.

I was deflated and my brain was scrambling.  Great, now how are things going to shake out?  I registered and headed out to see what the beginning would look like sans Figure 8.  We lost about a mile on the overall course.  We totally by-pass that extended climb I so badly wanted/needed (there was still a glimmer of hope we'd somehow still maintain that) and instead take a short climb to the fire road on top of the ridge line before descending.  The climb wasn't bad, and pretty short, so I was sure it could keep me competitive - especially with the fire road and downhill to follow.  I also checked my top speed - max at about 15/16 spinning my brains out... not going to hold anyone off in the flats, that's for sure.

I took off as fast as I could at the start and got into the first section of singletrack probably about 8th or so.  Things are slow going as people are bunching.  We break out into the open by the whitewater and spin city commences.  I'm surprised no one flies by me here so I hold as close as I can to the guys in front of me as we pop into the new section bypassing Figure 8.  I hit the climb and instantly pass the two riders in front of me.  I put in as much as I can to gain some space as I'm thinking they will retake me on the ridge.  They don't.  I hit the downhill and blast any incline I see.  I can see riders in front so I keep on keepin on.

I pass another rider and I see in front of me a familiar rider, John Dooley.  He's a regular podium contender so that is a shot of energy right there.  I'm guessing that puts me in about 4th then so I try to reel him in.  I gain ground on climbs, but quickly loose ground on anything going anywhere but up.  The last rider I passed has stuck with me - and this is where I start cursing not having that initial climb out of Figure 8 to give me space.  He asks to pass at the beginning of Carpet, and I let him... but am then stuck on his ass as we start climbing.

He wipes out as we approach the sharp switchback at the bottom of the actual carpet climb and I am able to squeeze by on the off camber trail.  I clear the carpet, passing two riders of unknown category on the climb and keep moving.  I still think I can see John up there so I push.  Dread starts to set in as I know I've been pushing too hard this early just trying to maintain my place on the flats with Goat Hill up next.  I'm not so worried about Goat itself - it's the straight lined climb up the backside on the powerlines I'm not looking forward to.

They took us into Goat up the fire road instead of the more straight and rocky singletrack approach so I had to make a hard right turn up and over a steep root to get into the climb, my back wheel spins out and I dab.  I pull to the side for the rider that has been following me and hop back on to pursue him.  He dismounts at the next switchback, forcing me off my bike.  As we get back on our bikes and start climbing I yell to him that I'm going to need to pass when he can, we are approaching another switchback so I figured he'd wait until after.   He doesn't, he suddenly pulls to the side to stop.  I was close to him trying to maintain my momentum and my front wheel rubs his as he swerves off to the side - sapping my energy.  I somehow maintain my balance and regain some semblance of momentum and power over the roots on the switchback.  By this time two riders had caught up to us and one jumps the inside line forcing me to pause to let him go.  I had to hold a tree to stay up and I let his team mate follow behind him.  I jump on their wheel and again need to pass as they aren't pushing as hard as I need to - but I'm stuck.

I follow them down the backside of Goat and we exit to the powerline climb where my heart drops.  "Spin as far up as you can and stand and power the rest."  I don't make it nearly as far as I know I need to sitting and that cracks my willpower.  I stand and power but decide to save my legs as I still have Toilet Bowl coming.  I hope off and hike it, jumping back on for the last quarter of the climb so I can carry something (speed... dignity) back into the trails.  I've lost the riders who passed me on the switchback, and I'm uncertain how many spots I lost on the powerline climb (wasn't sure what classes those passing were in).

The "deceptive" climb getting into the fire road before Way Station was brutal, but I forced my way through and tucked and spun to Way Station.  Did what I could to keep speed up but I didn't feel like I was catching anyone.  I hit Toilet Bowl with all I had and caught and passed two riders there (I think one was the rider who had gone down before carpet and had been yo-yoing with me) pushing through the exiting climbs.

At this point we are pretty much done.  Some descending, sharp armored climb then a short singletrack climb out to the finish.  I'm behind a rider,  who I don't believe is in my class, going into the sharp armored climb so I back off to give him space so that he can hopefully clean it so I don't run into it as I power up.  We both cleaned it and I take him instantly as we hit the open fire road.  I'm not sure if he knows how close we are to the end or not, but I put it all down.  Into the singletrack I hit the drop carrying as much speed as I can and I don't stop.  I just keep pushing to the point that I don't even feel the climb out - the Glow Worm is just eating trail up!!  I have to hit the brakes exiting as the trail winds between some close trees and there it is... the finish.  I push the cranks until I could spin no longer and I coast through the finish.  I find a place to ditch the bike and try to do a quick headcount to guess where I finished.  I see about 5 guys I know were in my class and had finished ahead of me so I'm thinking 6th in best case scenario.

I was close with my guess.  Came in 7th.  Would I have finished differently on the HiFi?  Maybe.  Maybe better, maybe worse?  Bottom line, I'm happy that I raced the Glow Worm.  In the end I was still able to push myself and have some fun out there.

