Escape from Granogue, DE

There is a strong racing scene up around the Northern Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania borders, and this race is the local gathering for bragging rights. Set on a private estate near the DuPont turf, Granogue is one of the best races I have ever ridden. The course, the people, the event, all top notch. The whole crew made it up for this one - Pete, Greg, Larry. Gotta get my boy Andrew back in the saddle...he's missing alot of fun.
I raced in the Single Speed class, just because I felt the need to really hurt myself I guess plus, the Blue Bike is out of commission. The 34 - 20 gear I ran was perfect for the rolling course, which had some tough little climbs, but bad for the road start as I was spun out 50 feet into the race. I'm in last place at the bottom of the first climb up to the tower.
The legs are telling me, "go go go", but we've got a long way to go so I settle into a nice rythym behind a big guy who's name I will soon learn as Fitzy. Just about every spectator we pass by along the course is cheering, "Go Fitzy"! "Get 'em Fitzy"! "Kick their asses Fitzy"! Who the hell is this guy? Turns out he's a good guy to chase because he's passing guys left and right and I'm following his lead. I start to feel like we are in a pretty good position, and up ahead I see Rutgers jerseys. That's right, the old man skipped the Vet class to line up against the college boys! I can't catch the local hero, Fitzy, until the second lap, but once I got by him, I don't see him again until the finish. There's a sprint for 10th place with a guy who has been chasing me for the last 4 miles, he says. I beat him by a wheel. My first sprint to the line and hopefully not the last, as it was intense...with legs like wet noodles and brain half fried following a big climb directly in the suns rays. I find the shade of a big oak tree and watch the start of the Pro race, with guys twice as fast as me and racing twice as long. I know they're not having twice as much fun.

Wild and Wonderful, WV...

Henry Clay 30k

This race has been around for a long time and I've always heard good things about it. I like the hard races. If you are going to race on smooth, flat dirt, you might as well be road racing. And you might as well be shaving your legs while you're at it. Few, if any, shaved legs over here in WV.

I crashed at Greg's condo in Canaan Saturday night and got in a nice cold and rainy ride in the primordial green jungles of the Monongahela National Forest. The forest up here, some 3000 ft up is like no other place I have been. A green carpet of moss and fern cover the trail everywhere, constantly damp. Truly unique and I'll always remember it as the magic carpet ride. It's like riding on a sponge. The rhododendron and mountain laurel line the trails and reach out to grab you with their wet paws. With daylight disappearing and a misty fog rolling in, I couldn't help thinking of running across a giant T-Rex out for his evening hunt. Stomping through this Jurassic playground searching for a tasty morsel clad in lycra, picking his teeth afterward with a piece of steel tubing ripped from my machine. Definitely one of the coolest rides I have done. Sunday morning we loaded up with oatmeal, bananas and coffee and headed North to Coopers Rock State Forest.

The race started with a mass start up the park road for about 2 miles and then ducked into some tough, fast singletrack. I didn't get a good start and was bogged down by some slower traffic. By the time I broke free, we were 30 minutes into the race. Time to crank it up as I see lots of open trail in front, littered with roots, rocks and lost water bottles that were jarred from bikes. I ran up every climb and bombed down every descent, passing riders, not knowing who was in my class. Just go, go, go, like a monkey with his ass on fire searching for a puddle. The final climb up to the finish was a monster and Pete and I climbed it together. Nick Waite, the winning pro, came by us like we were standing still. His 30k took the same amount of time as my 20k. 1:34. Good enough for 10th place....again.