Peligroso: Top Secret Race Preparation Underway

Before I get into the race report and eventual result of said race, I thought it might be interesting to disclose some of the Mountain Mist Cycling Teams top secret race preparations.

Since my body was not really prepared for the SERC # 8 at Raccoon Mountain I thought I might make sure my bike was ready. I had two concerns with the bike, my fitness is a concern too long to get into right now. First concern, the extermely narrow width of my new flat bar set up. Solution, buy another bar, can't commit to that right now so problem ignored. Second concern, to eliminate the absurd creaking going on in the bottom bracket area of the Kidney Shaker.


The creaking in the bottom bracket area of the Kidney Shaker would prove to be a pivotal element in Sunday's race. Since I had already removed the new Niner EBB (that designed by NASA engineers to be mute) and cleaned it thoroughly after DSG the only other source of the creaking would have to be the bb cups themselves. When I installed the bb cups I greased the threads thouroughly so I was skeptical that this was the problem. Just to be sure I removed the Chris Bling bottom bracket cups to reveal still moist and pristine, uncontaminated grease. Just to go the extra mile (I don't mind going the extra mile figuratively) I wrapped the threads with teflon tape. I have always had quiet bottom brackets and when I haven't I have always solved the offensive creaking with this application. Well the creaking is still there and I am sure now it is the new not so silent EBB. I think my bb shell is a little out of round from the old EBB so I can not totally blame the new one. I can just blame the old style for not allowing the new style to work.

After not correcting my two concerns I decided to just go over the details of the Kidney Shaker to check for any other potential issues.

Pre-flight inspection:



Cockpit..........CHECK!


Anterior softening device...........CHECK!


Mid engine rotating propulsion arms.........CHECK!


Posterior propulsion mechanism..........CHECK!

Everything else seemed to be in order with the exception of a very sketchy sidewall on the rear Maxxis Ardent I am running. The threads are showing through the sidewall and a few are tearing in one spot in particular. Hopefully it will hold up for one more race. Since my fitness is not where it usually is at this time of year and I have not solved any problems with my bike I feel pretty much like usual going into this race. Great, just a typical day at the office.

Full race rapport next post.

Ride, Ride, Ride, ...........Race!

Paging Rich, come in Rich. I hope that you are not bored enough to be reading this incoherent blurb but if you are contact me at 'gregorycurl at comcast dot net' and let's make plans for Girls Weekend. Special note: All other readers kindly destroy this message after reading.

Now on to cycling.

So much for 'tapering off' before a race. My goal for SERC @ Raccoon Mountain is to arrive sunburned, tired along with some lingering effects from the night before and suffer through the 22 miles on my one gear kidney shaker.

Note: Archived image of the Kidney Shaker in its stock (original, unmodified and not set up specifically for me) form.

I ride when I can and this past month has been difficult to get on the bike due to a minor injury, work and family vacation. The same challenges almost everyone else has. This week has afforded me the opportunity to log almost as many hours on the bike as I have in the past month. I didn't plan this, it's just the way it worked out. Things are going just as unplanned. I told myself when I started racing mountain bikes that I would not let racing or a race or God forbid training, interfere with my enjoyment of riding a mountain bike.


Here I am half way through the SSUSA race in 2008. You won't see Jeff Kerkove chugging a PBR at mid-point in a ride, much less a race. Now that's what mountain biking is all about, riding, having fun, and riding some more. It did kinda upset my stomach on the the next climb filled lap though, but who cares.

I gotta ride when I have a chance and I can't be 'tapering off' or 'ramping up' or doing 'recovery rides'. If I try a training schedule I will miss out on a lot of good rides. That stuff is for people that get paid to ride their bikes and plan out their riding and racing like it's their job, cause it is. This doesn't mean I am going to show up at a race and just ride along and be in the way, it may seem like that's what I am doing sometimes, but trust me that's really my race pace.

