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29/9/09 Playin' Catch-Up
Well, we left off just before heading out to Copper Harbor a few weeks back. We got up there Friday night in time so sneak out for a full moon night ride on the trails. We used lights for the riding, but sitting on Brockway, looking out over the moonlit valley, enjoying a KBC Widowmaker Black was pretty much awesome. Saturday, we took in a nice pre-ride of the course and otherwise pretty much just chilled out. Sunday brought the race. For whatever reason, the legs weren't super great and I was really struggling on the first lap, especially on the opening climb. I passed my riding companion from O2S, Nate Guerra,who was bumming with a flat tire. I dropped my pump, tools, and tube for him so he could get rolling again. Normally when you do this, karma throws you a freakin' bone and you have a clean race. That wasn't to be this time around. I could tell my chain was loosening up in a big way, and right at the beginning of the second lap, I dropped the chain for the first time. I got the chain back on and kept climbing, but dropped the chain a few more times. Finally, just after I'd put my chain back on yet again, Spandrew passed me and I bummed a wrench from him. I got the chain good an tight and climbed to the top of the course were I saw my constant singlespeed rival from last season, Chris Schmidt, messing with his chain too. And here I thought singlespeeds were great because they're low maintenance... I cruised the rest of the lap, picking off a few folks as I went before the final trip down Paul's Plunge. I was feeling ok and reeling in yet another racer before I dropped my chain just one more time on the exit of the plunge. Blast! I got the chain back on and pedaled things in for 30th overall and 6th singlespeed. It wasn't really where I wanted to end up, but I guess Copper Harbor is a pretty sweet place for a bad race since the trails are so much fun you end up having a blast anyway. As usual, the post race festivities were in full effect up in the Harbor and we had a blast long into the night. There's a truly awesome number of rad people to converse with at that race. On Monday we got in one last good cruise around the trails before hightailing it home. If you haven't been to the Harbor, go check it out. If you haven't been for a while, get back up as whoopidiwoo is possibly the most fun trail I've ridden in my life. The next week was pretty exciting as I got one of the '10 Superfly SS frames. I got the parts transfered over from my Rig in time to ride it for the Chequamegon pre-ride the weekend before. I have to say the bike handles like a dream. Chequamegon was another fairly mediocre race. I rode well, but not spectacularly on a superfast course for 96th overall and 10th in singlespeed. It was fun to ride with a few guys throughout the race, but it was a bit of a bummer not to have that extra gear to really lay it down when I needed to. I raced the Crit-Cross on Sunday and finished solidly mid-pack in the final, which I have to say I was pretty happy with.
Crit Cross marked the transition from mountain bikes to 'cross season, and I'm really stoked to announce a new sponsor for this 'cross season. I've joined up with the Hudz-Subaru Grassroots program, which is pretty much rad. This past weekend I cruised down to Madison for the USGP. I got down to the venue on Friday night just in time to get in a couple of practice laps in while it was raining a bit. The course was just slick enough to be fun. I cruised over to my brother's place and we scored a delicious and spicy dinner at Vientiane before calling it an early night. After a half-hearted warm-up, I enjoyed my nice call-up. I tried to be aggressive off the gun, but it isn't as easy as flipping a switch, and racing cross is a bit difference than 3 hours on the mountain bike. I drifted back a bit during the first couple of laps, before finding something of a rhthym and managing to start pulling people back. It all worked out ok and I managed to pull off a 26/71 in the 2/3 men's field. Sunday was similar, though I got in a better warm-up and felt much better, but missed my call-up, so I was a few rows behind where I should have been, which definitely hurt as I spent a lot of time fighting through traffic on a course where I struggled to find places where I could pass effectively. That turned into a 32/64 place on the day, which I have to say I'm satisfied with. I was hoping for a better placing, but the sensations were definitely better. The pro racing was awesome both days. Katie Compton put on show of force both days just powering away from the competition. The men's races were a different story with both days pretty much coming down to the last lap or so. Exciting racing all around.
That about wraps things up for now. I'm planning to head up to Ishpeming for a bit of UPCross this weekend, hopefully along with some sweet mountain biking in the Ishpeming area on Saturday. Out.


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29/9/09 Playin' Catch-Up Well, we left off just before heading out to Copper Harbor a few weeks back. We got up there Friday night in time so sneak out for a full moon night ride on the trails. We used lights for the riding, but sitting on Brockway, looking out over the moonlit valley, enjoying a KBC Widowmaker Black was pretty much awesome. Saturday, we took in a nice pre-ride of the course and otherwise pretty much just chilled out. Sunday brought the race. For whatever reason, the legs weren't super great and I was really struggling on the first lap, especially on the opening climb. I passed my riding companion from O2S, Nate Guerra,who was bumming with a flat tire. I dropped my pump, tools, and tube for him so he could get rolling again. Normally when you do this, karma throws you a freakin' bone and you have a clean race. That wasn't to be this time around. I could tell my chain was loosening up in a big way, and right at the beginning of the second lap, I dropped the chain for the first time. I got the chain back on and kept climbing, but dropped the chain a few more times. Finally, just after I'd put my chain back on yet again, Spandrew passed me and I bummed a wrench from him. I got the chain good an tight and climbed to the top of the course were I saw my constant singlespeed rival from last season, Chris Schmidt, messing with his chain too. And here I thought singlespeeds were great because they're low maintenance... I cruised the rest of the lap, picking off a few folks as I went before the final trip down Paul's Plunge. I was feeling ok and reeling in yet another racer before I dropped my chain just one more time on the exit of the plunge. Blast! I got the chain back on and pedaled things in for 30th overall and 6th singlespeed. It wasn't really where I wanted to end up, but I guess Copper Harbor is a pretty sweet place for a bad race since the trails are so much fun you end up having a blast anyway. As usual, the post race festivities were in full effect up in the Harbor and we had a blast long into the night. There's a truly awesome number of rad people to converse with at that race. On Monday we got in one last good cruise around the trails before hightailing it home. If you haven't been to the Harbor, go check it out. If you haven't been for a while, get back up as whoopidiwoo is possibly the most fun trail I've ridden in my life. The next week was pretty exciting as I got one of the '10 Superfly SS frames. I got the parts transfered over from my Rig in time to ride it for the Chequamegon pre-ride the weekend before. I have to say the bike handles like a dream. Chequamegon was another fairly mediocre race. I rode well, but not spectacularly on a superfast course for 96th overall and 10th in singlespeed. It was fun to ride with a few guys throughout the race, but it was a bit of a bummer not to have that extra gear to really lay it down when I needed to. I raced the Crit-Cross on Sunday and finished solidly mid-pack in the final, which I have to say I was pretty happy with. Crit Cross marked the transition from mountain bikes to 'cross season, and I'm really stoked to announce a new sponsor for this 'cross season. I've joined up with the Hudz-Subaru Grassroots program, which is pretty much rad. This past weekend I cruised down to Madison for the USGP. I got down to the venue on Friday night just in time to get in a couple of practice laps in while it was raining a bit. The course was just slick enough to be fun. I cruised over to my brother's place and we scored a delicious and spicy dinner at Vientiane before calling it an early night. After a half-hearted warm-up, I enjoyed my nice call-up. I tried to be aggressive off the gun, but it isn't as easy as flipping a switch, and racing cross is a bit difference than 3 hours on the mountain bike. I drifted back a bit during the first couple of laps, before finding something of a rhthym and managing to start pulling people back. It all worked out ok and I managed to pull off a 26/71 in the 2/3 men's field. Sunday was similar, though I got in a better warm-up and felt much better, but missed my call-up, so I was a few rows behind where I should have been, which definitely hurt as I spent a lot of time fighting through traffic on a course where I struggled to find places where I could pass effectively. That turned into a 32/64 place on the day, which I have to say I'm satisfied with. I was hoping for a better placing, but the sensations were definitely better. The pro racing was awesome both days. Katie Compton put on show of force both days just powering away from the competition. The men's races were a different story with both days pretty much coming down to the last lap or so. Exciting racing all around. That about wraps things up for now. I'm planning to head up to Ishpeming for a bit of UPCross this weekend, hopefully along with some sweet mountain biking in the Ishpeming area on Saturday. Out.
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©2005 Paul Belknap All rights reserved. Why do I do this? Check out About Contact Me My disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are mine and mine alone and they do not reflect the position of Gonzaga University, if they did, you would be hearing as much about their nordic ski team as their men's basketball team. :)