So while checking things out on USA Cycling I stumbled across This.......
http://www.usacycling.org/rankings/index.php?sex=m&state=&org=mountain&disc=xc&cat=1&agemin=1&agemax=99
Not bad for my first year racing Cat. 1 :)
(Click Go!)
9.23.2009
9.15.2009
Not Bad?
Lake Geneva.
Another top 5 elite had me super stoked but yet disappointed. Am I getting a little greedy? I am going to say YES!!!!!
My training has brought me to this point and I have exceeded my personal expectations for the year. So why must I continue to strive for more excellence. It is the way I am wired as is probably the case for many of us A Typical people.
If I were asked at the beginning of the year what my goals were I would have quickly rambled off "A top ten would be awesome" without even thinking about an Elite WORS overall series finish. I don't think I set the bar low as the Elite competition is steep and every race has brought new challenges.
That bar that I am referring to has been lifted every time I met a goal this year, and Sunday was no exception. I had to at least tell my self there was an outside chance. So I pumped myself up and said I can do this. right out of the shoot I made a fool out of myself missing my peddle and falling back to 20th or so. Immediately panic set in as I started to claw my way back to a decent position. While on my way there I was cussing and very upset with myself but finally made it to about 10th or so. A few more passes and I was onto Matters wheel which made me feel a little better about things. Having burned a lot of matches to get there I was redlining. Matter made his move and I wasn't able to go with him around Ryan Baumann who is super strong but struggled in the singletrack.
That bar that I am referring to has been lifted every time I met a goal this year, and Sunday was no exception. I had to at least tell my self there was an outside chance. So I pumped myself up and said I can do this. right out of the shoot I made a fool out of myself missing my peddle and falling back to 20th or so. Immediately panic set in as I started to claw my way back to a decent position. While on my way there I was cussing and very upset with myself but finally made it to about 10th or so. A few more passes and I was onto Matters wheel which made me feel a little better about things. Having burned a lot of matches to get there I was redlining. Matter made his move and I wasn't able to go with him around Ryan Baumann who is super strong but struggled in the singletrack.
After the first lap I settled down a bit and tried to be more in the moment to conserve the position that I had. A few more painstaking laps had me trading places with a few guys but I pretty much new where I stood. Another good finnish and great race in the books. To top things off I learned something again. After all that is my primary focus and I can't lose sight of that.
All and all the weekend was great.
I want to say thank you to the Peariso's and Adventure 212 for all their support. I feel so grateful to be on the team and can't wait for the Cheq. 40 where we will all be at the same time. I also want to thank my wonderful girlfriend Lynn who amongst school, work, school work and chores has time be my sideline coach. These guys and many others make it possible for me to beat the crap out of myself every weekend. I mean do what I love and love what I do.
Darrin
9.10.2009
Report(s)
Soooooo whats happening? Good question. The answer.....A LOT!!!! I have been a total slacker with my blog and I know that there are people who actually care what I have going on and wonder how I am doing. So to you two or three, here goes.
Lets roll things back a bit;
8/2 Wors #7 was my best showing at a WORS event to date. I took 4th at that race on my Surly which Don deemed a "boat anchor". The coarse ripped and I was so happy for Nathan G. on his first WORS win in his Elite career. Every time I would see him I would cheer him on.That was also the last race I did on a single speed. Since then I have been training and riding on a geared bike to get ready for the Chequomegon 40. My good fried/team manager Chris P. has been nice enough to let me use his Titus 29er.
After Crystal Ridge it was my time off, a whole week to be exact and no racing for three weeks....or so I thought. My week was filled with activities like walks with my two favorite ladies in the whole world, a few chill bike rides, and one long 4hr ride with my coach Joe. The next week was filled with short rides and no intensity but I could swear up and down that I was still ready to race. So we made some quick arrangements and off we went to River falls for the border battle.
8/16 WORS #8 As a last minute addition to the schedule preparation was minimal and I mean MINIMAL. Bad Idea #1 I grabbed the Titus for its first race with me aboard. The NO TUBES CROWS were still on there and rain was in the forecast so I grabbed some mud tires that I haven't ever used. Bad idea #2. We get there and fire our bodies after hibernation of a drive. I felt pretty good physically on the preride but did way too much. Also I wasn't used to the bike but didn't have a choice so I acted as if. The whole night it rained and I was in panic mode so on went the mud tires. Bad Idea #3 But what the heck. A good call up and I was rubbing shoulders with the best of them. I felt like crap on the first climb and new I was going to be in for a longgggg day. No joke as I came in 14th and feeling like the onset of death had come over me. Chalked it up as a bad day and headed home.
