The Misfits at Allaire (by Utah)

So I have been hearing about the awful sand, flat and boring conditions at Allaire for 3 years now.  Frank has been trying to convince me to never ride there as it is indeed not worth the drive.  Well despite the negative reviews I figured I would hit up the Misfits ride and see for myself.  Misfits ride as in a ride for owners of misfit bikes.  Matty B originally organized this ride for all misfit owners as they are apparently some sort of hells angel gang of bikers who wear tights rather than leather.  However, the ride was in fact an all-inclusive and I was not harassed for riding my conformist cannondale.

After meeting up with Luke and Eileen, we made our way down.  Arriving in the parking lot, I was surprised to see it completely jam packed with riders.  I would name names, but there were far too many to list.  The misfit drivers soon came together for a picture

Soon followed by the rest of us….Mitch took the picture, but sadly could not join us on the ride.

So after some social this and that we finally hit the trails with Matty, Frank and Chris G leading the way.  Within a few minutes the train was moving at high speed and we were having an absolute blast.  Cant understand why Frank dislikes this place so much J.  It’s a really nice change of pace from the rocky and technical trails that surround my hood.  I can’t remember when I have been on a group ride this large and seen it move so quickly.  Got to do some quality chit chat with lance, walt, spence, lou and even some james pearl commentary!

Train was crazy long

Our locomotive

James Pearl must be in cross season

Eventually we made our way over to this thing…Luke kept us there for 10 minutes until he cleaned it

Nail it Wookie!

The pines

In total we racked up about 15miles in an hour and forty minutes of moving time which was dam good considering the size of the group.  Cant believe I waited this long to hit this place up, its an absolute blast.  I only wish it was closer to my house.  Great times and a great tour…Thanks to Matty and Frank for the guidance.

After the ride, about 15 went for some post ride refueling..good times!!!

A Time of Thanks (by Pooriggy)

I love this time of year, bike races are winding down, the weather is still good for getting out and it’s the kick off of the holiday season…which means less work and more time to bike and spend with family. Mountain biking is now more about going out on an adventure and less about training for the next race.

This was a different Thanksgiving for me this year. Instead of going to the in-laws for the usual turkey dinner I spent the day at the hospital. My dad had esophagus cancer 4 yrs ago and due to complications from the operation to remove the cancer his lungs are in poor condition. Thursday it got to a point that he had to go to the hospital so he could be put on a respirator. In the past 4yrs I have become somewhat numb to events like these, I mean I hope for the best but am ready for whatever comes at me. These days I try to focus on being there for my mom, she needs the support.

My support for dealing with things like this is getting out on my bike with friends. As we all know getting out on the bike can turn one’s mood around and help us to make the best out of any situation. The day after Thanksgiving I spent the morning mountain biking with Utah and Falco at Ringwood State Park. No matter what crap goes on in our life cycling seems to make everything feel better. I am grateful to have my health and buddies to share a ride at one of my favorite parks in NJ.

We met at Ryerson School and rolled out at 7:45 as other cars began to filter into the parking lot for post Thanksgiving rides. Despite the frosty grass and cool temp’s it didn’t take long for the climb up warm-puppy to warm us up. With Falco up front we got into a nice rhythm as we headed out toward Shepard’s lake on Skylands trail. Our 29” wheels flowed over rocks (with an occasional dab) that seemed to be created by the geological process. Its hard to believe these trails where built by Jorba, they feel so natural.

Bombing down a fire road Falco ripped his sidewall and got a hole in his back tire. Yes the boy works at a bike shop and was too lazy to set up his tire tubeless. No worries he uses a Gu pack as a boot on the sidewall and has a spare tube, oops wait he has a hole in his spare. Utah pulls out his spare tube from his bag of tricks and discovers that his has a hole as well. This reminds me of HS days of carrying condoms around in my wallet that break before they ever see any use. I pulled out my condom and gave it to Falco, no hole…good to go.

After the Shepard’s lake area I have no idea where I am, but I do know we are heading toward the old boy scout area on some of the most technical trails of Ringwood. By the amount of fresh leaves on the ground you can see that this is the path less traveled. The rocks are now more randomly placed and menacing. At one point my hand slips off my handlebars while going down a rock and I start heading over the bars only to be saved by my stomach hitting the bars. I think it may have been better if I went over, ouch!

The old BSA area brings back some fuzzy memories for me; I camped here in the late 70’s as a scout. It’s tough for me to recall this area on a bike; if I had more time I’d hike around here to jar my memory. I’ll settle for a picture instead.

The ride back to the school from this area is incredible. Some sections are crazy rocky, some are floweee rocky and some offer great views. This section beat me up some more and I started to get sloppy as my body began to get tired on the uphill technical stuff. After descending the downhill rocky switchbacks we came upon a stream crossing that Falco picked the perfect line across. Utah aimed for that line but slid off a rock and his front tire sank into 3 feet of water. This is never a good thing; he did his best to stay dry but ended up doing the backstroke in the current. Which I must say the stream crossings where certainly at high tide this time of year. Luckily we didn’t have far to peddle to make it back to the cars.

Rolling back to the school in less then 2.5hrs we managed to cover about 14 miles. My Garmin 500 is never 100% accurate in the woods. This ride was exactly what I needed to deal with stuff that life throws at you. From time to time everyone has unpleasant things to deal with but we can all be thankful for our family, friends and the opportunity to get out on a bike and enjoy ourselves. Keep on bikin!

