2012 Singlespeed A-Palooza: The Muni!

This takes some balls!

2012 Singlespeed A-Palooza: So Many Singlespeeders

2012 Singlespeed A-Palooza: I finished despite many mechanicals!

I arrived at Stewart kind of late after having to get gas in Fishkill but in way it was serendipitous because I parked behind the two guys who put me on the right track two weeks ago when I got miserably lost on my first pre-ride.  One of them gave me a bag of salted, Yukon Gold potatoes and told me they are much better than eating gel or gu.  I threw them into my back pouch and got ready.  The one thing I did this time around is stay away from any caffeine because a reputable source (who happens to be a Roadie) told me that it will lead to cramps.  No coffee in the morning and none of my Gu had caffeine, either.

I started towards the back of the pack and into the first mile my non-drive side crank arm came off!  So I grabbed my bike tool and got it back on.  At the turn onto Scofield I stopped and tightened it some more but I think that was a waste.  At the end of the prologue it was about to fall off again and  the guy from Niner helped me out.  That got me about 8 miles when I noticed it was about to come off again.  This time I took it off and cleaned it out put it back on and it never bothered me during the rest of the course.

Now that the crank issue had been resolved it was time for something else to come up, like my chain dropping.  It would drop whenever I was out of the saddle and mashing on the pedals.  While I started out with good tension, my chain must have stretched because when the drops started happening I noticed it was much looser.  While that wasn't a terrible setback it meant many of the short climbs that I would normally power up out of saddle I had to walk. 

Nothing like Beer and Weenies at the finish line!  

Dark Horse Cycles really knows how to do it right!

I came upon John at the top of the big hill that I had to walk both times.  He had a wardrobe malfunction with his hydration pack and was fixing it when I "passed" by.  Another problem with my crank arm happened when John passed me.  Getting the crank arm back on I took off again and finished the race in 3 hours, 35 minutes, and 11 seconds.  My chain dropped in the last little dip and I ran across the finish line pushing the bike.  83rd out of 89.  Can't wait for next year and here's hoping to no mechanicals!

SSAP Preparation: Just add wheels.

Dropped the Blunts off at the LBS to get them trued.  After riding rigid on them all over New England it was time.  My WTB Nano Raptors are the perfect choice for the trails at Stewart.  I cleaned up the bike because it was pretty dirty after riding Stewart again.  The chain had dirt caked into it, too.  Once it was clean I started getting it ready to race.  After two long rides I can effectively say that wearing a hydration pack is not for me for racing.  I am going back to my Timbuktu seatpack and water bottles.

Depending on what the temperature is like next Sunday I might event have a third bottle in my back pouch.  However, one thing I am going to try is this bottle I won in contest two years ago from Hydrapak called a Gel Bot.  You fill the little bottle within with Gu/Hammer Gel and obviously water or some other energetic concoction in the main reservoir.  With valve closed, you can suck out the gel and with it open you drink water.  This should be much easier to manage then taping gel packs to my top tube and then putting the empties in the back pouch. 

The nice thing about this fork is now I don't have to be fearful of pinch flatting while riding rigid and thus riding with bigger meats up front.  As I mentioned earlier, the Nano Raptors on the bike are perfect for Stewart State Forest and with the squish I can really open up on the downhills.  I am even toying with the idea of taking my tubeless wheelset back from the Spot Longboard 9 to lighten the bike even further.  

I might have said this before but I will say it again I think Stewart State Forest has got to be the best place in the area to ride a single speed and I will be going back there for more as the opportunities present themselves!  Just have to find a decent Micro-Brew Pub nearby for the post road trip ride meal.  Won't be riding in the DH40, definitely not this year but who knows, maybe next year or least try to do it as a team event.

SSAP Pre-Ride: The Horse Trail

This is the Horse Trail at Stewart State Forest.
The Helmet Cam runs from New Road to just shy of the power lines.
Enjoy!

SSAP Pre-Ride: Lost in STEWART

Blue Track (Me); Red Track (Course)

I was able to keep the main body of the ride in sight into the first part of the prolog but lost them on the first climb.  Oh well, they are all animals anyway.  This year George and Hawaiian Mike, the guys who put on the race, added a feature called the Prologue in order spread out the racers.  What that means is everyone starts on Ridge Road and rides up to the first single track section, Scofield Trail.  I am sure all the hammer heads will use this opportunity to get out in front everyone else.

I hear in previous races the start has been a bit funky which has lead to massive back ups in the single track so what this is supposed to do is break that up.  The word, however, from the guys that I was riding with on Sunday was that it will still probably be a Conga Line on the first climb on Scofield Trail.

After the prologue the group paused at the entrance to the forest where I was able to take of my under layer.  I was feeling really good and couldn't wait for my riding.  The next section of Single Track was OUTSTANDING!  Swoopy, flowy fast trail with many banked turns as well as beaucoup rock gardens.  Some nice rock ups and great rollers in the middle of the trail with no pussy paths.  I was keeping up with the other riders until the power line trail.  Loosing the main body of the ride and as usual way in front of the beginners, which is where I usually find myself, I took a wrong turn.  I saw a black and red marker (shop colors) and figured that was the way to go but I was wrong.

By the time I got to Barron Road I should have just headed down it but it was paved and so I thought I would ride some single track that I thought would parallel the road.  It didn't and I ended up outside the forest.  I finally found my way back to Barron Road and back onto the main feeder trail that would lead me back to the race course, however, I wasn't sure which turn to take to head south and I took the wrong one which lead me out onto the power line trail.  After a mile on that it didn't seem right so I back tracked on the power line till I found a trail cutting across and back into the woods that according to the map looked pretty good.

Back on course I was on the 46 Ford Trail and there were some monster climbs!  Those are going to be walk ups for me. 

I found the trail's name sake and as I was admiring the old car a group of riders came through with one of the guys in the group not wearing a helmet.  Must have been a Meet up group.

Another wrong turn, onto to the Cactus trail and back track out of there, I finally came out onto New Road where I met up with some more Single Speeders, one of them wearing Dark Horse colors but by the looks of their bikes, Carbon Fiber Niners and Special-Eds, I knew there was no way I was keeping up with them.  But I stayed on what I thought the course was for quite some time.  It follows a ridge that has some really nice views especially now in early spring with no leaves out yet. 

 

A couple more wrong turns but riding some awesome single track.  One trail was called Drake's Reroute and it was phenomenal!  Tight, twisty single track, clearly designed against ATVs and Motos, which at this end of the State Forest, there must be some illegal penetration by them.  Eventually, I came back onto Giles road when I ran into two guys on Single Speeds from the Shop Ride who led me to the Orchard Trail but smoked me on that.  Finally, back out onto another gravel road they pointed me in the right direction to back to Scofield so that I could finish the course.  

What a ride!  I am going to do it again this coming Saturday morning and I might try to do the whole thing!  If I could do 20 miles on this ride, I can do the two laps of 26 miles that makes up the whole course, with the prologue!

SSAP Pre-Ride Helmet Cam Part 1

Gearing up for SSAP 2012 from Cycle Snack on Vimeo.