Called the “dirt road stage” Stage 3 was probably the
fastest of the week at 17 mph for the the 47 miles and 5100 ft of climbing.
Since it was mostly on forest roads some pavement riders in the front would
battle for position to enter the single track first.
The sections
of single track were fast save for the rock strewn fisherman trail with packs
drafting even in some sectors of the single track. A fun day all in all but not very restful as the pressure is
on and Barry is riding strong and putting a few seconds on me due to some late
race cramps.
The pace was mellow for the fist quarter save for some
attacks from the South African hornet. Matt wears a jersey that’s black with
yellow stripes and his antics remind me of a yellow jacket during apple season. Anyway.
Cannondale Cyclocross World.com rider
and all around cool guy Tim Johnson joined in the action taking massive pulls
to keep the pace together at the front, it was awesome seeing him back on the
trail! And better yet he is on my side.
After the first
quarter were all taking pulls and moving fast in the pack toward the first
check 17.5 miles in. After that
feed I was sitting near the back so Barry Wicks attacked thinking I was in
trouble. I wasn’t not yet at least,
but the chase revealed my legs were still sore from yesterdays crash and
cramps. A major selection was made on the
10 min climb after the fisherman trail. TJ lead into the slippery rocky
trail running sections, I was on the back of the group after a local told me
its just rail trail coming up. Oops. Guess I should have studied more.
Our group was TJ me Wicks and Matt. A chase group
caught on our break away during the rail trail section, our group grew to
include 10 riders as Wicks teammate Cory
caught on with Chris Michaels Drew Edsall Justin Lindine We sped toward the dark Penns Tunnel.
Right afterward Barrys Team mate Corey; nailed it into the base of the biggest
climb of the day. Apparently they had a plan for me!
Barry attacked hard but I dug deep to stay on. I could feel legs cramps creeping in to
my muscles like hard snakes of mis spend contraction. Uh oh.
Though I had decent energy the cramps from yesterday came
back and put a glass cealing on the effort. I unclipped as my hamstings locked
up twice! NOT GOOD> I some how
managed to match Barrys first attack on the rolling big ring hills coming back
but the second hit was too much for my bound legs. I had to hold steady and
limit any muscle damage.
My lead has sank to mere seconds but I still have the TSE
lead! Come ON LEGS wake up. They always have come around mid race but
will they have diesel surge this time? or will I fail to come back to stage
race form will too much 90 min XC training change my body into a 1 purpose
sprinter?
Stay tuned.
Transylvania Epic
scare!
Yesterdays stage 1 Prolouge was great. Little slippery on the trails sections so it took accuracy and fitness. I pinned it and caught Drew and even Barry my minute man so I was pretty stoked.
http://app.strava.com/rides/9588141
The spiders in our cabin seemed to chuckle as I prepped for
today’s stage though and the thunder and lightning the night before shook the cabin in foreshadowing.
Little did I know I would go down hard on a slick wooden
bridge leading the first big
stage. Guess the inch of rain and
deep Pennsylvania forest attracts gnomes.
Today they wanted to come
out and test us. The roots rocks
and slime covered wood bridges, mud bogs and old downed trees made this one a
proper mountain bike back country day
After checking my rear derailleur for damage I took off my
mud covered gloves and fought to get back to the lead group of 15.
I bruised my shin pretty good and shaken more than injured. I closed
back in with calm focus.
Once I realized they were cruising I stopped again knowing
that I have to be careful not to over shift into the spokes. I was able to yo
yo off the back on for another pit at the first tech zone. Erin my wife helped
me hold the Scalpel 29 as I inspected the limits and checked the hanger I hoped
back on the bike to find the front again but the extra work was talking a toll.
Barry Wicks was on the front and putting Drew Edsall and
Arron Snydor in some hurt on the 2nd big climb of the day. I linked
up with a fast guy from South Africa’s Matt ( Matthys) Bukes. He was drilln it on his 29 Flash up the climb but would lose
a lot of time on the tricky single track to come.
I was on the rivet and sweating in the first hot long race
of the year. Guess the World Cup training pays off for short and fast but I
came up short cramping on the final climb as Barry threw down a mean attack.
I did a great job of damage control and still hold the leaders jersey by a
mere 47 seconds. Today I got lucky, I will have to put on the rocket boosters
on the short days and diesel in
the next few big days to make it happen.! Should be a fun test!
http://app.strava.com/activities/9588144
Check it.
Finale Legura, Italy was great! Cannondale hosted its team camp 1/3 of the way around the world (from my home, at least) at this exotic seaside location an hours drive west of Genoa.
Upon my arrival, Team Cannondale was humming like a fine Italian sports car; the full-size truck pulled a mobile F1-style Cannondale branded workshop complete with a fine kitchen, riders were building bikes, and several polished team Eurovans and a Sprinter were lined with flags and tents in tight formation. Athletes and staff were buzzing on the atmosphere and preparations; authentic Adriatic food and - of course - sampling the Perfect rides Cannondale' s magic engineers have crafted were high notes. It was a neat experience building my bike as I heard soccer song explosions and cheers from a regional match taking place just 400 meters out of sight. Totally Italy!
