2010 Over The Hump Series (Merged threads)

Good times last night!

STR tent was rockin, the heat was still there at 6pm, I like the course the way it's been ran the last couple weeks, and i finally had a good clean race with no screw ups.

I was told to bring an extra bottle of ice water for this race. I did and man it felt good squirting that on myself after a lap.

Ended up 5th in Sport 1 while finally and sucessfully hanging with the guys that were just seconds faster than me.




p.s. Manny, go sport next race!

 

I say we all pitch in $1 to pay for his registration! anyone?

 

Seriously... Good question vlad! I see Dino thanked you, but hasn't commented :-s The next question is, can he be provoked if we harass him enough about it? :-k
Come on Dino! :wave:

 

I heard he shows up with the hopes of being able to smoke some of us....... :lol:

 

This week I did much better than last week... Nose spray and Claritin worked! Next week shooting for top 20 in B3 class. Thanks for the cool photos Dino!

 

Trust me:
If TREE can finish a race... Anyone can finish a race!!!


Another "cool" female racer
Always smiling... Different colored "skirt" every week.... F-a-s-s-s-t!


Uhhh...
This racer will not be joining my (1 person) fan club any time soon
(Thought I was weird)


Sammy acknowledging his #1 fan


No comment...
Rest assured, I'll come up with a good one! Haha!


AJ (Another guy bitten by the XC race bug)


XCRider could have done another lap- no problem!




Krunner44: Another very fast female rider!!!
(Much faster than her husband)


For a guy who hasn't raced XC in years.... :clap:


Stevers
Must be some kind of Sho Air (I need a GU pack) code


Doris
First race in quite a while. Not in tip top condition. No practice. Three laps!
I was VERY VERY VERY proud of her!


A sight I am all too accustomed to! #-o


Way to go Ran-deeeeyyy!!!
New to XC racing... Lovin' it... MUCH stronger this week!


Dan definitely ate his Wheaties on Tuesday!
(Still waiting on that Race Report)


Willie smiling as she passes a fellow rider
(cough.. crushing egos along the way... cough)


Irvine Lake resident


Tree was MUCH happier this time around


Rodgerdodger and OCMoto
As you can see by their smiles, these two will be back!
OCMoto's wife was bummed about her husband's race addiction- one race!


VLAD the Impaler
Very cool.. Strong rider... Had a bad race... Glad to have met him!
Could be OMR's son (hair was near perfect after the race)


DavidB, OCMoto, Rodgedodger, Jojon...
Tree, Vlad and Dman
Six examples of the "specialness" that is STR (Tree was not on the list)


Steve
Loves to race... Love to ride... Need I say more?


Vlad, SamKT and Rumpled


MnMDan
Still waiting on that race report


Special thanks to everyone associated with Over The Hump! :clap:
Great idea... Awesome vibe... Your passion is contagious!!!

 

From the shops, to the sponsors to the racers, there's not a chance each week would go off, as it has, without everyone chipping in! Glad to have STR out in force the last 2 races. good to meet a lot of you last night in the STR tent. 12 races has allowed us to make new friends and actually enjoy hanging out after the race. Tuesday is John and my favorite "work day of the week" if you can call it that. Might sound a little cheesy, but it's pure JOY to be a part of the race....more to come! (insert tears).

Congrats to all you finished and even attempted it was a hot one. Next week's the finale, looking forward to seeing everyone there...and the Pros fighting it out as Sid Taberlay and Tinker Juarez will both be on hand. Can't wait. See you next week. -Matt

 

totally big +1

 

Sid was totally cool yesterday. OK he's a Shoair pro - he's totally cool always! On the first lap I see him walking his bike as I ride by totally out of breath and near death in the heat. I see he has a rear flat and thought I'd be cool and through him my CO2. I call it out but he advises that its a broken spoke, not just a flat, thanking for the CO2 offer anyway. This was the first and last time ever that I have or will pass Sid Taberlay.

 

Another great night at the Over the Hump races! It was hotter and dustier than last week but just as fun, I was a little slower than last week but moved up three places to 17th. Thanks to Dino for bringing the STR easy up out and being the one man cheering section he is. It was also great to see Rodgerdodger and OCMoto race for their first time, sucked that Rodger DNFed but I know he'll get it done next week!!!

 

I can't wait to be lapped by those guys! Dino: why don't you share your sad excuses for not racing with us?

