Posts Tagged → Mountain Bike Racing
A Little Bit of Jacquie
Because mountain biking is not a sausage party and Jacquie Phelan was and is a legend of the sport… and pretty badass.
Time Trialing & Going Nowhere
I’m not a fan of the time trial (individual or team) unless it’s vintage pre-time trial bike, pre-aero helmet stuff (like the pic above featuring Jacques Anquetil circa 1953) or on dirt (like the Yankee Springs Time Trial here in Michigan each spring). While I have NO plans to ever do a road time trial, I do plan on returning to Yankee this spring. This winter I also plan on continuing my version of the time trial on the trainer; pedaling my ass off, going nowhere for 15 miles trying to best the time before. It’s basically doing lactate threshold training but that sounds all fancy and like I actually know what I’m doing. Since I don’t, and tend to wing things by the seat of my soiled chamois, I just call it doing a time trial.
You Probably Race
If you open up a drawer–any drawer–and find a gel flask, you’ve probably raced some mountain bikes*.
Or you are just an unorganized doofuss like me that throws your shit wherever and then spend hours looking for it in the time leading up to a long ride or a race. Note that there is no cap for the flask. I am pretty sure I saw it on top of the dryer in the basement.
*OK, you might not race mountain bikes but you do SOMETHING equally as cool yet unpopular and misunderstood by the general U.S. public: ultra runs, adventure racing, cross-country skiing, etc.,
How One Race Changed Everything
Yesterday, as I came home from my ride and sat my ancient, well stickered box full of gear on the kitchen table, I happened to glance down at the large 2002 24 Hours of Snowshoe bumper sticker that adorns one side (right between a bikeman.com and Merge Records sticker). I have obviously seen the sticker a million times in the past eleven years, but for some reason yesterday it hit home and reminded me of what all that ONE race spawned.