Darkhorse 40 2011

mattybfat said:
Easy Hayes you got like three rides on it, it takes 10 then explodes. Hope you didn't jinx yourself and your crackendale 😀...
Click to expand...

Guess I better order the "Seven" soon then, with the 3-4 week wait I should have about 10 rides on the 'Crackandfail" by then🙂

It also helps that I dont weigh 235lbs😀 Ouch!!!!
 
maxb said:
Hey, this is my first time posting here. I'm Max, i ride a white stumpy 29er, and have a handlebar moustache. Anyways, with that out of the way....

What an awesome race day. After a couple days of pre riding the course last weekend with Sam (from Bicycles Plus NYC), and Alex from NYCMTB, (while camping out back of Dark Horse, thanks guys), I knew that i had all the lines worked out, other then the one stupidly steep loose climb into a left hander around mile 13, which i didn't see anyone clean. My legs felt pretty good during pre-rides, and i spent the week leading up to the race eating properly, and not going on any hard rides. I decided a couple days before the race that if i could pull out a sub 4 hour race, i'd be stoked, so i set that as my goal.

Come race day, I woke up feeling pretty good, both mentally and physically, and headed up to the race with Sam. I got lined up in the front half of the sport class, and when the horn went, ended up stuck right behind the idiots that crashed in the first ten feet . Once that was all sorted out i started putting in a moderate pace on the fireroad. Having rode it twice during pre-riding, i figured that it was a place that could lead to burning out early in the race, so I didnt want to push too hard off the bat. By the time the single track started, traffic was obsurd, but people we're being pretty smart, communicating well, and not making any dangerous passes, with only one little pileup on the first decent (nothing too bad), the traffic started to ease up a bit as we hit the first double track. My legs were starting to warm up, so i passed a number of people during that section. As the race went on, my legs we're feeling better and better, and by about mile 15 I was starting to push. I made every climb on my first lap (aside from the stupid steep one i mentioned before), including the steep shale spine over the left hander, which was the first time i have ever cleaned that section. Having gotten over that section, I knew i was in for a good race.

It was time to just put my head down and work. By the end of my first lap, i had pulled a 1:53 and was starting to see my sub 4 hour race as an obtainable goal. I grabbed some more water, and kept cranking. After all the traffic of the first lap, getting some open trail in front of me on the second lap was awesome, and my legs we're feeling great. I was in a good groove, and was making all the climbs, and flowing efficiently through twisty sections.

Towards the last 5 miles of the race, I still had energy, and was still on track for a sub 4 hour race. I nearly cramped on one of the steep climbs around mile 35, but was able to keep it at bay, and a couple minutes later was back to full speed. The last section of trail was tough, but i just dug deep and pushed as hard as i could to make it under 4 hours (my computer crapped out around mile 30, so i wasnt sure of my time).

I crossed the line in 24th, with a time of 3:53, and couldn't have been more stoked. This was the race i was focused on all season, and everything came togeather for an excellent day.

The only bummer part of the day, was Sam getting clipped by another rider, and taking a brutal face plant onto the shale. Shitty way to end your day, but that's racing.

Great job by everyone at Dark Horse. This is a race I'll continue to look forward to.
Click to expand...

Resides in NYC...handlebar moustache...I'm guessing you ride a fixie.
 
pooriggy, yup. thats me.

and i do ride a fixie, but thats just cause fixies are fun, and do wonders for your legs.
 
my suggestion to those complaining about the slower riders in front of them: CLEARLY ANNOUNCE YOUR DESIRE TO PASS!

half the time when I asked someone if they wanted to pass me they would tell me "no. just gonna stick to your wheel for a while".

so, just 'cause youre on someone's tail doesnt necessarily signal to the person that you want to pass. the rider ahead cant read your mind. I know there are lots of times when I stick to someone's wheel just to pull me along (in which case I will sometimes say something like "keep doing what youre doing i am not going anywhere" so they dont feel pressured).

if you didnt announce your desire to pass dont bitch about the guy in front of you.

communicate.

just sayin'
 
Last edited:
Maybe they should try and break up the huge sport field a little more? Perhaps a wave start like the SSapalooza? NJ South vs NY north? Where I was in SS (in the initial break of maybe 15 riders), there was no/little traffic. However, I heard from friends who flatted or had mechanicals that the sport masses quickly overwhelmed the trails and made it really hard to make up time- lots of bottlenecks and groups of riders to pass in the singletrack. I keep hearing about all these nightmares on the singletrack, and there has to be a solution.
 
Adirondack Blues said:
lots of bottlenecks and groups of riders to pass in the singletrack.
Click to expand...

I thought the 3 mile prologue was genius. I was in the SS class and entered the singletrack all alone about 20 yards behind the 15 or so faster group of SS riders. I spent the next few miles in the singletrack all alone. It was great but a little weird (I was so alone that at times I wasnt sure if I made a wrong turn).

and then came wave after wave of geared guys in LARGE trains (groups of 15 or so riders). I pulled over at least three times to let these HUGE trains go by (I figured it was better and more efficient for them and ME to just wait 30 seconds and let them ALL pass rather than having to do it multiple times).

so, I think you're right. I think they need to break up the sport men's group up more. the long prologue (even at, what, 3 miles?) wasnt enough.
 
I was one of the 15 guys in SS class up front. When we hit the single track I was passing some Elite geared guys/gals and getting passed by some Sport guys as the race went on.

When I want to pass someone I say politely let me pass when you get a chance. Its a long race, if it takes them a minute to find a good spot I don't sweat it.

If I hear someone behind me I do nothing unless they ask for the pass. If there behind me for a few minutes I ask if there good. Your in front of them so your in control.

This is the second open category race I've done this year and have not had any problems with passing issues.

