[craigstr]

Decided to do some XC racing on the EG to push myself to climb faster. The races at Northstar usually climb up from the village past mid-mountain then bomb down some of the DH trails to the bottom, usually about 4 miles a lap, sport does two laps. I can proudly say I was the only 6" bike in the field. I finished 8th in the 35-44 Sport class which sadly was last place, but I was tied with 7th and only a few minutes off the top guys, kinda hard to compete with the lycra clad, sub 24 lb fuel's & anthem's on the climbs. Good thing was I beat three 25-34 Sport guys. One thing I hate about local xc races, is there are a bunch of sandbaggers. Guy that won my class was turning the same lap times as the guy who won Men's Expert. DH's were a blast though, I was passing people like they were standing still, unfortuneatly they passed me back on the climbs.

 

[orthorex]

Nice Craig! Sounds like a familiar story. First time at Sea Otter this year. Sport class 40-44. My bike wasn't ready so Titus loaned me a FTM C with boat anchor Conti Rubber Queen 2.4 UST's. I was one of what seemed like 5 out of 100+ with a Camelbak, unshaved legs and no lycra. Almost everyone else had weight weenie hard tails and short-travel FS rigs. Unfortunately, Sea Otter doesn't have any technical descents. Hard-tail and more training next year because sport Class at Sea Otter is a serious group.

 

[craigstr]

I hear you

When the sport class hits the first hill standing and sprinting, you know something is wrong. Two years ago the top three guys in sport were turning faster laps then the expert guys, somebody complained persistently and they finally made them move up. Being Northstar puts on the race there are pretty much no rules in regards to class. They should do something like 2 wins automatically moves you up. I was happy though, I am definetly a stronger climber this year then I ever have been, the P90X really helped.

 

[zorg]

You probably won the "most fun on the DH" category. That's the only one that really matters. Climbing at Northstar is not pic nic either.

 

[kovi]

I like this. Takes a lot of courage to race with an EG among those lycra-hardtail guys!
You're the man Craigstr!

 

[craigstr]

Thanks for the encouragement!

6 races left in the series, I think I will try and do them all. When I used to do them on my ML, I just carried a waterbottle, no camelbak, I figured if I flatted or had a mechanical I was done anyway, with the EG there is no cage mount so I just had my 20lb pak on although I only filled the bladder half way. Maybe I will run an xc jersey and put the bottle in a pocket, that should make climbing a little easier. A couple guys commented to me about how much dh speed I was carrying, said they couldnt believe it. Kinda funny though when an xc weenie comes up to a double jump and comes to a complete stop to roll over it or jumps off his bike on an uphill techy switchback, runs up, them remounts, thats not how you do it is it?

 

[2ridealot]

Nice job Craigstr Good luck with the rest of it!

 

[KRob]

Nice job Craig. Seems like the EG would be a better match for their Super D series..... or is that Knolly territroy?

 

[pbbreath]

I spent the weekend at Northstar too but I spend the entire time mobbing the giant jumps and banked turns that were perfectly packed down from the rain we got at lunch. Good to see another EG was up there though. Only other Titus I saw up there was a Super Moto.

 

[eyescream]

Slightly OT, where did you get the custom matching Fox stickers for your 36? I'd like to get something like that to match the 36 on my Team Turquoise Yeti 575. Congrats on the race results.

 

[craigstr]

I dont remember

Slightly OT, where did you get the custom matching Fox stickers for your 36? I'd like to get something like that to match the 36 on my Team Turquoise Yeti 575. Congrats on the race results.

I did a search for "Fox Stickers" on amazon.com, one of the hits that came up had them in custom colors, they were only $25.

 

[craigstr]

Thanks Ortho for refreshing my aging memory!

http://www.decal-orations.com/search.php
Wish me luck, race #2 tonight! Been training all week for this!

 

[craigstr]

Much better result last night!

Third place, only 39 seconds off the leader, beat most of the other sport class age groups as well. Only wore my road camelback half full with water and nothing else. The climb suited me much better as it was a longer middle ring climb this week, I'm not a great granny gear climber. Got stuck behind a girl on the first descent, I asked to get by her several times and she wouldnt let me by so I had to pass her "unpolitely", rubbing is racing right? Makes me wonder what would happen if I put some lighter wheels and smaller tires on the EG, maybe a 2011 Float 36 RC2 to shave a few more pounds off, the thing would be a great long travel xc bike! After last week all my rides consisted of interval climbing (focusing on speed) and I hit the treadmill a few times and did HIIT running consisting of 1 minute running at 10mph followed by 1 minute walking at 4mph, for 30 minutes. This training seemed to really help!

