More Mt Snow

Ok so the team members are a little sore and neat up and our bikes need some love but all in all it was a blast to be there. Saturday was a great day when I made it to the podium in Super D with a 2nd place. Super D is just so much damn fun to race I think it will be even more popular next year. We should try to have some super D races in Michigan, its possible at some venues. Anyway, then we watched some expert Dh'ers ride the famed "yard sale" boulder garden. Both myself and Crispy were bummed out we were not racing but I was still beat up from the Snowshoe DH and Crispy spained his ancle just as he entered the "yard sale" in a practice run. I don't knoiw if I could have ridden it but would have liked to try. We saw a great pro XC race, you can see some photos at www.mountainbikephotographer.com, with Alison Dunlap taking a win in her last NORBA series race. And of course there was the Naked Crit. Ask Justin, Crispy or Eric about it. And yes we have photos. Sunday the skies opened up and the rain came for the epert xc race. My race was a disater. A guy crashed in front of me at the start. I just didn't feel like climbing and was the last one up the first hill. I managed to pass 10 or 11 in my class but then flatted when I was going to fast on the downhill and hit a charp rock. My air canister didn't work. I had to walk down the hill then ride on the rim. Crispy threw me a pump, which is against the rules, but I didn't care I just wanted to finish. I don't quit races. Finally got going on my third lap when the leaders were finishing. I was the last one on course. I got mud in my eye, crashed and broke my rear brake lever. I finished the rocky, rooty muddy dh with only front brakes. Rough time but a great story.
More highligts:
Justin taking 12th in the semi-pro race
cheering for Eric, Jim, Dan and Terry in there short track race
The super D
Kellie Emmett taking 5ht in the womens pro race
Watching the DH
The naked crit with Crispy, Justin, Eric and Casey riding in it
Jim asking Sunday moring, "where's Justin" after thye went to the bar after the Naked Crit Saturday night.
Laughing at the vision of Crispy walking , well limping, up the hill to our condo at 3:00 am drunk on Red Bull and Vodka.
Racing in the mud
The XC course downhill

A few things I learned at my first national race.

The guys are a lot stronger in the national expert class than Michigan expert class.
Short track is ruthless! Fast, shoulder rubbing and you need a really good warm-up
Super “D” is crazy fun! but you need some pads if you fall, a little more travel and stronger wheels.
When you fall you body hurts!
Rocks get stuck in helmet vents.
XC - the course was though! 70% climbing, over 800’ in the first 3 miles the decents were just as hard! No rest period!
Naked crits are funny!

Over all, the weekend was great!

Mt. Snow

Justin and I got back late last night after a marathon session in the car. Whew, that's one long drive! Next year, I'm taking Monday off and going to break that drive up. Once again, Mt. Snow did not disappoint. There was a good turnout and the weather was fantastic as long as you raced on friday or saturday. For those who raced on Sunday, I'll let them recount their tales. There was some definite carnage, mostly the mechanical kind, but the course can become unforgiving in the wet. Luckily Justin and I raced on Friday in the semi-pro XC to nice warm blue sunny skies and fast dry trail. Justin once again rode a really solid race showing great form the last couple of weeks to wind up with a strong 12th place in a good sized field. I started out feeling great and then snap! I started floundering as the race wore on. My last lap had me moving backwards fast as my back and legs were not too happy with what I was demanding of them. Signals to those muscles were getting vetoed. I ended up 25th which was actually better than I thought considering I was feeling like I was riding backwards. I also had a nice little scare on one of my mentally ineffective later laps as my hand flew off my handlebar on one of the many fast gnarly downhill sections. I am counting my blessings at how I managed to keep it together and not become hamburger roadkill on the course. That one would have hurt, alot. Anyone wondering about going to a national event should definitely head out to Mt. Snow for a great (but difficult) course and some good ole racing. Also, Kona Midwest was more than happy to lend out our floor pumps and Stans all weekend long to our condo next door neighbors consisting of the 3D Racing team out of Boulder. Looks like their tires stayed happy and inflated as they made their way around the course chasing a possessed Geoff Kabush who killed it in just over 2 hours with a fast charging Roland Green(Kona-Les Gets) on his heels.

