The Race That Almost Wasn't

We've been riddled with bad weather and poor trail conditions for what seems like an eternity.  And it was looking like the Canal Moonlight TT was not going to happen.  After postponing things a few weeks, the skies finally gave way to a beautiful blue and the wind moved in to dry things out.  So last Thursday night Dustin G and I loaded up about 40lbs of race equipment and rode through the 30mph gust to put on a race.  Due to the fact it was so cold we weren't expecting much for this event.  When we got to the trail Dustin started working on a fire and I took a lap to clear any debris from the trail.  By the time I came back, much to my surprise, a sizeable crowd had formed and Dustin was playing registrar.  Looks like we're having a race after all!
We had 15 people brave the elements and race through the dark, twisty trail.  Riders were started in 30 second intervals and somehow I got thrown into the mix.  Everyone took off and I was last to start in the first group of riders.  3...2...1...Go!  And at that point I was still trying to clip in.  I honestly think I was about 50 yards down the trail before I finally heard that positive click.  Must of been the pressure of such an awe-inspiring event (insert sarcasm here)!  So now I'm racing and almost immediately I have to take it down a notch as my legs were on fire.  Nothing like starting from dead cold and pedaling your brains out!  I finally started to get into a groove and by that time I was almost done with the loop.  So part of the course took you straight up the middle of the stairs.  As in straight up the middle, not off to the side where it's smooth.  As I was approaching I was trying to figure out the whole cyclocross dismount in my head.  I knew running the stairs would be the fastest option, but it required a good bit of timing to execute properly.  As I struggled mentally with my options, here comes the stairs.  I scrapped the cross technique and rode right up the middle.  As I made the climb I quickly realized it was a bad decision, but pride got in the way of things.  Somehow I made it to the top of the stairs, made the turn, and flew smoothly into the finish.  After crossing the finish line I thought to myself, that was really hard.  Then right after that I thought, that was really fun!
After my race I got to hang out by the fire with everyone, roast some marshmallows, and yell at the other riders through the MegaHorn...Setting off the siren mode for good measure.  We tried to get some pics to document the evening, but unfortunately my batteries died after a few snaps.  We'll have fresh ones for the upcoming TT.  It was really cool to see riders of every skill level on the trail, even some that had never ridden at night.  Everyone had a blast, even those that took some wrong turns straight into disqualification (Dan & Robin, you'll have a second chance this week).  While finishing position was important, I'm sure after it was all said and done, no one really cared.  We were on our bikes, in the dark, freezing cold, blasting through the woods.  Now that sounds like a good time to me.
This race wouldn't have happened without some help.  So thanks to Dustin G, John, Julie, and Troy for clearing the trail after the snow.  And thanks to everyone who showed up to race.  Give yourself a pat on the back!  We've got the final TT this Thursday so don't miss the action!         

Good Time Guaranteed!

http://andyjordans.com/articles/moonlight-mtb-time-trial-pg285.htm

Canal Crown Time Trial Race #3

We had a record turnout for the CCTT3 on Thursday night! There were a few new riders in the Expert and Sport class, the beginner class increased substantially, and we had our first female competitor! Here are a few highlights from the evening. As usual JT dominated in the Expert class with a new Counter-Clockwise course record of 11 minutes & 4 seconds (I'm still waiting on some local racers to come out and give it a shot...yes you've been called out). I think we need to put some trail police out there to make sure he's not cutting the course! My boy dgaddis shook things up this time by putting down the stopwatch and picking up the bike. He was able to knock Brian and Ross off the Expert podium with his 3rd place finish. Best of all, he didn't puke doing it!
Dustin's boss, Mark M, came out for the race and ended up with first place in the Sport class. Not bad for not knowing the trail and pretty much being new to mtb'ing. Big Jim Culpepper made his race debut with a third place finish. Must have been that pre-race Red Bull! I swear you could feel the Earth shaking when he came down the stairs. Philip "J is for Genius" Roberson also made his debut and shattered his personal record! Becca Phelan represented things for the girls in the Sport class. She was able to beat out five other male racers times! On top of that, I think she wrecked like 3 times doing it!

