Anyway, my Kona could use some fresh tires and a brake bleed but is otherwise in pretty good shape, especially with the new 1x11 drivetrain and recent fork service. I noticed that using buzzy's slick honey instead of the liquid o-ring stuff in the air shaft significantly reduces stiction and the bit of extra travel helps smooth things out too. It could use a nicer compression damper though.
This year I was looking forward to racing Missoula XC, and wanted to be in good shape for it. Unfortunately, I crashed in warm up for wed night racing the week before and banged up my elbow pretty bad. I wound up sitting out the racing again (last year I hurt my foot), but did go help with the course setup and had a good time hanging out and taking pictures. A few of us camped out after the race which was a good idea due to all the free Big Sky beer. Whisky might have also made an appearance. Here are a few pictures I took:
Speaking of the wed series, they did away with the cat 1/2/3 this year, instead just having open and beginner categories. So for me that meant racing with everyone fast. I think I managed to come in around 10th most days which was acceptable, but my riding kind of fell off going into June, then I had to take some time off with the elbow, and so I haven't been getting the time in on the bike I would like. But I guess that's okay as it gives me a break before CX season.
The first couple Wed races were at the XC course, doing various loops up at Marshall. Two days incorporated the new trails higher up which meant a whole bunch of climbing. Week 2 I was definitely hurting on the way up, but it was called short after a lap due to thunderstorms, which was nice. I need to lose like 10lbs for this next year because climbing straight up for 1500ft is all about power:weight ratio, so every bit helps.
The 4th week, at Blue Mountain, was postponed due to weather, so my elbow was feeling good enough to race. The race went pretty good for me although I need to work on descending a bit more. Fresh tires and a dropper would be useful. I was climbing pretty well but lost a good amount of time to a few people on the way down. But with all the loose dirt and rocks out there I'd rather stay upright and keep air in my tires over setting downhill PRs, and I did manage to do that. There was a lot of attrition as I went by 2-3 guys with flat tires on the first descent, and I got to the top of the hill pretty near the front. Then I had a good race chasing Evan and going back and forth with Garrett.
I missed the final week at snowbowl and the two WM trail series summer races because I went up to Canada to play golf and then ended up sticking around for a month helping out the grandparents. I got a bit of road and mountain riding in there that I guess I'll post about later. Now I'm back in MT and it's fire season so there is a ton of smoke around. Cross starts in about a month and then fall kind of turns into a whole new mtb season when we get some moisture on the trails. Right now I'm debating going to the TNR ride as the air quality is right above the "unhealty" line on the chart, but has been improving since this morning. Will probably go anyway and try not to pedal too hard.
No comments:
Post a Comment