So here's the deal, for anybody that doesn't know I participate in a 100 mile off road bike series called the National Ultra Endurance Series or NUE for shorts. The better your points the better you rank. As of now I am totally duking it out(well, better than everybody else) for 1st in the series with SS National Champion and previous years NUE series SS overall champion Gordon "Quadsworth" Wadsworth. If I win I get to be cool along with getting a bunch of $$$ back to help offset everything I've invested to that point. I also get a all expenses payed trip to La Ruta de los Conquistadores. It doesn't stop there. If I do win the series overall I will then have some really big shit to put on my race resume which will hopefully help with getting sponsored for next year. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I'm not sponsored and I've been paying my way for all this fun stuff. Not a complaint, just a fact. And as a side note, my bike shop salary is good for somebody that doesn't race, but doesn't even scratch the surface for somebody who does when everything is factored in.
So now getting to the nitty gritty, to stay competitive in the series with Quadsworth I need to kick out a decent result at Tatanka 100. Which means.... You got it! Going to Tatanka 100 in Sturgis, SD. My question is does anybody want to go with me to help cut costs on gas and share driving??? I can fit comfortably 3 total people in the van with bikes, but really only need one extra peep.
The race is in less than two weeks. July 11 to be exact. There is a 100 mile and 50 mile version. A few of us did it 2 years ago and it was bad ass, but this year they changed the format to a Point to Point style race with a shuttle service dropping you off at Mt Rushmore and then you race back to Sturgis.
We can take my van. We would leave Thursday July 9th after the dirtcrits and just drive easy through the night with no rush. Its about 16 hrs, fyi. I usually stealth camp and bring most of my food to keep costs from reaming my bank account.
The drive is something that I don't mind doing by myself, but having the added help is well worth its weight when it comes to healthy/strong performance on race day. If anybody is interested or can help in some way holla.
My email that I will most likely check is peatmoss78@hotmail.com, or just leave me a comment.
Lastly, if you get sub 8 hrs(which nobody has done) you get a big show boater ring!
Hey all, at Lumberjack 100 last weekend I got 5th place SS and they gave me a Yakima Frontloader roof rack and a Velocity Wheels 50% off voucher. I'm getting rid of both for reasons that I'd prefer the $$$$ to compensate for the race reg and travel to Michigan and back. Plus I'm terrified of roof racks on mini vans and tall cars and drivin' into low overhangs.
-Was thinking $100 for the Yakima rack. Its new in box.
-20% of the retail for whatever wheelset you wanted. So if you get a $1000 wheelset for $500. I get $200. Is that how percents work, I can't remember? Or I'm open to offers/suggestions for the voucher.
So Riverboat Gamblers are a band that have been fueling me for 10 years now. My friend Tanis gave me the heads up that they were coming to St Louis and they were a "Must see!" I've been one step away from super fan ever since. They have crazy high energy live shows, they skate, party, and write super clever songs with crazy good hooks.
"Don't bury me... I'm still not dead yet" is a jam that has got me through a bunch of races/training days when I was at my lowest, and at best grinding along soul crushed.
So in that I introduce to you Riverboat Gamblers!
To all the given ups, the special needs crew. To all those who were told
"we didn't need you. To all the people who are eating all alone, You know something fucked that kid up good. To all those who wake up at dawn, Under payed and then shit upon. To all my friends who never had a chance. To those who closed their eyes,
Thinking they'd be better off... for now. To those who felt that the gods kept them from getting out,
This town.
To spite as a reason. To clothes out of season. To those stuck in caskets as nails hammer in. Just keep screaming out... I'm still not dead.
To the ugly ones with the bad teeth, Staring at the pretty people that they can't meet. Staring at the magazines on the endcaps, That fuck your head up good. To all those buried in the ground, God knows I wish you were around, To laugh and cuss about what's going down. To those who stand watching the last bus as it drives away... again. Those those who see that by not playing and not giving in... they win.
To have no good reason,
To no cuts and lesions. And to the confusion of our enemies.
Just keep screaming out... I'm still not dead. Don't bury me yet.
Saturday is this race in Wellston,MI near the middle left of the state. It starts and ends at the Big M Ski Area, located inside the Manistee National Forest. Its 3 33mile loops and is a claimed 90% single track. If you don't blow up going into the 2nd lap and pace, its a fast race.
