Report and Final Thoughts

Got the Rapelje race report over at DC posted up yesterday, follow the link, and read. With that said, its time to get the whole packing and cleaning tasks done. To all those who followed my ramblings, thanks for reading, and bigger thanks for any feedback you gave me. Thanks to all those I have raced with/against or ridden with over the past three years, it has been memorable. Still not sure what my future in Colorado will hold for me other than plenty of time studying, but I can only hope it is as good as my time here in Montana. Special thanks go to the following people for the following reasons:

Mr. MTCX - for including me on his links list, which I'm convinced was the only reason I got traffic other than my parents.

The Mules - Fine folks who know how to have a good time, and gave me the chance to put on SSMT.

Hellgate Cyclery and MBW - for helping to keep my bikes working, and understanding that beer is a form of currency.

JedZilla - For putting in a lot of time into the Montana Cycling scene, and never asking for an ounce of credit.

Thats all I got, all the best to you MT folk.

Rapelje Time

Just about to get out of town, and head towards the plains. I got my first post over at DC, so the migration is beginning. Best of luck to all headed to Rapelje this weekend, and those headed to get their Ironman on. Went for what was probably my last MTB ride in Missoula, and snapped this gem. I'm gonna miss it.

Thoughts on the Weekend

Think what you will about the 24 Hours of Rapelje being a small race out in the sticks of Eastern Montana that has little meaning in the MTB community. Scratch that, if you think that let me be the first to tell you to piss off, give you the finger, then let my grandmother crack you on the skull with a wooden spoon, this race is TITS! The good news is that the fine folks over at Stockman Cafe are getting the love that they deserve. Head on over to a Barnes and Noble, Borders, or wherever the hell else Mountain Flyer Magazine is available, and the read the feature about Rapelje. Those who know me are well aware of my ability to bitch, complain, rant, go off the deep end on just about anything, but try as I might, I still can't find a way to complain about Rapelje. To top it all off, the fine folks over at the New York Times even published an article about 24 Hours of Rapelje.

24 Hour town

What makes this race so great in my mind, the people of Rapelje. One weekend a year, the people of Rapelje open their homes, hearts, minds, town to a group of rag tag mountain bikers, who set up a series of hobo camps, and drinking stations. These people don't know much about mountain biking, but they do know how to treat visitors well. In return they just ask that you pump as much money as possible into the Stockman Cafe over the course of the weekend. This is not tough because, its the only place to get anything within 25 miles. Last years when the rains came, and the race was put on hold until 5 am, the towns folk kept their end of the bargain, and treated all of us like kings. Win and your reward is a lifetime of immortality on the wall of the cafe. Big hitters like Killer Kerkove, Hellgate Hartman, Dolla B$ll, and Magical Meg have there photos on the wall.

Cory has more uniquness in this left pinky than most people have in their whole body.

I got my race food shopping out of the way yesterday, and my inner fat kid ran wild. Loaded up that shopping cart with Snickers (King Size cause I aint fucking around), potato chips, pop tarts, gatorade mix, peanut butter, summer sausage, bagels, fig newtons, chocolate chip cookies, marshmellow pies, and some other stuff I have forgetten. I got that on top of all the bars, gels, chews, powdered drink mix, and whatever else I have hidden away in a cardboard box marked "race food". Other necessities include, chamois cream, neosporian, and extra chamois, because lets face it, longs hours on a bike require a happy taint. The lights are getting charged, playlists are being made, and I have even tried to harness my chi in preperation.

Weather forecast

The weather looks like it should be good, but that was the case last year, then the biblical rainstorm swept across the plains. The course turned to peanut butter, there were a lot of close lightning strikes, and I finished up a lap pretty dam hypothermic. I have been looking up how to do some kind of anti-rain dance, and will be looking for people to join me for a pre-race dance on Saturday morning. You might ask what my race plan is, simple, go ride as many laps as possible in the 24 hours of time allotted. I stayed up till about four am last night figuring that one out. I was debating whether or not I should try to keep my heart rate at a steady 157 beats per minute for the entire 24 hours, then I remembered I'm too stupid to figure out how to use a heart rate monitor. Instead it will be eat, drink, ride, smile, enjoy myself, enjoy a beer, and smile some more.