Now I rest my legs and contemplate how I'm going to drop 30 minutes next year...
Pete

Mt Snow!!!!

Crispy and I are at Snowshoe Mt waiting for the Super D awards. I took 2nd in the mens 30-39 class. Crispy crashed on Friday on the Expert/pro DH course and twisted his ancle real bad. He still raced Super D in the pro class but he is hurting. He is going to skip the DH now. So am I becuae my shoulder still huts pretty bad from Snowshoe and Snow DH is no joke. Friday in the semi-pro XC race Justin took 12th and Pete was 25th. The course is fast and fun but you climb and climb and climb! Also here is Dan, Jim, Eric,Greg Kuhn and Chris Goddard. Oh and Susan Schubel is sitting next to me right now because she knows Kona Midwest racers are so cool! :)
We are going to watch the pro xc today and a bunch of us race Expert XC in the morning. Bryan

Sore to the Core.....errrr....Ore to Shore

Wow! What a race!! I can see the draw to this event, which brings racers from all over the Midwest to our beautiful Upper Peninsula!

The weekend began with rushing up to Marquette to pick up our race packets Friday night, before the 9:30 PM cutoff. We got ther at 9:40, right as the promoter was packing up shop for the night. However, in the typical U.P. fashion, we were greeted with smiles, and were handed our race packets and timing chips. Man I love those Yoopers!

Then the real treat came: carbo loading on a load of pasta and 2-inch-thick garlic bread at the Casa Calabria Italian Restaurant. This sent me well on my way into a food coma, which made me sleep like a baby.

Waking up to a cold, steady drizzle the morning of the race was not a very welcomed sight! It made it hard to get motivated to get out of bed and get my race face on. However, by the time we were headed across the road to the Pancake House, the sun was beginning to peak out, and the air instantly got warmer. However, for a place that wasn't that packed, it took forever for my oatmeal and two scrambled eggs to arrive on the table, and we ran out of there still chewing, in hopes of getting to Negaunee early enough to get a good line-up spot. This did not happen!

So, I managed to squeeze into the line-up about 2/3 of the way back, behind what appeared to be several hundred racers. I could faintly see what appeared to be Kona Midwest apparel, up near the front of the staging area. I then made it my mission to catch them within the first couple of miles of the race, so we could work together and take turns pulling each other. Well, the gun went off, and I watched them ride away as I still sat parked in place, while waves of racers ahead of me hit the open trail. I did not give up; I went off hard, holding 38 mph at one point, screaming past the waves of racers that were once in front of me by drafting and then slingshotting off of the back. However, I was unable to catch Jim and Dan before we hit dirt trail. But I wasn't giving up! I huffed up the first couple of long, gruelling climbs, overtaking other racers one-by-one, despite having to run up a couple of rideable hills due to other people stopping in front of me.

Well, my mad pace lasted for about 10 miles, and I started to fade, realizing that the brief glimpse of my teammates at the start could be the last until the race finish........unless I could get in a paceline. Just then, a line of five guys went screaming past me, and I hopped on their wheels, thinking I'd recovered enough from my crazy-hard start to hang on. I held on for a few miles, then started to fade again as we blazed through the sleepy town of Ishpeming. I started to get passed, and then the misery hit: the powerline trail!! This section had some of the toughest climbs ever, reminiscent of some of the hike-a-bikes in Pisgah. Misery hill, as it was called, was named appropriately so, as it was pure misery! My legs were screaming and my lungs burning by this point, as I was barely able to put one foot infront of the other to trudge up this wall of a climb. Finally, I'd made it up, only to discover more hills! I pressed on, convincing myself that this was fun, and finally cleared the powerline section!!

I spun for a minute in the flats to try to get my legs back, took another GU, and suddenly felt stronger than ever! Just then, a group of about eight of us converged just before the dirt road, and I saw a blatent opportunity: I wasted no time, hollered "PACELINE - 60 SECOND PULLS, THEN PEEL OFF TO THE BACK!!", and got the ball rolling! Suddenly, we're holding 23mph and screaming past flocks of other racers. They couldn't even catch up to grab our wheels as we steamed past them! We tackled the gruelling road climbs with what seemed like the greatest of ease, and kept on cruising full speed ahead. I felt amazing; I took another GU, drank, and took some hard pulls. This was a well-organized paceline, and it stayed together almost all the way to the finish line......well, it may have stayed together all the way to the finish, but I wouldn't know, as I started to bonk with 5 miles to go. I slowly fell off the back of the pack, my lower back screaming at me at this point, but I kept pushing. I contemplated taking my last GU, but foolishly thought "why bother - I'm almost finished". That was the longest five miles of the entire race!!

