Blake checks in from the Manatoc Challenge in Ohio.

The trip out to Ohio for Manatoc was full of surprises. Starting the trip off with with the airline losing my bike and myself losing my own bag….DOH!… was not the best of starts but Jamis rep Matt Majka hooked me up and soon I was on a 650b cruisin the course.

Saturday was Manatoc demo day and Jamis was out letting people shred a fleet of 650b’s on the race course and its adjacent trail network. Ohio isn’t a place where you might think a plush big travel bike like the 650b would thrive, but the terrain and people just eat it up.

The guys at 331 productions did a top notch job on the event…. the race food was catered and their was a live Flight for Life swoop chopper landing, Hollywood style.

Cratering….I think the record was 18 crates set by a 7 year old

Oh yea.

Between working the demo with Matt, chatting it up with Jamis fans and pre riding the course on the d29 (my bike that showed up at 3:20am) I neglected my body and didn’t give it the necessities it needed such as you know, things like water. Or food. Needless to say the Saturday afternoon CX race didn’t go too well.

Sunday was the XC race. Running on low levels across the board, geared up in baggy’s and a collared mesh tech shirt I picked my place on the start line next to the guy in jean shorts who I have named the humbler. He’s the guy who might not invest in all the fancy gear but nonetheless throws down come the weekend. I’m pretty convinced he puts on the jean shorts just to hurt your feelings if you don’t beat him. And I didn’t.

Kevin and the guys who put on the race at the boyscout camp do a top notch job and putting together a fun course. After a successful weekend of demo and racing Matt and I headed over to Mike’s casa for some post weekend shenanigans. Mike’s got one of the coolest pump tracks in his backyard I’ve ever seen.

We ended the weekend in proper Ohio style with a BBQ and bond fire.

The weekend wasn’t anywhere in the top 10 in terms of race performance but the despite all my hangups I still had a great time, made some good friends and saw a race scene that puts on a great series with the interest of racers and fans in mind. Perhaps next year I’ll be back for another weekend of Manatoc.

First things first – Congrats to Robbie and Rotem for putting in big efforts at the World Championships this past weekend at Mt. Ste. Anne in Canada.

Being in the big show is a career highlight and one that I never was able to achieve. To see them participating, giving their all, and challenging themselves on the world platform is exciting to see and inspirational. Its been awhile since Jamis had 2 riders on their bikes in World’s XC in a long time, too.

Big ups, guys!

(here’s Rotem, #60, in the Elite XC start. Pretty much any guy in this photo could rip your legs off at any given race.)

Robbie in the team relay race

While the real pros were off banging bars with amped up racers from around world, Sager was reaching into his bag of courage and flying into Fargo, North Dakota as part of his travel plan to the Laddies Loppet in Maplelag, Minnesota.

The guys who run the Maplelag resort and camp put on a class act of an event. 3 stages – TT, STXC, and XC make the travel worth it as a stand alone event, but then you combine one of the best family environments I’ve seen at a bike race, ever, amazing food, a tremendously welcoming and warm vibe, with a great course, perfect weather and the best dirt of the year…this is what I’m talking about when it comes to bike racing.

We all aspire to do the “pro” races around the country, and there’s a time and place for the pure business side of competition, but Maplelag, and most leading regional events in general, are where the heart of our sport is. Competition is nothing to sneeze at (fast guys live in every region), the courses are generally so fun you get lost in the pleasure of riding and forget to race sometimes, and most importantly – they fit the life style of today’s passionate cyclist – affordable, family friendly, competitive, and convenient.

You might argue with northern Minnesota being convenient, but I’ll challenge you to find Granby, Sun Valley, or Downieville near to much, either. Today’s modern bike racer, be it a professional or hungry newbie, generally is balancing all that life throws his or her way….and if you can’t juggle/balance life while attending a bike race, well guess what’s going to be the first to get dropped?

That’s right – the bike racing.

Jay Richards at the Maplelag ranch (that’s the Texan in me, sorry) has it figured out and I highly recommend you add this event to your calendar for 2011 – and that’s even if you have to fly to the race. Fargo’s only 50 miles away, Minneapolis maybe 4 and some change – bring your whole crew – teammates, wife, kids, brother/sister/neighbor….you’ll not be let down by the experience.

We’ll be back next year, no doubt.

