The 24hr in the Old Pueblo was a blast! I had thrown my legs over a singlespeed for the first time just a couple of weeks before the race. I was pretty sure I could put in a couple of good laps for the SCUMBAGS SS team but I was a little concerned about recovering between laps as I always felt a quite a bit more thrashed after the training rides on the singlespeed. Out at the race I loved the wonderful speed at which you are forced to climb even though it often comes with a healthy dose of pain, particularly on the b!tches. The cactus trail (first singletrack) was where the singlespeed really shined. It was a gradual climb and there were only a few turns that required any substantial loss of momentum so I could keep up a good cadence. However the new singletrack was a different matter. It really beat me up, as it was bumpy and tight requiring a little more use of the brakes than I wanted. This is were I came to loath my brakes as every time I squeezed them it meant additional pain in my quads and lower back was just seconds away when I had to regain some speed. By the third lap on the new section of singletrack my lower back was on fire and I lusted for the smooth plush ride of my Spider back at home. The final climb was actually not bad on the singlespeed at all. I was pretty whooped by the top of it last year on the geared bike and I was pretty whooped this year too, but I got to the top quite a bit quicker. Lap for lap I was a couple of minutes faster on the SS than I was on the geared bike last year even though I don't feel in any better shape than last year. I squeezed out 5 laps and I felt totally humbled by the laps those kick a$$ solo folks did. The bottom line is I think the SS thing is hella lots-o-fun and I am going to giving the legs some SS luvin, but I have no plans on chunking the Spider. I had toyed around with the idea of racing a lap or two with the camera gear on but after my first lap I decided the hell with that. I had also planned and catching some footage of people in the transition area, but after the first lap I found myself just eating or resting between laps. Of well, here is the video of 99% pre ride and 1% race at the Old Pueblo. www.mountainbikebill.com/videos/24NTOP-Web.mpg
On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 07:13:02 GMT, "G.T." <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
Charles Beristain said:
looks like fun! great job with the video AND the 4th place.
God I love the desert. Although that was a helluva lot of cholla for a 24 hour event.
Greg
Yep. Almost every corner had some flavor of cacti setting in a really good spot to grab a shoulder or ankle. As the laps went on you could see were riders went a little wide or cut a little close and paid for it. It mad for some "obsticales" as you would come out a corner and there would be chunk of cholla right in the middle of the trail. I managed to only get a couple of scratchs, the kind you don't even notice until later. There were several of times per lap where I pulled in my shoulder, arms, and knees to clear an turn.
"Bill Porter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 07:13:02 GMT, "G.T." <[email hidden]>
"As the laps went on you could see were riders went a little wide or cut a little close and paid for it."
That was me last year! On the first cactus ST I blew a turn and bumped my left shoulder up agains some cholla. I get back on course and only then do I see a chuck of cholla the size of a small apple sticking into my shoulder. it didn't really hurt but I couldn't figure out how to get it off and keep riding at the same time. I had full fingered gloves on but the needles went rigth through them so that didn't work. I finally was able to just pull the sleeve of my jersyey out enough to bring the cholla with it. I resisted the urge not to rub the area and when I got back to camp I pulled about a dozen little needles out.
as the race progressed though, I wasn't the only one to blow that turn and it actually developed into an alternate line!
The one thing you quickly learn about Arizona Desert riding: you can't bounce off the bushes the same way you do back home.........
The 24hr in the Old Pueblo was a blast! I had thrown my legs over a singlespeed for the first time just a couple of weeks before the race. I was pretty sure I could put in a couple of good laps for the SCUMBAGS SS team but I was a little concerned about recovering between laps as I always felt a quite a bit more thrashed after the training rides on the singlespeed. Out at the race I loved the wonderful speed at which you are forced to climb even though it often comes with a healthy dose of pain, particularly on the b!tches. The cactus trail (first singletrack) was where the singlespeed really shined. It was a gradual climb and there were only a few turns that required any substantial loss of momentum so I could keep up a good cadence. However the new singletrack was a different matter. It really beat me up, as it was bumpy and tight requiring a little more use of the brakes than I wanted. This is were I came to loath my brakes as every time I squeezed them it meant additional pain in my quads and lower back was just seconds away when I had to regain some speed. By the third lap on the new section of singletrack my lower back was on fire and I lusted for the smooth plush ride of my Spider back at home. The final climb was actually not bad on the singlespeed at all. I was pretty whooped by the top of it last year on the geared bike and I was pretty whooped this year too, but I got to the top quite a bit quicker. Lap for lap I was a couple of minutes faster on the SS than I was on the geared bike last year even though I don't feel in any better shape than last year. I squeezed out 5 laps and I felt totally humbled by the laps those kick a$$ solo folks did. The bottom line is I think the SS thing is hella lots-o-fun and I am going to giving the legs some SS luvin, but I have no plans on chunking the Spider. I had toyed around with the idea of racing a lap or two with the camera gear on but after my first lap I decided the hell with that. I had also planned and catching some footage of people in the transition area, but after the first lap I found myself just eating or resting between laps. Of well, here is the video of 99% pre ride and 1% race at the Old Pueblo. www.mountainbikebill.com/videos/24NTOP-Web.mpg
Bill Porter www.mountainbikebill.com
nice, bill The mind serves properly as a window glass rather than as a reflector, that is, the mind should give an immediate view instead of an interpretation of the world. :-]