 

Much better to finish the race while sitting on the bike rather than pushing it across the finish (sorry rodgerdodger). Knocked almost 10 minutes off of my time and jumped up 9 places from the previous week. I actually was able to sprint the last 1/2 mile, which told me I should have pushed myself harder than I did on some of the sections, been a little more aggressive on my attacks, etc. Lesson learned - I am actually in better shape than I give myself credit - although nowhere near where I want to be and where I should be in order to compete. Next year will be different for sure now that I have 2 races under my belt and a small taste of success. Thanks for all the encouragement out on the trails (especially Jojon slapping me on the back as he passed me up on lap 1 - so much for my 1 minute head start). I have met some cool peeps affiliated with STR and am looking forward to strengthening bonds and riding with you all more.

 

Great job Tree!

 

Gloves are tossed. Not going to try to save them. Favorite ones too! Had some 3 ride old shorts on, and a favorite trail shirt I changed into right before the race, the black was way too hot, even if work is paying my entry fees. Imagine those needles all over my body. What a mess. They're small but surprisingly ouchy. And stiff and brittle.

 

Well, my legs seemed to like the sweltering heat last night. After having derailer and shifter issues the last 2 races (singlespeeds are so much easier), I had no idea how I'd hold up against some of the hard core chicas in Women's Sport. I climbed hard and tried to keep Willie and the other 2 ladies in the front of the pack in my sight, but alas, they left me in the dust on the last lap. But I was stoked with my time, and stoked the heat didn't bug me, and stoked to see the World's Best Cheerleading Photographer Dino on the course.
Speaking of which, Dino....we need to have a talk. 1) You single-handedly got Hotchkiss to race last week (by threatening to punch him in the face if he didn't) 2) we've ridden on trails with you, and we know you've got the skills 3)I don't care how much your bike weighs, lots of riders are out there on 30lb+ bikes 4) everyone's doing it man.

I won't be out there next week (have to work late), so many many thanks to all the people who put this series on, and all the volunteers (yes, even that dude last night they had doing the leg markings who tried to draw smiley faces all over my leg), for making Over the Hump Possible.

 

So, here's the S2 race report, but Dino has to race so he can file is own to see if his prose can match his pics:

(Everyone sing along!)

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round, round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town.

But seriously...

Used the ziploc bag full of ice throughout the 1 lap warmup and up to the start of the race, and loaded the second freshie in the radio pocket in the small of my back right before the start...1st one was toast after an hour.

Tried not to go out too fast this week and pace myself, and found myself about midpack at the end of the first lap, despite a 9 minute half-lap...just as fast as when I though I was nailing it the week before. Made up some serious time on the flats and the backstretch before spinning up the backside climb, catching and passing some people before catching up to John Dang, last weeks winner. Figure I must be up with the leaders before I hear the swearing and hear his rear tire is going down. I can see the leaders, but can't make the catch, with John still killing it despite the rear tire going down. We swap places, I'm stronger through the flats and he powers away on the uphills, we're never more than 25 yards away from each other for the next two laps.

I try to keep my pace without digging too deep into the red, paying attention to the HR alarm this week and backing off when it hits 170 to keep the damn thing from beeping, unlike last week when all it did was beep. After surfing through the downhill silt and sand, nearly washing out at the bottom into the lake, I try to keep John in sight, figuring I might have enough to power ahead of him on the flats, or at least enough to duck into the cottonwood singletrack with some B-riders in between us. While we didn't catch the two up front, we figured working together, at least we could stay ahead of anyone behind.

Hitting the last climb, he accelerates and starts sprinting uphill, weaving through the B backmarkers. All I can do as I feel the bag of ice water suddenly deflate while I jump out of the saddle to stay with him is shout 5 of the 7 dirty words, prematurely introducing a few of them to some of the younger riders, and redline my effort to keep up before he backs off 3/4 of the way up the climb, deciding to nurse that low rear tire without completely deflating it. I thank him (sort of, anyway...no more air) and push on, hoping one of the leaders has cracked.

I roll it in, hoping for a top 5, and am stoked to see I got 3rd...best finish yet* (No Metcalf, he's got the series win in S2 locked up, so everybody's a place higher than they probably would have been). John Dang rolls it in about 20 seconds back in 4th place, good enough to join Jeff Lewis (this weeks winner) in jumping ahead of me in the overall, with me dropping out of the top 3 swag positions into 4th.

Going into the final week, having raced every Over-The-Hump race this year, I've got the Flint Megabowl position locked up, although I think you should get bonus points if you take your bike's age multiplied by 2, and its older than you are (2x14=38, and I'm only 37), or if you're bike is heavier than your age.

Here's to next week, and a cooler one at that to wrap it all up.

 

My Race RR

I had a great race.
So going into this race I really wanted to trim 2 min. off of my time(50min.) from last week. This would have got me very close to the 30% and a pint glass. But in my head I said that 1 min would be fine.
Pre race was about 8 water bottles, 1 and 1/2 Power bars, before the race. Hot yes but I know my body and what I needed. I also planned on a 100oz. pack and one water bottle just for wetting my head 4 times on the track. This worked great for me. I did just the loop on the lake side just to see the change they did that dipped down onto the "beach".

First lap was really good for me. A little slow on the single track just after the split. Mid chain ring on both climbs,but the 2nd HAB on the lake side i had to run due to traffic. The first HAB(Dino's pic) I picked my line and just NAILED it.:bang: Man that felt good.

Second lap I needed to get into the granny gear the last 1/3 of the first climb. Some of my home boys from Surf City was cheering me on at small DH chute and because of that I passed a guy coming out of that right hand turn. Thanks guys!

I pushed it more on the flats but still tried to save some for the second climb. The second HAB on the lake side I hit traffic AGAIN and had to run it up. When I got to the last climb I needed to hit granny again half way up. Granny and 3,4 cog was a good work out. I got my HR down a bit on the grass. Then the single track and the willows I did a good pace but saved a bit for the last big push. Out of the willows it was game on to the finish. I had a clear run to the finish with no traffic. No one to reel in too. Man when I got the the finish line/cool down area it took maybe 2 min to get my HR back down to an OK level. After that I yelled out a big hoot! Damn that was a good ride!

So I knock off 1 min off my time from the week before!!:bang:\\/:clap: So I figure with the TWO dismounts I had to do at the HAB's was worth 30 seconds. So after looking at the results in my class(B4) the 4 guys in front of me was only a 40 second spread. I'm sure if I could have rode the whole track I would have been able to jump up 2 or 3 places higher. Very happy with my run.

Post race for me was strawberrys,grapes,about 3 water bottles and 1/2 a Power bar.

Things I learned from this race:
1) Pre race I set my body up right and I had no problems.
2) I have to learn to read traffic(HAB) better to find the best line.
3) Need to find some bursts of engery to pass riders in front of me that are not on my pace.
4)Dino needs to find a cute cheer outfit with a skirt so us racers can take our mind off the hurt.:wave::clap:

I want to thank the promoters for being able to run a class race. Thanks to all the folks that helped out run the race. Big props to Dino for kicking us all and getting all the folks out there. His RR and pictures are 1st class all the way.

To those of you who think "I could never race" just get out and ride your bike at your pace for 50-60 min. You have one last chance. This is a great track to run on. A little bit of everything and not that wild and crazy. The things you will learn about yourself is priceless.DO IT!!

And Tree giving out his race advice:bang: Thats got STR love all over it!!

 

One week to go...

OTH #11 was one hot race. I pulled in about 3:30 to setup our booth and the temp on the car showed 96 degrees. This week was a challenge from me. I was not racing for a cup or racing for points, I was just trying to finish. The heat, lack of sleep and busy weekend had me cooked about half way through the first lap...not a good sign. I pedaled on and did what could to just get through. Thanks to Don (S4) and Willie (SW) for offering a wheel to pull on the flats for as long as I could hang. Also big thanks to Dino for cheering me and everyone one else on each lap.

The highlights were short: 1) Managed to at least not finish last 2) Even a second to last place still knocked off a lower result earlier in the series 3) On the third lap was faster than some pros on pipe jump section and sandy downhill slide. So while things weren't working so great on the up or flats this week, I could still have some fun on the down

I look forward to getting back on track for the final race! It is kind of bitter sweet...while a part of me is a bit happy to wrap the season up, I bigger part is going to miss all the great people I've met and grown to know over the series. Big thanks to Matt and John, you guys do a great job and Silversage has been proud to be a sponsor.

DINO - I agree with everyone, you need to get out there! Silversage will pay your entry fee, you have no excuse

 

Photos are all up, enjoy!

http://highrevphoto.com/photos/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=2092

 

I was "not in tip-top condition". What an understatement! Thanks Dino for the support and encouragement and cheers and hugs when I was feeling so discouraged. A number of factors (mechanical and personal) came together that night to slow me down. Oh, well, I finished. That's racing. I actually enjoyed my last lap the most. The sun was setting and it was so beautiful and peaceful, and no one was left on course to pass me.