Kids’ racing summed up the weekend. Every time you walked near the course, the little rippers were busy rippin’.

Perfect dirt.

The Willy Wonka cabin. Somehow inside there was a double bed, a single bed, and a wood-fire stove.

Only about 15% of the lodge’s lunchbox collection.

Kids bikes were 1:1 with adult bikes, if not out numbering the older folks’ machines!

I gave one of the weakest podium bubbly sprays of the year…but I don’t think anyone would have appreciated getting hosed down with champaign.

Anyone who’s been to Mapelag knows this station. Endless cookies and coffee, and lot of downtime are the devil’s handy work.

We have guys all over the place this week – Blake is in Ohio at Manatoc’s Big Valley Race, Sager is at the Maplelag stage race in Minnesota, but the big news is Rob and Rotem at Worlds, eh!

Robbie raced the U23 race on Friday….it was a day in the trenches, a battle of which only he can describe:

I’ve certainly had better days on the bike- like, you know, every other day of my life! Today was one of those days where I couldn’t get out of my own way. Warming up I felt great, everything was looking right and I was ready to do some damage. However, when the race started I began to come apart right away. It’s difficult to know what the problem was because I had never felt like that before. For the first 4.5 laps I was struggling and just managing to stay up right and moving forward. Toward the end of the race I started to ride a bit better and moved up in the positions and managed to finish the same as last year in 32nd- top North American. It certainly wasn’t the race I was aiming for or expecting but it isn’t the end of the world. I still have two more years to try to chase down the podium and I feel it is more than enough time. On the bright side some early morning rain made the course perfect for our race. The track was really dry and dusty all week from unseasonably warm weather which was actually making the course a bit difficult- you couldn’t see the lines from all of the powdery dust. This course is certainly a mountain bikers course and despite the conditions would be fun.

In the end I’m a bit disappointed but still excited about racing and looking forward to next season!

Rob

Meanwhile, Rotem is racing the Elite race on Sunday…that’s a lot of sitting around at a French Canadian ski resort during late summer. He checks in during the most difficult part of being a pro cyclist: Waiting.

Being a pro cyclist traveling all the time is no easy deal, good thing I love what I do everyday.

Since June I’ve lived out of a suitcase and one big bike bag…it feels that I’m always on my way to somewhere, never settling down, or completely unpacking. Because of this lifestyle, you have to be able to consistently adapt to new places, new people, changing languages and cultures. I guess the place where all traveling cyclists find there “common-ground” is WiFi. When arriving at a new temporary house or race venue, it’s always about hooking to a solid internet connection. That’s how you ground.

After saying goodbyes and a lot of thanks to my host-family in New York, I took a short flight to Canada where I joined the Israel national team. Its not your typical national team – it’s one big family – 5 guys and gals, each from different category, with one mechanic and one coach. when I arrived early this week in Mont Sainte Anne, our Israeli apartment and the venue was kinda lonely – an empty complex occupied by mostly officials. Two days later and the race venue is all crowded with tents, booths, spandex racers, downhillers, 4Xers, spectators and media. This is the World Championships of Mountain Biking… in Canada…it can’t get any much better than this. But, back to grounding…the internet connection was just impossible and irritating get ahold of…sudden yelling could be overheard throughout the day – typically from people getting tired of trying to check their emails, facebooking, and then losing their connection. At least we had each other in the Israeli house – I mean who else can I speak Hebrew with around here?! That’s old school. With this “family” on the road with me, dinners feels special again, and everyone joins in for the cooking/BBQ and the cleaning after.

How about the race course?

Well, what can I say… a real hard man’s course – nowhere to rest, steep climbing, super technical sections all over the place… a complete dust bowl during the week when temperatures stayed around higher 80’s, now it’s cloudy and has begun to rain. Canadian weather is even more unpredictable than Colorado weather. I’m just keeping my mind open for every scenario, I could be racing a whole different course tomorrow it dries up… I wish I had my dualie Dakar here for the extra cushion over this bumpy course…but it will definitely help to ride Saguaro 2.0 tubulars on my hardtail, and that keeps it EXTRA Euro, you know.

Either way it always comes down to 2 hours of racing mountain bikes and it’s always like putting pain and fun in a blender and topping that milkshake with good vibe and people! Hells yeah people, this is the big show and I’m excited for tomorrow!

notes :
* this a HUGE blow up bag, and yes there’s a launch ramp before it… looks sweet! Sunday afternoon I’ll work on my double back flips.