Team Noah Foundation team mate EK and I are making the 9ish hr trip to once again race our bikes 100miles and crush souls. This is a great race for a billion reasons. Its fun. The SS category is always stacked and Founders Brewing is a prime sponsor! Also, if your a newbie its pretty jammin' cuz you always are withing 17 miles of the start if not closer. Plus it is a lap style format.
We also get to meet up with Kim and Chris and their family who are bad ass, and live just a few miles from the start! Kim and Chris were actually alot of the inspiration for Noah Foundation. During the time Noah was in the hospital, Kim and Chris' little guy Ronan was next door having a rough go of it as well. Much of the time Kim was in St Louis with Ronan, while Chris was back in Michigan working to pay bills and keep the insurance flowing. During this gnarly time was when Dwayne, Bettina, Kim, and Chris all began to meet. It was this seed that gave the Noah Foundation a reason to exist and hopefully sooner than later play a big role in helping families out that are in the same situation.
Much like going into Mohican 100, I'm not feeling tip top. That being said, I also can't and don't want to guarantee that I will get the same surprise ending. Just because I get one good result in the NUE, doesn't promise that I'm deserving of a second. So I'm just gonna roll with the punches as usual and see how everything plays out. Ya dig?
So in that being said time to boogie on out, and bulldoze straight into another wild day. Have a rad weekend everybody, and make it count!
This will be a quickie, since it is a week ago and I'm tired and there were no real pictures taken.
Rumble on Route 66 was a super rad joint effort put on by Rich Peirce and the ICCC and Dan Furman and Route 66 Bikes. Part of the local UFD race series, the race took place at Forrest City in St James, MO.
So since I've been broke, I will be honest I signed up for the category that had money. I also did this because the week prior at Mohican 100, had I read the fine print, I would have tried a little harder to win 1st SS to get a gnarly payout. Expert class at the Rumble ended up paying out 5 deep and I figured as long as I could not have a terrible blow up I could at least get that, and some kickback. I was nervous to see Bob Arnold their and my boy Turbo who snapped my wrist both days of Herman gravel challenge.
The race is underway and with in the first 1/4 lap I'm in second and slowly creeping up to Turbo. Oh, and Turbo just got his PRO card stamped FYI. I hook up to him and we ride until the end of the 2nd lap when I creep away from him. He said he wrecked sometime in the beginning and hit his head. It was also extreeeeemely hot and Missouri style of humid. I wouldn't be to surprised if that complicated things with him also.
I ride the very tail end of the 2nd lap all the way to the end of the race by myself to a overall win!
I also did it SS with a 38/20 gear. I knew my brain was crooked going into this race with that gear, but knew it was gonna smash me or smash many a souls. I can't say that it didn't feel kinda good. I had been soul crushing myself for all of the winter regularly coming home frost bitten and or just a vacant shell of a doood. So seeing it all pay off really feels good that I listened to that little voice in my head and in my heart and just kept pushing.
I also have to note that the same Bontrager XR1 29x2.0 rear tire that I have been riding off and on again since April of 2013 and all of this year and the end of 2014 held tough again on a super tech sometimes gnar trail. Thanks Bonty tire I love you so much!
So Rich, Dan, and crew thanks a crazy bunch for putting on a great race. It even felt legit pro in sections.
Also, to Dan, I want to make a public apology that I couldn't donate to the trail fund. I really am crazy broke right now and wasn't trying to be a stingy bastard or selfish. After gas and registration, the rest of my pay out went to my chiropractor. He asked me "What did you do this weekend, your really messed up!" I didn't even stop for food on the way home but stopped at my friend Sarah's for her to make me a sandwich. So it really is the races paying for themselves thats even keeping me racing right now. Its what some people call "living the dream". I just want to say thanks a crazy bunch and hope you don't hate me. You and Sam and everybody else did a smashing job on the place!
Also thanks Heather Hill for lettin' me "borrow" the old Reba fork. It came in handy!
And Sarah 88 for coming to see a great race of mine after years of me ditching out on hanging out and partying, and four wheeling of trucks. Hope it all makes sense now and the foods were great!
So Memorial Day weekend comes and goes. I now have a short week at the bike shop. Tues, Wed., Thurs.
Friday is drive day. The three days at work leading up to Mohican 100 are well, very trying. Everything just kept going wrong. Poor work order write ups. Customers not calling back. Shop computers not working. It was a mess. Plus I start hearing that it may be very sloppy at Mohican due to rain further complicating things, cuz my tires are not only becoming old and wore out but are not in the slightest "mud" tires.