One thing I have missed this year is the Wednesday night group ride. This week it was not a total hammer fest but a few of us did roll out pretty hard. There are always several groups to ride with and I joined in with Hammerhead Chad, the only other SS'er besides myself, Never Ready Freddy, Lil' Ray, T.R., Shirtless Joe Jefferson (although uncharateristically clad in a Trailhead jersey), and Jerry. We took off from the bikers parking lot and took the Sinks>Goat Trail> Roller Coaster (aka Flat Rock Connector)>Flat Rock>and up to the water tower>closed road back to parking lot. And then I pedaled home for a nice and fast ~2hrs on the single speed including the usual group required stops. This is only my second group ride of the year, hopefully I can join in on the suffering and camaraderie more often.

Thursday I got out for a hush, hush ride on the Renegade (aka Forbidden) Trail. I can't say much more than that, other than it is extra sweet when your ride is on a kinda hidden, secret, unmarked, not on any map trail with coyotes, deer, spiders, snakes, wild turkeys and all sorts of other trail obstacles. I had a busy day at work so I didn't pedal away from the house until almost 6PM and this is usually a 2 plus hour ride that finishes with me doing about 4 miles on the road to get back home. It was about dark when I hit the road, got yelled at by one driver for not having a light and pedaled my way home.

Race day on Sunday. My plan is to leave the house at 5:30AM CST on Sunday in order to make it to Raccoon Mtn by 8:00AM EST and put forth enough effort for a mid pack SS finish in the SERC race. Results on Monday, maybe. I might take the morning off and go for a recovery road ride. Who knows?

News You Can Use from My Office

I am having a difficult time coming to grips with not being on vacation. I did make it into the office at 6:45 this AM and was really motivated for a couple of hours. Now I am not so motivated, so while you are working, and I am not, I can report to you what is going on in the cycling world.

Tour Divide: It looks like Matthew Lee is in the lead at the Tour Divide Race arriving in Steamboat Springs just a little while ago.

Tour de France: Will Tom Boonen be racing the Tour de France or will he be free to saunter down to the local European club where cocaine flows like coffee? We will all be on the edge of our seats until Thursday.

NUE Series: Jeff Schalk won the latest race in the NUE Series.

Missy "The Missile" Giove: It has to be for medicinal purposes, she is so clean cut.

Gotta get back to work, ride tonight, more tomorrow.

Vacociones de verano

Back at work today after a week at the beach with La Jefa and The Little Man. I wish I could spend all summer like a kid on holiday. Funny how fast we wish to grow up, start driving, gain independence, stay out late, go off to school, get a job, buy a house, pay a mortgage, start a family and then realize how much we want to be a kid again. Let's all slow down, maybe take a walk on the beach and enjoy where we're at in life right now.



All right, enough with the life lessons. I did manage to squeeze in some riding while at the beach. It was hard to find the time with eating big breakfasts, then walking to the beach, afternoon beers followed by an evening of fried shrimp washed down with margaritas and topped off with an ice cream cone. I was sluggish to say the least on the 7:00AM rides but managed to log some hours. The beach where we stay has a ~30mile bike path that is not really a "bike path" but a thoroughfare for languid pedestrians, moms with two seater baby strollers and tweeners on beach cruisers. You really can't ride a road bike, or any real bike for that matter, on the "bike path" without endangering yours and other peoples lives. This bike path causes a lot of conflict with locals driving on the 35mph road because they believe you should be on the "bike path" and not on the two lane highway. This causes some serious user conflict and I was a target of more than one pissed off redneck. I can understand how they don't comprehend why we have to ride in the road but it shouldn't make them mad enough to want to fight about it. I was cursed at, threatened and had someone try to run me down like I had committed a crime against humanity while all I was doing was riding a bike at 20-25mph in a 35 mph zone. How big of a hurry can you be in not to have 15 seconds to go around a cyclist? Uh oh, I am almost back to the life lessons, on to cycling; for real this time.

