spoke pony mtb and springfling crit results

So I haven’t updated about races results in a while. If I get something in my head that I want to write about, it generally becomes the first to be written about in the blog. Race results are either forgotten or I have written so much crap I figure noone wants to read about my stupid races.

So anyway…..Saturday march 29th: spoke pony 3/6 hr mountainbike race put on by one of the 360racing team sponsors Heartland Sports Promotions. The race was located in blue springs, mo at Landhal park reserve under cloudy skies but dry trail conditions. Actually the trails conditions were perfect considering our last month of weather. Scott Capstack and Craig Stoelzting, once again put on a great show. Most of my teammates from 360racing participated in the 3 hour race in differing age groups with a couple of the hardier strongmen doing the 6hr race. Check out scott and craig’s race series website @ heartlandrace.com for info and more concise results. I wont bore you with calculas type moments of a marathon mountainbike race. Except for the racer its about as exciting as watching paint dry. Some highlights included seeing all of the really strong riders show up in the 360 team kit to race that Saturday morning. With a grueling 300 yard running “le mans” start to get to our bikes we were racing our bikes. Andy, david and myself running in the top 10 during the first lap all together one after another. That was cool. when I got to andys wheel, I felt that if I just stayed there I was guaranteed a good result. However, andy proceeded to totally screw things up when he inexplicably broke a chain. I still don’t understand why he did that? Why would anyone break a chain at that point in the race?? Oh well…..doug long was a stud doing the 6hr. he seemed to just casually roll by me in my 3rd lap. He’s fast, but it does eat at me that he is doing the longer race and passing me. Damn. He made that look easy. Sure, his farts are dust and he is almost prehistoric, but son of a #@$%#, he is strong as hell. I also think I overheard him say that was his first offroad ride of the year. Someone gonna have a strong summer! So with 3 plus hours of riding in the 30-39 age group and 22 of us toeing the line, I crossed the finish line at 3:08 and in 7th place. I think I was 11th overall in the 3hr class with all men age groups with about 53 racers starting. I did four laps. The top 5 finishers In the 3 hour overall did a fifth lap. Fast and impressive. Shadd Shreiner won the younger age group and the overall, and Mark Studnicki won my 30-30 age group. Jason Gaikowski finished a few minutes behind me in 8th , David White finished in 11th and Tony ‘t-love’ Stanislav finished in 17th rounding out the racers in the 30-39 age group. In 40 and up age group, Brian Williams was steady all day and finished in 3hrs and 22 minutes for a excellent 3rd place and a podium spot. Brendan Jenks finished a minute and a half and in 4th place. Doug Long was the most impressive 360 guy on the day, finishing in 2nd place in the 40+ age group and 5th overall in the 6hr race. He did 8 laps in 6hours and 34 minutes. Like I said, IMPRESSIVE!

It was a good weekend to be racing a mountain bike, with perfect trails and weather. A good turnout for the 360racing team with some quality results

Racing the Spring Fling #6 in Lawrence, Ks at Clinton Lake State Park. March 5th :

Well, this was my third attempt in the spring fling series. I set a goal over a month ago to try and accumulate some upgrade points on the road so I can race as a cat 3. My last foray into the crit thing ended up in just missing points in 3 different sprints. In the mid race point prims, the top 4 finisher score points and the final race sprint, the top 8 score in the points.b 3 weeks ago found finishing 5th in the 2 mid-race sprints and 9th in the race ending sprint. Needless to say this was worse than the “kissing your sister’ analogy. Well, spring fling#6 didn’t start any better. A 3rd of the race in and the bell ringing for a points prim I locked onto my goal……a qualified wheelman for a good wheelout to take me to the line for some points. I predetermined my mark for this job the night before with a conversation on the phone with andy lucas. I neede to be on one of the ‘fast guys’ wheels when the bell rang and I needed to stick on him like glue. This guy happenend to be a Bicycle Shack team racer by the name of Craig eaton. He was in the top 5 in the overall and one of the top sprinters in the cat 4 race over the lat couple of races. It worked, It was a great wheelout, however I didn’t’ finish my sprint. I practically paused at 100 meters to the line thinking I wasn’t going to pass my mark. That cost me. I was a half a whell back of the 3rd place finisher and a tires width back of 4th place. The lesson learned? You’ve got to commit to the sprint and stay committed once you get out of the saddle to lite it up! Damn! Another 5ht place and a ‘peck’ on the cheek from my sister. 2nd points sprint started out the same way. I found my lead out wheel in the same Bicycle Shack racer and followed him to the backside of the course. This time I committed and it paid off. I nipped the same two at the line that got me in the first sprint and took 3rd and 2 points. Finally some reward for my work. The final race sprint seemed to start a little early. With two laps to go, series leader Jim Rank lit it up and attacked. Not a big deal, but everycouple of seconds that went by another racer would shoot up the road to join him. I kept telling myself to be patient, that it was too early but once I saw 6 guys up the road and the jerseys that were there…….well……I thought “this is the move’. So I proceeded to hop on the wheel of a guy who was looking to join that group up the road. With a concerted effort by the guy in front of me we rolled thru the start/finjish area with the bell ringing ‘one to go’. Me ‘wheel’ in front of me popped, he was cooked so it was my turn to do the rest and get to the front group of 6 or 7 riders. I was maybe 100 meters off when I began to realize I might be flailing in ‘no man’s land’ with a group behind me who could overtake me and a seemingly strong group of riders off the front. Frick! With my teammate ted on my wheel I urged him to get to that front group and off he went. Neither one of us made it and we both got swarmed by a group of 10 or so racers chasing hard. Ted in I were caught in the chicane turns on the backside of the course. Our 3rd teammate brian Williams was in this chase group that rolled by ted and i. I wasn’t sure if they had a shot at getting the front group, but they ended up catching them just before the finnish line with brian taking the sprint and finishing 2nd overall one the day in points. Congradulations to Brian. Like me, he has had a lot of ‘almosts’ and ‘just misses’. There is some reward for Brian and his hard work and training on the bike. My 2 points netted me a 10th place at the end of the day and zero upgrade points. Oh well………I see some light at the end of the tunnel. Still no ‘sprint’ specific training yet, but I seem to be getting better thanks to the Tuesday niters and some spring fling under my belt. With a different decision with 2 laps to go I am confident I would have mixed it up at the end. Oh well……..i thought I saw the move but I responded too late and compounded that mistake with another when I attempted to bridge too late. I’ll learn from itand get better!

go ride!