I also notice my stem is developing a crack in it right at the steerer tube clamp bolt. I've had that Bonty stem for along time and has only ever seen the love of a rigid fork so having to put it to rest didn't bother me. It was doing so the day before leaving town for a national level race. So I last minute throw my KILL stem on that has the same length, but less drop. Going from a -17 to a -8 degree drop. Ok so my bars are a little higher than normal, but you still get to race without fear of a catastrophic stem failure. Woohoo, always look on the bright side.
I also am feeling very, ummmm, the opposite of good all week? Very un-good. I have a simple recovery gauge at work that I use to see what I can expect from my body for what ever is the upcoming race. Its as simple as how easy it is to run bikes up the back step at work to the storage loft. If I have spring in my step than I'm good for the race, if not well then I have a marginal race. Lets just say my cottages had no wattages.
I get home and prepare travel food which is a bunch of hard boiled eggs and veggies. Then get things packed. I'm in bed and its 12:30am. I have to be at Emily's by 6am. Uhggg!
4am alarm hits and pop music is my motivator. Shower and then pack the van I get everything in and can't find my helmet. Dang. I had it a week ago for the State Champ race. I don't have time to look for it. I remember that when Kate left town she gave me a crazy amount of bike stuff to give away and a cheap Bell brand girls Walmart helmet with purple flowers and stuff on. It was in the stuff pile. So more anxiety was at least semi diverted. I can now ride with a helmet!
Get to EK's place and get all her gear packed in the van, and on the road by 6:25am Friday morning.
She's kinda wrecked too, from a week of crazy work and a trail run event she managed the night before. Along with her guy being in town for the last week who was then driving to Emporia, KS for Dirty Kanza 200 that morning. Needless to say both of us weren't feeling very well rested or confident on how the next day would pan out.
We drive we drive we drive. At least we set up a little spot in the van to lay down and take turns sleeping. That was a good idea.
We finally get to Loudonville, OH 8ish hours later. Check in isn't for another 20 min. EK snoozes, while I go get a fan photo with Tinker Juarez.
After seeing this picture I can't even imagine what Tinker was thinking when I came up to him. Ha.
4pm rolls around and we get checked in for the race, and then do a 5 mile pre-ride of the last portion of single track. Yup, everything is right where I remember it. Both EK and I are feeling slightly more confident. I even mention how playful my bike is riding.
We then get back in the van and make a hustle back to Butler which is 15mins back on the road to a sweet home cooking place called Whiffletree Country Dining. They had a real John Wayne theme going on inside, and everything was cooked with butter.
Back to Loudonville, we decide we are going to stealth camp in the visitor parking lot next to Mohican Adventures Campground. EK tried calling and they weren't allowing tents in the RV spots this year like they did last year. They told her that we could rent a RV from down the street. Shah right, exqueeze me, baking powder! That would totally defeat the purpose of rollin' on the cheap. We aren't made of money! So I slept in my van and EK set up her tent come night fall. Thankfully, we weren't the only peeps with this idea.
Morning comes food is eaten and we get ready to move. I see Ernie roaming around the parking lot and then back to his car. I pedal over and ask how he's doing. He responds with "I hit a deer on the way here." Yikes, I tell him we can chat about that later and that he should just get ready. After all it was 20 til 7am.
On the way to the race start which is on Main St. Loudonville I meet Bob Moss. We chat and then get into position for the start.
We then see Quadsworth come rolling up on his geared PIVOT full suspension bike. Thats funny, I seem to remember a Gerry Plug doing the same thing. Well I won't pass judgement, but I will make note of the hilarious look Rogo gave me when I looked over at him. It was hilarious.
At the start line I'm already sitting in a cluster of other SSer's, some I knew and some I didn't. The horn blows and we go. I make no rush for the first 3 blocks on the flat knowing that there is a monster opening climb with a false summit. I just draft off some folk until the climb.
Yeah, thats the start of Mohican 100! I'm by the 39 sign.
Initially i decide I'm not going to work myself over on the climb to stay with the lead group, but in usual Peat Henry fashion I throw that game plan out the window and boogie. Hitting the climb all the geared riders begin down shifting, and I end up accelerating up into them and begin navigation through the falling characters like a old Atari game. I give a few good digs, try not to get boxed in and wallah, I'm to the top and the lead group isn't that far away. Rogo is even closer and he's got gears. So I hyper spin up to him. Riding his wheel and then bouncing around to other fast geared rider wheels. Another look up to the closing lead group and it even looks like they are soft pedaling. I slightly curse myself for wasting that moment at the start by not putting in the earlier efforts to get into the peleton. I figure I can handle it though.
