Another sweet Rambler went down yesterday. Jim and EJ (my chofers) and I met up at my place and we took the Crankskinsmobile down for some rainy day fun. It was warmer then last year, but man were the conditions epic! Wind, rain, and plenty of mud to go around. For some strange reason I actually really enjoy racing in mucky conditions. I don't know why, but it just puts a grin on my face. The Prattsburgh muck is unique-it wreaks like a fish market, but it's really moist and viscous compared to some other courses. Just tons of fun and not too hard on the drive train. It must have something to do with all the cow pastures...
I pulled 2nd mtb overall, a step down from last year. Not too happy about that, but I had tons of fun so i'll take it with a grain of salt. At last years race I was too busy trying not to die so I really got to enjoy it this year and that made it even more fun.
I've gotta stop with the stupid mistakes though. If I had half as much stupid then i'd do five times as well. I also should have run some less knobby tires, but the mud tires were all I had. My biggest mistake was going way too soft for the first 15 miles. I kept it under zone 3 after the initial climb with plans to go all out towards the end, and looking back on it I should have just ripped the entire thing. All this zone riding and pacing crap has officially gotten on my nerves. No more of that! It's certainly done wonders for me as far as training goes, but I enjoy ripping it too much to sit there patiently and watch my zones, worrying the whole race about exceeding thresholds, ect. Time to start just riding in the moment when it comes to racing.
The knee wasn't happy, but it did it's job and didn't complain at all. I lost so much time when I hung a right down a hill rather then a left up a hill. No sign or anything. I came to a complete stop at an intersection looking for a marker but it must have blown down. After that I just couldn't regain sight of the lead pack no matter how hard I cranked. They made some wicked time despite the brutal headwinds. A farmer (Okay maybe it was just a guy near a farm...lol...can't verify he was a real live farmer) gave me this dumbfounded look as if to say "do you realize you're covered in mud and going the wrong way?" and pointed towards the opposite direction, so I pulled a u-turn and was back on my way.
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| Photo-Noelle Warrick-Jeremenko |
I missed another turn early on when I was leading overall that a bunch of other riders missed as well. I'm actually glad I missed that one because after I hopped back onto the course I met up with a sick rider from GBC, Matt, who knew the course like the back of his hand. It was my pleasure to rip some of the crazy descents with him and it was fun to have someone to talk to rather then hang out in no mans land like I usually do.
As for the rest of the team...Katina took first overall woman with a super fast pace while Jeff rode a Fatback, got a flat, and still finished strong. That Fatback must have been awesome in the super muddy sections. Only Jeff could actually crush a course like that on such a rig.
Jim and EJ managed to hold hands the entire race, and this picture of them at the finish line confirms it.
All in all it was another sweet race. You know you did a Rambler when you've got more mud under your shorts then on the outside! Even in those conditions the country vistas are breathtaking. I can't wait to give it another go next year with all I learned this time around.
Up next for me is tomorrow night's Farmall Hill race #2 of 3. The weather has been horrible here the past couple of days and the outlook's not too great tomorrow either so i'm looking forward to a rainy, mucky, brutal Farmall. That course is so much fun when it gets wet. The hills are steep and their entrances usually inhibit the preservation of momentum on a dry day, so throw in tons of riders and tons of water and you get mucky, near impossible, churn and burn climbs that are second to none. To quote Scotty Hetsko, it could be "raindiculous!"
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