Six Hours Cathedral pines. through the eyes of a Capers

Couldn't have asked for a better day for 6+ hours racing mountain bikes on Long Island, in the middle of November. As expected, this year's Six Hours Of Cathedral Pines was a real treat and an opportunity to shake things up a bit while in the midst of cyclocross season. This would be my second year participating in this event and I couldn't be more stoked to race it again.

Hit the road around 6AM with teammates Rob Perazzo, Dana Napurano and Chris Brawley (Pooriggy). We crammed 4 bodies, 5 bikes and a ton miscellaneous shit onto and inside Rob's little Toyota.




Arrived at Cathedral Pines County Park about an hour before the start. We hooked up with Kirt and Dave Clapp at the gate so that we could all park and pit together. Shortly after, the Gozicks rolled up.

I don't see much value in warming up before long format races like these, so my pre race ritual became a bit more laid back than normal. I picked up my number, kitted up, ate and cruised around to check out the scene. Chatted it up with several friends and teammates. The vibe was good.

After the pre-race meeting, all 300 or so of us lined up for a mass start. I picked a spot towards the front and shot the shit with my buddy Dan Brodeen. As we were talking, the gun went off without warning, taking us completely by surprise. Unprepared for this, I leaped onto my saddle cyclocross-style and pedaled like a madman up the prologue. As with any race, I did my best to pick through the riffraff to secure a decent position towards the front, leading up to the singletrack.


The Mass start is as crazy as you've heard - Photo by Jennifer Carlson

There was a bit of congestion as we entered the woods but thats unavoidable considering the volume of riders. There were some hang-ups on the first series of hills but I managed to dodge & pass those folks and kept pedaling. I wasted no time jumping ahead of riders that were not moving fast enough and by about 25 minutes in, settled into a nice groove with a group of about 8 guys. We hammered out the remainder of the first lap which ended up being 51 minutes exactly.

I continued riding with this group for just about the entire second lap, always keeping someones wheel a couple feet in front of mine. Half way through lap 2, I spot my teammate Rob and he takes the lead for a while. we pushed the pace a little bit harder and banged out a 49 minute 2nd lap. I'm feeling pretty good at this point. While passing through the transition area, I pull up alongside Rob, we exchange pleasantries and I take the lead into the singletrack. Always a good feeling when you have a friend to ride with. Rob stayed relatively close behind and was never out of site. By now the group had mostly broken up into smaller pods of 2's and 3's as we continued to hammer through the sweet, flowy Long Island singletrack.

I kept a consistent effort, onwards through the next several laps but It wasn't before long that something evil began lurking within my legs. I have never experienced this before in a race, and that evil was the cramp monster! The cramping was relentless and hung around for the remainder of the race. The only way to suppress the pain was to pedal faster. Slowing down only caused my legs to lock up. At times I found myself shifting to an easier gear to spin a faster cadence. Nevertheless, I fought through it and did my best to maintain momentum. I still had plenty of gas in the tank.

I really had to force myself to eat every time I came around through the transition area. I didn't want to loose any time so my stops were 30 seconds or less. I mostly ate on the go, which was rather difficult with solid foods. Nearly choked on a cliff bar. That was ugly.

At the end of Lap 5, Chris (Pooriggy) catches up to Rob and I. We all pass through the transition area together. My cramps are at their climax right now. I downed almost an entire bottle of water, a banana and a package of chomp blocks. Chris Takes off and thats the last I see of him. Rob decides he doesn't want to ride anymore and bails right then and there. This is OK for him as the registration numbers were so low for his age group that at this point, he wins by default! I congratulate him and take off for lap 6.

For the next 2 laps, I find myself mostly riding solo with the occasional wheel sucker latching on. Dialed into autopilot mode, my bike rails the twisty turns with speed and finesse. I am quite literally in that special place called "the zone". James Brown's "Get on the Good Foot" is on repeat in my brain and my groove is unstoppable. By now many of the other racers are really beginning to fade, none of which were racers in my class. I 'm passing folks like like crazy. Well, passing as courteously as one could. We're all here to have a good time so I did my best not to be a jerk.

Towards the end of lap 7, I look down at my Garmin and see that I have passed the 6 hour mark, so an 8th lap isn't going to happen. I have a huge gap on the next rider in my field behead me so I ease up and cruise the last mile or so to the finish line. I end up wrapping it up with 7 laps at 6:11 and a 5th place finish. Not a bad day!
It wasn't until I dismounted that it hit me how beat up my body felt. It's the good kind of soreness though, the kind you earn!

I was pleased to learn that every single one of my teammates threw down strong finishes in their respective classes. Outstanding! Quite a few podiums were had for MTBNJ..


Results

Rob Perazzo 1/1, Cat 1 Male 19 to 29 Laps 5, Time 4:18:26.9
Dana Napurano 3/5, Cat 2 Female 30 to 39 Laps 5, Time 5:51:12.6
Eric Capers 5/23, Cat 2 Male 30 to 39 Laps 7, Time 6:11:11.6
Chris Brawley 3/27 Singlespeed Open. Laps 7, Time 6:02:22.7
Chris Gozick 7/27 Singlespeed Open. Laps 7, Time 6:17:09.3

Kirt Mills 3/19 Male Duo Relay Laps 8, Time 6:38:19.5
David Clapp 3/19 Male Duo Relay Laps 8, Time 6:38:19.5


ChrisG - Photo by Wayne Lewis


Dana - Photo by Anthony Benavides


Capers - Anthony Benavides


Iggy on cruise control - Photo by Jennifer Carlson


Kirt doing his part - Photo by Wayne Lewis


RobP drinkin' up - Photo by Jennifer Carlson


Part of the crew enjoying the delicious post-race chili.