Stony Creek TT Report

Stony Creek TT 7/27/08

Today I learned that bike prep is essential. More on that later. It was an epic day to race, too bad it had to be at Stony. What a turd of a place to ride. I realize this is somebody's home course and will be offended by my opinion. However, a mtb race should be off-road, not 50% jeep trails. The single track that is there is great.

I registered late so I was 2nd from last to leave the line. I actually liked this position since it is fun to pass my competition. What came as a surprise was that the women and kids beginner classes were in front of the SS class. I have the utmost respect for Robert at Tailwind but this is lame. I have no problem being aggressive when passing adults (male or female) but with kids I have to take a "time-out". It would be nice if the SS class was given a bit more respect. You salty dog veterans of SS are use to this treatment; I am not, at least not yet. Enough said.

Rather than harp on what I did not like about the course let's examine what was way cool. Hot chicks in bikinis at the beach. Way cool.The 2 water crossings were semi-cool. The single track is suited very well for SS, it has a natural flow. Stony is better suited as a "play area" rather than a race venue. They built a kick-ass skills park near the entrance. I would have preferred they used the time and money to connect the single track ( I am biased if you havn't figured it out).

Remember what I said about bike prep? About a 1/4 mile from the finish I made the last road crossing and it sloped down a grade with a few stutter bumps. Those bumps were timed just right to bounce my chain off the chainrings. I cursed and had a fit that would have made a 3 year old proud. I did not know if the chain broke or popped off. At this point I am so jacked up that I decide to revert back to my grunt mentality and run the bike in. What a bone-headed manuever that was. Proper chain tension is critical. The problem for me is that my drive line is so far out of concentricity that it's a crapshoot. And I lost. 2nd place is the first loser.

Mark