As I dropped onto the road with about 1.5 mils to go, I managed to get some strength back from cheers from the waves of spectators all around, and mustered up enough strength to sprint past a handful of guys going into the finish area.

I was finally finished: 48 miles, four GU's, a bottle of Gatorade, and an empty 70-ounce Camelbak later!! What a greulling race!! But, I have to say, it was fun, even when it was miserable!! I mean, come on.......I was riding my bike!! And I was wearing the colors of the Kona Midwest Racing team, not to mention loads of red mud from the iron-rich Marquette soil!! It looked as if someone loaded rust-colored paint into a super-soaker squirt gun and blasted me!

Kona Midwest had a great day overall, with all of us beating the 3-hour mark. Jamie and Dan earned honorable mention at the awards ceremony, and we went off to finish the evening with live music, beer, and laughs at the Up Front Pub. This helped take the edge off of my soreness, which seemed to penetrate to my core!

I can't wait for next year!!!!!!!!

Snowshoe Short Track

Well after scratching out of the Super Dee event I can't say I was feeling tip-top. However I wasn't feeling too bad when Pete and I were pre-ride laps on the ST course. While staging I ran into the guy who passed me with 3 inches to go in the XC race and he was apologizing for being devious. Hey that's racing so what can you do. However I was now on a mission to NOT let this guy beat me and to not get pulled. Right from the get go I moved into last and secured that position almost all through the fist lap. Then Pete and I slowly started moving though the group. Knowing that I would get pulled if I hung back too far I was really working to keep moving up on the group. Surprisingly (for a Michigan boy) my strenghth in this race was during the climbs. Both coming up though the grassy infield area where I would usually gain a place or 2 and during the longer paved climb that would take you through the Start/Finish area. Pete hung on for 16 minutes before getting pulled as his legs were at war with will. Soon it was coming down to the final 3 and I could hear Pete yelling out my position. I passed one more rider to move into 5th position. Coming down the back stretch I hit the lockout for my fork and took the last turn, that one of the Cannondale riders had just dumped, as smoothly as I could. The second my rear tire hit pavement I dropped the hammer and sprinted all the way up the final stretch to get between 2 of the Cannondale riders and claim 4th place. Getting a podium at my first NORBA definatly made the trip worth while and I hope I can do a repeat next week out at MT. Snow. However I think I'll leave the Super Dee event to the big boys ;).

-Justin

Snowshoe Wrap

What a weekend of racing! There were quite a few highs and lows for all. To begin with, Justin and I were treated to some brutal conditions for the semi-pro XC on friday. The trail was already a mess when we pre-rode the day before and we weren't looking forward to the conditions after a constant downpour the night and morning of the race. It was going to make for some epic conditions. True to form, the course was a mess. Every type of slick snotty mud you could imagine covered everything and was hiding all sorts of goodies underneath. The sun decided to peak it's little head out at the start. We were however not too enthusiastic since the mud has a good amount of clay content. What that means, it has a tendancy to become thick goopy peanut butter. It just cakes on your bike and makes it weigh a ton. Well, a bike race turned into a biking/running race. For me, it was a biking/(slow)hiking race. I suck at running. Mid-way through the race, I started drifting back like a lead anchor as all the hiking began to take its toll. I made a decision to gut it out and just finish. That I did, and shortly afterwards crawled into bed, rolled into the fetal position, and felt like I was thrown in a sack and beaten with many sticks. Wow, was I sore and man did my lower back hate me!! We had one day to recover before we hit the short track. For our recovery day, we decided to watch the pros do it right. They had much better conditions than we faced the day before, but that race was an epic trudgefest as well.