I was no longer in showroom condition after the storm rolled through

Other plans include: hanging out with the Mules on Friday night, these cats are some of my favorite MTBers in Montana. They know how to have a good time, and Cory Hardy is never short on entertainment. I will also head on over to the Lone Peak Brewery and Gordon Lightfoot Groupies team area. This is a five man singlespeed team who will be competing, and Dave was kind enough to shoot me the invite, and told me there will be free beer. You know me, I'd sell my sister's kidney without her knowledge for free beer. Finally the last plan is to simply enjoy my final race weekend as a Montana resident. Its been three great years of living, riding, and racing in this state, with a lot of great people, and I'm treating Rapelje like a going away party, remembering the good times that have taken place over the years.

Taper

Thats what the pros, coaches, and doctors call it, to me it's nothing more than sitting around like a waste of life. Not surprisingly this comes pretty easy to me, and it might be the closest thing to proper training that I do. I figure I'll spend enough time pedaling the legs and hurting the lungs this coming weekend to make up for whatever time I don't ride this week. The other factor that helps is that the weather royally sucks nuts today. Although I guess it was worse out in Billings yesterday when the only thing missing was Helen Hunt, a flying cow, and a final scene which included a rainbow and Van Hagar playing in the background. So yeah, the delightful combo of shitty weather, a long race coming up, packing and moving prep means I wont be riding to much from Monday to Friday. Instead I'll offer up a link dump.

Joe Parkin gets hitched

Bike scans at the Tour

The French soccer plays are doing what French cyclist have done for the past 25 years, not give a shit

A new drinking game (yes I have taken part in this)

ECFU

All I got time for some eats and drinks

Boise Recap and The Future

This report is few days late, but since I dont collect a check from this endeavor, I dont care. The fine folks over at Knobby Tires put on the 9-5 Endurance Race this past weekend in Boise. I had good luck at Knobby Tire events last year (two attempts, two wins), and enjoyed the Avimor venue last year. So here is the cliff notes version.

- Gun goes off, get my ass into fourth place for the first lap.

- Post fastest SS time on the day, dont get excited I still got about 7.25 hours of race time

- Finish lap 2, third overall, 1st SS

- Finish lap 3, now a few seconds down on SS dude from Jackson (dude took second at Laramie last year, and he is strong)

- Nearing the end of lap 4, left crank arm falls off.

- Look at it for a bit, and realize this is no quick fix. start running towards start/finish

- Bottom bracket is fucked three ways to Sunday

- Decide to see if I can keep going on my SSCX bike

- Pull off lap 5 on the CX bike. Some descents are too steep for skinny tires and cross brakes, going ass over tip is a ironclad lock.

- Call it a day and drink beer.

So yeah, didnt quite go as well as I wanted, but when I was racing I felt good and strong, and when I wasn't racing I had a beer in hand. Here are some photos.

Stream crossing

MTB still working

Lap on SSCX

As for the future, for those who don't know, at the end of the month I am moving from Missoula to attend grad school at Colorado State University. Seeing as though I will no longer be living in Montana, the whole "SSMT" thing will no longer apply to me, and therefore this site of my rants, rambles, and reports will cease to exist. I'm not sure if I will start something else up to chronicle the life of a SS junkie who is also working on a masters, only time will tell. What I do know is that I will be chronicling my summer of racing over at Drunkcyclist in the months to come. So if you still wish to follow my racing, head on over there to keep informed.

Some Love for Missoula from PA

Came across this just a while ago, courtesy of Mr. Dick. From my best guess this is the podium from the 5th stage of the TransSylvania Epic race that went down last week. None other than SingleSpeed warlock (actually World Champ, but why split hairs), Greg Martin, is showing some love from Missoula. I'm guessing he picked it up when he was pulling boyfriend duty for Rebecca at the Race Across the Sky showing back in March. Really who cares about the specifics, BIG UPS to Greg.

On The Road Again

I started the trip from the land of sea level and humidity towards the great big sky today. Tonight it is Chicago, tomorrow will be somewhere else. Saw this on Monday in PA after a ride, I like it.