Singletrack & SingleTrack Mind Festival

September 2nd, 2015

Wednesday evening, I met up with John² (Long & Bradley) and ventured out to Two Rivers Mountain Bike Park to recon the course, as I planned to race XC Marathon on Sunday of the Singletrack Mind Festival.

We admire the improvements to the facilities and all the new trail since my last visit. The XC course basically laps the perimeter of the park.

Two things quickly became obvious.

• 3 or 4 laps of this course was going to be a tough workout.
• Wow, it's been a long time since I rode singletrack of substance. 

Near the 8 mile mark of the 9 mile XC loop, you enter the downhill section which has a wall ride feature. Me, not having ridden the wall recently*, though it prudent to give it a go. 

In my minds eye, it was gonna look like this.

Actual wall I tried to ride, with a rider actually riding the wall

In reality, my ride was less impressive. I feel that 1 or maybe 2 of those pesky laws of Newton's colluded to make my wall ride less than epic. Then, my audience of alleged friends, both, exacerbated the situation by laughing, a lot.

The fall that immediately followed the shortage of momentum, force, adhesion, lack of friction and other NASAish stuff, sent me on a sliding path to terra berma**.

A path that put a nice burn on my forearm, and somehow knocked my rear wheel out of the dropouts. 

While I pick up the pieces, John² done what good friends do. 

Rode on without me.

*NEVER

** Similar to terra firma, just packed down with a shovel

September 5th, 2015

Saturday I volunteered at the Singletrack Mind Festival. My duties included mixing up copious amounts of electrolyte drink, and directing racers to the parking lot. I enjoyed the parking lot duty as it afforded me an opportunity to make this fashion statement.

And yes, I know the reflective vest looks good with the pirate socks. 

This is not me, nor will it ever be - Photo credit to Kimberly Metzger

This is not me, nor will it ever be - Photo credit to Kimberly Metzger

My friend Jim Phillips made a video of the gravel ride from the festival Saturday morning. Check it out. Great job Jim!

The vibe was great Saturday and I enjoyed seeing my friends, and all of the trail running participants.

Major kudos to all of the Singletrack Mind team for an impressive weekend.

September 6th, 2015

Race day. The XC marathon starts at 10:00am, and it's already a sauna.

That's me, the handsome one.

I started out really conservative, and got progressively slower, just to make sure I didn't blow up.

I did.

Lap 1 = 58:50

Lap 2 = 59:16

Lap 3 = 1:08:15 (If math is not your friend, this is where I blew up)

If you made it back to the start/finish before the 3 hour mark, you had the opportunity to start another lap, or be heckled.

I faked several mechanicals, sat with my head on the handlebars (not fake), and used a few other secret tricks to make sure I was NOT at the start/finish in under 3 hours.

Post race. Absolutely drenched.

As you can see in the results here, I absolutely crushed it*.

*Mid-pack fodder as usual

September 9th, 2015

Wednesday evening. I'm in a hurry, running late to Magruderville.

It's been a year since I had ridden Magruderville. I missed it, but had a busy racing season.

The man

Tom's place has a great laid back vibe, some righteously tight single, and post ride food and beverages.

Post ride socializing. Photo credit to Magruderville

It was nearly dark upon my arrival. I slapped on some lumens and set out on a solo lap. 

The Magruderville trail building team have been busy in the last 12 months, and I enjoyed the new sections. I was again reminded of how little singletrack I've ridden.

Tom gave me a tour of the newly renovated kitchen (the termites had attacked). It was nice to sit around the fire a while.

Thanks Tom.

September 12th, 2015

Saturday morning it was 54 miles of road riding with the usual suspects. It was different. I had fingers on my gloves, and arm warmers!

John Long and I ran out to Sac River afterwards and watched a little CX racing, then made a lap.

What a beautiful weekend.

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