Binge Racing

A couple years ago I took a random photo in the parking lot of Elk Neck State Park after a really fun mountain bike ride. Fatmarc was talking to a couple guys about the ride and making animated gestures. I snapped a photo and posted it up to Instagram with the caption Tales of Radness. The end of a ride or a race is the best part...everybody has their tales of radness.

Fatmarc Tales of Radness. With Brian K, Josh and Shindler circa January 2013

The year before that picture, as I was plotting my ascension to the CAT 1 mountain bike ranks, I ended up sidelined with an injury and binge-watched the first four seasons of Breaking Bad. I was addicted. I would tell myself, "just one episode, I need to get some sleep" and four episodes later it would be two in the morning. I think I finished those four seasons in one week. I binged on a bunch of other series as well that year - it was just too easy with Netflix and Amazon piped to our TVs and Fios serving up anything they didn't have. All the shows, all the time. Night or day.

Say my name.

Here in the mid-Atlantic we are fortunate to have a ton of bike racing options. It's like the Netflix, Amazon and Fios of racing except you can find it all on one menu - BikeReg.com. So many racing options you have to make choices. This? Or that?  I'm having a blast racing cyclocross this year and every week I look forward to taking in a new episode. "Just one" I tell myself but by the middle of the week I'm signed up for two. And so it goes. I've raced seven double weekends this year including a run of four in a row that just wrapped up. Double weekends are great because it doubles your chance to end the weekend on a high note. I need all the at-bats I can get with this group. It's a tough tough group.

This past weekend was the Kutztown double weekend. I raced it last year and didn't really like it. I can't really put my finger on it. Just didn't really like anything about the course. For the Saturday MAC race I felt a little flat so even if I hadn't started fourth row, probably no chance to get up close to the top ten group. I ended up in a solid group of bad asses to start with: DLowe, Johan and then Luxxy leading us around. Reglar came around after one and we all tried to hitch a ride but he was rolling too fast. Lux took over on the Reglar chase and shook me off in the process. Johan wasn't done either and he came around me and things kind of stretched out like that from there. Lux and Johan were laying it down. I had nothing for them. Well done boys.

Luxxy pulling us around on Saturday. Photo credit: Dennis Smith

On Sunday the race was PACX and a lot of the super fast boys sat this one out. The day before Luxxy said "this course is going to ride a lot better the other way" and so it was. Not just a lot better - a totally different course. Ripping fast turns and everybody was railing them. The straights seemed much more strategic and all the turns and switchbacks had more flow. I was loving it. And I was feeling good and I had a front row start. At Sly Fox the week before I felt like I stayed in line too long. I didn't take chances to bridge up and try and get on the lead group. At Kutztown Sunday it seemed like the same thing might play out - there was a threat of a gap growing as Gerry moved by and Barry, Kelly and Reuther started pushing the pace. I kept thinking "I gotta go."  I was pretty winded and a few bike lengths opened up between our groups. "Gotta go. Now."  I put in a dig and got myself around and attached just as the pace picked up. Kelly had kind of coached me on it the day before and there I was on his wheel. On the rivet but on his wheel.

Gotta Go.

Soon after, Reuther sketched out and flatted so now it was Barry and Gerry leading and Kelly and I chasing.  Barry and Gerry started really putting it down on lap two and Kelly and I were coming detached. Kelly and I traded pulls back and forth for six laps. It was fast, fun and there was a lot of suffering. Hetrick started pulling up on the fourth lap but he trashed his wheel on a bad barrier sequence and that was that. I was in front of Kelly going into the last lap. I tried a couple digs but Kelly stayed right there. I knew I was in trouble then because I had laid it all out trying to shake him off. Kelly attacked with 1/3 of a lap to go and I just couldn't get my legs to respond. He caught me just right. I remember shaking my head, knowing it was over. But it was a good day. A great day.

This happened. And then I got dropped. But let's not focus on that last part.
Photo credit: Dennis Smith

 A couple weeks ago Tyler came home with a nasty stomach virus. We both laid around for two days moaning and throwing up. It sucked, but I dialed up Amazon...see what's new. I hadn't binged on any series in a couple years. Apparently I haven't lost my touch. Binge like a pro. Amazon had a couple shows, Red Oaks and Mozart in the Jungle. Highly recommend both (if you have Amazon Prime I guess).  There was also a single pilot show, Highston which I understand will be a series soon. The first episode has Flea and Shaq - you can't beat that and it was really great. Go binge. Well, binge on cross first. Save the couch for post season.

Peace all.