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

CrossVegas pre race interview

interbike pics up..

IMG_1379
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

ok, i am waaaaaaaaay behind on the blog updates, but i got my pics from interbike up.

ck it here.

new king cages, new moots road bike, new salsa bars and kits, trp disc brakes, and 100 other kewl things.

crossvegas was stupid fast. 45 minutes in, got lapped. not bad all things considered.

focus mares expert bike i road at vegas review up at the speedgoat blog, todays cross race uneventful for me today and ended up around 8th'ish or so with dead airplane legs and fatigue.

time to pack up and rest.

next stop - moab.

sologoat out

sswc - race day

IMG_1089
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

way too tired to post the full write up again - check out my last posts up on the speedgoat.blog.

now - time to rest up. tomorrow i meet up with the 'goat clan in vegas for some business called interbike.

sologoat out

single speeed worlds - thursday

100_2830
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

got into town yesterday for ssw - not racing, just to spectate, train and heckle.

pre-ride excitement included a flat tire (me) and a spectacular wheel smashing crash by fuzzy into another rider. luckily, nobody got hurt.

post ride activities had us at the meet and greet with ned, fuzzy, dj, decker and a few others - and then also a cool little bike show in town at a local pub that was way too overcrowded.

racing action will be nutty - supposed 1,000 single speed riders in town to race, most of them will be in some sort of nutty custome. some will actually race it.

about 30 pics up on my flickr site - ck it.

sologoat out

whiskeytown cross painfest

sunday was the first installment of cyclocross pain, the clev cross series race #1.

the course is somewhat flat with a few hills, typical twisty turnys and off chambers, a sand pit for fun, a small set of triple barriers at hella speed, three turns you really gotta think about and then into the short finish. it is a thinkers course as you got to be on it physically and mentally all the time.

i got there early, debating on tire selection but already having the setup on that i would run for the course. seemed like i'm always hitting stuff at speed so i went with about 32'ish in the front and about 38'ish in the back.



race started, i made the main pack but it slowly started fading away as matt from lake effect was putting in a hella solo attack from a group that included shawn, gerrry, mike, angry andy, and tony. i slipped back to no mans land.



the main group got the gap, but i held onto my pace trying not to think about the numbers game as i rode by myself. i could see some guys were sitting on and hoped that some would eventually peel off and i could leap frog across. i tried to make up ground on the techy stuff that i knew they couldn't be riding as fast as a solo rider on.



it paid off, just as they were backing off, i put out an all out effort across the paved section on the backside and made the bridge just as a few riders popped off. now it was down to five with two to go.



my plan was to make an attack through the triple barriers, but shawn jumped hard and i put down all i had to stay with the group, another effort by steve from pa put me in the hurt locker.



out of the barriers on the last lap, they gapped me. i would roll in 5th place - great day for putting in a long week.

sologoat out

sm100 - part 2

Photo credit ©Bob Popovich

once with aaron, we started picking up riders here and there. we were taking even pulls and sharing in the work.

we rolled through station 4, got new bottles and kept going. this was going to be the hella climb of 20 miles ahead of us.

up and up and up forever, we caught a few more guys and just kept going - nobody caught our wheel as we went by. i was just looking forward to station 5 where i had fresh bottles and another coca cola.

we rolled into station 5, got fueled up and pedaled on. the helpers at the area where somewhat dumbfounded that i didn't want to load up on pizza and all the other snacks, but that stuff makes my stomach turn at this point in a race.

the climb continues on and has several false peaks, enough to make you think the climb is never going to end. we crest the top and stop descending towards station 6, the last feed of the day until the end.

ripping down the backside of the climb, and just before station 6, i manage to both flat my rear tire and loose a bottle. i try in vain twice to pump it up, but it's loosing air badly - but not bad enough that i can't make it to station 6.

at station 6, the mechanic there helped me (along with about 4 or 5 kids yelling about the stuff coming out of my tires) convert to using a tube -- during this fiasco, i end up loosing 4 or 5 spots.

i catch a few of them back, one other catches me - i roll in 18th place, not bad for having come off an injury that had me sidelined for most of the season and watching too many netflicks.

should leave me with good fitness for my next enduro race.... stay tuned...

sologoat out

sm100 - part 1

ok, ok... i've been draggin' out this write up for several days now as i try to sort out cross bike work, my trip to duragngo/interbike, work and riding... just not enough time in the day to do all this stuff so i am going to post it in to parts.

the day before...
trip out with gerry and andy was a hoot, just a long drive of about 7'ish hours total for me. this would be my first real test of legs since my tibia fracture back in june. i've done these kind of hours before with this injury, but it was hard to tell how things would go with 7'ish hours of race pace and major climbing. my weight, power & endurance are on, but with my type of injury it could take major time to heal up and to feel good.


the first 50...
we rolled out at 6:30am with gerry throwing down on the very first climb. my knees were feeling tight (should of warmed up some) and i decided almost immediately i had to race my own pace. soon the leaders slipped away.

i got caught between a group of about 8 riders and a few stragglers behind me after the first climb and descent out onto the first paved road section. as we rolled by what would be drop #1, i got caught by Chris Strout and we rolled up together to the group ahead of us that included Steve Schwartz.

through some jeep trail and out, chris, steve and myself rolled onto checkpoint #2. chris and i grabbed a bottle, steve stopped to fill his hydration pack - we rolled on.

up another climb or two, i dropped chris and rolled on. hit the fast downhill section rolling good into checkpoint #3. grabbed my drop bag and a coke i had in it and then rolled out with andy applegate and matt ferari in tow. i gave them some of my coke sugar goodness and we rolled on.

we would hit a steep hike a bike and eventually i would drop them both by the end of the climb and when we circled back to ride by checkpoint #3, i could see two riders in the distance. time to hammer.

up the climb, i eventually catch up to the two riders - including Aaron Oakes. we all took pulls and on the next climb we dropped the other rider. aaron and i would now ride the next 40'ish miles together.

2009 season, take two

next up, the shenandoah 100 this coming sunday. hellishly long fire road climbs. dry, dusty, open roads that just go up and up. the kind of stuff i love and the kind of stuff that will test my comeback fitness.

will be making the journey with fellow speedgoat teammates gerry and andy, both of which are having good results in the NUE series this year.

gerry decided the sm100 is a bit too tough and has decided to race with some gears (he's got the NUE single speed series win wrapped up already) and andy should be wrapping up the series in the top 10. overall great season for speedgoat this year and cross hasn't hit yet.

project pink bike is up and raffel tixs are available now at the 'goat website. i've had several good karma things happen to me in the past few weeks so support a good cause and get a chance to win a hella cool bike.

coming up, trp carbon cross brake and lever review thanks to the guys at TRP. hands down, best cross brakes out there. doubt me and it may come to fisticuffs. or maybe just a minor scuffle.

and, off to single speed worlds at durango the week before interbike. will not be out there to race, but mainly to train, catch in some great sights and hang out with justin from princeton tec and dj and fuzzy from niner. i just need to figure out the best way to cheer/heckle them on. any way it turns out, it is going to be epic.

then, off to the full week of interbike. a little bit of fun work, hanging out and catching up with friends, an hour at full out 190 heart rate effort (and loving every second of it), then back home for another cross race on saturday afternoon.

i am so happy and thankful to be back in the game

sologoat out

project pink bike - not project runway

dan the man on the next speedgoat project pink bike.

sologoat out

195 heart rate

last tuesday was a first for me, the tuesday night RATL race up in cleveland - otherwise known as the world championships because it is well known that many a rider will kill themselves for a burrito prime. on a course that is flat (but with many a bump and a few turns) average speeds fly upwards toward 30mph - and with it being the last race of the year, it was going to hurt.