First I spot Ernie and pass him. He's got this rad way of starting slow, but then coming up from deep behind gobbling up everybody in his path. So the whole rest of the day I had that fear that he was about to crush my soul. Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw him til he crossed the finish line some 8hr45min later. Found out later he wrecked hard and made himself coocoo for a little bit. I then see Mike Montalbano just ahead of me. I'm already latched onto the wheel of the geared riders in front of me. As we pass I tell him to hop on. He does, but can't seem to hang then falls off the back. Me and Rogo are then floating off the tail end of the peleton. I give one last effort and get into the draft and then settle in. I look around, but Rogo is nowhere to be seen. We make the last left turn on the road and head to the gravel. I sit comfortably in the group.
Hitting the double track gravel makes staying in a draft more difficult just because of the likely hood of gnarlier rolling conditions and such. Also from last year I remembered that this was a good time to get a first recovery in after redlining for the last 4.5 miles. So I take a look behind me and see that nobody is in view. Awesome! And in front I see the fast dudes just slowly creeping away. Leaving me in a nice no mans land. I actually enjoy when this happens its relaxing. The gravel then turns into wooded smaller double track. On this Rogo catches me and asks where the Party Train is? I just tell him "Up there somewhere."
A few more gear riders then attack on me, but its no ish. I know the protocall. They will burn a crazy amount of matches to get in front of me, a poor sap with only one gear and a rigid fork, so I will then just ride their wheels in the single track until they make too many mistakes or just blow up. Its like clock work and now that I know that it makes racing way easier. Whats especially funny to me is that it seems like they're mostly full squish dudes.
The camera dood complimented my beard!
Carrying on, at some point I roll up behind Rogo again, and ride with him for a bit, when I ask him for a pass. I feel like its understood now that we have raced together as much as we have that we always end up back together later on in the race. So its not a attack on him, but just a "I have a different pace" thing going for my self. Sometime right around this point is when both Bob Moss and Mike Montalbano make crazy XC style passes on me. I question if I want to roll with them and just go for it. It'll be fun I thought and these geared dudes are starting to sputter out.
Mike pretty much bolts and then Bob and I roll together for awhile until he creeps away from me. With the pace those dudes were laying out I figured Blowupsville just a matter of time, and later on I was right kinda.
So they drop me, but in return I get two first timers on my wheel. Jim Litzinger and another kid. I'm sorry "other kid", but you didn't hang on long enough for me to commit your name to memory. The three of us all road together for awhile until then we lost "other kid". It was then just Jim and I tearing up the trail. At some point we rolled up on Mike M and he was shelled. I asked if he was ok, and he just responded with "Will Crissman is just a minute ahead." Although, I didn't hear that exactly just that somebody was a minute ahead. I also have to keep in mind this is all under the first 30 miles. We weren't even to the pipeline cut yet. Kinda blows my mind.
Jim and I also had gobbled up another SS who was completely nameless during this same little adventure. I was trying to get my numbers straight in my head with who I knew was ahead of us. I kept getting it wrong. I was confusing one person for another and then other people were not even in the 100m, but later found out they were 100k riders. I didn't even know Will Crissman was up ahead. My head was all kinds of a mess, but good thing I still had slight course knowledge and was staying keen on my food and drink intake! So the best I could gather was that Jim and I were 3 and 4.
Some how between mile 30-40 we hooked back up with Bob Moss. I can't remember exactly, but I feel like he had a little mini blow up or maybe at the top of the Pipeline cut hike a bike? By the time we got to Aid station 3 we were the top 4 SSer's all within minutes of each other. It was awesome.
Bob, Jim, and I almost all rolled in together. And thats when we almost literally had our minds blown. We hear "Whoa, look at all you SSer's. You got some work to do!" Can anybody take a guess as to whom that voice could be long to? One clue he has a mustache.... Gordon Wadsworth! Bingbingbingbing! Apparently he had got crazy blown up because of riding gears and having only one bottle, and just had to sit out for a while. Thats ok Gordy, we still love you and are very proud of you for finishing.
I gave him a hug on my way out of Aid 3 and told him to just come ride and have fun with us. He said he'd think about it, and then was a no show until the end when he crossed the finish line 5 minutes after me.
Ok, so Jim boogies out and Bob and I hightail it behind him. Bob and I comment on Gordon, and bridge back up to Jim. After we get back into the woods there are a few good digs and I witness what I perceive as Bobs second blow up. He just let Jim and I go, so we go.
