Potty Pose
Back when I got back into mountain biking my friend Tomas
(who re-introduced me to riding) decided to take me out to the American
Standard ride in Jim Thorpe. That day, I rode my heart out and basically died-
the thing I remember most was the guy who asked ‘What, do you not like him?’ to
my friend when we told him this was my first real ride back. I vaguely remember severely cramping legs,
barely being able to walk, and having Tomas drive us home because I couldn’t
work the clutch in my car I was that toasted. Because of that, I have always
used the Standard as a gauge to measure my fitness against. When Rudy posted
the ‘I gotta go to the potty’ ride on bikevmb.com, there was no question, I was
in. It was time to test where I was at relative to summer 1999, as well as last
year when he made it out from Sweden
to visit.
A little wet in the lot but the trails were perfect
A group of ten strong assembled at the lot on top of Broad Mountain,
and despite the grey sky and puddles in the lot, we were ready to go. Some in
the group had ridden together before, others were new so no one really had an
idea of how this would all work out. I was especially curious, not only for the
group, but also because I was riding the monkey on some tough trails for only
the second time I have ridden it. I had some good karma, though, my son had
come up with the perfect name for the monkey- George, as in Curious George!
Now I just need to find a yellow helmet...(FWIW, Terry Miller came in second with Caludia so he gets the tires, bars, and
stickers)
We started out on part of the Broad Mountain loop to avoid
just riding the road down and even though Rudy was bent on getting us soaked to
start the ride by taking us through the swamp, the only real casualty was
Rudy’s tire. After putting a new tube in and managing to install the tire
backwards we were closing in on the singletrack.
Rudy 'I never get flats' Muto changing his tube
The storms the night before left the trail a little tacky,
but not soft. Even with questionable ‘legal’ status, this trail remains a
classic and was obviously worn in from frequent riding. The majority of the
trail was clear of blowdowns, and the puddles were limited to the jeep roads
that always seem to have puddles. Weather was a little cool, but once we really
got going everyone warmed up nicely so it felt great to be in the woods. The
ferns are just starting to poke through the duff, and the leaves were just beginning
to show on the trees. Early on, though,
we lost John due to a broken frame- bummer!
We rode the classic loop as well as our fearless leader
could read the map, I cleaned the creek crossing (only person to do it!) and
every climb except one. Legs were strong, bike was dialed, and the group was
good.
All in all, I felt really good out there today. I was a bit
skeptical running fully rigid, but the only time I really noticed it was when I
was just sitting and pedaling. Whenever I was standing on it, I just let the
bike dance under me and let the tubeless tires soak up as much as possible. I
only felt one rim hit too on the front wheel due to a tombstone-rock, but after
checking the rim everything was still good as new. Josh at SVB builds a good wheel!
As far as where I am compared to the past? I am stronger
than I have ever been and more comfortable on two wheels than I have ever been.
I took a full two days off the bike prior to this ride, and only tooled around
with my son yesterday to loosen up a bit. Vegan Rob was right- rest is the key
and now I think I am going to follow the ‘block’ training pattern he
recommended for me. If I can feel this strong on race day, I think my results
will only improve. Thanks for the ride Rudy! See everyone Tuesday at Bear Creek
for the opening STXC!
Full Album-
Ride fast, take
chances-
/Dan