a tale of two races

MvilleCX_c
Originally uploaded by mahokeyj

murrysville - last saturday

muddy as hell, but way better then the muddy as hell and rainy snow mixed in of last year.

small field and my slow enduro start ensured my last position going into the first turn. twas not what i was planning.

soon, i was making up ground. moab helped my technical and power, so my handling was helping me make up some ground.

soon, i caught a group with gerry in it and i went blowing right by them into third. this was about half way through.

3 minutes later on the backside of the course, i went down in a spectacular muddy crash that would give one of the riders i just passed a gap that he would hold. he finished 3rd.

now gerry and i were fighting it out for 4th.

a series of bobbles and good lines turned muddy bad and gerry had a gap with one to go. gerry makes a mess of one of the last turns and has to back track. i get close enough to gerry to almost nick him at the line.

mike took the win, gerry 4th and ernesto 5th. 3 speedgoat sponsored riders in the top 5.

racoon

i should of made like a racoon and hid from the daylight during this race.

stretched cables made my shifting bad (didn't figure this out until i got home) and had my chain/gears upshifting the entire time i was in the race.

gun went off, i had a decent start, but still was towards the back. as soon as i was catching up to the 2nd group, my chain dropped and i lost contact and about 20-30 seconds.

i catch back up, only to overshoot a corner and to have the howling wind blow the course tape into my bike - it then wrapped around both wheels, my crank and 3 times around my cassette.

at wits end and at least 2 minutes in last place, i pulled the plug. cross takes enough out of you as it is and i wasn't about to pull a miracle. better to save myself and my equipment for another day.

next up - double halloween cleveland cross weekend. no costume, but i hope to passing out treats of pain.

sologoat out

24 hours of moab - long write up

full long write up at the speedgoat blog HERE

and 300'ish pics taken race day by my brother and dad up on flickr. ck it HERE

sorry to my fellow cross freaks for not making it out to the local cross my heart cleveland cross series race this past saturday, but moab took just as much out of me mentally as it did physically. i'll be back in the game this coming weekend, hitting up 2 cross races in PA.

so, game plan is to start organizing 2010 sponsorship and bike builds and finish out the cross season and house projects by mid december. should give me a few weeks to catch my breathe before 2010 starts.

sologoat out

i am a little hazy

june - fractured tibia

5 days later - loosing my mind. sign up for net flicks.

2 weeks later - able to bend my knee

4 weeks later - rehab starts, lost 1 1/4 inch of muscle mass. start to question rest of the racing year.

4 weeks, 1 day - hell with it, train for moab. physical therapy trainers love me, so they give me extra sets.

moab - get the monkey off my back of a dnf a few years ago, defend top of usa cycyling's top 5. sure hope my leg holds up.

moab - 10 hours in. asthma kicks in full force. power and heart rate down, i am dropping places.

moab - 10 hours, 15 minutes. see a shooting star. i honestly believe it's a sign.

moab - about 11 hours. asthma meds, food, coffee and a coke. back to work. it's times like this that i thank my pit crew for giving me a kick in the ass.

moab - 18 hours. i catch 3rd, but i am cooked. eat and defend 4th.

moab - 1 lap to go. hungry and confused, i think a rider is 20 minutes back, only to find out later they are a lap down. i hammer out a 1:30 lap, regain a lap on josh (who wins) and secure 4th overall in the nats race, the non-nats solo race.. and somehow, though now unconfirmed, a 2nd place overall in the USA cycling endurance calendar.

can i take a break now?

sologoat out

thursday course pre-ride

another lap down on the famous moab course today. still not diggin' that whole section of hike a bike where you go down a stupid steep rock, hit the flat of about 5 feet, and then face another short hike a bike up the other side.

think that is the general type of stuff on the course that will break many a rider this weekend. course in general is not technical, but throw in sand that slows you down to a stop, the heat, the vast open areas... what it lacks in technical it triples in having to keep mentally sharp during the whole 24 hour game.

solo nationals field is starting to fill, evan plews and kelly magelky are the latest to add their names to the hat. it's going to punchout for sure.

now - time to rest up and relax while the pit crew take in the sites.

more pics up at flickr - check it out

sologoat out

Ernesto here, out on my way out for my last enduro race of the year, the 24 Hours of Moab which is also doubling up this year as 24 Hour Nationals.

Getting gear to a race is quite a challenge so much so that I actually chose to drive out with my gear and meet up with my pit crew later in the week.

On Sunday, got a chance to ride in Fort Collins Colorado. Weather was cold and raining at the Horsetooth trails, but the climbing and technical riding was great.

Monday AM, the weather was looking the same. It was time to head west, out to the famous trails in Fruita Colorado - the Kokopelli.



Trail system is comprised of loops based mostly off of the Mary Trail and totals up to roughly 35'ish miles.



Fruita also has another set of trails dubbed the 18 road trails - it boosts loops that total well over 100 miles of trails.



And ironically enough, I ran into a friend of friend of Peter from Misfits Cycles riding today - and 3 guys who knew me from the 24 Solo movie.

After today, out to Moab and to start my quest of getting a monkey off my back from a DNF here a few years ago.

Check out all 65 pics from my ride today on my Flickr Account

off to moab

100_2954
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

ok, out west and no pics.

ft. collins was cool, but overcast and wet - and it all started about the second i got on the bike.

fruita is much better - got a ride in yesterday and forgot my camera, so i am heading out today again with it in tow.

fruita wake up call at around 9am was at 40 degrees, but dry and sunny. after the AM ride, off to moab - and it looks like the field is getting a little deeper.

gotta run - coffe to drink, ride to get in and a drive to moab. pics up later today on flickr.

sologoat out

a picture says a 1000 words

packing for moab. heading west. nebraska, through toast mans territory (though not too long, don't like october snow) the into utah for the big dance.

big show down comes the weekend after next & pretty much everybody and there brother are going to be there. will for sure will be the toughest field 24 solo field i have seen in awhile. great way to end up the enduro season.

thanks out to all the sponsors of 2009 - couldn't do it without all your support.

and mucho thanks to all the gang out at the 'goat - think i have talked to them everyday this week. tend to slightly freak out around 24 hour race time.

and - 3 sponsors confirmed already for 2010.

that's it - better run. ipod's to synch up. looks like i'll be rocking out to dj tiesto during the night in moab.

to all my cross pain train friends in cleveland - sorry i'll miss my first clev cross race in about 5 years...

sologoat out