Next race is Uwharrie.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to race this one (we close on our new house on the 30th of this month - holy shhh!!) but I just got the go ahead from Annie so I'm in.  Although I'd love to do the climbing with the Glow Worm - I think the HiFi will give a better advantage when it comes to opening up on the downhill sections there.

Hold on for a wild ride

The weekend ended with a house full of sickies... Annie was the first, so she gets the blame for the downfall of the house.  Translation - I didn't get to go visit, and work on, the super secret trail.

But, I DID get to ride out at Uwharrie with a bunch of the B-43 characters on Saturday.  It was a bit chilly to start (low/mid 30s) but the riding ahead would keep us warm.  The trail was in pretty good shape, a little snotty in some places where the trail was thawing.  And the route was perfect.

My last ride out there I hit Keyauwee counterclockwise and I can now say, don't do that!!  Keyauwee is so much better clockwise.  Either way you ride it there is plenty of climbing involved, but the downhill is so much better clockwise - you get more exciting singletrack and a tabletop filled line when you hit it clockwise.  As I had mentioned last time, Supertree was a little less then super.  This time we hit Whitetail (which bisects the Supertree loop) and it was a much better ride - save the downed tree in a downhill section.

Ok, this is where things are going to get unhinged... so hold on.

After the ride we were talking about beer (shocker right, mountain bikers talking about beer) and we stumbled upon a translation issue.

Apparently in Ireland "growler" is a slang term for...  well, lady bits.
So, of course we had some laughs about that.

At one point I proposed the creation of a new racing team in honor of our verbal discovery, being the mature individual I am.  To further commemorate the creation I am thinking that Bigfoot should get a nod in this endeavor.

Bigfoot?  Well, apparently Uwharrie is a haven for the Sasquatch.

The only Bigfoot I know is named Harry.  But he's a big movie star.

Speaking of movies... there is a movie out there about the Uwharrie Bigfoot, you can see it in full (for free) over at Vimeo.

So, what do we know about Bigfoot?

You shouldn't mess with him, or his beef jerky.

He likes riding bikes.

But doesn't like to share the trail.

He likes to race.  (And is a bit of a cheater, looks like a pretty big head start there)

He isn't so strong on the climbs.

From what I can gather from this police artist's rendering, looks like Bigfoot isn't a stranger to bike theft... which makes sense, as Bigfoot isn't typically known to hold down a great paying job.

presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law

And the most controversial piece of evidence yet... Bigfoot or a homeless guy - you decide.

Whatcha got in the bag "Bigfoot"?

Ok, so let's try to get things back on track here.  We have: bike riding, beer, growlers (reader discretion as to the definition), Bigfoot, and a "racing team".  But, before I wrap things up, here is one more detour.  Growlers (the American kind) and bicycles brings us this interestingly sexy beast.

 It's the Growler City Bike from J.Ruiter.

This “Growler” concept concept city commuter is a working sketch prototype in a series of thoughts on what we carry around with us and the importance of those items."

A bike built around beer - perfect!

Ok, so to sum up this rambling post.  Uwharrie was a fun time.  Illness all around the house.  Bigfoot likes bikes.  Growlers are good all around - beer and otherwise.  A mock race team loosely named Growler Racing, Team Sasquatch Growler, Bigfoot Growler Racing, etc. (name finalization and kit design in development).  And J.Ruiter is putting together some sexy beer inspired rides.

I'll be better soon, and thoughts will be more coherent (maybe).

so yeah...

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

Yesterday I said I would today talk about what I'd be doing tomorrow and the day after...  no, I won't.  I forgot what day it was again, but now I remember.  It's Friday - and if you can read the bold big bit above, you know what that means.

Ok, even though I just directed your attention to the bit above, I'm going in a little different direction today.  THOM had face informed the world of a little event held by Roll It Forward (a sweet little initiative in good old Beaner).  On the page there is a video, that involves GIANT MONKEYS, bikes, and a very strange but catchy song.  Unfortunately, I couldn't manipulate the video in such a way as to present it to you here... so I will send you there.  If you would just be so kind to click the link.  

LINK

Well... since I couldn't provide the video entertainment here, I guess I'll give you a glimpse at what I'll be hitting up (with a gnar thrashing fu manchu) tomorrow.

Hopefully, there will be no crashing. (1:03)

Uwharrie

Impressions of Uwharrie:

When it's singletrack, it's SWEET!

When it's not... why can't there be more singletrack here??

Could certainly use (and easily provide) more miles.  Sure you can just do multiple laps, but that's the point of driving away from Charlotte, get to forests that will allow for longer rides without riding in circles again and again.

Funny/awesome thing is that a survey was just posted up (after my ride) on the local forums regarding Uwharrie's trail use.  It appears plans are in the works to add more mountain bike accessible trails there.  It's like someone read my mind!!  My vote?  Yes, of course!

Crazy thing about Uwharrie is the trails were so packed it was like riding on slick rock the whole time.

Break down of my ride/route.  I basically followed the suggested (via many intranet sites) that one should ride Keyauwee counterclockwise and Supertree clockwise.

So, from the parking area at the Wood Run trailhead I rode the forest road a short bit until you come up on the singletrack connector.  Great little intro to the area.  Some fast singletrack with the occassional rock groupings thrown in and an optional big rock section.  This is where the "fun" happened on the way back to the pterodactyl, but I'll get into that later.  The connector dumps out into the Wood Run Camp area, which consists of primitive sites and a glorified port-a-potty.  From here you can access Keyauwee, Supertree, or continue on Wood Run (which is a gravel fire road).

In order to ride Keyauwee counterclockwise and Supertree clockwise I had to first ride up Wood Run to start each trail at the "top."  So up Wood Run I went, and busted a left onto Keyauwee.  Apparently the tread here had recently been plowed (as in plowing a field, plowed) and you could tell.  It wasn't as bad as the complaints when it first happened, but there were certainly grooves in the trail.  But over time it was packed enough to not be soft or super annoying.  Once I got through that section the singletrack came around and boy was it fun!!  After the entire run I wasn't 100% sold that it was best to ride the trail in a counterclockwise fashion.  Sure, there may have been slightly more downhill in this way, it seemed to me like anything I had to climb would be just as fun in the opposite direction.  So, plan for next time is to ride Keyauwee clockwise from Wood Run Camp, take Supertree clockwise back to camp, and then up Wood Run to hit Keyauwee counterclockwise.  Basically, I'm thinking that whichever way you hit Keyauwee will be a blast.

So, back up Wood Run I rode to hit up Supertree clockwise.  Supertree was MUCH less exciting.  Very short stint of quality singletrack.  Mostly fire road that had been pared down to one visible trail, but in the clockwise direction it was fast and mostly pointing down.  In all reality, it may be part of the system out there that eventually gets ignored on future visits.

After both loops I wanted more miles and my sense of adventure was back.  I LOVE being able to "choose your own adventure" on mountain bike rides, something I get little of on the local trails here.  So it was time to continue the ride up Wood Run and see where it went.  Oh, I forgot to mention, I passed a section that was apparently set aside for Vampires.

If you watch True Blood, you'd know.

 
Well, anyway, Wood Run goes nowhere special really.  Eventually it peters out into old forest roads that had been reclaimed by the forest.  I did come across the oddest thing towards the end of the trail... plowed fields...

So, remember the "fun" I promised in the beginning?  Well, I was on the way back to the trailhead zipping along on the connector singletrack and I was coming up on the optional rock section, of course I was hitting it again.  I aptly tackled the first section but poor line selection had me running directly into the tallest, steepest section of the next rock... I didn't feel I was going to clear it cleanly so I stopped.  Here comes the fun!

What I MEANT to do was lean to my right, the uphill side of things.  Instead, gravity won and pulled me to the left, downhill... so my unclipped foot had nothing to do except hangout as my brain understood what was coming next.  I was falling over at a complete stop.  Next is a blur of trying to deny this was happening, stopping the inevitable fall, acceptance of the fall, and engagement of catlike reflexes in an attempt to diminish the injuries to follow.  In the thick cover of leaves it was hard to see exactly how rocky the ground would be, except on giant jutting rock headed towards my hip/thigh region.  

There was nothing I could do except shift focus to ensure no head injuries would follow... so BLAM I took a rock to my meaty ass.  Pain coursed through but all I could do was to thank my lucky stars that it wasn't my hip making contact with the rock (and appreciating the fact that I do have one meaty ass to absorb such a blow).  I forgot to mention that it was colder than I had expected on my ride (and little creek crossings and puddle hopping left me a bit colder than I would have liked....  the cold also left me wondering if I had torn my sack on the spill.  I know, crude and odd, but I swear it felt like I had torn my sack.  I was too scared to check on the trail - what would I do at that point anyway??  I figured my bibs were holding (fingers crossed) everything together.  So I waited until I got to the trailhead to peek.  SIGH - the boys were fine.

In the long run, I came out pretty good; just one, very large, very nasty, bruise in a place I will not share here.  Although, as I was loading up my gear I noticed I was missing my trail pump.  I walked/ran back up the connector to the site of the "crash" but couldn't find my pump anywhere.  No idea where I lost it, and I'm kinda bummed because it was a good little pump (although I never had to use it out on the trail, so who knows, maybe it sucked?)

Forest!

Media Fridays

We'll post videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

This video solidified resolve to get in a trip to Uwharrie last week.  I'll let you enjoy the video today and share my experiences next week.  

Oh, and you'll even learn some factoids thanks to Sir Bikes A Lot.  Enjoy, and have a ride filled weekend! 

Uwharrie National Forest - Mountain Bike Ride from Sir Bikes on Vimeo.