5 days in 'The Big Apple'

Friday 13th March

Well after leaving Burbank Airport near Hollywood at 9pm on Thurs night I landed in NY at 5am. It’s fair to say this was stupidly early and I knew I had a big day ahead of me with just 2hrs of restless sleep on the Jet Blue plane. After getting through Terminal 5 I found myself on the Airtrain which took me to the Subway. It was bloody cold that morning and day. About -4 degrees C. This was dam cold to me after CA and the fact that it only got to 1 degree C that day meant I was cold for the whole day.

So I hoped off the train at 6.20am in lower Manhattan right by the World Trade Centre area. Since little was going on and cause I was cold and Hungary I ended up in Macca’s for the first of many coffees to keep me warm and awake for the day.

• Headed out to the northern tip of Battery Park City on the Hudson River and made my way south. This is a park like residential ‘suburb’ within the concrete jungle.
• Stayed warm in the new World Financial Centre. An impressive building.
• This was a pretty place, this walk alongside the River with the sun breaking out.
• Checked out the Castle Clinton Nat Monument and Battery Park itself.
• Hoped on the free Ferry to Staten Island to get a closer look of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Didn’t stay on Staten Island, it’s just the burbs anyway.
• Spent a little while in the impressive Smithsonian Building where they have exhibits of Indian Culture.
• Next couple of hours was spent around the Financial District, Wall Steet, Broad Street, Exchange Place Etc. All well kept areas, very tiny streets, huge security, lots of history and some very cool buildings such as the Trinity Church, New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall National Monument and The Vietnam Veterens Plaza. What struck me here is the one-sidedness. I kinda expected it but it’s all about their losses and fair enough but nothing said of the devastation on the Vietnamese. After seeing the museums in Saigon, well this whole site seemed very selfish/too patriotic and missing the point of war. There are always 2 sides, it well left little to be desired after seeing he images of small girls being burnt by Agent Orange. Soldiers choose (well unless enlisted by law) to be there. Small children playing in the streets before being acidified are the true losses/innocents.
• Checked out the South Sea Port commercial zone. A nice spot for food and some shopping right on the waterfront.
• Walked over Brooklyn Bridge. Great views, great bridge and a great thing to have done. There were good views of the adjacent Manhattan Bridge.
• Made a long walk to DUB Pies along the industrial water front of Brooklyn. Unfortunately though the pies were still meat pies it was a waste of time really. Small, not that tasty and way too expensive. Though it’s all relative. Some guy walked in and ordered two dozen for a party. At $5US a piece. Yep. You can get a better one at a Gas station back home for a buck.
• After walking miles and miles and miles and my feet being so sore I hoped on a Subway after walking through some pleasant Brooklyn Suburbs around Pudding Hill to both sit down and to check out Coney Island.
• Wow what a dump. It was all shutdown because it was cold and not summer so no rides were going and it was deserted. Numerous depressed Soviet Style Apartment blocks were there, shitty shops and dubious people. The beach itself was ok and got some cool views from a pier. After another coffee form Dunkin Donuts and pleased not to be ‘mugged’ I hoped back on the train for Manhattan. Got a call from Derek and we planned to meet up at his Buddies Place.

Derek was coming from JFK and I from Coney Island. As it turns out we both ended up on the same train to his mates place in Harlem. Anyhow Harlem really was different. Wow. It was cool to see and spend a while there. Matt whose place we stayed at was a good guy and we had a couple of good nights. Though there were many poor people around I felt pretty safe overall as there were always heaps of people round and the Subway Station was right by his place along with a great Deli. Deli’s are everywhere in NY where you can order much good heart food such as bacon egg rolls or crème cheese bagels.

That night we headed out to the Soho Area and had a drink at the Red Lion and some other lounge bar. Dinner was had a great Peruvian Restaurant called PioPio. Top top chicken there.




Saturday 14th March

After a late night and an experience of being on the Subway at 3 am (it’s still surprisingly busy) with a dude being handcuffed in the station for what looked like pickpocketing/burglary. I woke up late and had a Deli Breakfast before making my way down to the Times Square Area for the day. Times Square was cool to see and I would be back here but it was touristy as hell with crowding on the streets like I had not seen since Bangkok. It was all glitzy with heaps of theatres and shows, cheap touristy junk shops and restaurants galore.