Last year in sport at the DH40 I wiped out early and practically the whole field passed me. By the end of the 1st lap I managed to get up towards the front with no issues and had a good finish that day.

I don't think the open cat starts are a problem. Passing accidents are going to happen but you can minimize them.
 
pooriggy - you didnt have any problems since youre so damn fast and not too many geared Sport guys caught up to you.😀

in reality I didnt have too many problems (only once did someone huff when I didnt get out of his way - to which i responded "next time tell me you want to pass"). other than that, no issues.

I just see some people complaining about it here and heard a LOT of complaining after the race about having to pass people. so either: (1) people up front arent being courteous and moving over; or (2) people behind arent announcing their intentions. I feel (1) goes without saying but I think some people might feel they are being a douche if they inform people of their desire to pass so perhaps a little reminder is needed.
 
Last edited:
Awesome race and great recaps!

RobG, was nice to see you so many times out on the course. I hope you have lots of mechanical issues in the future so we can spend more time together like that.

Lou. Holy hell. Congrats on finishing despite the curse.

Segundo, wow! Can't wait to see what happens in the next few races as you get your game even more dialed in. Looks like you need to set a new personal goal since you so quickly achieved your mission of "beat Woody and Sexy Rob".

---

I'm happy with how my race played out. Tons of Fun & Plenty of Pain. Scored 12th place in SS Open. (Was 19th last year.)

. Mechanical Issues: 0

. Major crashes: 0

. Minor crashes: 2
. . 1) Was having too much fun with the flow...took a loose turn too fast and washed out into a crumpled heap. Just a little knee scrape.
. . 2) Sloppily clicked out of my pedal while trying to muscle up the steep climb just after Luke, threw myself sideways into a tree.

. Cramps: 0
. . I think I've finally got my nutrition/hydration/pacing figured out. I was definitely pushing myself hard enough that I 'should' have gotten cramps. Intense muscle fatigue at times, but never started to lock up. Happy Day.

. Weird Things: 1
. . Passed a dude who was working on his bike at the side of the trail, smoking something that appeared to be...hand rolled. A few minutes later, he's riding behind me all chatty and giving a sports announcer style play-by-play of my riding, like: "Oh boy, look at this monster climb coming up, we're gonna be doing some walking now folks...No, wait...Holy cow! Look at this guy ride straight up that thing!..." But pretty soon we popped out on a fire road and he dusted me. [Or maybe I was delirious and none of that actually happened.]

Thanks for a great race Dark Horse!
 
Woody, nothing like spending quality time with you bro.
That "weird" thing is damn funny.
 
woody said:
. Weird Things: 1
. . Passed a dude who was working on his bike at the side of the trail, smoking something that appeared to be...hand rolled. A few minutes later, he's riding behind me all chatty and giving a sports announcer style play-by-play of my riding, like: "Oh boy, look at this monster climb coming up, we're gonna be doing some walking now folks...No, wait...Holy cow! Look at this guy ride straight up that thing!..." But pretty soon we popped out on a fire road and he dusted me. [Or maybe I was delirious and none of that actually happened.]
Click to expand...

first hand account of doping at a local mtb race!
 
It was the large groups that were problematic in the Sport class. It's pretty hard to pass, say, 15 people all in a line in the singletrack. Guess there's no real solution there other than trying to stay at the front at the start.
 
Congratulations on a strong finish Woody. I wouldn't even finish if I was riding with a rigid fork.

woody said:
Looks like you need to set a new personal goal since you so quickly achieved your mission of "beat Woody and Sexy Rob".

You forgot about Iggy 😀 Let's say I have one on the board for me. I know now that I'm closer than I thought to all of you (and I'm ecstatic about that of course) but any of you guys can beat me on a regular day. The thing for me now is to improve my technical skills. Objective #1: lear how to do bunny hops 😱

BTW, the weird thing is hilarious. When I was reading that I thought the end of the story was going to be that he crashed into a tree and you sailed into the distance but I guess not...😛 Must have been good stuff😀
Click to expand...
 
mr.chainsaw said:
I'm not sure what can be done if anything to relieve traffic/bottle necking. But to stay on topic a bit, if you say you wanna pass be ready to gas it and pass.
Click to expand...
You're always going to have DB's that don't pass well and you're always going to have DB's that won't let you pass. The complaints are valid on both sides of that coin. I find that more often than not, it's the extremes on the experience spectrum that give me problems...

Obviously, my comments below are highly generalized statements and I am in no way implying that all who fit these descriptions/groups are guilty:

Sometimes the beginners just don't know any better so their inexperience creates problems. Either they're overzealous and just try to blast through everybody early without calling passes - then blow up. Or they don't let you pass because, well, nobody wants to get passed. Sometimes, the same person is guilty of both.

Other times I find that it's the most experienced riders that give me problems. Guys that have been out there racing for years and years. Some of these guys seem to ride with a sense of entitlement. It seems that they think all should bow down to their MTB prowess and yield whenever they want to pass - immediately. It seems that they think there is no need to announce their passes either, because the other riders should just know. OR, when you come up behind them, they won't ever yield, no matter whether or not you call out a pass. In fact, sometimes calling it out makes them "race" harder to keep you from passing. Then they'll get pissed if the passer makes an aggressive move. It's a losing proposition either way.

I know I'm not perfect and that it is after all, racing, but I almost always call out my passes and say thanks when they yield. If I do something and realize that it causes another rider to dab or compromizes their line, I'm always apologetic. A little courtesy and common sense goes a long way on the race course.
 
Last edited:
I think I should get an award for being the most polite person when someone is trying to pass and legitimately should be ahead of me. If I don't feel they should be that's a different story I just go harder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom