Castaic Race.Paging Mark

[Pain Freak]

One of our own racing Castiac got a first place. Mark Sheetz took a first out there. I'm hoping he'll post a RR (race reprt) soon.

[SScheetz]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

One of our own racing Castiac got a first place. Mark Sheetz took a first out there. I'm hoping he'll post a RR (race reprt) soon.

Thanks Mike, you asked for it, here it is. Warning - very long and boring too.

Hey everyone,

I guess it’s time to post something since I’m getting that little reminder that I haven’t posted in several weeks.

I ran into Mike at the Green Burrito in Castaic, almost unbelievable. I just left the race venue and he was returning from the Kernville Fat Tire Fest. I would sure like to start hooking up with you local STR riders for some fun now that the race season is done. I’m tired of racing and training hard.

Yeah, I ended the season on very high note. For the last 6 weeks I changed my training routine to include 3 days per week doing 2 hours of sprint hill intervals and alternate 3 days of 2 hour tempo. If any of you think I might have been rude up in CWP/Marshall, I was probably just beat down in the middle of an interval. My training consists of climbing for 30 second at 110% effort until I’m about to explode. Then continue climbing at 80% effort for 4-5 minutes, and then do another 30 seconds 110%. This makes my body “learn” to recover while under load, not just resting. It really paid off.

I pre-rode the course a week earlier and memorized every rock, switchback, steep face and “red-zones” and “recovery-zones”. I also made some slight but important adjustments to the bike, gearing, tires, ghetto tubeless conversion with homemade sealant (a little risky, but better than Stans). I have never been more prepared for battle. It definitely paid off.

The course is a short 7 mile loop with 1,500’ elevation gain divided into 3 climbs. The climbs are very steep but there is absolutely nothing technical. I made sure to gear my bike so I wouldn’t have to hike anything. Expert classes did 3 laps.

Lap 1: At the top of the first climb I began to put some distance on the field and started chasing Denton Bowers. Denton is a pro, so he isn’t in my class, but he became the rabbit that I set my sights on. Needless to say, the pace was crazy fast and I was afraid of blowing up by the second climb. Midway up the second climb the trail hooks around where I got a clear sight of the pack. Sweet! They were almost out of sight. The final descent into the start/finish area is a single track that is fun for everyone except us retards who ride full rigid. Its 3 miles of breaking bumps - ouch!

Lap 2: I had no idea where my competition was, so I kept up my ridiculous pace thinking either Dan Wilcox or Eric Bierman (my closest competitors) would soon be creeping up. I was still feeling strong. Up then down, up then down, up then down ouch!

Lap 3: By now it was getting harder to clear the lactic slowly building in the legs. It wasn’t until halfway up each climb that I could hammer hard again. I basically took it easy at the start of each climb until about midway when some strength would return back to the legs. A very strange sensation actually. Again, I think my training was paying big dividends. On the final descent, I let it all go. I really had very little control over the bike as it vibrated violently over the bumps. I thought for sure I could feel Eric coming up behind me ready to pass. This has happened too many times this season. Next year I’m going with a squishy fork.

At the finish I met up with Denton. He finished about 5 minutes ahead of me. I felt really good about this, he usually puts us mere experts to shame. I really expected the rest of the small single speed field to show up within minutes. Finally, after 31 minutes, here they come. It turns out I wasn’t really racing anyone. Due to mechanicals, they were really far behind. I would have rather won the race with my competitors intact.

Anyway … I ended up 3rd in state, expert single speed. Not too bad of an old guy.


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (this pic is actually from the Elings Park race, I just thought I should throw in an action shot )


I like standing on the big box.

[Pain Freak]

Not boring at all Mark, thanks and Conrats again.

[jfromlv]

Congratulations! Well done, especially beating Bierman! One of these days I'll figure out how to beat him in a Super D at Fontana.

[roadkillross]

dude tahts some mad air on the SS lol good work