I checked on MOMA for a few hours. (Museum of Modern Art). This sorta place often bores me eventually, though it was all good stuff. Its has been said to be the most influential museum of modern art in the world. Of course much of it is weird as hell and really some of this contempory art is well no art in my mind. Bits of chopped up cardboard box stuck together with masking tape is hardly a profound masterpiece if you ask me, but then they certainly don’t ask people like me. Geez some will find the meaning of life and the deepest inner workings of the artist’s mind from such a piece of junk. They did have lots of Picasso though and the odd Van Gogh along with Warhol, Boccioni, Bacon and Monet to name a few.

That evening we had some takeouts then went and hung at one bar in Hell’s Kitchen called ‘Rudy’s Bar and Grill’. I like this place. A real dive bar with cheap beer and free hotdogs. Yep. From $7 for a pint in Manhattan, well you can’t go too wrong. We spent hours here just chilling and drinking on the duck taped seat covers before heading back to Matt’s for some much needed shut-eye.




Sunday 15th March

Derek left for the airport at 11 and I also headed out about this time. Today I made my way across the Eastern side of the Manhattan Island to Central, Central Park where The Met. Or The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located. This museum has a collection of more than 2 million items and is one of the world’s largest galleries. Nuts aye. It opened in 1872 and the building itself is a masterpiece. The interior is very cool indeed. After spending 6hrs in there it shut on me and I had skimmed lots of it and missed a heap more. Though I confess it was enough for me. The Ancient Egypt collection was great and the biggest outside of Egypt. The Middle Ages collection was also cool with the full suits of armor and all the weaponry. The Greek and Roman art was also super awesome. The interior was all crafted with large roman pillars and what not, and the number of sculptures and statues was impressive as was the food prices in the Café which resembled more of a food court.

After being sick of being told off by security guards and they are everywhere for wearing my backpack inside the galleries I left and walked (yep a continuing theme of shin splints in this trip) through half of Central Park towards Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen where my hostel was. It was a little bleak as was the whole city really; however in summer Central Park must be great when the grass if actually green and the trees are not bare. There were many people out enjoying the park amongst the skyscrapers though which was good to see.

I caught the end of a busker show. Good God they are money hungry. I missed the first half but they collected money in huge bags before they actually concluded their show with a guy jumping over a couple of people. Not too impressive, and I mean they went around a number of times making sure that they missed no-one from their collection. Of course the Dutchman in me refused, especially since I was skeptical as all they had done was talk smack since I was there and then proceed to say how rude people are for not giving them money. I like to see what I am paying for first. They were basically begging. Pffft. Whatever, they did not deserve my money.

On the edge of the park I walked past the ice skating rink which was cool in amongst the park and buildings back towards concrete jungleness. The geologist in me spotted many great slabs of rock polished smooth when the glaciers reached this far south in the last ice age 10,000 odd years ago.

That night I checked out a movie after eating some great $1 pizza slices across the road from the dinky wee hostel I was staying in. The movie was called ‘The Reader’. It was ok but a little depressing in the end.




Monday 16th March

Well I was looking forward to this day. After spending almost an hour looking for something healthy to eat instead of cooked breakfasts (it’s no easy feat in this city) I settled in a great wee café called Lenny’s and compromised on a yogurt muffin, yummy coffee and a heap of fruit salad. I was then off to The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in the Upper West Side for 10am opening. From Wiki “…is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds, the museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library. The collections contain over 32 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, and sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year.”

This was my sorta place. Ha, none of this artsy fartsy stuff. None of these great religions buildings to gaze at. It’s a place dedicated to science. Let’s just say they had to kick me out 8hrs later at 6pm closing time. Hehe – I needed another day at least to do it justice though I got round lots of the spots that really interested me. Which was most of it? By far the best museum I have ever been in and a must for any visitor. Kate I thought of you a bit. You would have loved this place being a geologist. The mineral section was incredible and the volcanism and Planet Earth display also kicked arse.

