School me on mountain biking (please!)

[Erik Timmerman]

My advice to you is on race day, get the best holeshot you can. It can be pretty hard to pass in an mtb race. Get as close to the front as you can right away. You inability to descend fast and ride tech might not matter much because people can't really pass you on singletrack. Do your best there, then crush the climbs. One of the most fun things in a mass start race is dicing with the other riders. I guess you already know that from cross. Don't take it too far, and be sure to make it easier for people from harder classes that are lapping you. You'll probably have a pretty good idea of who they are when they arrive. Trust me on this, I've been lapped tons!

 

[Josh Matta]

So howd the race go?

 

[Josh Matta]

Congrats on the Win! that is if your name is James Clarke.

 

[zircon]

L O L. I do think there should be prizes for slowest riders too. For the update that nobody was waiting for... tl;dr: that was terrible, didn't die, wasn't last (bike racing buddy was).

Bike racing buddy and I started near the back of our very small field, because we expected to suck. Spoiler: we did suck. I did use the clipless pedals and it made everything 100% easier and better. Buddy expected I was going to outclimb him, so sent me ahead. We had plans to ride together, but I didn't realize I'd dropped him until I was about three switchbacks ahead and he started walking and I was an asshole and kept going. For those that didn't know, this race opens with a 1.4 mile 320 foot climb up the side of a ski hill. If I didn't keep going I was going to lose all momentum and I figured he'd catch up on the descent since he's been mountain biking way longer than me. It was a fun climb. Stopped once at the top to help one of the super fast kids get her chain back onto her big cog. Then the descending started and I remembered that "novice" means "novice racer" not "novice mountain biker" The descents were much narrower and more technical than anything I had a chance to practice on... so I went full cross racer and got off and ran because I'm a wimp and afraid of trees. This approach wasn't any slower than the novice woman I was riding with by that time. Summer is the worst of all seasons and it was 85+ and humid and I'm a delicate snowflake. That is to say, I wilted partway up the second (smaller) climb and ended up hiking the last bit of loose gravel fire road. By this time the sport division riders were lapping me, so it was super fun getting into a rhythm and then having to pull off the trail. But then the last bit was descending on a wide smooth trail and grass! And I got to go stupidly fast around corners because there was nothing solid to crash into.

Overall, coming from a distance running background, I probably could have run this race faster than I biked it. Actually, a couple years ago I did a trail run twice as far with more than double the elevation at altitude almost 50% faster. But hey, this was day 5 on a mountain bike ever, so I'm calling it a success to not DNF. Redeeming feature: bike racing buddy came in about 40 minutes after me. Sounded like he hiked most of the way and was getting early stages of some kind of heat illness at the end I feel bad for dropping him.

 

[Tony S]

I feel bad for dropping him.

Well, it was a race.

 

[Tony S]

One of my occasional riding acquaintances, Tira Denny, shared this video of the event. Nicely edited. BTW, she came in 4th in the Elite Women class, at 1:54 for three laps. She is super nice. You would never guess she can ride almost anyone into the dirt in minutes when she wants to.

 

[zircon]

Oh hey, I'm in the pink shirt/hi viz yellow helmet bottom left corner in the first few seconds. All my cycling jerseys are black, so I went with a running shirt and it was the worst of both worlds. Flappy and no pockets.

We stuck around to watch the first lap of the elite women, because racing buddy was friends with two of them (Emily and Rhys). Those ladies are scarily fast. They climb faster than the two of us sprint Congrats to your friend!

 

[AmyPJ]

That course looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Superbman]

One of my occasional riding acquaintances, Tira Denny, shared this video of the event. Nicely edited. BTW, she came in 4th in the Elite Women class, at 1:54 for three laps. She is super nice. You would never guess she can ride almost anyone into the dirt in minutes when she wants to.

The STABVT trails are some of the best and most easily accessed riding in the East. I'm on my way to ride them right now! I love that the gnar weasels race on actual mountain biking terrain... great event.

 

[Crank]

One of my occasional riding acquaintances, Tira Denny, shared this video of the event. Nicely edited. BTW, she came in 4th in the Elite Women class, at 1:54 for three laps. She is super nice. You would never guess she can ride almost anyone into the dirt in minutes when she wants to.

BTW, This is the slowest race cap video ever. Almost every shot is slowed. lol.

I rode those trails a few years ago and have been wanting to get back there.

 

[Josh Matta]

Honestly I dont know what the appeal of STAB is.

The trails have no flow to them.......I think Northern Vermont spoils me. At stab I swear they love short downhill sections to short uphill section with handle bar catching tree right at every apex...again its not hard its just annoying trail design.

 

[Superbman]

Honestly I dont know what the appeal of STAB is.

The trails have no flow to them.......I think Northern Vermont spoils me. At stab I swear they love short downhill sections to short uphill section with handle bar catching tree right at every apex...again its not hard its just annoying trail design.

Ha! I got your message- lot's of flavor of ice cream out there, depending on the day, I'd eat most of them with a smile. I like the Northern, VT stuff as well. But, Call me crazy, I'd take Perry over Cady, Millstone/ Fellowship over KTA (and the now possibly defunct Victory Hill over both of them--which is the saddest mountain bike story of 2019!). I guess I have a slight partiality towards edgy., but I also get my fill of New School flow (after all, I get a ton of Bike park days, and just had a great trip up to the Green Woodlands trails in NH which is wonderful, but its as modern as a an online university in flow trail design.

Though, I do get what your saying, Josh.... I just love that our region has so many options in relatively short distances that just about every riding taste can be indulged. And we probably both can agree to a similar disdain for 'guide stones'

 

[Josh Matta]

I dont even like new school flow that much either.....I usually ride stuff that isnt managed by any club...

 

[Tony S]

Josh, if you lived in Fargo you'd be telling us all how much better the skiing and riding is there than anywhere else on the planet.

 

[Josh Matta]

I actually prefer Utah and even PA than where I currently ride.

so that isnt true.

 

[Josh Matta]

Although I hear Fargo has good XC style MTBing...

 

[zircon]

I'm hanging onto my friend's bike for another couple of weeks, then I'll probably ship it to her since she's moved across the country. Took another ride near my house last night, this time did the full length of the Western Greenway trail and back. Only about 12 miles roundtrip, but lots of fun. Still had to hike a few sketchy descents and rock walls, but I think did it more confidently than last time. Putting real pedals on there instead of the free plastic ones makes it so much easier to know what the back of the bike is doing. I might send it back with a quality set of flats to show appreciation for the loan... Goal before returning the bike: ride this trail faster than I could run it.

Potato quality photo at the end of the trail to prove I was there.