Upon return to my half underground lair high atop Monte Sano Mountain I was destined for the quiet solitude of a mountain bike. So Sunday began my reverse taper training for SERC at Raccoon Mountain next Sunday. I am going to pile on the hours this week and if I have to race tired so be it. I am really working toward a different goal with another stepping stone along the way. We will see what happens to foil my well thought out plan.

Mudder Truckin' Rain

Ride update:

Saturday: wet trails = 38 mi. road ride, nice, kinda cool and sunny.
Sunday: the same only ~45 mi. on the road.
Tuesday: A mostly dry mtb ride on Monte Sano..... alone.
Wednesday: Date night, so a 5:30AM road ride, hill repeats.....ugh.
Thursday: Rain from Wed. and earlier Thursday = slick mtb ride with bAlbert.


The drop in to the lower portion of Goat Trail.


bAlbert arriving and ready to slip slide his way through the lower Goat.


Even The Little Man has resolved himself to the fact that 'If you're gonna ride this year, you're gonna have to ride in some mud.'

The GDMBR starts today at high noon. If you don't know what that is look here. For a quick synopsis I will tell you that it is a 2745 mile self supported mountain bike race from here...............


Banff, AB, CA

To here...............


Antelope Wells, NM

I have been following this race for the past 4 or 5 years and it is incredible what some of the riders endure racing day and night for weeks on end. I am talking riding 18 hrs a day, sleeping on the ground beside your bike in the rain or snow, grizzly bears, freezing temps in the Rockies, and blistering heat in the deserts of New Mexico. It makes what most of us do on a bike seem like child's play. This year has the largest start list ever, so it should be a very interesting 20 days or so. Check it out.

I am off to the beach for a week with La Jefa and The Little Man......of course I am bringing a bike, two bikes in fact.

Oh yeah, there maybe some Moots news by the time I return. I will keep you, the faithful readers of this incoherent dribble, properly and completely informed.

U.S. Cup (aka Bump N Grind) Race Rapport

BUMP was a great host this weekend for the 2nd race of the inaugural U.S. Cup East mountain bike race series. The food was plenty and the bathrooms few as is the norm at an event that involves a bunch of caffeinated adrenaline junkies mixing it up on a quick anaerobic loop around a rooty, somewhat technical, rock strewn course with one really good climb and some smoking fast singletrack.

I have ridden the course, Oak Mountain, several times before but not in the past few years, and never, ever on a single speed. The website for the race hinted that there had been some improvements or changes or something going on with the course that was different from last year. It also stated repeatedly; pre-ride, pre-ride, pre-ride. I took this to heart and chose to ride Raccoon Mountain in Chattanooga the weekend before the race. This would count as pre-ride uh ride. Granted it is roughly 4 hrs away I figured it would count for a good pre-ride uh ride, it's not like it's in a different time zone or anything, well, yeah technically it is, but how much different can the course be for God's sake.

As is typical in the days prior to a race, I started having some aches, pains, concerns and some questions about why I eat so much pizza and chase it down with beer so often. Maybe it was Raccoon Mtn or the heated pace of riding with a bunch of hammer heads for 3 + hrs, I dunno but I felt my back tightening up at the end of last week. You know I have had back trouble for a while, but I was not too concerned as it just tight and was not giving me too much trouble.

At 3:30AM Sunday I peeled myself from a mattresss that was not offering me anything resembling sleep to finish loading the FJ Cruiser and double check my gear, shoes, helmet, gloves, bike, epi-pen, special kit to wear on podium, etc. and start the drive down to the race venue. My back was really stiff with some pain on the right side (my good side). I thought it would loosen up and I would feel better. I arrived and immediately got my schwag bag, and # plate, looked around eyeing others with single mindedness and then proceeded to organize my things. We were given I.D. bracelets, time chips what ever, to wear on our shoes. After a quick refresher course in trigonometry I was able to attach mine to my left SIDI. After the unexpected mental challenge I began to try to loosen up my tight back. All good I am ready to go, sort of. I did an enjoyable ~20min warm up on the bike and then some more stretching before the start.

