BD Night Ride; or, Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight

So in my never-ending attempt to get my fat-ass into shape, last night I headed out to the group night ride at Beaverdam in hopes of getting in a decent ride and running into a few people.

Running into people: check. When I slid through the gates before six (they lock you in at that time, for what reason I’m not certain), the parking lot at the trailhead was packed, and most vehicles had multiple occupants (hooray for carpoolers!). As I began to suit up I also notice that the lot was littered with full-bounce gearies, each gleefully illuminated by blindingly bright HID lights: at least one, and sometimes two per bike. As I unloaded my measly one-geared hardtail I began to wonder if I was out-geared (punny, I know).

In fact, a full survey indicated that there was one other hardtail, and he was running gears. There was also one other singlespeed, but he had full-suspension. There were no other halogen lights. “Hum,” methinks.

I guess it’s tradition for this ride to go out as a group, so we rolled out of the parking lot in a thirty-something strong peloton. While things did break up quite a bit, and we passed some singletons that had been on the trail before us, for the majority of the ride I was in the middle of a ten- or fifteen-person pack. That alone was odd – something about rolling through the woods in the dark as part of a bike-train – but the equipment discrepancies led to further oddities.

On the downhills I was definitely a bit slower: with my measly 15 watts of halogen light I had to pick my way through downhill obstacles, and with no rear suspension my margin of error was significantly lower than those around me. I’d quickly make up any lost ground on the flats and inclines, but on any significant hills the dualies would gear way down, and I’d be left at a 30 rpm slog. (This is not particularly good for the knees, in case you were wondering.) Further, when people slowed down for obstacles (for instance, the rock garden on the south loop), I was left nearly track-standing as I waited for my turn to roll.

Overall it was a good ride and I was happy to get out and enjoy what was really a beautiful night. I was a little frustrated by the equipment overkill that seemed to be going on, leading me to feel rather inadequate. I don’t want to spend more on bikes and accessories (I think well over $500 on lighting alone – as much as I spent on my bike, btw – is a little hard to justify, not to mention the multiple-thousand dollar bikes with 5+ inches of travel), but I can’t help but feel that the sport seems to be going in that direction. On one hand this is good: innovation is great, and the increased technology allows more people to participate comfortably than certainly could in the days of fully-rigid steel tanks. On the other, though, I’m worried that the buy-in cost of mountain biking is getting too high, making the sport prohibitive to many and potential ruining the beauty of its relative simplicity.

Still, being out on a night ride with lots of people was fun: despite my logistical annoyances, everyone was very friendly and helpful in ways that other disciplines of the sport aren’t always. Sure, there was some obligatory parking lot posturing, but by and large this is a very friendly group: chatting, offering people encouragement, and generally being good folks while enjoying a good night on the trail. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all, my friends.

(Hum, I didn’t realize that this was going to turn into a bike-cheerleading post. Sobeit.)

Mtb Race Report: SSing to Glory! (or something therelike)

Eschewing the Burlington ‘Cross race for the more manageable pursuit of mountain bike racing, associated operative Brian Bergeler and I headed down to Greenville for their “Toys 4 Tots” race on Sunday. With the promise of free post-race barbecue and rideable trails when everything in the Triangle was soaked, the free-with-the-donation-of-one-child’s-toy race seemed just the thing for early winter blahs.

After happily delivering my “Mr. Pirate Potato Head” (thanks Brian!) to the sharply dressed military men and taking my place alongside the two other single-speeders at the starting line, we were off. No big to-do, just a “go” from some guy. Right on.

We were then treated to three six-mile laps around prime eastern NC singletrack. In some ways this was just the thing for my big wheels and one gear: there was little elevation change, and the big wheels smoothed out the rooty, bumpy, sandy surface. However, that didn’t keep me from begging (mentally, at least, and a couple times aloud to non-existent bystanders) for a little bounce in the back and at least a couple more gears. Every time the trail cut out of the woods into the recently logged -- and thus newly cut -- trail I wanted something that would allow me to sit and spin rather than stand and mash. I think those things are called “gears” and “suspension.” Crazy talk, I know.

That said, I found myself making decent time after the first lap. The course had lots of short, steep inclines that forced me to stand and pound my way up, and loud though my legs may have been screaming at the top of each rise, I was forced to charge to the top faster than those who could downshift. Further, while there were some tight places where my 29er seemed to be reminding me some equation from physics about inertia and rotating mass (I don’t remember the equation, but I remember that it ended in “= ouch”), in general I enjoyed the way I was able to lean into the sticky-sand corners and carve my way through the trees. Brian agreed that it was a nice course: maybe not as nice as anything in the western part of the state (ya know, “mountain biking”), but a good mix of speed and technical challenges.

I finished the three laps in 1 hr. 50 min and 51 sec: nothing to brag over, particularly, but I did negative split on my last lap, and that made me happy. It was good enough for third place in the SS category. Those of you paying attention might notice that this was also last place in the SS category. Whatchagonnado?

Actually, that’s a good question, as my time was only good for third in SSs, but that also equaled third overall, and would have been good for first in the Sport class. I’m not sure what this means: That SSs are naturally faster on this course? That gears and suspension just slow you down? That I should race in another class? Really, I’m not sure how to play this one. (Full results available here: http://www.digitalelysium.net/ecvelo/events/racing/2006BPToysForTotsMTBRaceResults.)

Brian, one of the few non-SSers on a hardtail, rocked out on the Stumpie for a seventh place finish – not bad for his first mtb race in five years. I’d hate to see what he’d do on a trail with some real climbs.

The post-race pig roast would have been divine, if not for the increasing cold and intermittent sprinkles, so Brian and I slammed down some pig and jetted it back to D-town for hot showers and Sunday Night Football. At least this week we didn’t feel too lazy about zoning out to Madden’s inanities.