[golgiaparatus]

Last race was on Sunday, 21 miles if twisty, techy terrain, went out on the hardtail... bad choice... Pedaled through hellish cramps and a bonk to retain 7th, only retained my position over the guys that were chasing me through pure ballsy/risky technical riding... legs were gone.

Managed a 2nd place overall for the season. Got a nice chunk of cash, and a couple of little trophies for that

 

[jonKranked]

congrats man. sorry to hear you bonked. never fun.

 

[Heidi]

Congrats!

 

[golgiaparatus]

It was brutal. Bonk was hard and sudden... I was blazing, with first place in site for the first lap... then on the climb section, 2nd lap, total energy drain... then cramps.

Only survived off Hammer Gel and riding smart and to my strengths. I'm no climber. I'm just not built like a toothpick like the other guys. But I'm faster than most of them in the rough stuff... I was trying to chill on the climbs and just go stupid in the corners and in the rocks.

 

[-BB-]

Congrats!!

So I've never raced XC. How much "blocking" is typical? Can/do people block others when the terrain is not in their favor? Like me for example, I would block ont eh climbs and then pass on the downhill. others might do the opposite. Or is there an unwritten code that says, if someone can pass you, let them?

 

[Sghost]

You can block as long as you dont mind getting checked into a tree or an ass beating.

 

[jonKranked]

You can block as long as you dont mind getting checked into a tree or an ass beating.

how well are USAC rules regarding this enforced?

 

[golgiaparatus]

Not a lot of blocking... it's kind of frowned upon. Most of the time people will let you by if you are stronger, and visa versa... if a dude rides my ass for half a mile and then asks to pass... I'll let him go and just try to hang on to him. Usually though if someone is strong enough and feels the need to pass you, they are going to ride away from you in the next few miles.

I'm the same as you, the technical stuff, downhills and the tight twisty stuff are where I have an advantage... I'm only an average climber so I'll push myself way into the red if it means I can get into those sections ahead of the skinny bastards... that way I can gap them before we have to start climbing again.

 

[clarkenstein]

nice work! wow - 2nd overall? that's awesome.

 

[golgiaparatus]

You can block as long as you dont mind getting checked into a tree or an ass beating.

There's also that. But that's kind of what I mean by frowned upon. The more it gets around tat you block people... the less cool people are going to be to you when you want by, or when they are passing you.

 

[golgiaparatus]

nice work! wow - 2nd overall? that's awesome.

Naah, I got 2nd in my age group. 2nd overall would have been a hell of an acheivement. When I can start doing 250 miles a week... then I'll start eyeing the overall All the guys in my age group have a life outside of racing.

 

[clarkenstein]

Naah, I got 2nd in my age group. 2nd overall would have been a hell of an acheivement. When I can start doing 250 miles a week... then I'll start eyeing the overall All the guys in my age group have a life outside of racing.

dude - that's still awesome. my only x/c race this season landed me in second to last place. that's good stuff.

 

[golgiaparatus]

dude - that's still awesome. my only x/c race this season landed me in second to last place. that's good stuff.

It was my award for being mr consistent. I was only out of the top 5 one time... but I was never the fastest guy.

 

[jonKranked]

There's also that. But that's kind of what I mean by frowned upon. The more it gets around tat you block people... the less cool people are going to be to you when you want by, or when they are passing you.

therein lies the trick... to be fast enough that others can't pass you

 

[Polandspring88]

Congrats! After doing one XC race this year and doing pretty well, I can see how difficult a whole season of consistent racing would be.

As to the passing, I spent like 1/3 the race behind some fvcking little kid. They let the 12-19 year old group go ahead of ours by a couple of minutes and this kid just did not want to let me pass. It was singletrack in tight trees so no opportunities to get by. The rest of the people were curteous however, if it was clear you were faster and on their ass they would move over.

 

[golgiaparatus]

therein lies the trick... to be fast enough that others can't pass you

Yeah, that's a trick I haven't quite mastered yet.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Congrats! After doing one XC race this year and doing pretty well, I can see how difficult a whole season of consistent racing would be.

As to the passing, I spent like 1/3 the race behind some fvcking little kid. They let the 12-19 year old group go ahead of ours by a couple of minutes and this kid just did not want to let me pass. It was singletrack in tight trees so no opportunities to get by. The rest of the people were curteous however, if it was clear you were faster and on their ass they would move over.

11 races in 7 months. I'm ready for a break... Since June I've felt less and less motivated. Glad the season is over and I can get back to riding just to ride.

 

[E. Guido Soda]

As to the passing, I spent like 1/3 the race behind some fvcking little kid. They let the 12-19 year old group go ahead of ours by a couple of minutes and this kid just did not want to let me pass. It was singletrack in tight trees so no opportunities to get by. The rest of the people were curteous however, if it was clear you were faster and on their ass they would move over.

Amen, broma. I was in the last two miles of my first lap of a 10 mile loop (Chainbuster Endurance Race) Saturday when I came up on two chicks. They had a _decent_ pace, but I was on their wheels. The loop was a killer climb of roughly five miles and a killer downhill of the same distance. The downhill terrain was insane singletrack moguls w/ fallen leaves framing the trail the entire way. IOW, passing was death on a stick. So I called out to the first one, who didn't let me pass for about a mile / ~six minutes, and the other didn't let me through at all. The downhill emptied out onto tarmac that was about a 3/4 mile sprint to the transition point. At this point I dusted her, but they easily added two - three minutes to my lap, maybe more. That sucked. FWIW, I didn't get passed by anyone on the first lap, but in my second go, I let probably three or four of the testosterone guys pass...but even they weren't passing on the downhill w/o an assist from whoever was in front of them.

-EGS

PS - Congrats on your finish this season, Golgi.