• Wicked Exhibits of real Asian North American and African Mammals in awesome lifelike dioramas created in the 30s and 40s. Man they still look so good now. The dioramas themselves are famous and are rare these days.
• Great Marine Exhibits with a full size Blue Whale model.
• 34 tonne Cape York Meteorite
• Star of India. The largest Sapphire in the World.
• Asian, African, Pacific and many more peoples exhibits
• Dinosaurs. Oh Yeah  Including Rex, Triceratops and a Stegosaurus.
• Evolution of Man Exhibition. This was super well done.
• Hayden Planetarium. Awesome huge ball thing that you sit inside and watch the amazing projection of the universe above you. You feel like you are there and its super informative looking at all things big and small in the Universe.
• IMAX Theatre. I went to ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ and the awesome ‘Wild Ocean’ film set off the coast of South Africa.
• Another highlight was the Climate Change Exhibition which was super informative and well presented. I had a good chat with a researcher who helped create it. I think he was happy to have someone with some knowledge in the subject to talk too. Beats trying to control the millions of kids crawling over the museum on field trips. I mean heaps and heaps of kinds. Dam.

That evening I walked around Time Square to people watch (including the infamous naked cowboy) at night after heading up to the Top of the Rock. A lookout on top of the Rockefeller Centre 70 stories up. No lines like the Empire State Building and you get views of the Empire State Building instead. The views were obscured somewhat by hazy/smog but still good. It’s in the evenings that you really miss not travelling with people and being such a small hostel there was no one to hang out with there so I went to another movie. So many good places to eat but I was not going to waste money doing that by myself. Called ‘Race to Witch Mountain it was on at one of AMC’s 25 screens. It was actually pretty good fun.




Tuesday 17th March

Well this was my final day in NY. Started off with Lenny’s then checked out the USS Intrepid Museum. It was a good exhibit with a bunch or warplanes and the aircraft carrier to wonder round on. Similar to the one in San Diego. They also had a Concorde on display and a Growler Sub, the real motivation for me to pay the admission. Of course once in there I found out they had closed it down just recently to do some renovations on it. Typical!

Next up was a big walk south along the Hudson River to the West Village and Soho shopping and residential districts. Also Chinatown. Well there were some pretty neighborhoods round here. Stupid expensive though but nice with tree lined streets. Also some funky bars/cafes and shops. Soho was very much tourist mecca again full of shopping and ‘recession sales’ – yep the American’s will sell anything. Even a recession. Come waste all the money you don’t have in my shop so you can go broke and not me ;-)

Chinatown was cool but like much of NY was dirty. It was overrun and crowded and after being in Asia the overcrowding was the only authentic characterization of Asia. Oh and the cheap rip-offs and Asians on the street trying to sell you all sorts if useless s*#t.

After sneaking into BK to find one of the rarest things in NY, yep public toilets I headed down into the subway system only to get on the wrong train to make my way to JFK for my 6pm flight. After figuring out what the hell I was doing and getting lost in the labyrinth of the underground city I managed to get out to the Airtrain connection through to JFK. It was then onto a 5.5hr flight back to CA before my 1hr drive home from Burbank. At least the traffic was flowing well apart from around two accidents on the 210 that had strewn carparts across the freeway.




Thoughts:

Was great to see NY. A place that has always fascinated me. I had a great time overall however here are a few thoughts.
• Dirty has hell overall. There were some good spots. West Village, Wall Street Area, Battery Park but overall the place was much more dirty than I imagined. Rubbish, beat up paths Etc
• Cold and bleak at this time of year. Would be depressing when snow is there too cause it just gets filthy dirty
• After living in LA, well I was blown away by the smog here too. A haze that was always about.
• Subways run super well overall and are well made use of. Especially when one is packed in there like sardines at rush hour.
• Security is nuts. Major Paranoia. It’s everywhere. From Shops to banks to and landmark to museums. I guess who can blame them though aye. I think I will get cancer form all the x-ray machines prematurely now.
• Didn’t heap that the trees had no leaves but it’s a major concrete jungle. You don’t appreciate just how much this means to you until you are there. I like open spaces too much.
• Parking is insane as is the driving. It’s not uncommon to pay $40+ for a days of parking.
• Everywhere things were being constructed/repairs from office space to subways to museum facades.
• Very difficult to eat healthy and cheap. Cheap is possible but its all crap food.
• Overall people were like you hear kind of grumpy. Everyone is storming around on their own personal missions.
• You j-walk everywhere
• I could not live here. Maybe and I mean maybe for a while but that’s it. Not enough greenery, no good MTBiking with in biking distance. Still it’s a great place to visit. 5 days is a perfect length of time.