Jimmy C blows up the trail with his aggressive riding style!!

The Beginner class was awesome as it more than doubled in participation. Matt Kogel's dad, Bob, was another person making their race debut. He shredded up the trail landing the number one spot! And right behind him was another first timer, Ethan St. Martin. The original plan was for Ethan to race my single speed. No gears, no shocks, nothing to mess up. Wrong. Ethan took a couple test laps and right before his start time realized the front tire was flat. Cross Boss Ross stepped up to the plate and sacrificed his bike and shoes. This was probably a blessing in disguise as Ethan had already over-done it on his test runs and was going to need all the help he could get. Surprisingly enough less than 15 minutes later he found himself in second place in the Beginner class. Must have been that Anthem X...

So there were lots of first timers, lots of familiar faces, and lots of fun. This whole thing is going even better than dg and I had thought. I can't believe there's only one race to go in the series. If you haven't made it out, mark your calendar for August 27. Come out, kick up some dirt, and have fun!

ESM after his first warm up lap...

ESM minutes before staging. Even the lil Victor boy was worried about him...

ESM, mid-race and mid-dehydration...

ESM minutes after his race...

Canal Crown Race 2

For some reason I didn't blog on Race 1 of the AJBW/SORBA Canal Crown, so it's only right that I make it count for Race 2. Where do I start? Attendance was up a considerable amount as we went from 10 to 15 racers! The beginner class doubled and the sport and expert classes had a few extras as well. In typical fashion it was never a dull moment. As we were getting ready to start the pre-race meeting we hear CrossBoss say to Bare Nuckols, "Uh, there's a snake by your foot Bryan!" And sure enough merely one half of an inch away was a 4 foot black snake making his way through the trailhead, and Bryan's feet. Fortunately no one was harmed by this, apparently, non-venemous reptile. But Lowell D couldn't resist himself and switched into Nat Geo mode to wrangle him up. After a few pics with this creature of the wild the racing began.

LD, snake wrastler.

Race 2 had everyone going in a clockwise fashion with an uphill finish straight up the middle of the stairs...As in dgaddis and I piled up a bunch of branches on the left side of the trail (definitely the easiest path) to force racers into the center of the stairs (definitely more challenging). Being that JT won last time we let him start first. Roughly 11 minutes later he started up the stairs, got about three-quarters of the way up, and came unclipped resulting in the first fall of the evening. Being that JT's a dang good rider, I immediately thought, maybe making them ride up the stairs was a bad idea...nah, what was I thinking, this is no time to be soft, it's an MTB Race?! After watching everyone kill themselves trying to ride up the stairs a few of the racers figured out they didn't have to ride the whole way and started running their bikes up to the turnaround. But no one matched Ross and his cyclocross style dismount, to run up. We were still talking about it the next day in disbelief. He was like a giant gazelle fleeing a close encounter with a cheetah!

The Crossboss, part man, part gazelle, seconds before the run-up.

The expert and sport class racing continued, everyone was having fun, and the beginners were the last racers of the evening. One of them was barely familiar with the trail, the other doesn't own a bike and has never ridden the trail. This could have gone really bad, but thankfully both did really well and neither of them came back to the finish bloody or bruised. It seemed like they had a lot of fun, despite having no idea what they were getting into. And that's the whole idea behind this race series.
F-U-N!

So dgaddis did some math, got everyone's times, and the victors were given their spoils. Third and second place received their trophies/beer shot glasses. First place for each class received a custom made trophy by myself...OK, so I just added some spice to the same 50 cent trophy everyone else got. Everyone was stoked on their winnings and we all hung out for a little race re-cap. Ah, yet another good time!

Now that's a trophy for the mantle! Look at that commercial style head. Perfect pour!

Click here for the official Canal Crown web page with results and pics.

The AJBW Comic Series, Number 1 of .....

Courtesy of Chris Scarff.