[golgiaparatus]

Did the fat tire fest XC race in Eureka Springs up in the ozark mountains. Different riding than I have done in the past. 75% loose/sharp flint gravel on singletrack (saw dozens of flats), fair amount of technical stuff... and climbs. Steep climbs that would extend out of site... climbs where you'd see the top only to have a false peak and then it would extend out of site again. The dude that was behind me for a large portion of the race said we hit 2000 feet of climbing after only 10 miles of riding.

I mounted a 22t and a front der to my rig for a change. Typically I do fine with 1x9... but I was extremely happy that I had the 22t on several of the steeper climbs.

Very poorly run race BTW. Poorly marked course, and poorly explained. I decided not to drop the 2 guys that were following me until the last 2 miles simply because I was afraid I'd take a wrong turn, they were happy that I was pacing them so were really helpful... but lots of people got lost or did the laps at the end wrong... either did too many, or too few... and the ones that did too few weren't disqualified. 27 miles point to point with only 2 course officials the entire way.

 

[Polandspring88]

So how'd you do? Was this one a brazillion degrees like the last race?

 

[jonKranked]

work harder fatty

 

[golgiaparatus]

So how'd you do? Was this one a brazillion degrees like the last race?

I was in the upper 15% from what I saw on the board. Didn't stick around for official postings... Maybe 10th? I probably could have gone a bit harder but I just didn't know the route and I never knew when the next massive climb would be right around the corner, so I was always a little hesitant to open up the tap. Next year I'll be going back and will know the course, will shoot for podium. Unless they make me race cat 1... then I'll shoot for not getting last

No, it wasn't crazy hot. The weather was a chilly 98 degrees with 100% humidity. I was drenched and overheated by the end for sure, but I didn't feel like I was racing in an oven like that last race... and at no point did I have to go into survival mode.

I did learn one thing... Maxxis XC tires are not good on sharp rocks. I counted over a dozen of people with punctures from all the sharp flint... every time I was able to see the brand it said Maxxis.

 

[jonKranked]

I did learn one thing... Maxxis XC tires are not good on sharp rocks. I counted over a dozen of people with punctures from all the sharp flint... every time I was able to see the brand it said Maxxis.

their full on XC single play casings are pretty crappy, but definitely usable if you know what you're doing. probably too many people with too few PSI's

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

their full on XC single play casings are pretty crappy, but definitely usable if you know what you're doing. probably too many people with too few PSI's

I will never again get Maxxis tires with the eXCeption casing (got them because they were cheap and didn't know what exactly it was all about). Have 1.9 Igniters on the XC bike and 2.1 ADvantages on the trail bike (both with the eXCeption casing)....after 2 months one of the Igniters has 2 holes in the sidewall and one of the ADvantages has 3 holes in it. I'm keeping Park in business in tire repair patch sales alone.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I will never again get Maxxis tires with the eXCeption casing (got them because they were cheap and didn't know what exactly it was all about). Have 1.9 Igniters on the XC bike and 2.1 ADvantages on the trail bike (both with the eXCeption casing)....after 2 months one of the Igniters has 2 holes in the sidewall and one of the ADvantages has 3 holes in it. I'm keeping Park in business in tire repair patch sales alone.

Everyone I know that flatted either were running Ikons or Ignitors... had 2 friends pull out of the race due to the amount of flats they had... they both had ignitors, front and rear.