We get around a handful of single track turns and come back to where we parallel the course. Its a spot thats super technical on both sides of the tape. This is also the spot that Jim and I over shot the left turn we needed to take. There was a sign there, but what happened was we had our heads down pushing our bikes up this tech section, when I further dumbfounded things by saying "Can you believe we were just there on the other side of the tape like 45 min ago." Thats all it took for us to lose 5 min and let Bob get back in front of us. Here, check out my druring.
See the red line? Thats where we screwed up! We hiked and then rode into oncoming traffic of racers and then into a field. When we didn't see any signage, we knew we messed something up. So back down we went and low and behold there was the turn we needed to take. Right in front of us, if it would have been a snake we would have got bit.
Its not like we lost that much time,5 min maybe, but it was still a minor buzzkill ya know. And the course was actually marked extremely well, but it was our dumb luck that we just happened to be looking over our right shoulder at the complete wrong time. The only thing that would have prevented us from our mishap would have been tape across the trail, but oh well. Any thing can happen in a 100 miles.
Moving on, after we get back on track we actually catch back up to Rogo, and ask him if he saw a SSer in a black kit and a black bike. He is unsure at first and then says yeah. I know this is Bob then and want to at least establish contact or get a visual of where he is, and in doing so I kinda drop both Jim and Rogo. Sorry guys, but I was on a mission.
I establish contact with Bobby again, and creep up to his wheel. We roll together for awhile and bust outta the woods onto gravel and then onto the old rail bed turned into a Amish/recreational super highway. A handful of miles down the trail Rogo and Jim catch us. Rogo drops us and Bob and I ride together while Jim begins to float behind us. After about 8miles Jim gets pooped out and its just me and Bobby. Bobs got just a little bit more spin in his legs so knowing we still have some good miles to go I decide to save some juice and chill. He slowly creeps away. I then make another visual with him right when we pass these two magic old guys who just kept popping up all over the course, and they say "Just 4 more miles of downhill." Yes! I hang with Bob for a hot minute and then let him spin away. I will see you again Bob, I will see you again.
Ok, this Rail to Trail ends up being a long crazy out and back. Throw in a dab of some single track and I bridge back up to Rogo. Chit chat, and slowly creep away from him.
So remember how Bob had a couple of blow-ups. I was really expecting a third good one that would seal his fate. I pedal and hop out on to gravel and who do I see at the top of a gravel climb, but Bobby Moss.
I get stoked, and hold back just keeping him in sight. By this point we are maybe 15 miles out from done. I'm feeling great and drilling it. Rogo catches back up to me and we get into the last of the 2nd to last single track. Its the last bit just before the suspension bridge. I tell Rogo to be careful down the kinda gnar decent down to the river and over the bridge. We get over the bridge and Rogo stops for a min and I boogie on. We start blending into 100k traffic. We all hit a monster monster monster gravel climb that was seperating the weak from the strong, or the 100k from the 100milers. This was the last I saw Rogo and not the last of me seeing 100k'ers walking their bikes.
I just bring that up cuz I remember the first and second time I had Garth Prosser rip my legs off. Him yelling "Rider back, rider back!" And now I'm that guy, crazy how that works.
Now I'm just in full attack mode crushing every climb like its a crack in the pavement. Deeply believing that Bob is just around the next turn or halfway up the next hill. Crush Kill Destroy Crush Kill Destroy!
Another funny thing that I have mentioned before was that I sometimes feel the presence of AJ Linnel with me at certain times during the last few races I've been in. Early on in the race during the beginning single track I told AJ that "when its time to party we will party hard" and I really think I felt him push me. During this attack mode I was in I know I felt the same.
Around this time I go blasting past Will Crissman. He says it was about mile 85. I think it was about mile 90-92. does it matter, NO. Do I like to be semi accurate in my story. Yes. I never met Will before I don't think. So I wasn't really sure who he was when I passed him, but one things for sure. He done looked blowed up. So I don't let off the gas and jam leaving Will in my wake. Sorry dood.
Where the hell is Bob?!
I get into a big open field and where I pass a dood on a fat bike. I tell him nice work and as I pass he tells me that the other SSer is about 4 mins ahead. In my mind I knew he had to be wrong. How could bob put that much time on me. How could he recover off of his blow ups like that and then put that much time on me. It really kinda blew me away, but I drilled it just incase that fatbiker was wrong. I really left nothing to fate at this point.