For all you Facebook 'Enthusiasts'

Mission Impossible Facebook - watch more funny videos

Cool Vid from my First XC Race this year

I have a starring role for about 3 seconds right on 5 mins into the vid as we are zooming down some singletrack.


2009 US Cup - Bonelli from ChannelMTB on Vimeo.

Good wee story on the VQ

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mountain-down-bike-2329777-very-trail

And a little interview with Manny. The winner.

VQ - Ticked Off

Well after all the anticipation and it being in my mind since the 1st of November when I signed up for the Warriors Society Vision Quest (or VQ) and was one of the 175 hardout idiots who got a spot before it sold out in 4hrs, well it’s over.

The race was yesterday, the same day as the classic NZ Mountain Bike race called the Karapoti. I have still yet to crack 3hrs due to unlucky incidents such as 2 punctures in the last 5km last time I raced the Karapoti. Next time I want to get into the 2hr 40s however especially after feeling good about my race yesterday. Damien hold me to this aye. I want to crack 2hr 50 mins.

Being on the same date was the only similarity however between the Karapoti and the VQ. This is I have to say the best race I have ever done and one of my best sporting achievements. Not only did I finish the 92 odd kms and over 3500m of climbing I did ok. I got I believe 28th out of the 175 and was real happy with that. Not to mention I of course had a dam puncture which cost me about 12 mins. Before I say anymore, yeah this was something insane to do (a real fitness challenge) but for all those who may think it was just a fitness race this had some of the best single-track I have ever ridden anywhere. I mean wicked downhill single-track. As in I cannot think of a track that is all single track and descends over 1000m in one shot as the Upper and Lower Holy Jim trails do. It was intense and amazing fun and made the massive climbs well worthwhile.



If you read my blog about the shortened XC race I did last weekend you would know I was quite worried about my body and in particular this race. Well I learnt my lessons. I prepped food wise much better and after seeing the results I will never be complacent over the nutrition side again. I watched what I ate over the week and had protein to build back my damaged muscles after the debilitating cramps. The day before I had lots of carbs and some electrolytes and the morning of I got down more electrolytes and porridge, peanut butter sandwiches. The key for me was during the race. I had my camelback and two bottles which in the end was a little over kill because there were two aid stations. However better safe than sorry. I forced myself to drink and drink and then take some squeezes and a peanut slab (oh that was like heaven (I’m pleased I saved that from my trip to NZ). With some oranges at the aid stations that’s all I ate. The only time I felt I may have cramped was actually after the 2nd climb and going down Holy Jim trail. I slammed another squeezy, drank more and I never cramped. Man I never even cramped after the race. It was awesome and this was 7hrs of effort (though paced) vs. less than 2hrs of harder effort form the weekend before. Real stocked.

As for the race well I stayed with Al and Katrina in their RV near the start of the track. We were still up at 4am however to be ready on the start line for the 5.30am start. It was freezing too. About 4 degrees c at the start. 350 riders all up. 175 doing the VQ and another 175 doing the shorter version of it which cuts out the last climb and decent but is still a huge race itself. So we all took off into near darkness. After 20 mins there was enough light however that we did not need any lighting. So I put my little head torch in my back pocket. Well the first climb went on and on. Was incredible looking back down the valley at the snake of lights coming up from below. I paced myself and settled in alongside an arrogant bugger on an S-Works Stumpy. Every time I went to pass him he wouldn't let me and would speed up. Was fine with me because I was controlling the speed. I tried to say gidday and he just glared at me. So after maybe 1.5hrs of climbing (1200m) and some steep pinches we got into the first single-track.


