Marysville Stage Race Weekend 4th of July

The Marysville Stage race is always a super weekend...this year I camped in the RV field which was a little hotter than up in the tree area by the first parking lot...decided on this change primarily because the signs posted at the entrance to the Osterling Farm said "one night" stay to the left by the first parking lot..."two night" stay straight ahead down by the "venue"...so following directions I camped in the RV area...it still turned out to be a fun spot...close to everything was nice...especially the FOOD...man I couldn't get enough that weekend, haven't felt like that in a while, just wanted to continuously eat (and the food and selections were great...ditto with the staff too!)

The event started out with the Friday night Time Trail...and this year I had GOOD LIGHTS...no more pin style flashlights, they were real HID bike lights...one for the helmet and one for the bar...as I was awaiting my turn, I was staning next to one of the up and coming JR racers who had the kind of set up I did last year...I just couldn't let him go out that way so I loaned him my bar light...he faired well, thank goodness....I had a blast on the trail too...fun to be able to see, the course was shorter and faster than last years...it turned out to be only a little over 3 miles...we ran down along the creek going backwards as opposed to the XC race...I finished okay in the overall Sport 'A' position 15 out of 29.

Prior to Marysville race I was reading on the MASS forum about the race rules and there was mention that you need to race the stages on the bike you are raceing in the XC...well I race SS so I guess I had to race SS in all the events...therefore thats the only bike I took...as per the following conversation in the forum:
BShow wrote:
"In the stage race final results, when you say age groups are scored against each other for the "extra" MASS race, does that include singlespeed?All sport senior 1's will be scored against each other, all senior 2's will be scored against each other... what about the singles? I assume a single geared bike must be used for ALL events to qualify?"

"Yes, that includes SS. Yes, we decided a few year's ago that if a person wants to count the stage race in the SS series they have to use an SS in all stage race events. We expect SSers to self police on this one and let us know if anything is amiss."
See you soon,kuhn

This would put me in SPORT A group throughout the weekend...don't know which is worse, I've usually been in SPORT B which consist of the Jr.s, masters and women...the JR's kill me...you've got Gunnar and Jacob blowing us all away...never raced in the 'A' group and thats the SR's, Vet's and Clydales...young 20 somethings kicking it too...HELL GETTING OLDER YOU KNOW...

So, whew, it made for some interesting events...in the Night time trail the SS'ers finished up Ryan Gerlach 1st and me 2nd...

Next event was Saturday's XC...the course had a few different "flavors" this year..not really to bad for SS'ing...oh, and BTW the weather reports earlier in the week were expecting rain on and off throughout the weekend, all we had was a little Friday night after the race, and slight early in the am....other wise a clear weekend....
Just prior to the start of the race I noticed my left foot "floating" just a bit to much...I borrowed an allen from Matt at the Bike Line tent and checked my "cleats"...all was well there, hmmmm...my left pedal looks funny, it's sticking out further than normal...grabed it and it moved in and out..damn..the body of the crank brother candys was loose...I took the end cap off and the tiny nut was gone and the little bearings were just "floating" around in there...damn...frantically looked around for another pedal...no one had one, oh well I am not DNF'ing!!!!
Off to the start...everyone I could ask I did for a pedal, no such luck...during the race it felt very loose at times but it was holding...
I had one good crash in the race...going DH, just about to go between 2 trees, there was a fat root right in the middle of the trail prior to "splitting" the trees...well my front tire "DIDN'T" go where I wanted it to...it slipped over the root and buckled under...I went over the bars slamming my right side into the big tree on the right and my left knee hit the tree on the left...then a tire ran into my back...there were 4 riders "screeching" to a halt to avoid me...had to jump up fast to get out of the way, and brother did my hip hurt...(I still have a nasty purple/yellow bruise with a knot in it too)...I let the 4 go by then jumped back on it...sore now but still grinding away...(this was into my 2nd lap)...now I am just about 2-3 miles out ready to climb out of the hay field up the first of only a couple big hill climbs, when WHAM goes the pedal...came right off...now I have just a spike sticking out (very dangerous looking)...it only scraped my left calf twice no stab wounds...the climbs were impossible with the pedal this way, way to slippery..straights or DH not to bad once I could find the grooves in the tread of my shoes...going into the finish area I was "one foot" pedaling...
Finished in 7th out of 11, pretty good time too...I still get a kick out of the fact I'm the old man of the SS group...being 50 and the others mostly in their 20's-30's, with a couple of 40's...so 4 guys got beat by an old man twice their age...:)

Saturday evening was fun...good food, live music, and tricycle races...I didn't participate in those, not my luck, I break to easy.

Sunday morning started off with the Hill Climb...last year I did it as a beginner, we "gently" rode to our start area across the highway up onto the asphalt road at the base of the climb...this yr being in sport we started at the venues start/finish area...The Pro/Experts were in front then the Sport groups...it was a MASS start...they added some new areas to the ride this year, with a creek crossing right into a very steep what turned out for most "hike-a-bike"...then we went behind a house and out onto the asphalt road...then...the long climb up the mountain started...I guess I was the only Sport class SS'er...there were a couple in the Pro/Expert group...it was tough...I certainly did some hike-a-bike stretches...Jakes Mom was on the trail and got a picture of me walking...made a funn comment..."Jake said you'd be walking about now"...meaning since I was on a SS...my finish was a respectable 18th out of 21 in 26:25...
The fun then began for the blast DH...at least this year it was better controlled...last year was a BONZI affair...

We all got a little break before the Short Track race began...This was going to prove very interesting...I've never considered a short track on a SS...and in Group 'A'...whew...it actually went pretty well...I really passed a few folks, couldn't believe that...I figured by the end of the race I would come in last and be passed by everyone...well it wasn't to be...near the end it was fun "hunting" down Phil Erlinger...I finally caught hime with only, I think 3 laps to go...passed him and it barely lasted one lap...I just couldn't keep spinning like a hammster for so long I had a 20 cog on (way to big for this race)...Phil passed me back with at least another lap to go...I kept him in my sites but couldn't close the gap...ended up passing 2 of my fellow team mates on the beginning of the last lap...coming into the home stretch, I saw Phil glance back and look at me...hehehehehe...he poured it on then...when I crossed the finish just 5 seconds behind him in 16th out of 24 he said "there was know way I was going to be embarassed by a SS'er beating me!"...we had to crack up...:)

So the weekend event was great...My young JR Buddies did superb...Gunnar taking 1st overall in all his event's and Jacob in 2nd...these guys are such a great addition to the future of the sport...us older folks were talking about how cool it's going to be to see them in about 4-6 years lined up in the Pro/Expert group...we'll all be cheering them on and pushing them hard...

It sure is nice to be home racing and enjoying the company of all my friends new and old...thanks to everyone for everything you do!!!!!!!!!!!