On to the short track... Justin and I jumped onto the course just prior to the kid's race to scope it out. All of a sudden, we hear over the loudspeakers the announcers asking whether the Kona Midwest guys could lead the Shimano kid's race around the ST course. We were more than happy to volunteer. It was to be a Kona Midwest lead-out for the next generation of young aspiring racers. What an enthusiastic bunch they were! It was such a great vibe and experience to be there and get wrapped up in all the excitement at the start. Justin went off to lead the pack around the course as I played sweeper in the back to make sure everyone made it around OK. They were a determined bunch hammering around the course. As we rounded the course, all the cheering and encouragement was contageous. It was fantastic to see these young competitors (7-10 years of age) tackling the challenging terrain and pushing with determination up the hills. The highlight of my weekend came right afterwards as one of the racers came up to me and asked for my autograph. How cool is that!! I was more than happy to oblige. I was so glad to see how hard she worked and how much fun she had on her bike. It made my day and was a very memorable experience.

Well, we're off to Mt. Snow next week. I hope I have my legs for the Short Track race there as this past one was pretty forgettable for me after toasting my legs and back during the XC. I give huge congratulations to Justin for hammering out a 4th place in that very hard event! Way to go man, drop that hammer!!

Talk to you all soon.
-Pete

Super D bummer

Crispy and I just finished Super D, Justin scratched after smashing his knee in practice so he could still race short track. Crispy had a fast, clean run in the pro class and got 9th place. He is a little bummed out but the other pros are just so damn fast. I was having a great run, super fast and think I'm making the podium. I had a slight mishap in a rock garden some how not crashing but I lost my chain. I decided to keep going going on the DH I was on and I would fix it when the trail flattened out. When I looked down to fix it the chain was gone. So I got off and ran the flat to the next DH and luckily the course was mostly DH the rest of the way so I busted my but and managed a 7th place. I would have been on the podium with a 2nd if I didn't los the chain, oh well. Its been a frustrating but fun weekend.
Bryan

Snowshoe DH, what the hell was I thinking!

Ok, so I am done with DH here at Snowshoe and the mountain kicked my ass!

This photo is just an example of how beat up my legs are, my bruised hand and possible broken finger. When I decided to race expert I knew riding the course as a whole would be fine but racing was another story. Every practice run I did got worse and I let it get to my head and lost any confidence I had which you need on a DH run like this. My actual race run was terrible. I started great but then crashed in a section I have not crashed all weekend smashing my hand on a rock and twisting my bars. So I had to stop to try to fix them and this was only maybe a minute into my run. I finally got them fixed and was on my way. I felt good going over the first drop and had a good line going into a bigger drop that I crashed on every practice run and decide to go for it. What a sprawling crash. I got up and the next rider caught me so I moved over a little smashing another rock and flatting so I couldn't even finish the sections I could ride. I was humbled. I'm glad its over and in some strange way I had some fun even with how bad I rode. I'm glad I steped up and tried to race expert riding the same course the pros ride.
Crispy had a clean run riding great all weekend. He took 14th with a time of 7:12. The winner in his class was around 5:30.
Crispy and Justin are racing Super D in the morning. I will to as long as I can hold onto the bars. I'll just get my hand xrayed when I get home. I'd like to write more but I'm tired and we race at 8:00 am.
Bryan

Damn Mud and WOW!

Ok so Crispy and I did our DH practice and holy shit! a few times I thought "WHAT HAVE I GOT INTO!" But I did 3 runs and survived all 3. Crashed quite a few times, the mud is just so thick and slick here. But on the other hand I rode the biggest drops I ever have and rode things I never thought in my wildest dreams I could ride. Crispy rode Awesome hitting all the drops!!! The super D here is SOOOOOOOO fun and fast. Think 25+ mph through a 50 yard long rock garden!
The photos are of Pete and Justin in the semi-pro xc race which was brutal. Don't know the results yet but the both survived! I'm sure they will write about it.
Bryan

Oh my

Kona Midwest Racing

So Justin and I pre-rode the XC course a bit earlier today and all I have to say is that tomorrow is going to be one long grind. Of course, as evidenced by the pictures below it is wet and muddy again. Oh, and it's also cold! It's August, what's up with that??? Anyway, the course is going to be an exercise in survival. Roots, sharp rocks, and slick snot mud. The single track is downright scary in spots, you just gotta let the bike go as you pass over very scary looking rocks. The only place where things are going nice and easy is on the climbs. Go figure. Well I'm off and going to kick up my legs to get ready for a looong race tomorrow. Wish us luck.

