Early Morning Cyclist Inspiration

Moonstruck Bike

The Morning Moon was OK

But the Sunrise Won

So Close. So Far! So What?

If you haven't tried racing at a local level I highly recommend it.  Local races are meant to get people out doing things that they enjoy in a friendly competitive way.  It also raises money for local trails systems to keep them available, usually for free.  It also brings business into the community.  The Amundsen Fat Bike Dash is one of those races.  It is a fundraiser for the Roberts Farm Preserve.

So Close.: I knew I could do fairly well in this race based on the limited field this year.  I had pulled out a forth last year and knew I was racing against the same basic people.

5K Winners

So Far!: Ten minutes into the race the places were pretty much decided.  I was going full throttle with all the power and skill I could muster and still couldn't close the gap between me and the person ahead of me.  And yet, I was able to hold the gap between me and the person behind me.  Everybody has their set skill level and it is harder to break out of it than you might think.

10K Winners

So What?: At the end of the race it doesn't matter.  The top 4 finishers took an extra lap around the course for fun and then a group of racers met for a post race beer at Norway Brewing Company.  Everybody got to talk about the same race and how that rut caught your wheel and threatened to send you off into the woods.

I'm getting pretty full up on hats.

On the other hand, my wife and I both landed podium positions and it DID cover our entry fees by paying for our post race treats.  And I won this cool hat for Oxbow Brewing.

2019 Results

And speaking of local races, it you happen to like trail running.  Check out the Longest Day 5K at Libby Hill.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm one of the organizers.

Norway Maine Trail Perfection

After riding the same trails back and forth to work and then running the dogs on the weekend I wanted something different.  All I had to do was ask and a ride was cultivated just for me.  The Western Maine Cycling group offered to lead a ride around the groomed trails in Norway.  They also provided all the pictures for this blog.

Most of the group

From a Friday night invite we got 11 riders.  It would have been 13 but they hit a deer en-route to the ride.  13 would have been unlucky and it was certainly unlucky for them.  Not only did they get a mashed up car but missed out on some of the best riding all year.  The riding group is very inclusive and welcoming to all skill levels.

Somebody got a video of the rippin' trail conditions. I'm the one in red in the first part of the video.  Don't feel bad if you didn't recognize me, all us fatbikers look the same.  

I'm not sure where we are here.  Lake Pennesseewassee, Maybe

The Norway trails are one of Maine's worst kept secret trail systems that nobody knows about.  Worse kept because they certainly want to share it with as many people as possible.

The lake looks so perfect that there is NO WAY anybody could crash on it.

 So I'm on the lake "just riding along" and enjoying the view.  Wham! And all of a sudden a deep ice rut appears diagonally across the trail and I get to meet the ice, real quick.  It was total inattention my part and a Fuckin Meow moment.  Nothing that a chiropractor can't clear up for a few boat payments.

 A Relive video may eventually show up here: Norway Trail Perfection

After the 2 hour, 16 mile ride we headed to Norway Brewing Company for beers and brunch where we hung out and talked to the people we were just riding with.  If you happen to be on Strava, ride the trails and go for beers a the brew company, you might just notice a similarity between trail names and beer names.  Mr Grumpypants told me himself. 

I'm looking forward to my ride to work with these conditions tomorrow.  Wait, did I just say that?

Snowmaggedon - 2019

They don't call it snowmaaggedon for no reason.  There was plenty of snow.  So much snow that they had to snow blow the course before the race because it was unpack-able.  Thanks guys, it worked great!  Of course no fatbike race would be well represented if there wasn't a reference to the temperature. Which for fatbike racing seems to be one of 2 things...So warm the trails are all mush or so cold that you question your sanity.

In all honesty, it had warmed up to 5F by race time and the temp wasn't the issue.

The course consisted of areas that needed 3 distinct skill sets. Half the ski trails were well packed and raw power was the answer here.  The other half were loose and rutty.  In these sections skill was required to ride the ruts without crashing into the ground.  The last section, and the best, was the tight twisty single track that needed just the right amount of nerves and knowledge to take the corners without sliding off into the waist deep powder.

Looks like a handup but it is a handdown. Thanks Max, much needed agua.

There were a lot of racers that possessed all of those skills.  I possessed all those skills but only at about 80%. proficiency of the winners.  Some racers only did one of those things best and would fly by you in one section only to be passed back when the terrain changed.

Stick a fork in me.

So at the end of the race I came in 20th.  Pretty much mid pack and 30 minutes behind the leader.  Those who know me know I'm a decently strong rider, and I got dusted.  I tip my helmet to to all those guys. My wife also raced and managed to pull off a 4th place in the Women's B race, nice job!

The Results