race started out fast and the pain train was rolling full tilt for the full 15 laps. at the beginning i thought i would throw down one of my solo stupid attacks but the speed was just too crazy and i thought it would be better to hang on with the group. this was confirmed as i glanced down at my heart rate monitor and saw 195 on more then one occasion.

with about 8 to go, i moved up to the front to keep out of the danger and to keep from having to chase back on in the corners. while going stupid fast, paul martin launched an even more stupid fast attack. at that point i decided i would go with all of paul or shawns attacks. from that point, paul attacked every lap until we had a 7 man break with about 3 to go.

a few more attacks, 2 are shed. we are all pulling hard and into the last corner, i laid down an early sprint attack from waaaaaaaaaaay out - had the gap of about 5 bike lengths until 200 meters to go. would fade back to 5th to collect a few $$ and some assurance of my fitness for the remainder of the season.

felt good getting back into the game. time to work on some bikes.

sologoat out

stop - hammer time

chris from niner smacking the crap out of a fork that fuzzy or dj has to ride next weekend. just joking.

and now for some randomness:

- in racing news i have decided to bail on the racing this week and give the leg a little bit of a break. in a mad rush to get back into fitness, i haven't taken a break in about 5 weeks.

- i will be heading out to durango the week before vegas to watch justin from princeton tec and a few other hundred people or so compete in the single speed world championships. i raced it years back and at the starting line some dude was smoking a cigarette and just downed a beer bong about 30 seconds before it started - and the night before a few guys got hurt as they were somehow involved in a fire jumping contest behind the bar where registration was at. i think alcohol was somehow involved in the injuries....

- on the cross schedule, gary dugovich has 2 planned this year along with another somewhat affiliated race in the area - and freddy fu will also have their race as well again and i am hoping like hell my fingers won't feel like falling off from the numbness.

- another cross bike added to the stable. this one carbon. stay tuned.

sologoat out

pivot mach 429 build up

complete build up of my pivot mach 429 up on the Speedgoat Blog. check it out.

rest week in store for me, racing coming up soon.

congrats out to gerry for taking another single speed win without having to eat people. check out his blog for the details of how to pedal for 100 miles with one gear and end up beating all but 4 of the geared guys in the field.

sologoat out

2009 cleveland cross series dates - UPDATED (again)

Cleveland cross series dates and races announced a few days back. See dates below, updates/directions to be posted later on the bike authority and lake effect cycling websites.

hats off to julie and the bike authority gang for developing the series - great to see the list of races expand out to 8 races all within an hour or so cleveland.

and - especially pumped up about the kent university races. should be pretty sweet to actually do a race in my neck of the woods, literally about a 5 minute car ride away.

dates are tentative - check back as the dates get closer.

now.... which carbon cross bike should i race this year.... hmmm...




2009 BIKE AUTORITY/LAKE EFFECT CYCLOCROSS SERIES SCHEDULE (AS OF 08-18-09)


1. Sept 13(Sun) Wendy Park, Cleveland Lake Effect Racing

2. Sept 26(Sat) Kent State University, Stark Campus Stark Velo

3. Oct 4(Sun) Leroy Township Cross Chagrin Valley Racing

4. Oct 17(Sat) Cross My Heart and Hope to Die, Willoughby Spin Bike Team

5. Oct 31(Sat) Chagrin Cross Weekend Solon Cycling Team

6. Nov 1(Sun) Chagrin Cross Weekend Solon Cycling Team

7. Nov 14(Sat) Kent State University, Kent Main Campus Cross Lake Effect Racing

8. Nov 22(Sun) Kirtland Park, Cleveland Lake Effect Racing

9. Dec 6 (Sun) Boughton Farm - Copley Lake Effect Racing (series finale bash!)


The Promoter will calculate the overall Series prizes using each racer’s highest points from 6 of the 9 Series Races. NOTE, HOWEVER, that you must race in 3 of the 4 Series Races (# 1, 7, 8 and 9) promoted by Team Lake Effect, and 6 of the 9 Series Races to be eligible for the overall prizes.


for full detail, check out the Team Lake Effect website - check it out HERE.