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I made it an entire week without dirt. I can’t say it was pretty but I actually did it.

Long time no post. Short version:

Previous post > dirt > adventure walking > cracked/sprained ankle > purple foot > races > really big purple foot > doctor > no dirt/races > dirt > three double cheese burgers with bacon and cheese, spinach salad, and a baked beet > current post.

Towards the end of last month I embarked on an adventure walk across a hard packed, flat, wide open yard. Then I rolled my ankle probably worse than ever before. In hindsight I probably should have spit out my gum. I convinced myself it was just a normal sprain and did a couple of races, icing it hours a day and watching the swelling neither increase nor decrease. I think I may have given myself Arnica Shock Syndrome. Since I was experiencing a lack of power at the races and extreme pain after them I made the mistake of showing it to the wife. Then she told my mom on me. I mean come on. Then they both pressured me into going to the doctor who just like any doctor pounced on the opportunity to take away a biker’s dirt with the usual nonsensical black and white photos and even a speech about how for it to heal it’d need rest and I’d need to wear a special space age piece of plastic with Velcro straps just like the astronauts use for socks in space (ok maybe I made that last part up). Luckily since I had waited to go in for a few weeks it was already pretty much healed and I just had to avoid hurting it for a week and then assess it.

Asses it I did. Finally got out today and rode until my legs just wouldn’t work anymore. My power seems better than ever, probably from so much rest. I’ll have to hammer on it again tomorrow to really find out but I think it’s good to go. I tried four times to do the Lunar 12 race loop but each attempt I took a wrong turn here or there and my laps ended up coming out longer then they were supposed to so I just gave up and went back to my usual method of riding around the woods aimlessly with a giant grin to suit. I’ll have to go back with a map and then I’ll make a decent recon post. The course is already well marked, but it’s easy to mix up the order if you don’t know the proper lacing order, especially since PHP somehow manages to flow well in any direction on any trail and at a few points it almost crosses itself. So any time you do deviate from said course the last thing you'd do is stop and backtrack lol. It’s going to be a pretty fun time for sure, especially with the quirky paintball target aspect and the 6pm to 6am race time. 

On a side note I can not believe how superbly this Band-aid preformed today. Right on the knee and it outlasted me. 

5 hours of mud, sweat, rain, and humidity 

Sunday

I was looking forward to racing in New Hampshire for the first time today but after spinning yesterday it was pretty clear that while my ankle's mostly healed I still can't power stroke or dab on that foot, and unclipping was not pleasant. Fine for some light spinning and flow though so I bummed around some local spots which are pretty   supurb anyways.

I tried to get some decent footage of Pine Hill Park by installing a custom phone handlebar mount kit but unfortunately I pointed it a hair too far down and off center. And it's a little blurry. I'll have to give it another go some time since the picture quality looks like it'd have turned out alright if i'd aimed it better and maybe used the landscape mount rather then the portrait configuration. It was pretty crisp before I hosted it on my GDrive. A little blurry now. No matter how you lace it up a PHP ride can always end with some flow back into town. 

Lippman Park 38

Saturday was the Lippman Park 38, a 13mi x 3 lap format starting in the evening and ending after dark. Weather was spot on and the mosquitos were out in force. I found out when I arrived and was chatting with some of the Renegade guys that the fairly new park was actually modeled after my local network, Pine Hill Park. Lippman's more technical and the dirt is nice and tight but PHP's got it beat as far as the vistas go. I hope that as Lippman gains users and popularity it can maintain it's rugged, technical single track feel that so many older networks have seen buffed out or dummed down. It was really clear after riding on their network how much time and effort those guys must put into it so i'm looking forward to seeing this race and the park evolve.

This is easily one of the more rugged/rough races i've done. The Renegades put it on, and they have some more cool stuff lined up this season. One event I don't want to miss is the Walnut Mountain Triple Challenge. It sounds pretty cool. On this course there was a little of everything, and lots of roots, silly amounts of rocks, plenty of sweet features, and ~1500ft ascent per lap. Basically take any techi section of your local network and make it stupid long, then throw some killer flow in between and that's the course.

Since Chelsea was pitting for me I got to relax and just ride. It's a good thing I had her there too because I managed to drop my bottle first lap in the quary section (dunno if it was a quarry, but it was cool). We snagged a spot next to the bonfire under a tree with a picinic table right on the side of both the halfway point and finish line of the course so it was prime for quick pits. Normally for a 38 miler i'd not need a pit, but this 38 miles took over four hours. The start was at 5pm and the final last half-lap cut off was some time after 11pm. A truly gnarly and challenging all-mountain course.

After a brief pre-ride of the course I ended up swapping my 17t for a 19t which turned out to be an excellent decision. There were quite a few climbs that were loose and technical, with steep grades weaving up and over damp and gooey rock and root gardens which would have become pretty tedious on the 17t.

We lined up at the start and were off-I find starts on the SS are pretty lame. I managed to snag the third hole shot though which was a big surprise but I must have been pulling a cadence into the hundreds to do so. Once into the woods myself and two other guys settled into a nice pace. Eventually one guy and I pulled away and then I settled into the lead position after he and I hammered off a gap for a bit more. I was feeling fresher then i've ever felt so far into a race, especially given the terrain so I started my final lap with confidence knowing as long as I just rode smart i'd be able to keep my gap and get a win.

Well...first climb of the last lap I popped my crank arm loose, aligning both cranks with each other, which sent the jewls to the steerer tube, which sent me tipping over up the hill wondering what the $*%& just happened. Ever try unclipping with two loose crank arms up a steep ass hill after straddling your steerer tube? I tried to fix it trail side and after I came to terms with the fact that it was not going to happen I started my walk of shame back to the start line. Lucky for me this really cool guy (so bad with names) marshalling the race heard about me on his walki and actually offered up his rigid 29er SS for me to finish on. Could not thank him enough. I hung out at the pit (stewing) for a few while he rode over his rig to me from his marshal station and then off I went but i'd lost about 15 minutes so the outlook was grim. Note to self...next time when borrowing a bike it'd be prudent to adjust the saddle height and brake levers. It made for a pretty brutal last lap and in the end I couldn't catch back up to the lead. Ended up snagging 3rd, and I think about half of the field DNF'd. A testament to the fun but brutal course. 

Cranks were fine...BB ended up being the culprit and all is fixed now luckily. Looking forward to some more racing on the Misfit this weekend.