* new star of David champion outfit! We’re trying to keep up with the Dutch regarding national team style points.

* I guess you can be at Eurobike and World’s at the same time. Flat pedals and RST fork? I guess they’re saying I’m “casual performance at a value”.

Last note:

Blake forgot his carry-on yesterday on the flight to Ohio. A carry-on which had his shoes, pedals, racing kits, gloves, glasses…pretty much everything you need to race a bike. Whoops.

Now his carry-on is lost in airport land and the time, the reunion undetermined at this point. Left with just the clothes on his back, a new albiet not necessarily temporary uniform has be acquired:

Rotem Ishay checks in from New York

Ouch! That was painful…but nothing feels so good like racing a World Cup in the U.S!

Racing in the states has a sweet taste and atmosphere unlike anywhere else. I mean, where else can you get a real size BBQ meal on the finish line, good old Glory national anthem on the start line, and a show-band performing at the venue…I love it.

America always gives the great feeling that says “go big, or go home”.

I had no soft landing in U.S. coming from a long summer in Israel…I came straight into the annual fair at the town of Rhinebeck, in upstate NY… that’s was like having a triple shot espresso of America, no cream or sugar.

The fair was classic – pig racing, dog jumping contests, horse pulling, cotton candy, 3,000 calories milkshakes and “join the navy/marines/air-force” booths at every corner… I love it all, for sure, and it definitely settled me into the pace of things here quickly, just like I wanted. At the fair animal exhibition I even found a friend that might have arrived on the same flight as I did…

Getting together for the World Cup finals we had the international Jamis house – Americans, New Zealanders, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and one Israeli. Imagine a beautiful log house with 5 different ‘Merican accents, trying all to communicate in English…or sign language.

Race day was a bit hot, almost 90’s, just enough for the European guys to put on their ice-vests for the warmup. I don’t know about that, I felt pretty good in this weather after coming from the Middle East!

This race was the first race where I was able to debut my new Israeli national champion jersey. We’re still working on the FULL kit, but one step at a time. I will also point out how ultimately Euro and American my 2011 Jamis dXC is:

Euro- 26″ 1000g carbon hardtail frame , Edge (Enve)  Composites tubular wheels with Geax Saguaros, and 100mm travel Sid XX World Cup, and single bottle cage.

‘Merican – Tapered 1.125 to 1.5 headtube, QR15 Sid XX World Cup fork, riser bar, and Chris King in-set headset. I’m particularly proud of the tapered head tube/QR15 set up. This is like putting smoke stack engine pipes on your Audi rally car.

Race wise – I was hurting like hell for the first two laps until I have found my race pace again after not racing for a few weeks. It was a day of hard work at the office – progressing slowly and catching people one by one, finishing #55 with a big smile…

After I got my hands on a bottle of maple syrup it’s time to wrap my gear up and head to Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, where we’ll be visiting once again in the beautiful province of Quebec for the World Championships.

Boom…..my second Breck Epic is in the books.

With the up’s and down’s this race has dolled out, and because today was the last day,   I decided to leave it all out there on the course. Today’s stage was a bit more suited for roadies and trackies than the pure single track shredders, so I decided to roadie on the guys and ride my D29 hardtail (compared to the XCR I’ve ridden in every stage of every stage race this year). I’m on a new 2011 version of the d29 and have only three rides on this puppy…what better way to get a feel for her than with 14 miles of jeep road climbing up to the continental divide.

With the course description previously mentioned, some of the racers were on more of a tour than a race, Ross opted for the baggy’s.

The neutral rollout was actually neutral today. Woah. The roadies of the group were sitting behind the lead car like rabid wolves waiting to chase down their prey.

As the race got underway I decided that I would leave it all on the course today and go for broke, after all I’m getting a belt buckle after this stage that say’s BAMF’er on it. I soon found myself riding with some people I havent seen all week except for at the start and finish, I’d lie if I said this didn’t motivate me.

At the end of the day I was happy to sit down and feel like I didn’t anything else to give, it’s a healthy feeling. Like I mentioned, this stage was fast fast fast and the roadies were in paradise. Not that Colby doesn’t have skillz, but he is a trackie. Colby summoned his Jedi powers (as Mike the race director would say), made a balsy move and it worked out, good on ya Colby.

