Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friends of San Felasco Rocks!!
Big Worm, You Rule the Trails!! Better yet all the Tally Gang Rules the Trails!!
Last weekend was my annual trip to Gainsville to do the Friends of San Felasco ride. This is a 50 mile ride with food and friends. Each year my brother-in-law and I meet our northern friends for a weekend of riding and harassment. This year was no exception, comedy was at an all time high, and of course mocking was in par.
Anyway the ride was a blast and I am looking forward to next year. I would highly recommend this event to everyone, keep in mind that when registration opens it only takes about 6 days to fill up all 400 spots. Check out www.sanfelasco.net
Last weekend was my annual trip to Gainsville to do the Friends of San Felasco ride. This is a 50 mile ride with food and friends. Each year my brother-in-law and I meet our northern friends for a weekend of riding and harassment. This year was no exception, comedy was at an all time high, and of course mocking was in par.
Anyway the ride was a blast and I am looking forward to next year. I would highly recommend this event to everyone, keep in mind that when registration opens it only takes about 6 days to fill up all 400 spots. Check out www.sanfelasco.net
Saturday, January 5, 2008
12 Hours of Oleta
Its now 5:20 am Saturday morning before the race and I am having my last meal finally. My nerves are starting to act up, I should be fine by lunch time. I was so looking forward to racing the great Tinker Jaurez but he had a family issue and could not make it into town. My objective today is about 120 - 140 miles, 12 - 14 laps. As I'm writing this the rain is coming down at my condo, Wow this is going to be an interesting day. Going to prepare more. I will update Sunday night with the full race play by play.
Play by Play??? Better late than never. So as I said above I was eating and watching the rain come down, I thought I was prepared for anything. I got to the park and set up camp in the rain, it will stop soon, right? No, it rained and rained and rained, this was going to be a tough day, but everyone races the same conditions so it won't be so bad.
The start was not bad, except I collided with a runner at the end of the transition area and was pushed off the bike, I remounted and went into the woods in about 20th place overall.
The first lap was little slower than my normal endurance pace but conditions warranted it. The start of the second lap I was half way through and started to cramp in my right thigh! Oh Shit! This should not be happening now especially at this pace. I spent the next 9 hours trying to get my body straight and it never came around. I was eating, drinking, taking electrolytes, and resting at the feed zone, but nothing was working.
I was in second most of the day until I dropped out of the race. I finished in 5th which is still not bad, but for me I always want to do better. If I pointed out what I was walking up you would think I never rode a bike in my life, but I was afraid of cramping and falling over. I crashed 3 times on my last lap and decided I love the sport but not this much to get hurt.
My hats off to Kevin Hoffman, I believe even if I was on form that day he would have truly given me a run for my money. He was flying, check out Gone Riding and look at his lap times!! Awesome job Kevin!
Well that was my last 12 hour solo event for a long, long, long time. I will be doing 6 hour solo, 12 hour team competitions, and of course regular cross country.
See most of you this weekend at the C.C. Race, where I hope to redeem myself.
Bob Mc.
A to Z C? Out
Play by Play??? Better late than never. So as I said above I was eating and watching the rain come down, I thought I was prepared for anything. I got to the park and set up camp in the rain, it will stop soon, right? No, it rained and rained and rained, this was going to be a tough day, but everyone races the same conditions so it won't be so bad.
The start was not bad, except I collided with a runner at the end of the transition area and was pushed off the bike, I remounted and went into the woods in about 20th place overall.
The first lap was little slower than my normal endurance pace but conditions warranted it. The start of the second lap I was half way through and started to cramp in my right thigh! Oh Shit! This should not be happening now especially at this pace. I spent the next 9 hours trying to get my body straight and it never came around. I was eating, drinking, taking electrolytes, and resting at the feed zone, but nothing was working.
I was in second most of the day until I dropped out of the race. I finished in 5th which is still not bad, but for me I always want to do better. If I pointed out what I was walking up you would think I never rode a bike in my life, but I was afraid of cramping and falling over. I crashed 3 times on my last lap and decided I love the sport but not this much to get hurt.
My hats off to Kevin Hoffman, I believe even if I was on form that day he would have truly given me a run for my money. He was flying, check out Gone Riding and look at his lap times!! Awesome job Kevin!
Well that was my last 12 hour solo event for a long, long, long time. I will be doing 6 hour solo, 12 hour team competitions, and of course regular cross country.
See most of you this weekend at the C.C. Race, where I hope to redeem myself.
Bob Mc.