I roll up to the last aid station and just yell "Enduralites Coke Enduralites Coke Enduralites Coke!" I had started the minor cramping and didn't need it to go full blown. I was in and F-ing out of that aid station and into the last 4.5 miles of single track. The same that EK and I rode the night before. I was annihilation time, I was a one man one geared wrecking crew set on destruction. This is where I had two really good crazy moments. The first was another Garth Prosser moment of me passing 100k folk like they were sitting still and wishing them good luck and to tear it up! The next was the eery, but comforting wind gust through the woods when I thanked AJ for getting me through the race safe and sound even though I still had 2 miles left. It was still rad. I will also say again thanks AJ, and if I got yer jersey on I will do all that I can to honor yer life by riding above and beyond.
Ok, so I'm just a few miles out. Not that I have abandon hope that I can't get Bob, but understand the reality that he may actually be crossing the finish line. My goal is to finish and not eat shit in the last of the race and finish strong. Oh, and did I mention I'm still also paranoid as hell that Ernie is right behind me. I have never gone this far in a hundo without Ernie catching me. So as a side note that was just a touch of my motivation to hustle. To not get caught by Ernie Marenchin.
Out of the single track and into the campsites. Onto some doubletrack and over the last little bridge and onto the final straight. I pass up the last 100k'er and freight train to the small gate and to the finish line. I blast a power wheelie under the Kenda Arch and pull a gnar showboater skid stop that I've been getting really into lately.
Almost immediately I have Mike Montalbano and Thom Parsons from dirtwire.tv and a few others come up to me saying nice work. Mike is telling me he thinks I may be 2nd SS and asking where Will Crissman is. I'm blowed up and blown away, but am trying to not get too psyched since I'm not sure if I'm 2nd.
Mike and some folk walk away and Thom gives me a little interview. I think I may have been rambling a bunch and for too long. He likes to keep his edits 2mins or shorter. I tried to show off my KILL stem and the BOCOMO. I may have just been to big of a dork for this round of dirtwire.tv cuz I didn't make the cut, whatev's. Thom man, thanks anyway for cracking my shit up all the time :).
You can really see the "flower power" helmet.
It ends up that I was 2nd SS in a time of 8:11:53 and 14th overall. Bob was infact 4 mins ahead of me with a time of 8:07:49. Nice work dude! And Will not far back from me in 3rd with 8:14:41.
It was fun riding with Bob and leap frogging with him the whole race, and seeing Will for 5sec 90 miles into the race. Its what makes these NUE hundos freaking awesome. Anything can really happen in 100miles of off road bike racing, and yes we were racing the whole time!
top 3 ss
I also want to give a shout out to my girl Linda Shin outta Toronto. She's a hella bad ass lady I've been racing with the last few years who got her first NUE win. I'm so psyched for her cuz I know she's been puttin in the same effort and hard work that all my friends here in STL know that I've been putting in. And Craig, I wish you were there dude!
EK my team mate came in much later in 7th place second year in a row. She was kinda bummed that she was 10 mins slower than last year. But I had to remind her that she was about 25mins faster than Cohutta a few weeks prior which was basically a gravel road race. So I'm proud of her.
So just for finishing the 100 mile course you get a growler to fill with beer from Great Lakes Brewing. I ended up drinking 2 1/2 growlers and some how didn't have that terrible of a hangover. While I was filling my 3rd growler up this guy came in at 14:25 or later. I didn't get his name and the results that far down are kinda weird, but he was the last of the Mohicans for Mohican 100. I just want to give this dude a shout out for being freakin awesome and finishing when so many others didn't! He was in a rain storm and finished well after dark on wet trails being escorted in by sweepers with headlights. Nice work Scott Lang and or maybe Allen Wheeler or maybe somebody else entirely.
EK was back at her tent long before I showed back up from partying. We crashed the night there and drove off in the AM. I battled massive starvation unwilling to eat at a fast food chain until we found a Cracker Barrel type independent establishment. I ate much much foods and was then happy, but still kinda hung over.
Mohican 100 I had a blast. And time for a few shout outs.
-Thanks EK for being my travel buddy!
-Even though yer not my sponsor, thanks Bontrager XR1 rear tire for hanging tough for me! I love you and will forever be yours.
Just one of the many reasons I was nervous going into this race. This tire has sooo many miles on it!
-Ryan O'Dell for putting on a great race with a great pay out that allowed me to not sweat bullets on how I was going to afford another race.
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-My KILL stem, and mix matched SRAM/ Shimano brakes for being there and not failing.