I want to thank the Senkerik's for putting up with Lynn, Ginger and I the whole weekend.
After that weekend the pressure was on. I had already gotten a boatload of flack from all the guys on singles, and even some geared guys. So it was time to train and get things going again. I was scheduled for a long week already but the guilt trip I put on myself made it even longer. about 5hours of saddle time longer. I was scheduled for about 14 but ended up doing 19 with some pretty hard efforts. One motor pace session with Joe and Mike and a 4.5hr solid ride at the southern Kettles with Nate. I was spent but knew it would pay off sometime down the road. My next major focus, Chequomegon.
Can't forget about the in between.
Wors#9 Reforestation Ramble.
An awesome start had me sitting 3rd or 4th wheel into the woods and I was giddy about that. I think I can credit it to the gears, with no out of control spinning to just stay in the group I was able to hold my own. Once things got going I felt confident with my riding and was sure I would be able to stay with the lead group. This was another huge goal of mine as I haven't been able to make said group yet this year. With Jesse killing it at the front and the more experienced guys pushing me to the back I was playing YOYO all day. It was just a matter of time and sure enough with about 15minutes left in the race I let a small gap open and off the back I went. So I regrouped and pushed it to the finish line seeing stars the whole way. Whew! Held onto 6th and with that star studded crowed I was pleased. Shout out to Chris P. for his finish as he has been having bad luck all year. He even had to claw his way back to the lead pack after a first lap crash. During my time with the pack he was attacking like a mad man and seemed to have great form!
Copper Harbor
A short week of work and training lead me into the Labor day weekend which I was super stoked about. I love going to Coppor Harbor and with Friday off Lynn and I were able to start our vacation early. We drove up to the MI border and Camped one night. Up early so we could take our time seeing things and stopping at random. That area is so cool and there is so much to see. Amongst our sight seeing we also saw many good people. Nate and his Family, Steve and Judy whom I met the very first year I went up there, and the whole gang from that area. It was so cool to be back. Lots of hiking, riding, eating and just plain hanging out. Ahhhh the good life.
Sunday came as it always does and I was ready to race. Not before taking a plunge into the frigid waters of lake Superior and ya it was cold. I missed out last year so I thought I had better make up and jump in twice this year. Next thing I know we are toeing the line and getting ready to go. Off we went chasing the truck up the hill and then finally we were on our own. Chris P. did his usual and I grabbed his wheel with a little gap opening between us and the rest of the field. I let him hammer for a while then took over. Before long we were by ourselves and neither of us were taking it easy on each other. As we finished up the first lap we called a truce and decided we would come in together and put the trophy in Adventure 212. In my eyes there was no other way as this was a chance for us to show people there what we do. So in we came holding each others arms aloft to signify a co victory. Good food and booze followed and a good night was had. More riding and sight seeing was in store the next day before the dreaded drive home. I would like to give shout out to my good friend Chris Z. on his 3rd place SS finish. Also, Congrats to the whole 212 team who had an awesome showing filling up the top spots and taking home some sweet awards.
To sum things up the weekend was more than I ever expected as always, and I will definitely go back again next year. I also want to thank every one who helped me out last weekend including Lynn who did a great job of handing bottles off to the whole team. Terry, David, Dennis and Heidi for all of their super support. And last but certainly not least the Peariso's and Adventure 212. Without these guys my season probably wouldn't have been the same. I am learning so much this year and I feel like I am one step closer everyday to achieving my goal.
Everyday is an opportunity for me and I will continiue to use these opportunities to my advantage.
Be happy.
Darrin
P.S. Thanks for hanging in there as I know it was a long one. Also I will post some pics soon or you can go to our Flikr page and they will be posted in a day or so.
Lets roll things back a bit;
8/2 Wors #7 was my best showing at a WORS event to date. I took 4th at that race on my Surly which Don deemed a "boat anchor". The coarse ripped and I was so happy for Nathan G. on his first WORS win in his Elite career. Every time I would see him I would cheer him on.That was also the last race I did on a single speed. Since then I have been training and riding on a geared bike to get ready for the Chequomegon 40. My good fried/team manager Chris P. has been nice enough to let me use his Titus 29er.
After Crystal Ridge it was my time off, a whole week to be exact and no racing for three weeks....or so I thought. My week was filled with activities like walks with my two favorite ladies in the whole world, a few chill bike rides, and one long 4hr ride with my coach Joe. The next week was filled with short rides and no intensity but I could swear up and down that I was still ready to race. So we made some quick arrangements and off we went to River falls for the border battle.