A to Z C? Out
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Belleview, Santos Round #8 Final State Round
For the final Round of 2008 Florida State Championship Series I was going into the race 2 points behind Victor and Ryan was 3 points ahead of Victor. This means I needed to finish in front of Victor and get someone in between us to move up to second overall. To finish in first I needed Ryan to have a mechanical (not likely). So here's how it played out...
The start was a nightmare, all the talk during my clinics about paying attention to Dave just slipped my mind. I missed the whistle and was still sitting on my top tube waiting for the start. I looked up and everyone was heading for the woods. I went into the woods in 8th. Because the course was so tight and technical I did not move into 3rd until the 3rd lap. At this point I was in pursuit of the leaders, unfortunately I could not catch them and I finished 3rd.
After the results were posted I realized that I lost the race because of my 1st lap time. Since I was so far back in the pack, and Ryan and Victor were leading, my first lap was over a minute slower than theirs, but, all my other laps were just as fast and even faster. O well thats racing!!!
That night at the awards banquet I received 3rd overall in the pro class. 1st overall in the team competition, and much to my surprise I was given the Espo award. This is a Sportsmanship award named after the late Jeff Espesito. The award means more to me than any finish or overall in my career. I work very hard to be an ambassador to the sport and this shows that my efforts are not over looked.
Well this is my 5th season competing in the Florida State Championship Series, my overall are as follows:
1996 2nd Pro Class
1997 1st Pro Class (Spring)
1997 1st Pro Class (Fall)
2005 2nd Pro Class
2006 3rd Pro Class
2007 3rd Pro Class
I can only hope to continue this top 3 trend for years to come. I feel better than I ever have, so to stop racing the Pro class is no where in my future.
Pictures will soon be posted.
The start was a nightmare, all the talk during my clinics about paying attention to Dave just slipped my mind. I missed the whistle and was still sitting on my top tube waiting for the start. I looked up and everyone was heading for the woods. I went into the woods in 8th. Because the course was so tight and technical I did not move into 3rd until the 3rd lap. At this point I was in pursuit of the leaders, unfortunately I could not catch them and I finished 3rd.
After the results were posted I realized that I lost the race because of my 1st lap time. Since I was so far back in the pack, and Ryan and Victor were leading, my first lap was over a minute slower than theirs, but, all my other laps were just as fast and even faster. O well thats racing!!!
That night at the awards banquet I received 3rd overall in the pro class. 1st overall in the team competition, and much to my surprise I was given the Espo award. This is a Sportsmanship award named after the late Jeff Espesito. The award means more to me than any finish or overall in my career. I work very hard to be an ambassador to the sport and this shows that my efforts are not over looked.
Well this is my 5th season competing in the Florida State Championship Series, my overall are as follows:
1996 2nd Pro Class
1997 1st Pro Class (Spring)
1997 1st Pro Class (Fall)
2005 2nd Pro Class
2006 3rd Pro Class
2007 3rd Pro Class
I can only hope to continue this top 3 trend for years to come. I feel better than I ever have, so to stop racing the Pro class is no where in my future.
Pictures will soon be posted.
Belleview, Santos Round #7
Belleview, Round 7, not a lot to say about this race. We started the race and I went in to the woods in first. I was passed by Victor mid way through the lap and realized he was pulling away ever so slightly. I chased for a few miles and realized Ryan and Robert were gaining on me, so I made a tactical decision and stopped pedaling, took a drink, and waited for them to catch up. This proved to be effective because their local knowledge helped me on cornering and line selection. Robert dropped off pace and I was left in 3rd.
With only about a mile left in the race I was in a switchback section and saw Ryan just ahead. I had not seen him for most of the race but I was getting splits (time gaps), in the woods that let me know I was close. I gave it my all and finished 10 seconds behind behind Ryan and he was 45 seconds behind Victor.
That's it, not an exciting race but still in the points chase.
With only about a mile left in the race I was in a switchback section and saw Ryan just ahead. I had not seen him for most of the race but I was getting splits (time gaps), in the woods that let me know I was close. I gave it my all and finished 10 seconds behind behind Ryan and he was 45 seconds behind Victor.
That's it, not an exciting race but still in the points chase.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Patience and Timing Round #6 @ Oleta
All right time for the work to begin. Practice day on Saturday I felt good but not great. Usually on Saturdays I never feel good but I was confident about Sunday.
15 seconds, 5 seconds, the horn goes off and we are racing. 30 yards into the race there was a crash and I was involved. I did not go down but came to a dead stop as everyone headed around the wreck and into the woods. Never the less I went into the woods in last place, 15 seconds behind the last rider, Wow this is going to be tough.