-My Dodge Caravan for hanging tough.
-Mike Best again for building me the BOCOMO.
-AJ, I know you were there giving me a guiding hand. Thanks again, man!
-And Andrew WK. I will always Party Hard!
So I'm bad, I know. I gave you a Mohican teaser and no report yet. I've been kinda partying a lot the last week and had crazy yard work to do, plus the Rumble on Route 66 race on Sunday.
Tues was a late night with FBC Prom. Then Thurs was my friend Francis' pre-Birthday party and was out late getting wild. Saturday was a then equally a late one at Chill Dog Cove drinking free keg beer and jumping in the galvanized pool!
So in that, I will sometime get caught up, but until then enjoy this pick of me thumbs upping you all with my Black Flag Coffee t-shirt on. Oh and enjoy Black Flag the band while yer at it.
Sunday Sunday Sunday! I wake up and get my butt moving. Wait! Hold on a second. Now that I'm writing up this post it becoming clear to me the two sides of the spectrum I hit. Going from innocent and fun loving to Mad Max Fury Road. I hope I don't get too judged for this one, haha. It should all make sense in a minute.
You see a couple days prior my friend Ashley tells me that Celia from the St Louis local band Firedog is shooting a music video. Woohoo, so hustle over to Rainbow Park at 9am for the shoot. There is playground equipment to hang on, hooooola hoooops, donuts, Firedog, kids running around being wild, acroyoga people balancing on each other, dancing, jumping, standing upside down, and music video shooting. My friend Anna is wearing a weird green nylon stretchy thing over her whole body. The whole thing was all pretty funny.
I then hustle over to Rose and Francis' Backyard Breakfast BBQ. Yep it was just that. Anything breakfast related was put on the grill. Hashbrown patties, breakfast sausage, waffles, breakfast 'za, donuts and cinnamon rolls, bacon, quiche, pigs feet, bacon wrapped peaches, breakfast corndogs, etc etc.
Christine brought a bottle of glazed donut flavored vodka over that she got for $9 off the retail price of 20 something dollars! We then did shots of that with little donette chasers.
Moar eating was then done.
I then played tug of war teeth to teeth with a pigs ear with this little guy.
Seriously, then when I went to do it again for a photo op, he totally attacked on me and bit both my hands. He or I didn't hold a grudge tho. We were both best friends again later on in the day. He was so cute!
We then shot gunned Stag beer.
Then the Nintendo Power Pad came outside, and then dual track races ensued. Taken out of context, the video could seem really weird.
I then attempted to eat a pigs foot that I put on the grill.
The pictures don't do justice, but I really did try to eat that thing. Little do I know, that pigs feet have NO meat on them at all, and am still not sure how they are to be eaten. Whomp whomp.
Moving on, Jenn then tells me her and her dude and his brother are all going to go see Mad Max later that night. Awe dang! I loved the old Mad Max movies and was super stoked for the new one. Lets Do It!
By this point its dark and beginning to rain. I pedal home and get totally drenched. Clean up and get picked up by Eli, Jenn, and Elliot.
On the way in to the new downtown STL theatre, Jenn finds a cool and legit leather 2 row studded punk belt. I'm the only one it fits. SCORE!
The movie ends up being so crazy sick! None of us can stop talking about it and how our minds were blown. My quick movie review. Mad Max Fury Road is the perfect extension of the series being made in a time that big budget action movies are BIG.
I then go home and have pleasant Mad Max style dreams.
Gonna try to make this one a quicky. A week ago was Memorial Day weekend, and the reschedule of the Missouri State MTB Championship race sponsored by SwimBikeRun. The race got postponed due to a bunch of rain the day before and morning of and people didn't want the trails to get wrecked. So a week later I show up to Creve Coeure park in the early AM to sign up to race the Marathon class.
Upon pulling into the parking lot I spot none other than my friend Rogo who I constantly go head to head with. I immediately know the race will be either his or mine for the day. The week before he was down in Arkansas for the Mt View Epic which was a 100 miler. So he could either be primed or cooked. Creve Ceour trails are also the closest to his house so he also had home court advantage. Hmmmm?
Brian "Rogo" and I hiding at the far left and right.
So the race starts with about a 1/2-3/4 mile road out and back lollipop and then onto grass and into singletrack. I get the hole shot some how on my SS Bocomo. I kinda feel like the rest of the dudes kinda gave it to me, but who knows maybe I really wound 'em up good and earned it.
