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MAY 2008

Mark - Race number three for me. I liked this course. Fast and lots of room to pass. Also had some soft dirt and a few very sharp turns. I had a bad start as I could not get clipped in right away and found myself in about 6Th or 7Th place. Once I got in I hammered and got into about 5Th. Nice long decent and picked up a couple of riders and was in third. We started one of the climbs and I picked up one more guy and had my eye on the leader. Got right on his wheel and stayed there for a while and recovered a bit. It looked like he was gassed a bit so I jumped on it and passed him. Never saw anybody from my group again and finished 1st. Chalk up another win for Rio Strada. Well next week I have to upgrade to the Sport class and they do 3 laps so we will see how that goes..

Jay Dillon -  Well, I got stuck at work and left 1/2 hour later than I had planned to.  So I got to the parking lot, got dressed hopped on my bike and thunk.  My rear shock was completely out of air, and my shock pump was in my garage at home.  I pedaled over to Mike's Bikes tent, borrowed a pump and got it dialed in.  Paid my $12, but now had no time for a practice lap.  Oh well.  Talked to Curtis and Mark about the course, then lined up.  I decided to not go so hard at the start this time.  The first part of the course was mostly downhill, so I let a couple of guys get ahead, then when the course turned uphill, I quickly passed them.  Never saw them again.  I was actually able to recover a bit in the flat sections of the course.  It was a good course with considerably more climbing than last week.  This time I managed to find the finish line and roll through the chute in 1st place with plenty of time to spare.
 
Curtis - Great course.  several climbs, some tricky sections, a BMX track thrown in for good measures...good times. I had zero motivation to race tonight.  Stressful work week, In court yesterday, and to top things off I left my bike at home when I left for work this am.  Duh. I pushed through my desire to go home and drink beer on the patio, and got my bike and raced.  I even lined up at the back of the pack!!  Seemed like a slow start so I was close to the front by the end of the opening section.  Hammered through a short uphill and was sitting behind Butch in (I think) second.  Played a little cat and mouse with the 2-4 riders directly behind me, but never caught up to Butch.  At the start of the last lap, 2 guys passed me on a fast descent (not my strength).  I was able to stick with them the rest of the lap, but could not ever find an area (or the legs) to get around.  We finished basically in a line, only separated by the other finishers in the chute.

 

APRIL 2008

Mark - My turn.....Race number 4 but number 2 for me. By the way, I checked the standings of my first race and it turns out that I was the winner.....yessss. Anyway, fun course with lots of room to pass and some single track. I think baby heads are the nice rocks on the course that Curtis was talking about. Never heard that term before. Same plan as before...go hard and fast as long as you can. It worked again as I was third after about a minute or so. This time I marked the guy who was in the lead. Easy to find with his big camel back on. Took the lead about half way through the first lap and them eased up a bit just to recover. Just then I looked back and saw a guy in my group right behind me. We keep trading the lead back and fourth back and fourth. At the start of the second lap my plan was to let him lead and just stay right on his wheel. This worked for a while but after coming off a big climb it seemed like he was whipped so I hit the gas and blew by him. Well....... after coming off a hard, fast right hand turn that I took to fast he passed me so I went back to the plan of staying on his wheel. I was going to stay on his wheel and then sprint pass him on the flat coming into the finish. We came upon a lapped rider and he went right by and I got stuck behind her. The guy open up a lead and I couldn't bridge up as this was right near the finish. Ended up second about 20 seconds behind.. Anyway, had fun and look forward to next week.

Jay - Ok, I guess I'll share... though part of my report I don't really want to (you'll read why later), but here it goes: Since I had the day off I decided to head out and meet Mark Stern for the race last night.  This was my first ever mountain bike race.  I entered in the Beginner 30-39 class.  Taking Mark's advice, I just put it in the big ring and let it rip right from the starting line.  I had a nice lead ripping down the fast descent into the first corner.  Nobody was near me until the first climb.  Thats when my 31 lb. Giant Reign with 6" of travel started to slow me down just a bit.  This bike is set up as an all mountain trail bike for epic back country adventures and bombing descents in Auburn, not exactly an XC race bike.  Never the less, I had stiffened up the suspension and went up the climbs with only two other riders coming into range of me.  For a big honking rig, this bike actually climbs pretty well.  I let one guy go ahead a bit, then flew past him on the 2nd fast descent.  I yo-yo'd back n forth with one or two guys for the remainder of the first lap.  Then somewhere on the 2nd lap I passed everyone again and never looked back.  Well except to let Curtis come flying by... ;-)  So, I'm pretty sure I finished in 1st place, except for one stupid mistake. Being a Prairie City rookie racer,  I was so pumped coming to the finish line that I overlooked the scoring chute marked with orange cones you're supposed to funnel into and ride down so they can write down your number and score you properly.  I just kept on riding as if I was doing a 3rd lap.  The race announcer Rick thought I was DNFing as we chatted for a minute or two.  Then he informed me that I had missed the "actual" finish line and needed to go back round and come through.  DOH!!!!  So, while I may have been the first one to get "near" the finish line, I was not the first one to cross it.  Thus, I'm sure I will be scored near last... Oh well, live & learn.  I still had a blast out there and will be back for as many as I can squeeze into my schedule.

