Squirrelly Racing

Tammy, Brian and myself went and raced and course marshalled the 6 hour "Heel of a Race" in Chapel Hill yesterday. Had a great time and got a nice ride in. I also managed to get some pretty good pictures until the camera battery died!

Also, I took out the Demo Trek EX-8 from Trek Bikes of Raleigh. After my first lap with it I was just not feeling the bike so I lowered the stem by 2 spacers and it made all the difference in the world! Even though it turned dark on me and I was on a not so familiar trail, this bike rocked! Makes me wonder how one of the new Top Fuel's would do????

Once again the 2008 race season is quickly approaching! Here are a couple of the best in the region!

Massanutten Yee-Ha! Downhill Race 2008
USA Cycling Virginia State Downhill Championship
When: May 10, 2008
More details at: http://www.massresort.com/v.php?pg=221

Schedule:
Friday, May 9, 2008
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Registration in the Ski Office
Noon - 5 p.m. Downhill Practice (registered riders only)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
8 - 10:30 a.m.* Registration in Ski Lodge (2nd Floor)
*Registration Closes at 10:30 a.m. Sharp. Please arrive early.
8 - 11:45 a.m. Downhill Practice (registered riders only)
11:30 a.m. Start List Posted at Base of Lift #6
Noon Downhill Start


BMCC King of the Lake Series
Wilkesboro, NC
BMCC is planning to hold a three weekend series for 2008 called “The King of the Lake”. Each weekend will consist of three different race disciplines:

 Time Trial (TT) – geared towards XC riders
 Dual Slalom (DS) – geared towards gravity riders
 Super D (SD) – geared towards everyone

The dates are:
 April 26-27
 July 12-13
 Oct 25-26

This is a NORBA sanctioned event and state championship status is being pursued for each discipline. Each weekend will start off with the TT Saturday morning followed by DS in the afternoon. SD will conclude the weekend on Sunday with a best of two runs format. The entry fee for TT & SD will be $25 which includes a Blimpie sub, chips & drink. DS will be $20…sorry no discount for multiple entries. Once the state championship status is confirmed we’ll be engaging local bike shops for sponsorship so if you have a local shop that you think would be interested please email me at mhadams2@charter.net. Thanks for any help!

We will be keeping points for each discipline in order to crown champions but we will also be keeping separate points for the overall “King of the Lake” for each class. For the overall we will combine together your points for each discipline so in order to be vying for the King of the Lake you will have to run the same class in each discipline. This is the only way we could keep it straight. Didn’t figure it would be right to have someone run expert in one discipline and then sport in another as well…I know this may suck somewhat but it’ll apply to all so it evens out…I’m personally dreading running expert in the TT!

We’ll also be doing a pay dirt type points system. This will be similar to the Cane Creek series pay dirt points in that you can acquire points by working on approved trails. Sorry but rouge trails will not qualify. We realize that it’s not practical for everyone that races to come to Dark Mtn for trail building so I plan to engage clubs/IMBA reps in surrounding areas so that building can take place at their locations. If you know of a sanctioned club or IMBA rep that is outside of 1.5 hours from Dark Mtn then please send them my way. The ones I have sited so far are Charlotte, Triangle, Windrock.

Class structure:
1. Expert Men 19+
2. Sport Men 19+
3. Beginner Men 19+
4. Women 19+ (maybe split into depending on sponsorship)
5. Junior 15-18
6. Junior 11-14
7. Pee Wee 10-
8. Big Bike (37lbs. min.) 19+

The series should be a blast with a laid back atmosphere, geared towards having a lot fun. I’ll post updates as details are finalized. Hope you can join us this year!

Wolf Ridge
Well, it has been a while since I had anything worth posting so I will catch things up quickly. I went to the National at Sugar and had one of the worst performances ever. I went up the week before and practiced and had some great runs. Race day came, I did one practice run and felt terrible. Got to my race run and made it through the top half of the course fine then blew it in lizards lane. For some reason I felt terribly fatigued and got sloppy coming off the trail a few times and finishing 6th....out of 6.

So last weekend the Wolf Ridge Downhill and Slalom races were taking place. A brand new course on a new side of the mountain. Ryan did a great job of putting a great event together. The course was totally different from others in the area being completely loose and dusty...west coast style. Came up to pre-ride Friday and got a few runs in and was feeling good about the course. The racing was starting fairly early Sat. so I just got 2 full runs in before the race.
I ended up having a great run with just one or two slow spots but overall was clean! Had a finishing time that put me in 3rd place for the 30+ Am class with the top three all within a second! Finally! A good run this year!

Also I have posted pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/dhsteve/WolfRidgeDH2007

Labels: WolfRidge

Another new bike!
Well, Tammy and I ended up stopping by Trek of Raleigh and could not resist the temptation of a 2007 Madone 5.2 SL! As it turned out I had to order one to get the size and color I wanted but after an anxious week of waiting it finally showed up! I left work early to pick it up and get it built and hopefully ride that night. Of course the new bike curse hit and we had thunderstorms that night. And the next night. Finally last night I was able to take it out on the usual 20 mile loop!

All I can say about this bike is WOW! I understand how the pros go so fast! It seemed nearly effortless to cruse solo at 20-23 mph! I don't know if it is the position, lighter wheels, better bike or all of the above but this bike is fast! I averaged nearly 2 mph faster on this bike than the old Giordano - which btw is up for sale.

The really scary thing is the new 2008 Madone is suppose to be substantially better than the '07... good thing I did not test ride that bike.

So if you want an incredible road bike, head over to Trek Bikes of Raleigh and check one out!

Now for the good part, pictures!

Labels: Madone

Made it up to Massanutten Fri. around 1 ish and we got registered and checked in to the hotel promptly. Did 3 practice runs and was feeling good and starting to really bond with the Socom. It felt like it wanted to go much faster than I was comfortable with yet....

Sat. rolled around and the crew made it up and got another practice run and checked out a new line at the top of the course - it was sweet except for a bit of a hole that could either be gapped or rolled. It was definitely the faster line though. Unfortunately for me, I think I hit it too slow to gap and too fast to roll and managed to flat the rear tire and dent the rim too much for repair. Chalk another one up to the mountain. It is 2 out of 3 for the last 3 years.

At least there is 08 to look forward to!

Big props to the Massanutten crew for putting on a super smooth race with nearly 260 racers.

Results can be downloaded from: http://squirrelly.shacknet.nu/galleries/MasterYeeHa2007.xls

Labels: Massanutten

Just got this from Ryan:

This summer WolfRidge Ski Resort, aka Wolf Laurel, will play host to 3 slalom races and the WNC DH champs!

Slalom 1- June 2nd or 9th, will secure date this week.
Slalom 2- July 21st
DH Champs and slalom final- Aug 11th.

Cash paid to pros, swag to ams. Meals included in entry fees, which will be reasonable. Plenty of lodging at the resort cabins. New courses with a different flavor thrown in for you!

Spread the word, as the attendance to the races will greatly impact the possibility that the resort will open a full-scale bike park in 2008.

There will be more details coming in the meantime, if you would like to be put on the mailing list, send an email to Ryan at mbrp07@yahoo.com.

Labels: WolfRidge