Summer recap, race report, random rambling a bit of all should follow in a random order but whatever. Or you can look at the pictures and get the TL;DR at the bottom.
***Not quite finished yet but I'll put it up now anyways***
Big things
XC MTB National Championships
Bear Creek, for those not in the know its about an hour due west of NYC and has some smallish mountains with a crazy amount of rocks just kind of everywhere than will make or break someone. More DNFs to crashes and broken bikes than I would have thought, clean a lap and you are a certified bike NINJA, clean them all you are some kind of Demigod mingling with the mortals. I think I got ninja stuff a few times. Made some friends and raced some races.
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| Not winning but styling for sure |
STXC Cat 1 19-2somthings
So I started the long weekend off right by racing in a skinsuit and vintage RayBan aviators made sometime around 1975. Not going to write a long story about a short race. Second row call up, SICCCKKKK, on B-Slows wheel from the gun, good idea bad plan.
Made it up to back of the really fast guys drafting Mr Lewis then he made a pass I didn't and another and another. Then I got passed and again and again, by the third lap I was on the ragged edge on the back of the second group. Shortly there after I got dropped and pulled. About 12 minutes that crushed me, immediately found beer and finished before the leaders were done. Winning. Oh yeah I turned 21 shortly before nats too.
Finished up 20th out of 25
Sketchy hotels and many laps and lots of rocks
Note to self Red Carpet Inns are sketch, $80 a night is cheap, deal with it, use savings to buy fabrezze and get by. Also camp next year and bum showers off of the guys that spent money on the resort rooms.
Crushed some pre laps with kool kats from all over. Met guys that ride for Marion Univeristy, they were fast. Showed some pro the line off the drop off on the pro course. More pro than the pros, ninja level achieved.
U23 How is it possible for guys to be this fast? For real what is happening.
So I defiantly ended up in cyclingnews at the back from the gun.
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| Does this make my butt famous? |
Took a more conservative strategy of survival in the U23 race. 2nd to last row call up. First UCI race. This is going to be hard. Fast from the gun I held about 25-30th for a majority of the race, getting passed by delayed riders in other categories and eventually getting lapped.
Still CLEANED the pro rock garden, by far some of the gnarliest stuff I have raced, multiple laps, had a few clean laps, didn't get hurt and had only minor mechanicals due to wearing out my wide narrow in six months, sorry raceface your rings are too soft for my power.
33rd of 45, getting better in a faster field, whats going to happen next race?
XC Cat 1 19-not very old and helping save the day.
XC race, whatever went fast jumped rocks, dabed and fell a few times went faster, only got passed by one singlespeeder, finished 14th of 30. I was pleased.
Shortly after the two winners Bryan and Gordon dropped me 30 seconds into their cool down ride I went back to the parking lot. I was spent could barley turn pedals. I came across a group of racers and a team mechanic a ways from the start finish. It was Vicki Barclay of Stan's No Tubes Elite team and her singlespeed wouldn't stop shifting. (to those not into bikes this is really bad). Ended up needing some more tools, my car was 50m away and happy to help I loaned them out. Clutch save less than 10 minutes before her start, she won the Ladies SS and I was rewarded with a pretzel and much swag from the Stan's guys. Still winning at nationals just off the race track.
Cool Virginia kids win pretty much everything
Between Bryan Lewis, Gordon Wadsworth, Adam Croft and a few others I'm forgetting off the top of my head there were a heck of a lot of stars and bars jerseys taken back to the Old Dominion. East Coast peps shred east coast gnar and even wear East Coasters Socks.
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| That Foof is Fly |
21st Suckas! Not really being an adult is lame.
21 years old yay, I can no longer get an underage drinking charge! Woot! This is kind of cool, but the novelty wore off when 6 days in I was no longer getting carded in Charlottesville.
Thanks to Bryan Somers for being the only person in Blacksburg cool enough to go downtown with me on a Sunday!
Other races and rides and whatever
Fat Tire Weekend
Went fast, passed Quadsworth, for a short period of time in the short track, came out in third. Cool beans.
Crushed my soul in the Fat 5 endurance race, did a full pre-lap to set up the course. Still held 10th at the end of the day. Death may have occurred.
Got lost 10 minutes into and dropped out of the Fat Tire Frenzy XC race, they went back to marshal the corner I missed and saved no less than 3 peoples races.
Mixed results but you can't complain with 75miles of singletrack in a weekend.
Walnut Creek
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| by Robyn Ritter Browne |
Skinsuited nats tune up, went crazy fast in the beginning, dropped my chain blasting through an alternate creek crossing line attempting to freak Bryan and Charlie out by overtaking them for first place. Lost spots, got stung by a bee in the quad ended up 6th. Conclusions: skinsuits are really hot. The best post race activity is laying in a lake.
Luke was a total BAMF and raced the SS division on his SSCX rig. Who even thinks of doing that? Major kudos there.
Later that weekend chilled in Chralottesville with B-Slow and then my long lost friends Jake Brown and his fiancee Lemma. A very good weekend if I do say so myself.
Blacksburgering Epic in the Rain, We Cool.
Somehow a casual Sunday visiting Blacksburg turned into riding 80 miles in the rain and hiking dragons tooth in the rain during the ride. This is what happens when the Woodards come up with a plan, it gets epic real quick. More documentation of stoke is to come
Organizing a Race or Trying To
...in progress more content and pictures soon...
TL;DR
-Passed Quadsworth for a short period of time.
-XC MTB Nationals was fun, got my but kicked by fast kids, still got 14th. Did 3 races too.
-Ended up on a cyclingnews photo.
-Mostly organized a race for the fall.