Lovin the Down after fixing my Flat

I was buzzing at this point. I felt I had paced myself perfectly and then two minutes into the single track decent and it was rocky I pinch flatted the front tire. I was fuming and was not too worried it caused me a high speed crash into a lovely bristly yet impact softening bush. I was running 40psi in it as it was, dam do I need to buy some tubeless wheels). So the Stump guy passed me along with many more in that 12 odd mins I lost. Anyway back on the bike and I tore it up. I was angry and loved every minute of it. I passed heaps of people and a guy in a coilair passed me but I stuck on his wheel. Was a rough ride on the HT but awesome. I tell ya the brakes were smoking after this effort.

Anyway I hit up the first aid station and refilled my empty bottles and had some orange and a squeezes then it was into the unknown once more. There was a couple of miles of pavement then back into dirt. This climb had no steep pinches. I think I middle chain-ringed the whole thing however it was maybe a 2hr effort of just climbing. Maybe more. I need a GPS. In one sustained effort it was 1100m of UP. Anyway because I lost time I ended up passing many people. That 12mins really meant I lost my rightful spot in the hierarchy of competitors that had all settled into their individual comfort zones on the first big climb (this occupied my mind for ages thinking about this during the race). I had many a good conversations with people. Some were arrogant (maybe cause you caught up too them and were to pass them) but some were great. Jens, a German who lives in San Diego was great. He was riding a Seven Sola (almost like my bike) and upped the ante and went my speed up the climb. We chatted for ages. It was very cool. Was funny talking about world politics, crazy Germans, lazy Americans, tubeless wheels and the benefits of titanium all during a race. Oh. And I also passed Mr I’m too good for you Stumpy. Anyhow after this effort and the incredible views from the top we descended down a little fire road (with snow on it in patches) before we entered the Upper Holy Jim Trail.



OMG. I rode all but a few bits and had it not been a race I would have tried them. No time to scope it out. It was good having the Talas on the front. I popped it up to 120mm travel and let it rock. Jens was a great decender too and the two Sevens were passing many people. This track for you NZ fellows, well imagine a dryer version of Deliverance in Welly. With bits like Ridgeline and Aratihi with switchbacks like on the Scout Hall track as well as many parts like the Captain Thomas Trail in Chch. Now put all those tracks together with no uphill at all and you have an idea how good Upper then Lower Holy Jim was. I have no idea how long it took other than my hands and fingers were in the death grip for ages and the ever reliable Juicy Sevens held up as those particular ones always have. The decent was amazing. I don’t know what else to say. I wish I had a video off it. It was epic.

So after this massive decent I must have had the biggest grin. The only issue were hikers walking up the trail. They meant I had a few moments of "Holy Cow", I nearly slammed that little girl off the cliff cause she decided it was better for me to try and ride over rocks and an embankment that was near vertical instead of herself stepping to the side when I was doing 25ks and my bar would have chopped her in half. Mountain Biking really has to be one of the sports that require some of the best reactions and split second decisions. Especially when riding/racing and track for the first time. Marke this might well be a trail to hit up when you are here in June. We will have a massive climb to contend with in Mid-Summer however.

At the bottom of this decent the Counting Coup racers (shorter version) headed out down a 4wd road to the finish and we headed back up to do another 900 odd meters of climbing. This time it was different. The climb was all single-track and much of it steep and loose. It was a hike a bike and we were off our bikes for maybe 400 vertical meters of that climb. Again I don’t know the numbers but I was pushing/carrying for maybe 30mins. It started off up this valley and was technical and rocky. Pretty fun I gotta say actually though painful. I passed a few people here, it was great. All up in this last climb/decent I think I made up a good 6 or more places. By this stage it was also real hot so I was pleased I took off my merino base layer before I started up this climb. Anyway after the climb it was some up and down fire-road. Man at the top they had a BBQ going and were offering burgers. Oh man that was so tempting. I almost stopped but forced myself to push it onwards. I kind of regret it but I wanted it all just to be over. After more climbing on the fire roads than I thought we entered back into the bush. Much of the following decent was sort of shaley loose rocks with a little dirt compacting them and then leaf litter over the top of them. It made for fast, fast but sketchy descending. The corners if you hit them and weighted the outside bar seemed to stick and again I caught a few people. I really enjoyed this decent also, nearly as much as Holy Cow, I mean ‘Jim’ trail. I was real easy on the bike and tried to un-weight the wheels as much as possible after 6.5hrs of racing a puncture here would have brought me to my knees literally.