Hole shot!
Whatever, so I get into the woods and instantly think " I think I may be spun out?" After being on the trail for a few moments I'm sure as shit I'm spun out. Even though the week before on the pre ride I felt over geared. Icing on the cake, David Frey had totally cut Rogo off on the first switch back and was now riding my wheel. He talks alot like me during the races which I like,, but with trying to keep the pace up I was having trouble with the chit chat. He also kept complaining about there being too many uphills and how he wished it was just flowy. I like hills so I couldn't really get on board with him. Sorry Dave.
First into the woods isn't always good, but it looks cool.
In the first lap the five of us that were in the lead group all washed out on the what looked like tacky dirt. The trail had these "secret" slick spots that would just take you out. Oh, except me. I didn't fall until later on in the race when nobody was looking, haha.
I give up the lead spot in order to recover and get into my pace. Rogo gets in front and puts just a little gap on us and then for the next two hours hold a 30 second gap on us. We were now the chase group Paul Quindry, Matt Twedt, and I. Dave Frey had floated off the back somewhere?
What frightens you Dave? What do you see?
We worked together for a few laps when Paul then started to fade. It was then just Matt and I. I had just met Matt. He is way younger and just started racing, but is hella strong and handled his bike well. He was able to hang on to me til halfway through the 5th lap I think. I put a hurt on him and then rode the remainder of the race alone.
Rogo before he snapped our wrists.
Up until the last two laps I was able to see Rogo on the return side of this weird grassy out and back, which always made him about 45sec away. But then, he kinda just went poof, and as hard as I pushed I just couldn't close back in on him enough to even verify if he was still in the race. I even had one of the road crossing volunteers tell me I was in first, which couldn't be right. It still kept me thinking.
I moto drifted this turn almost every lap. Not because I needed to, but because it was fun.
Oh and did I mention how spun out I was. Hella! All the single track was crazy flowy and 95% of the race I was spun out or near spun out. Only exception was this demoralizing steep freshly cut thick grass climb, that was a hike a bike for almost half the racers it seemed. But with that being said, I still would have been better off with a 38/20 than my tried and true 38/22. The brief run up would have been a non ish compared to the visible time loss when I was watching Rogo creep away from me lap after lap after lap in all the fast flowy stuff.
So in the end of the three hours, Rogo finished his 7th lap with 40sec to spare and was allowed a bonus 8th lap! Lucky. Rogo had also put about 3min on me resulting in a time of 3:03 and 2nd place. There will be retribution, Rogo! Next time, NEXT TIME!
The awards ceremony was cool. Had a bunch of free beer and got $$$$ and a medal.
My sister Sue was also there. This was her first race and she did it on her new Trek Superfly SS.
She got a 2nd place medal in the beginner race. She was the first to admit though that it wasn't hard to get second when their was nobody else in the category. Still proud of ya Sue, and love you!
My sis and I
I can't forget my team mate Maria who was also at the race. She did Women's Marathon and got first. Nice work kiddo!
Later after the race my friend Samantha (who also races ss off road bikes) mentioned she was going to go get some nasty post race food before her drive back down to Rolla, MO. I asked if she minded the company, and then was invited along. I recommended Rib City which is a bbq place on the way back to both of our living holes. It was good catching up and shooting the shit. We ate and had our pics taken with pigs.
And then I went home and went to sleep. When I woke up at 8:30pm I took a shower, read Lord of the Rings and then passed back out by 12:30. No partying for me Saturday Night, why I had all day Sunday for that.
So as previously mentioned, Dirty Kanza is a tough as nails race. You can always guaranty that nine out of 10 times its going to cripple everybody and leave them a quivering wasted piece of jelly. Whether its wind, heat, sun, or rain DK200 will soul crush. However, even on the 1 out of 10th time that conditions are "good" one has to remind themselves that they will still be either riding 200 miles simply to finish or as some might do, actually race it! So this year wasn't any different than any other. All participants got muddy and sometimes ate shit.
Looks like somebody needs to work on their CX skills.
That being said I want to give a few shout outs and accolades. I can't hit everybody, but I hope those I miss remember I'm still psyched in their finish.
To Wes Boyce, hella proud of ya for winning SS and 12th overall!
To Kate Geisen, I know how hard you have been training and as far as I'm concerned you killed it. Love ya, and just keep crushing yourself and soon you will be crushing everybody around you.
To Derek Prior, having a baby on the way and moving really cuts into ride time. Nice work and thanks for getting Watts in safe.