The race is over and I think everyone is pretty satisfied with that. Our bodies are telling us no more but I don’t think any of us can get enough of the sweet trails we’ve been riding this week. Time to lay the bikes down, pick up a brew and let it all soak in. The Breck Epic is an awesome race put on by those who truly love mountain biking. Mike and his crew do a top notch job and to say this race is anything short of an awesome experience would just be plain wrong.

Until next year- Big Black

Troopers, these guys are. This stage took them to 12,000′ via a long hike-a-bike that was followed up by a fast mountain side descent. I can’t really tell you much about that section of the course or how hard it was except that to relay the guys said it was a rough climb followed up by an unpleasant walk to the summit…

You see, while Blake was pushing his XCR through scree and gravel, I was riding a bike path backwards along the course to meet the guys on the DH.

The racing was animated today by with guys recovering at disproportionate rates to each other, some finding their legs and others finding deep and dark places they’d rather not visit.

Curiously, I saw Tyrone’s 29′er stashed at feed zone 2, which directly preceded a long flat bike path section and flowly single track where you’d want a 29′er, but prior to that section/feed zone, you’d want a dualie. I’m not a fan of bike swapping during races unless you have a mechanical, and even then that sort of is a grey area….but like the Euros say, if its not taped off, its not illegal.

But, let’s get back to Blake’s dark place.

The hurt locker, pain cave, whatever you call that state where every pedal stroke is painful and you can’t seem to forget any moment of time and suffering, acutely aware of every second and every synapse in your body and the pain that is transmitted…yet you soldier on, taunting the darkness to creep in more tightly around you. Just to see how long you can linger in its shadow? Or is it to prove that the mind really is the master of the body?

Keep pushing. Going slower only makes the pain last longer.

Blake checks from Summit County:

Breck Epic Day 4 is in the books and it was the longest stage of the race thus far and pretty tough.

However, since having back to back days of SUFFERING I decided to ride easy early on and try to actually enjoy my riding. In this process one would think you would end up going slower, since you’re riding at an easier pace.

Up the high country however there seems to be a paradox: go slower to go faster. I had a great day today and finally didn’t get chick’d by Pua, although she did give me a strong run for my money. Today’s climbs were long and hard…..but the descents were awesome.

Tomorrow’s stage is pretty gonna be one of those where I debate bringing hiking boots, but I’m looking forward to it anyway. In more important news, the new season of Bear Grills starts tonight on Discovery I think something exciting happens.

Sager took some pics. Enjoy.

Until Tomorrow- Big Black

There’s really no singular aspect of cycling that I’m (sager) worse at than racing at 10,000′.

So naturally, when given the opportunity to join Blake for a few stages of the Breck Epic, I jumped at the chance.

Breckenridge is where I first sampled the mountains when I was a young lad straight out of high school in Louisiana. A 24hr non-stop drive brought us to Bald Mountain, which is here in Breck, and we promptly hiked it, and then succumbed to massive altitude sickness.

I’ve generally avoided this place since then, but it was time to get back on this pony and see what these trails were all about.

These guys are on day 3 of their adventure, yet that didn’t slow down the start pace, or simmer down anyone’s aggression in the group. What’s the big rush, Maaaaaaaaaaan?

The trails started off simple enough, Tahoe/Rubicon-esque jeep roads that despite being smooth, took the Gibson brothers off their bikes.

Somehow our 120lb rock crusher Blake managed to flat our unflat-able TNT tires, but in a stroke of genius, he did it within 10 seconds of the feed/tech zone. What’s most baller about his spare is the brand new _still_has_the_fuzzies_ tire that he grabbed. PRO. Is that thing armor-all’ed?

Later, things got pretty, then steep, then cold, then wet. I hate numb fingers in August.

Heavy gravel.

I’m a slow walker/pusher at 11,000′.

Thanks for waiting, guys.

Brady and I stopped at the top to warm up and put additional clothes on, eat Oreos, lube chains, and such…..a good idea in some regards, but then the trails and roads were empty. Empty roads are boring, but

Empty trails in the high country without any fear of on-coming traffic is a true gem to enjoy. Snyder would be proud as I over shot a turn full of large boulders (something to do with not being able to feel my brakes) so in a quick decision to choose riding over crashing, I ALS’d* it OVER the rocks, into the wild country, and Canadian Line’d* it back to the trail. We need a glossary or footnotes on this page, now.