So after reaching the aid station where I ripped right through it there were 5 miles of slightly downhill rough as 4wd track to deal too before the finish. This was all a blur suffice to say that the idiots in their SUVs who thought they were doing 'real' 4wd driving were a right pain in the butt. The dust they threw up was horrible. Anyway I was in the big ring and more than any other part of the race my back got super sore. It was rough and fast and because it was pretty flat you were sitting down lots. It was the first time I thought a Full Sus would have been the ticket. Anyhow I crossed the line in a bit under 7hrs (official results are not out yet, and in about 28th place). I was pretty happy with this especially cause I still felt pretty good and I did not cramp at all. Just to put this into perspective however the winner was a top Pro and did it in 5hrs 14mins. How sick is that aye. It ridiculous. Al managed about 9th in a little over 6hrs and he was happy with that as you should be. The other Don's member, Lisa was sure she got 2nd woman home in about 8.5hrs. A huge effort considering few women would race it let alone complete it.

So after all this when I thought the off-roading was over for the day we as it turned out and it was ironic we had to take the Camry up that 4wd track to pick up some of Al's gear which he had dropped off at the Aid Station including his Truck keys. Suffice to say we proved to the SUV owners that an old Camry can make it up the track, all be it with a few tender moments of scrapping rocks on the underside and a little scoping and line picking required. I think it made it out alive, no holes in the muffler I don’t think. So yeah what a day all up. I got home after a fast drive on the 91 freeway and continued to eat all manner of things. I slept for over 11hrs last night. Actual sleep. I cannot remember the last time I slept for that long. It was heaven.
Next adventure. 5 days in New York next weekend to explore the Big Apple.

Over and out,
Kurt

P.S - Sorry. It was a lecture but some people like the stories and those that don't. Well don't read the dam thing. I'm not forcing you too ;-)

Good explanation of the doom the world is facing...

US Cup Race 1 - Bonelli Park

Yesterday on the 1st March I had the first of my races for the year. It was an XC race in San Dimas, being part of the US Cup West Division, as well as one of the races in the Southern California State Series. Total distance was roughly 24 miles and total climbing about 3400ft (38km, 1050m). My time was 1hr 52 mins.

I was pretty disappointed with how it went in the end. It was a bit of a disaster really. I got 12th out of about 20 in the Cat 1 (25-29 age) Class. This is the old expert class and is one under the Pro's. It’s a huge step up from the lower classes I won last year. A huge step up. There are some very fast fit people I'm up against.

The course was relentless. No super steep pitches but it didn't let up. You were pedal to the metal the whole time really especially with the hot competition. Speaking of hot the backside of the main climb was in the open, the heat beating up off the fire roads. It was at least 32/33 degrees c. I think I brought a new meaning to the word 'sweat'.

First Lap - Started out with a bang. Everyone is super eager and I struggled to hang with the top guys. The large long fire road climb was first up and it was 'HOT'. Anyway I was running 45 PSI in my tires and was skittering around all over the show. I keep pinch flatting and pinch flatted out there on the Pre-Ride the day before with 40 PSI so I was playing it safe. The first techy, fast rock downhill highlighted to me I had to be on it. I had little grip for braking on the loose dirt and had to hang it out a little on some of the corners. Into the first rocky single track and I was starting to have some fun. I passed a few people and they must have thought I was nuts. With no grip I must have looked like a ball in a pinball machine banging off rocks on the way down the rocky trail. Still it was fun till my bottle flew out of the cage. For a split second I thought stuff it, then decided to stop. Threw the bike on the side of the hill and ran back up to get it. About 10 people passed me in that time (not just my class though). This same issue happened once more 10 mins later and I was fuming. I bent my metal cages big-time to hold the bottle tighter and it was fine from there on.

