schnauzers.ws

The
other members of team Stop -n- Drop start showing up and we immediately
go to work on Jeff’s mecanical. His hanger and derraileur got screwed
up on the trip back from idaho.

We
are the only team from JAR this year and there is one solo rider.
Steve, Bob (the solor rider), and I pre-ride the course on Friday
afternoon. It has been radically changed this year to eliminate the
parts where even the expert riders had to get off the bike. We
immediately start out with a lengthy climb (approx. 2 miles) and a
nasty rock garden. It hasn’t rained here in a month and the course is
fast and even the babyheads are navigable. The added downhill section
this year is equally long and buff! We clock in some great speeds and
manage to ride nearly all of the course except for a couple of quick
steeps that we didn’t know about around a corner. Nothing is that
technical at this point, although you definately need to be quick and
nimble through the many rock gardens.
Back at camp the camelback is hung for raceday.

I
prepare a nice dinner for the family and the whole camp gathers for
movies projected on a giant screen before retiring for the night,
This race is not about competition for me. I know I am not good enough
to win it, I just want to be a part of it and see what my personal best
can be, If the fun factor isn’t there, than I don’t want to do it. The
other thing is that the winner only gets a plaque and bragging rights.
That just isn’t a great motivator for me.
Race day! Team Stop -n- Drop is ready to go (l to r: Jeff, Dan, Steve,
Me)!

The thundering herd lines up at the gate and steve has his game face on as our starter.

On your marks, get set, go!


Back
at base camp I get ready to ride in the second position. Yes, I know
the Coke is the wrong thing to do but it’s my red bull.

Just
then the curse of Allamuchy begins to happen. The skies darken and
within minutes it’s raining. Raining?!? The weatherman said a beautiful
weekend! Crap! The fun is starting to diminish. I recompose myself and
remember that I put the team together so that we could do our best. No
quitting now. So my father checks out my bike and my son gives it the
final once over before I head out.


At
the start/finish I watch the first riders come in. The first one come
in at 53 minutes. That’s fast! Almost 30 minutes less than last year.
This guy is way ahead too. The next rider doesn’t come in until seven
minutes later. Steve scans in at a respectable 1:17 and off I go. It’s
still just drizzling and the course is dry. I make it in as the skies
open up at 1:31. A little longer than I wanted, but OK. Here I am after
my first ride. No that’s not sunburn, I was really trying my hardest.

My
next shot out is at 8:30. It’s dark and raining now. Immediately I
realize that all the rock gardens I was able to ride the last time have
become trechorously slick and I don’t see them until I am on them. I am
walking more stuff now and cursing every step of the way. The back DH
is still fast though, even with the fog that has rolled in and I make
up some of the hike-a-bike time. I come in wet and muddy at 1:40. Ten
minutes more than the last and I think with the rain that’s not bad. I
shower, eat, and then sleep as long as I can. Funny, but I wake just in
time for my 3:00 AM ride (yuck) and lie in bed contemplating whther to
ride in the rain or not. Remember, it’s a bout fun not torturing
myself. I peak my head out side the tent and it’s not raining. Now I’m
committed. I dress and head to the transition area. Three minutes
before Steve comes in and the skies open up again. Someone doesn’t like
me! Too late now. Steve sees me so I have to go and I do. It’s eery
now. There’s only a few of us crazies on the trail now as many have
decided to sleep in. I’m going slow because now all the lines that were
made are gone and more big granite babyheads have been exposed. The
trail has changed dramatically since the Friday preride. As I am wading
along I feel glad that this is private land that has an etire year to
recover from this race since it is off limits fto the public. Coming
down the stretch with three miles to go I hit an unseen babyhead and
what was to be my first OTB of the race is saved when my knee slams
into the riser bars. I don’t know what would have been worse because
the stars I saw and the pain I felt could have been easily offset by a
battered shoulder and muddy body. The pain is bad but I can still move
it although it is stiffening up. I grit my teeeth and trod on finishing
in 1:49. How did I do that? I thout I would be over the two hour mark.
I quickly decide as the torrential downpours continue that this will be
my last lap. In the end everyone does three laps, but Jeff shows his
dedication by doing a fourth in an even harder downpour. Unofficially,
we end in 18th out of 38 teams. I can live with that.
Now I have to think about next year. Will the curse continue. Do I want
to deal with the weather? The fun-factor of this race is fading. For
the $130 to enter I could have a nice camping trip in West Virginia.
We’ll see.

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