What made today rad was we saw/experienced a little of everything here in Breck. Crisp sunny mornings, long walks on mountain goat trails in cloud mist, rainy/greasy dirt roads with numb fingers and inoperable thumbs, Little Colorado Trail with the perfect amount of dust and grease, hand thawing temps at the bottom of the course, and a big vat of Ruffles potato chips at the finish.

Proper.

*glossary:
ALS – Alternative Line Snyder. To take a line that isn’t on the map, rule book, or approved of by USAC. Not to be confused with:
Canadian Line – to create one’s own shortcut, without malice, but clearly bending the rules such that they work in your favor.

Mudgasm at the Bikes for Bovines

Well my last mtb race in New England for the year is in the books. This year it ended on a high note, I was able to pull out another W. This was my last East coast race last year and it ended poorly so I had something to prove to myself and for Blake since he was at the race last year and failed just as bad as I did. Last year the two of us had more wardrobe and mechanical malfunctions than both Lindsey Lohan and Brittany Spears combined after a big night out when geting out of a Limo. This race is a different one it isn’t your normal new England race by any means. This course seems more suited in the Mountain states series. The course is two 13 mile laps with over 2,000ft of climbing per lap. What? I know thats what I said. Atleast you get some sweet singletrack descending after all that climbing unlike some races with that much climbing when they send you down fire roads as a reward.

The race site itself is pretty different too. The name of the race may give it away “Bike for Bovines”. I bet you can’t guess where the rae was. That’s right a farm with sheep, cows, bees, and tomatoes. The farm is also one of the largest maple syrup sugarers in New England. Maple syrup is usually produced in a “Sugar Shack” but this place has a “Sugar house”
example: sugar shack (my brothers)

Sugar House

The night before the race i attended my cousins wedding and I got my Dance on and I think while I was out on the dance floor popping and locking I think may have acidently performed a rain dance because when I awoke on race day it was raining cats and dawgs out there. I was Stoked I prob only have two races in the mud this year and thats just plain wrong.

At these local races I normally like to start out easy with the rest of the guys and ease into the race but considering that fact that I really wanted to win this one and by a large marging I went as soon as the climb started and never looked back. I had some close calls out there but made it unscathed. I chose to ride the 29er again, I think I might be one of them converts. If only we had a duallie 29er I would be as snug as a bug. Anywho the 29er rocked the rocky rooty descents and barrelled perfectly through the mud. I had a good time riding in some proper mud and slick roots.

Photo #4

See you guys at Windham.

Every now and again we all have one of THOSE days and today my number was plucked.

I knew today’s stage and knew that it would be a tough one. 41 Miles with significant climbing and not too much recovery. Most bad days are spent in the hurt locker so to speak. Somebody rides by and asks “how ya doin?” where you reply “tired”, or “cracked”. Today there was nothing to be said except maybe some internal conversations.

Friend and old roomie Kiel Reijnen and I refer to this dark place as hanging out with penguin. You see penguin is the voice who replies to you when you talk to yourself. Penguin is the only person who understands your pain. Penguin is really the only person to help talk you though these rough times. And well, Penguin and I had a long, overdue chit chat today.

Thanks Penguin.

Shattered and a little demoralized I sat in self pity for a few hours. Then at the racer meeting it all clicked. I had a bad day, big whoop. My friend Colby triple flatted today. Another friend Colin collapsed his lung yesterday, needless to say things could be worse. I’ll drink to that.

Tomorrow’s stage is sure to dish out some pain, but I’m pretty sure my talk with penguin and mental reboot should serve me well. Mt. Guyot was last years toughest stage in my opinion and this year it might be again. After crossing the continental divide….twice, you are forced to climb out of a valley via the steepest roads in the county.

“The climb back-American Gulch. You’re going to turn a corner about 3/4 of the way up and what you see in front of you is going to crush your soul.”

With that being the case, better load up.

Dad has been a champ the last couple days. While I’m out racing, he’s navigating maps that might as well be drawn with crayon to the aid stations. The places they have these aid stations would challenge an eagle scout to find.

I think dad might be the only support member batting 100% on making all the feeds…Thanks, a ton.

Tomorrow should be an adventure if nothing else. Time to race hard and enjoy the sweet trails.

Big Black