Long Post…

Alright so it’s been a month or so since the last post on here. A lot has happened…

Fair hill was the first race of the year and it hurt a lot. The course is fast and flat, which means that there aren’t any breaks and you never stop pedaling for the entire race. Since my injury, the weakest part of my body has been my back and this course definitely hurt it a lot. It felt worse than any other ride or race than I can remember, although my legs didn’t feel nearly as bad. Ended up finishing somewhere in the middle of the group, which isn’t bad considering that this is the exact opposite of what we ride.

Tour de Tykes went better, but still not as well as I would’ve liked. I was definitely able to use the course and the weather to my advantage, but it just didn’t go all that smoothly. Missed the start, and then got gapped when I couldn’t pass some riders. But it’s a fun course and a lot of people enjoyed the cool weather for once.

And then there was a week off. We ended up riding 40ish miles of the Stoopid 50 course. Trails are in good condition…probably gonna get out there with a brush cutter and trim some stuff back, but everything is holding up nice.

Any race in Michaux is always a good time. I didn’t do the new course last year, and was a bit upset that they took out the Grave’s Ridge trail, which is a rocky ridge-top ATV trail. Fun stuff…but the new course turned out to be almost as technical anyway. Slightly disappointed in losing the race on a fire road climb but it was still a good race. Broke out the new frame for its first race. Last fall, my dad found some Rush frames on eBay, so he bought some in case we cracked one. Since I wasn’t really feeling the 29er, I just took all the parts off it and built up a second Rush. Thanks to my dad for letting me ride his I9 wheels.

 

I hate missing French Creek, but that day was prom…But it was a good time anyway.

Cascade Classic (used to be CAT Classic) is a nice course when it’s dry. Some climbs and just enough rocks to keep you on your toes. But this year it was really muddy so it completely changed the race. None of the three people that drove with us actually finished. My dad got lost and Anthony DiNallo and I both quit after 2 laps because we were sick of mud. Didn’t stay too long after the race but I’m pretty sure Julian crushed it on his home course. It’s a shame that the conditions were so bad for this year, first impressions of races usually last a while.