Curtis - Good course last night.  Lots of flats, and couple good climbs, and plenty of baby heads and motocross ruts to make things interesting.  I had a very good start, but couldn't hold the wheels of two guys who went ballistic right from the gun.  I stayed with 3-4 guys in a second group. 
There was section on the course where you had to make a decision between going left up a short, but very steep and narrow climb, and going right; a longer route.  The first lap I followed a group up this climb, and got to show off some cyclocross moves by jumping over a fallen rider.  The second lap I was able to drop the guys I was with by going the long way around, as they decided to try to ride through the packed path.  I decided to put the hammer down and tried to make up time on the back side of the course that featured mostly flat baby headed sections.  Then tradgedy...I yelled "right" to pass a slower rider, and of course he MOVED right.  Ouch!!  down in the baby heads!!!  Luckily I landed on soft tissue (yes I know thats most of me) and not on any boney joints.  I was able to get right back in, but was now behind the guys I had just passed.  Took about a lap and half to regain my form.  Ended up finishing strong, but unsure what place I finished.  I will guess 6th. To be fair to the guy that hit my bars; I think his front wheel hit a babyhead and forced him into me.  Thats the only downside to the prairie city races- too many skill levels on a short course.

APRIL 2008

Curtis - Expert - Cool course tonight.  flat, fast, lots of loose rock.  One good climb and a couple rollers.  The wind made it interesting.  Gotta love the mountain bike mentality of just hammering.  I always had somebody willing to come around and pull in the wind. Great race in that with one lap to go there where 4 of the top 5 finishers in the 35+ expert class still together.  I took a bad line on an inside corner and nearly went down..bad thing was it happened just before a point where the trail narrowed to one lane only.  Took a while to get around the 2 guys that passed me and get through the traffic from the beginner and sport races.  Managed to get back with the group.  At the finish  I think we where within about 10-15 seconds of each other.  I finished 3rd or 4th.  will have to wait for the final results to confirm.

APRIL 2008

Curtis - Expert - Last week was a kinder course for me.  Very few technical sections, and climbs to my liking. This week was not only much faster. But the downhills more technical, and the climbs longer.  I took a really bad line right from the gun and cost myself valuble time.  Add Butch (you all probably kow him as the guy that rides the single speed road bike) taking off at a merciless pace, and hundreds of riders on a small loop......wasn' t good. I got gapped out on a number of occaisions because of traffic from the slower groups.  Bummer.  I will be happy when the results are posted to be in the top 10.  Wont be surprised if I am not this week.

Mark S - Well, my first mountain bike race and not quite sure what to expect. I entered the beginner class 40-49. 2 laps at 3 miles each. I talked to Curtis before the race and he told me I wont be in that class for long. He said you will see what I mean. We all lined up and I was looking around to see who was in my class. I didn't want to size anybody up because I have done that before and have had my doors blown off by those
guys. As I looked around I saw some guys with camel backs and big back packs on as if they were going to stop and have lunch. I figured I can
last for 6 miles without water so I hydrated well before the race. I pre-rode the course and I liked it. Fast and not to technical. My strategy was to go hard and fast as long as I could kind of like a crit start and wait to see who was left. I lined up in the front row and was off at the gun, or guy saying GO. Started with a long sweeping right hand turn then into a long, straight downhill and then a sharp right turn. At that point I think I was third or fourth. I kept the gas on until I was second just right behind the front guy. I stayed right behind him until about half way around. We came off one of the climbs and I was just pacing him and recovering a bit and once my heart rate came down from about 183 to about 170 I gassed it and blew by him. At that point I think I was in first. I kept going hard until the finish and didn't see anybody in my class pass me or in front but I guess we will see when the results come out. All in all I had a blast and plan on doing as many as the PCRS as I can.

MARCH 2008

Steve L - So, the morning started out kind of cool (no pun intended) at about 43 degrees but soon warmed up to about 65 with a slight breeze. After trying to make my way up to the front, having started in the back i made my way past about 1/2 to 3/4 of the field. In the first miles i was flying. We came into a bombing downhill and i was caught saying to myself. Dont hit one of these sharp rocks. Tons of guys were all flating because their sidewalls were being slashed by these rocks. So verdict is Specialized rocks...anyway coming into the first climb about a mile long with a really steep section at the end, i locked out my fork and just powered up but found myself out of breath. I thought to myself this was going to be a long day on the MTB. After about 7 miles i finally got into my MTBin Rythem. And just started cranking. It was relatively try with exceptions of a deep bogs, and large puddles and aside from the two river crossings. Somehow i ended up really muddy still. I started to get really hot and thank god for neutral feedzones i used a cup and poured the water onto my head what a relief. I dont remember much about the second lap except i could barely grip the handelbars and it felt like all my fingers had been broken. As the finally miles came i was just in a great rythem. So i ended up winning the sport 16-19 by about a while.  Another RIO win.