8/16 WORS #8 As a last minute addition to the schedule preparation was minimal and I mean MINIMAL. Bad Idea #1 I grabbed the Titus for its first race with me aboard. The NO TUBES CROWS were still on there and rain was in the forecast so I grabbed some mud tires that I haven't ever used. Bad idea #2. We get there and fire our bodies after hibernation of a drive. I felt pretty good physically on the preride but did way too much. Also I wasn't used to the bike but didn't have a choice so I acted as if. The whole night it rained and I was in panic mode so on went the mud tires. Bad Idea #3 But what the heck. A good call up and I was rubbing shoulders with the best of them. I felt like crap on the first climb and new I was going to be in for a longgggg day. No joke as I came in 14th and feeling like the onset of death had come over me. Chalked it up as a bad day and headed home.
I want to thank the Senkerik's for putting up with Lynn, Ginger and I the whole weekend.
After that weekend the pressure was on. I had already gotten a boatload of flack from all the guys on singles, and even some geared guys. So it was time to train and get things going again. I was scheduled for a long week already but the guilt trip I put on myself made it even longer. about 5hours of saddle time longer. I was scheduled for about 14 but ended up doing 19 with some pretty hard efforts. One motor pace session with Joe and Mike and a 4.5hr solid ride at the southern Kettles with Nate. I was spent but knew it would pay off sometime down the road. My next major focus, Chequomegon.
Can't forget about the in between.
Wors#9 Reforestation Ramble.
An awesome start had me sitting 3rd or 4th wheel into the woods and I was giddy about that. I think I can credit it to the gears, with no out of control spinning to just stay in the group I was able to hold my own. Once things got going I felt confident with my riding and was sure I would be able to stay with the lead group. This was another huge goal of mine as I haven't been able to make said group yet this year. With Jesse killing it at the front and the more experienced guys pushing me to the back I was playing YOYO all day. It was just a matter of time and sure enough with about 15minutes left in the race I let a small gap open and off the back I went. So I regrouped and pushed it to the finish line seeing stars the whole way. Whew! Held onto 6th and with that star studded crowed I was pleased. Shout out to Chris P. for his finish as he has been having bad luck all year. He even had to claw his way back to the lead pack after a first lap crash. During my time with the pack he was attacking like a mad man and seemed to have great form!
Copper Harbor
A short week of work and training lead me into the Labor day weekend which I was super stoked about. I love going to Coppor Harbor and with Friday off Lynn and I were able to start our vacation early. We drove up to the MI border and Camped one night. Up early so we could take our time seeing things and stopping at random. That area is so cool and there is so much to see. Amongst our sight seeing we also saw many good people. Nate and his Family, Steve and Judy whom I met the very first year I went up there, and the whole gang from that area. It was so cool to be back. Lots of hiking, riding, eating and just plain hanging out. Ahhhh the good life.
Sunday came as it always does and I was ready to race. Not before taking a plunge into the frigid waters of lake Superior and ya it was cold. I missed out last year so I thought I had better make up and jump in twice this year. Next thing I know we are toeing the line and getting ready to go. Off we went chasing the truck up the hill and then finally we were on our own. Chris P. did his usual and I grabbed his wheel with a little gap opening between us and the rest of the field. I let him hammer for a while then took over. Before long we were by ourselves and neither of us were taking it easy on each other. As we finished up the first lap we called a truce and decided we would come in together and put the trophy in Adventure 212. In my eyes there was no other way as this was a chance for us to show people there what we do. So in we came holding each others arms aloft to signify a co victory. Good food and booze followed and a good night was had. More riding and sight seeing was in store the next day before the dreaded drive home. I would like to give shout out to my good friend Chris Z. on his 3rd place SS finish. Also, Congrats to the whole 212 team who had an awesome showing filling up the top spots and taking home some sweet awards.
To sum things up the weekend was more than I ever expected as always, and I will definitely go back again next year. I also want to thank every one who helped me out last weekend including Lynn who did a great job of handing bottles off to the whole team. Terry, David, Dennis and Heidi for all of their super support. And last but certainly not least the Peariso's and Adventure 212. Without these guys my season probably wouldn't have been the same. I am learning so much this year and I feel like I am one step closer everyday to achieving my goal.
Everyday is an opportunity for me and I will continiue to use these opportunities to my advantage.
Be happy.
Darrin
P.S. Thanks for hanging in there as I know it was a long one. Also I will post some pics soon or you can go to our Flikr page and they will be posted in a day or so.
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