-Pete

More clouds and fog

Justin and Pete went out to pre-ride the XC course Thursday afternoon. Me and Crispy walked the Expert/pro DH course and I decided to race expert DH even thoogh I have never done a NORBA DH race. Crazy, maybe? We'll see.
Bryan

Hey, its raining at Snowshoe! Da!

Well here we go. Does anyone really believe that they will have a dry ride anymore at Snowshoe Mountain. This is the east in the mountains. It is wet here. It is always wet here.

I have DH practice in 10 minutes so I should be gearing up, but I think I will stay inside. The rain is really coming down and it is cold. We are waiting for our teammates Justin & Pete to show up, but maybe they went home. Actually I can't wait to ride I like it when it is tough out. You earn it more. So basically here is the schedule for us.

Thursday - DH practice we will probably just walk the course
Friday - Semi Pro XC(Justin & Pete) & Super D practice Bryan & Crispy
Saturday - DH race(Bryan & Crispy)
Sunday - Super D race(Bryan & Crispy) and Short Track(Pete & Justin) oh and drink some beers
Monday - we are going to ride in the free ride park.

The pic is from the balcony of our condo. That horizon is basically where the DH is. Could I see my Handle Bars. Not Sure!!

-C-

Stoney XC

Sunday marked the 3rd and final race at Stoney Creek Metro Park. It had rained that morning giving the course a good slick mud feel to it. There was an excellent showing from both Kona Midwest and the Whole Foods team. Going into the first lap Christian Tanguy pulled into the lead and was starting to make his usual gap on the field when he took a spill on one of the slick bridges in the pines single track. Asking if he was ok I then seized the moment and pulled into the lead putting a decent gap on the rest of the pack. This being the first lap still I knew I wouldn't be able to hold the pack off even if I did just hammer down so I let the group work back up to me and fell back into the pace line. By this time the pack had thinned out pretty good and Christian was taking his turn at the front quite a bit. Greg Kuhn was riding very strong and by the 4th lap it was down to Greg, Christian and I when I had to go and take my turn crashing. We had just made the decent to the sandy corner after the first section of single track. Greg was leading with myself in the middle and Christian riding caboose. I see Greg hit up his water bottle and figure now's not such a bad time for that so I go for mine. Unfortunately I may have been riding just a hair to close and then my wheel crossed Greg's. From there I watched it all play out in slow-mo as I went for a ride right over the bars water bottle in hand. Greg and Christian take off and I'm scurring to get back on the bike and scoop up my bottle. I managed to work my way back to them and by the time we were in the pines I was back on them again. No really sure what happened but going out on the 5th lap Christian seemed to shut down and it became a battle between Greg and myself. Seeing how strong Greg was racing I knew I had to be ahead of him going into each section of single track if I wanted to keep him near me. He then just sat right on my wheel all through the last sections of 2 track leading up to the final stretch. Just before the last turn Greg jumps up and tears past me and I get up to chase him back down but Greg went into the last corner way too hot and ended up washing out and going down. From there it was home stretch for me with everything I had left. Finally a win in the NORBA series and we snagged a Whole Foods jersey at the same time :).

-Justin

Big-M

I always enjoy heading up to Big M to do some racing and laying around on the beach. If you get a bit too warm, all you have to do is jump into that cold a$$ lake and you're set. You couldn't have asked for better weather for the weekend. After spending a good ole lazy day on the sandy beach on Saturday, it was time to get to business on Sunday. The Big M course doesn't allow you to hide anywhere with all its false flats, you need to bring your legs if you want a good result. On top of that, you have guys like Derek Prechtl, Rob Cotton, Russ Tiles and the like show up and you know it's not going to be a stroll, like it ever is. Well the Kona Midwest squad showed up to race and we got some results. We placed 3 riders on the elite podium, not bad for a day's work. We didn't quite get the top two spots, still some work to do, but got 3 of the top 5 isn't half bad! See everyone at the races...