I choose to use my experience and not get excited but rather pick off racers one at a time. By the end of the first lap I was in a comfortable 4th place. All my competitors were waiting for me to attack but the question was when?
In my mind I wanted to get into the woods 1st at the end of the last fire road, not the case. Ryan was attacking me on every fire road preventing my ability to surge around at the end. So I remained patient, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally in lap 4 with about 4.5 miles to go I had moved into 2nd just off of Ryans wheel. We came out of single track to 30 yards of double track and I saw Ryan's right hand start to leave his bar as though he was reaching for a water bottle, and realized now was my time to go.
I stood up and sprinted around Ryan and dove into the woods. I went as hard as possible, pretty much a 4.5 mile time trial. I wound up winning by just over 30 seconds.
That was my first State win in 2 years, I was so freak'n pleased. I think my course knowledge and experience was the key to my success at Oleta.
15 seconds, 5 seconds, the horn goes off and we are racing. 30 yards into the race there was a crash and I was involved. I did not go down but came to a dead stop as everyone headed around the wreck and into the woods. Never the less I went into the woods in last place, 15 seconds behind the last rider, Wow this is going to be tough.
I choose to use my experience and not get excited but rather pick off racers one at a time. By the end of the first lap I was in a comfortable 4th place. All my competitors were waiting for me to attack but the question was when?
In my mind I wanted to get into the woods 1st at the end of the last fire road, not the case. Ryan was attacking me on every fire road preventing my ability to surge around at the end. So I remained patient, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally in lap 4 with about 4.5 miles to go I had moved into 2nd just off of Ryans wheel. We came out of single track to 30 yards of double track and I saw Ryan's right hand start to leave his bar as though he was reaching for a water bottle, and realized now was my time to go.
I stood up and sprinted around Ryan and dove into the woods. I went as hard as possible, pretty much a 4.5 mile time trial. I wound up winning by just over 30 seconds.
That was my first State win in 2 years, I was so freak'n pleased. I think my course knowledge and experience was the key to my success at Oleta.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Gainsville Race Round #4
Alright finally my Gainsville race play by play!
On Saturday I was speaking to a race friend, RW. We were discussing how the race would play out. In a nut shell I said everyone is amped up from a wet nasty Jacksonville, and looking to race hard on the perfect course at Gainsville, BUT, 5 laps of a perfect course with climbing can be deceiving. That 5th lap was going to hurt if you did not pace yourself. Therefore....
I had a great start and went into the woods in 2nd. After a the first long double track I was pushed back into 4th, that was fine with me. The pace on the first lap was to fast for me that early in the game so I decided to sit in on my own and wait for things to come around.
The second, third and fourth laps I saw the leaders in and out of all the rock quarries therefore I new the were not getting away. At the end of the forth lap I really was feeling good and closed the gap to 2nd and 3rd place. As we came through the finish to begin our last lap I made my move to pass them with a statement that I was still strong so don't try to go with me.
This proved to work out because they did not even attempt to hang on to my wheel. The rest of the lap I was gunning for my 3 year rival Ryan "The Man" Woodall. I had him in my sights for most of the lap but could only close a little. We finished seconds apart but I was so pleased to know that he was running hard because he knew I was coming.
In summary the race was a complete success and points are what matter at this time. I will be missing next round at Tampa so I need ever point I can get.
Thank you to all my clinic attendees the success this year is overwhelming.
On Saturday I was speaking to a race friend, RW. We were discussing how the race would play out. In a nut shell I said everyone is amped up from a wet nasty Jacksonville, and looking to race hard on the perfect course at Gainsville, BUT, 5 laps of a perfect course with climbing can be deceiving. That 5th lap was going to hurt if you did not pace yourself. Therefore....
I had a great start and went into the woods in 2nd. After a the first long double track I was pushed back into 4th, that was fine with me. The pace on the first lap was to fast for me that early in the game so I decided to sit in on my own and wait for things to come around.
The second, third and fourth laps I saw the leaders in and out of all the rock quarries therefore I new the were not getting away. At the end of the forth lap I really was feeling good and closed the gap to 2nd and 3rd place. As we came through the finish to begin our last lap I made my move to pass them with a statement that I was still strong so don't try to go with me.
This proved to work out because they did not even attempt to hang on to my wheel. The rest of the lap I was gunning for my 3 year rival Ryan "The Man" Woodall. I had him in my sights for most of the lap but could only close a little. We finished seconds apart but I was so pleased to know that he was running hard because he knew I was coming.
In summary the race was a complete success and points are what matter at this time. I will be missing next round at Tampa so I need ever point I can get.
Thank you to all my clinic attendees the success this year is overwhelming.
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