Tinker of course still looks fast and tan - I'm not sure how he does it! Mani and Marco were a blast to hang with. Unfortunately, Marco had a tumble in the media ride and has a small setback in the form of a dislocated shoulder. It was great seeing Alex and Krista again and welcoming our new riders too - Taylor Smith and Keegan Swenson.
For the first time in history all Cannondale mountain bike athletes were unified for a media launch. Wine, hors d'oeuvres, local beer and other pomp kicked off our official presentation Tuesday night to the 15 journalists flown in from around the world.
We sat in on presentations about the equipment lineup, though nothing was said about our prototype Lefty! Pretty strange racing on a suspension you know nothing about - but cool too! I feel like James Bond pointing the laser watch at something! So far it's smooth and very responsive.
I felt like a can of olives when I touched down in Texas at two in the morning after almost 22 hours of travel, legs like planks and eyes drooping like a hound. It seemed like I'd angered the gods when I'd proclaimed to Erin several weeks ago "this is great, a whole fall and winter without getting sick!" oops.
So, for being sick, I'll take 6th place as a win! I started well in third, and attacked the hills, bombed the decents, took the A-lines and sprinted like hell - only to get nipped at the line by Sam. With this crazy week I kicked off the season with vigor and got my cowboy boots dirty. Certainly everyone else was more settled for their efforts, so I gauge mine to be good in its own ways.
Now I'm home for some more quality training - the Virginia State Championships - and of course some good family time before the first real test of 2012 - South Africa's World Cup round 1; exciting!
- Jeremiah
Impact was eminent. After yelling NO! the small white dog only slowed a touch then resumed full sprint for my front wheel.
In a split second I abandoned my full braking and leaned back to brace for the hit.
That small toothy beast came out a me like fur covered rocket. I was in a solid endurance clip down a mountain valley doing 25 and stopping would have taken 3 seconds more than I had.
I rolled over the dog’s back but since I was still on the brakes a white puff of fur poped up from the squeeling animal like a torn down pillow. I was sure I was going to crash and more sure that this dog back would be broken.
Somehow I kept upright and heard the dogs claws scamper across the concrete. As I came to a halt I saw out of the corner of my eye the dog was moving fast.
I looked back to see the mangled bloody pooch whrithing like a worm that had been cut in two. But as I scanned back expecting major damage from the altercation I was amazed the dog had not so much as a limp. I circled back feeling that I better notify the owner of what had happened since I did catch air from this little dog and he might have some injury. Not surprisingly he didn’t not come over for me to check him out, he stood there composed and calm. Guessed he's ok.
I resumed my ride north towards a small Ski Resort called Bryce. As I rode I tried to make sense of what just happened. Or better yet what could have, it reminds me of the story when Paul hit the deer on Reeds gap doing 60.. Not so good, or when Mike Carpenter hit the Bear mach ing down Dowels draft. Perhaps it was the soft 75 psi touring tires that are 32c. Or perhaps the split second instinct to lighten the front wheel as I have done 100,000 times for logs or rocks that sometimes pop into view in .1 second. What ever the reason I finished the year with a close call and dog… he got lucky I wasn’t just a little heavier or not used to running things over.
Rest of the ride was not as exciting, but it was long and found some new roads deep in the small forested nest of mountains that makes up a maze of dirt road divided by Supine Lick Ridge. As is common for me this exploration had me finding myself pretty far from home with not enough gas in the tank. Mostly since I did not ride in the last week I met up a the toothy part of a what happens when you ambition and your ability are at odds. bad day for my legs everything ached as I struggled to turn the pedals, endurance wattage was out of the question, I thought I was getting sick I was riding so slow and the last few 1k hills looked like a dreaded blacked mountain slopes.
I just took it in stride, and worked to the tops of one hill at a time besides compaired to what could have happened I’ll take it as a good day for a bad day.
This is what the perp looked like. Don't be fooled he is a made of steel! 
Whoo hooo.
Ok; jumped through a hoop and made the odds a little better of making the 2 man Olympic team.
https://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=7242
What does this mean? Well that 25% of our 8 man and 8 woman long team will go to London not much more than that. And.....
- I may have to stop drinking like beer will be banned next week.
- I should not do the heli ski trip i was planning for tuckermans ravine or anything else dangerous well more than mountain bike racing is. ha ha ha.
- Team Dicky will have to write a letter of protest on why he should make the long list.
- I should learn to speak British. Guday mate. ;)
What else does it mean, it means that when the Sun rises tomorrow over frost covered ground I will remember I am not just riding to stay in shape I am training to make some magic happen and rise to a special occasion.
The pure and great moments of sport are made on cold training days the event it's self is just display of the goods. Certainly I have some major work ahead of me.
Should be a fun carrot to chase and I like my chances.
Thanks for the support my friends.
Jeremiah