So I continued to attack the climbs then on the last downhill of the lap I was screaming, though I braked way to late and ended up going straight off the track (instead of making the left turn) somehow not going over the bars and coming to rest on a huge scrubby bush still clipped in. It must have been a sight. I was ecstatic. It was a real buzz.

Lap 2 - Was uneventful. It hurt and my legs were dying. I passed a few people in my class and think that at one stage I was in 5/6th place. The heat killed me though and I noticed that I was not drinking enough.

Lap 3 - Start of the main climb I got a new bottle handed to me but the damage was done. I started to cramp. It was so bad. I had to stop halfway up (for at least 5mins) for a stretching session in the best shade I could find. So many people passed me. It was horrible. I knocked down a shot and finished all my drink and continued the climb. Geez for the next 10 mins I was crawling up the hill with my right quad and left hammy wanting to cramp AGIAN. Finally the single-track came and I am sure a glimour of a smile reappeared on my face for a little while. 10 mins later I think the substances kicked in. My legs were tight and sore but they would not cramp and I could use the remaining grunt left in them. I started to pass people again and hung with a pro for about 2 mins (though he was on his 4th lap). I was feeling good, the best I had for the whole race. So yeah, I finished in 12th, I was disappointed and pleased cause at one-point I was on the verge of pulling out.

Many lessons have been learnt. I got carried away the day before and built my new bike. This was the first ride I had on it. Luckily there were no issues though I would have known about the bottle cages had I ridden it before hand. At this level to be competitive I need to take the nutrition a bit more seriously before and during the race I need to force the right stuff into me. I need to make myself drink the right stuff and need to make myself use gels. If I came back from such bad cramps I am sure that if I do stuff right from the start I will not end up in that position. The day before food is also important and drinking beers/margaritas at a party, even only a few of them is not ideal, not to mention the random food I ate that night.

I also need to think a bit more about the training. I need to do recovery rides and simply plan my training a little better. Geez it’s all so much work eh.

One thing I have noticed was even with these real long road rides I have been doing, well they might give me a base but a 2hr long MTB race is a different story. The concentration needed and the shear intensity is at another level. Road racing is very different being in packs and drafting etc. All the Mtb races are painful in comparison. You are working all the time. So yeah along with the long road rides and road races I need to look at simulating the MTB races much more closely with some more intense 2hr sessions on the dirt. I can’t wait till day light savings comes.

Anyway hopefully I can sort some of this stuff out and be more competitive at the next race at the end of March in Fontana. This one might be even bigger than the 700 riders at this race. It has UCI points up for grabs though that means nothing to me. That’s best left to the likes of Sid Taberlay. The Aussie Champ racing for Shoair in the States who won yesterday. Just for comparison he was roughly 25% faster than me doing 4 laps in the time I did 3. Sick. Hopefully they will not lap me next time :-)

Oak Glen Training Ride

A couple of weekends ago Derek and I headed out for a road ride. The goals were to cover a couple of climbs we had never done before which were to be in one of the races later this year. One of the trails is the infamous Jack Rabbit Trail. As it turns out a MTB would have been a better choice. It is an unused road (ascends for 300m maybe). The pavement is all cracked in many places missing altogether. There are pot-holes and gravel to deal with and some dirt. Sure was a different experience doing this on little tires and lightweight road bikes. We made it fine but will not do it again until we need to in the race. I punish the bike enough mashing away at the pedals on normal climbs.

Next up was the backside of the Oak Glen climb. It is much steeper and more sustained than the other way. It was a hard climb and I ended up taking it slow towards the end not feeling too well. Not sure if it was a new energy drink I was trying or the carrot Cliff Bar. Maybe I just pushed it too much. Anyway there was snow all round the pass up there and was kinda cool to be around. The downhill was wicked. Some big fast sweeping bends. So much fun. We were to go further but both of us cramped up real bad so we headed home, stopping for Mexican on the way at Chipoltle.