As I rolled up to the start with the other single speeders I did as any other competitor does, I started eyeing the competition. While I did not immediately recognize anyone as a threat to my mid pack finish quest, I did notice one thing. I had a belly and hairy legs and the other mmmm.... 24 contestants did not. I sorta looked behind me to make eye contact with the person or persons that I was pretty sure were either going to run over me or yell at me for holding them up at the start.

The whistle blew and I got spit out the back like the peloton of single speeders had been shooting EPO and eating Laxatives for the past few months. It was all I could do to just hang on. Several thoughts started drifting through my head as I pedaled up the road toward the single track. Maybe I should be running a 18t cog instead of this 20t? Should I have a bagel or an orange at the finish? Will there be snacks along the course? Will shaving my beard make me faster or will it just take up more time in the morning with maintenance that could otherwise be spent training? The single track will soon let me know the answers to these questions and more.

When we, I mean I hit the single track I was pretty much in last place and my back was really hurting, not excruciating but pretty painful. I slowed down and told myself to take it easy and see if I felt better at a more relaxed pace. Wow I can see again and that loud percussion occurring in my chest is getting more faint. Hey I'm not dizzy anymore either, this is nice. Surprisingly enough I began to catch and pass a couple of single speeders and quite a few geared guys when I backed off and settled into the ride a little. Obviously a few people went out way too hard and just by simply passing a few people I began to feel a little better. Nothing lifts ones spirit like seeing others suffer and endure misery.

After about 30 anaerobic minutes the climbing began and the trail continued to gain elevation and then give it away for several miles. Up and down and then the big climb hits at about 40 minutes into the loop. Somehow when the climbing began I started to feel a little better and ended up reeling in a few more of the single speeders and some of the geared guys too. Once at the top it was time to spin time away, take in some scenery and go back to daydreaming. Did I leave the iron on? I wonder who will be at the pool later? What kind of beer in the can should I drink at the pool? The Tecate in a can is pretty nice. The flat part at the top of the ridge goes on forever and I was spinning like mad and getting passed by a lot of people with way more gear combinations than me. When after what seemed like forever I arrived at the descent and ended up behind a geared full squishy that I followed maybe a little too closely all the way down to 'Blood Rock'. In the rockiest, gnarliest section of Blood Rock the geared squishy went down and not wanting to stack right on top of him I chose to exit the trail to the left where a bluff resides and immediately stacked right into a huge rock. It really wasn't very dramatic so no damage to me or the bike. I jumped back on and was almost tangled in another crash but kept going and finished the technical descent feeling better as the race progressed.

There was one more hill to negotiate and I managed to get by some more people on the final significant climb that graduated on for a while. The track was really tight so passing was quite tedious but I was getting by without too much trouble and made up for some of the time I lost at the beginning of the race. I was really beginning to feel pretty good at about 1hr 10 mins into the race and kept a strong pace to the finish. Official finish time 1:30:53. 18th place Single speed. Out of 25. Not so good, but in retrospect, it was a really strong field, and I am not too disappointed with my time. Maybe I should have run a 19t or even an 18t on the rear but then the climbing would have taken more out of me. Who knows.... oh yeah; I guess the guys that pre-ride the damn course know after a few loops, hey I am really much faster with the blah, blah, blah tooth cog. Big deal, I had fun and rode myself silly, so in that respect I did what I came to do.

Oh yeah, the training and fitness recap, I really think my fitness is better than my time shows and I feel like I could have done better if my back was not hurting in the beginning but I also felt a pretty high PE in the beginning too, so I don't know if I could have done much better. The competition rode strong and stomped on me pretty hard so I have to work on my top end a little more, I think the endurance is pretty good for now. I had a great time and enjoyed the race and am looking forward to SERC at Raccon Mountain at the end of the month.