 

[Vespasianus]

Third place, only 39 seconds off the leader, beat most of the other sport class age groups as well. Only wore my road camelback half full with water and nothing else. The climb suited me much better as it was a longer middle ring climb this week, I'm not a great granny gear climber. Got stuck behind a girl on the first descent, I asked to get by her several times and she wouldnt let me by so I had to pass her "unpolitely", rubbing is racing right? Makes me wonder what would happen if I put some lighter wheels and smaller tires on the EG, maybe a 2011 Float 36 RC2 to shave a few more pounds off, the thing would be a great long travel xc bike! After last week all my rides consisted of interval climbing (focusing on speed) and I hit the treadmill a few times and did HIIT running consisting of 1 minute running at 10mph followed by 1 minute walking at 4mph, for 30 minutes. This training seemed to really help!

Great job! And nothing wrong with rubbing, even better if it is female, just make sure you get permission first!

 

[dulyebr]

do you use propedal while you're racing?

 

[craigstr]

Yep

do you use propedal while you're racing?

Position 3, turn it on going up, quick flip it off before the descent. I really dont notice a difference descending with it on as I have forgotten to switch it off a few times, I think with the HV can, once the shock breaks through the platform that the LSC (propedal) provides, its pretty much like having it turned off.

 

[craigstr]

Tough Night!

Close to 90 degrees when the race started and Northstar decided to run the usual course backwards which meant going up Woods (an intermediate DH trail with rock gardens, doubles, & tabletop jumps) then going down the trail we usually climb up. The course sucked, people were crashing and walking everywhere, it was basically a 2.5 mile granny gear climb on a trail that was built to go down, not up. Then coming down, the course marker guy must have ran out of chalk as people were going every direction, the course markings are always minimal but this was by far the worst. I picked off 5 or 6 people coming down only to have them take a short cut and get back in front of me on the singletrack climb where basically you couldnt pass. Then to top it off, more sand bagging. Two of the guys that got bumped up to expert last week after placing 1 and 2 in sport for two weeks were back in Sport last night, not sure how that works. Ended up tied for 7th out of 13 in my class, not sure how many of the guys in front of me raced a shorter course than I did but I have to remember to just have fun and that I am doing this to become a better climber. My wife came with me and decided to start using her new Nikon P100, 118 pictures later, I have one picture of me riding but plenty of the kids and dogs that were there. I also have a picture of everyone who had either an orange jersey or orange on their bike. If you are ever at Northstar, go have a burrito at North of the Boarder, good stuff!

 

[Vespasianus]

Close to 90 degrees when the race started and Northstar decided to run the usual course backwards which meant going up Woods (an intermediate DH trail with rock gardens, doubles, & tabletop jumps) then going down the trail we usually climb up. The course sucked, people were crashing and walking everywhere, it was basically a 2.5 mile granny gear climb on a trail that was built to go down, not up. Then coming down, the course marker guy must have ran out of chalk as people were going every direction, the course markings are always minimal but this was by far the worst. I picked off 5 or 6 people coming down only to have them take a short cut and get back in front of me on the singletrack climb where basically you couldnt pass. Then to top it off, more sand bagging. Two of the guys that got bumped up to expert last week after placing 1 and 2 in sport for two weeks were back in Sport last night, not sure how that works. Ended up tied for 7th out of 13 in my class, not sure how many of the guys in front of me raced a shorter course than I did but I have to remember to just have fun and that I am doing this to become a better climber. My wife came with me and decided to start using her new Nikon P100, 118 pictures later, I have one picture of me riding but plenty of the kids and dogs that were there. I also have a picture of everyone who had either an orange jersey or orange on their bike. If you are ever at Northstar, go have a burrito at North of the Boarder, good stuff!

Still 7 out of 13 is not bad and doing it all on a 6" "All mountain" bike makes you a stud in my book! :thumbsup:

The sandbagging is crazy is all races. In the MASS series out on the East Coast, it is amazing to see how many people race the "beginner" class who are sponsored and have times that are substantially faster than people in the sport or expert class!

 

[craigstr]

Good night!

The XC series took a one week break so Northstar could host its part of the Lake Tahoe Music Festival. Last night's race had perfect weather and they decided to treat everyone to an extra lap. Sport did 3-4 mile laps instead of 2. I actually didnt ride at all for the first week because I had a pulled muscle in my back, but this week I've done a couple of longer rides with some faster people and it payed off. Ended up second in my class (35-44 Sport). I was trying to save my legs for the big Epic we are doing this weekend but in the middle of the second lap I just started feeling better and better, I started picking people off on the climbs which is unusual for me on a 30 lb bike and it became addictive but I have to say the last hundred yards of the climb on the third lap hurt like HELL! People were exploding on the third lap after not having raced in two weeks. The course we did last night was the standard go to course which usually takes me about 25 min a lap but last night I turned three laps in 1:12, just under 24 minutes a lap.

 

[kovi]

I like how the wire color matches the bike's color here...

:thumbsup: