I'm definitely getting better at this whole mountain biking thing. Two weeks ago at the Trailspinners Fairhill Classic, I managed to pull off 6th place Clydesdale. I was about nine and a half minutes behind the leader, and that was after flatting and crashing (and bruising my ribs). Last weekend at Michaux, I eked out a top ten finish in my category, but the best part is the difference in time between me and the leaders. During the spring Michaux race, I was a little over an hour behind the first place finisher in my category. Last weekend, I cut that gap by about half an hour. I can't reasonably expect to be able to cut another half hour off of my time by the end of September, but anything's possible, right?

This weekend is D&Q's Summer Sizzler at Gloucester County Community College. I have every intention of pulling off a top three Clydesdale finish. I know the course well, and even though I've got a bruised rib, I'm feeling great. Game on mother fuckers.

Heresy

I'm feeling apprehensive about the Stupid 50 this weekend. I've ridden at State College before, so I know the terrain and vaguely what to expect, but 50 miles will be the most I've ridden a mountain bike to date. The previous max was 25 Michaux miles, which equates to about 31 actual miles.

I will finish though.

This week has been kind of a wash. I never remembered Philadelphia summers being so wet and miserable. I wouldn't mind so much if Belmont wasn't so adversely affected by people riding there when it's muddy.

The Stupid 50 is this weekend. The website said to expect ride times of between five and eight hours. I think I might be up for it, but we'll see what happens. Yesterday, I started getting some sharp pain/soreness in my ribs inexplicably. It's eased off, but it still might preclude any bike racing for the weekend.

If I don't manage to make it to the 50 this weekend, I'll at least try and get up to Neshaminy and pre-ride the course, because that's the weekend after.

Catacomb Kids

I must say, having a laptop is pretty awesome. Especially when your wireless router will extend the range of available internet to your porch. It's nice to enjoy the balmy morning air with breakfast while simultaneously internetting. That is now a verb, by the way.

I'm feeling pretty good after Danville yesterday. I finished 6th out of an undetermined number of Clydesdales - I'll find out soon enough though. The course was pretty fun, lots of climbing (I think around 3600 feet total). Pretty dry considering we've been getting a good bit of rain lately, although there were a few spots with a bunch of pine needles that managed to suck up a bunch of water, hence becoming a little slick and hard to pedal through.

I've identified several areas that certainly need improvement:
- I need to learn to push bigger gears. I've got the power, but I need to tap into it, especially on climbs.
- I'm still a little slow through tight turns and some extremely steep technical sections. More riding is the only answer for this though.
- I'm still figuring out what works in terms of my diet. I felt a little uneasy during the first 40 minutes of the race, and that certainly cost me a bit. I think I can stand to consume more gel during the race as well, but in small bits.

These are all things that I'm sure will work themselves out in time. Very few, if any, have become fast overnight.

Son of Neckbone

Some of you may have been redirected from here. I've decided to make a second blog solely dedicated to bike racing. For some reason. I hate internet speak. Bleh.

So I've made some alterations to my racing schedule, and have discovered that the MASS XC races actually have a clydesdale category for people like me who weigh 200+ pounds. Of course, I'm on the lower end of this, but I'm still going to do it. This way, I actually might place in a few races. I've been doing better and feeling stronger, but I've still got a ways to go before I become super fast guy #1.

This upcoming weekend is Tour de Tykes at Danville, then the Stupid 50 at State College. Neshaminy is the weekend after that, followed by the festival weekend with the short track XC race at Marysville. The Long Pine Classic at Michaux, the second Fair Hill XC Race, the Curse of Dark Hollow at Michaux, and the D&Q Race at Gloucester round out July. I didn't think I was going to be able to make it to Jersey, but I finally actually looked at the dates and realized that Michaux is, in fact, the weekend before that. French Creek got rescheduled to the middle of August, and unless I do an H2H race (and get a NORBA license), that's all I've got planned. September brings the 7 Springs 24 hour race, MASS finals at Bear Creek, and the Terror of Teaberry. A slight conflict of interest exists in that the SSWC09 is the SAME WEEKEND as Michaux, and I might actually be able to make it to Colorado since Drexel's semester starts at the end of September. I'll figure it out.

That's a lot of racing for someone who's actually taking it kind of seriously for the first year, no?