Monday, May 21, 2012

Doggy Dog River Enduro

Courtesy of Jamey Poelker:
On Friday at work I decided it was time to start training for the
Oregon Enduro series and called up Matt made plans to hook up and
carpool down to Oregon for some mellow Enduro training/racing.  I had
not been on the Dog River Trail so I was stoked to get down there and
rip it apart.  We arrived Saturday around 10 am registered and set up
camp in a sweet spot by the river.  Matthieu Denuelle and Greg
Satterfield met us at registration as they had been living the good
life on soft beds watching the local news in a hotel down the way.  I
am trying to get back to my roots and do some dirt bag racing this
year.  Just a bike, place to sleep, a bit of food and my Homies.

The two day race event was down to one day with two stages of racing.
Day one we shuttled the two stages getting in three laps and about 24
miles of classic Super D style riding.  The first stage was super
short and smooth and fast, kinda like a 40 yard dash for MTB's that
started off in a slippery snow/mud patch and quickly turned to dry
pine covered single track with a nasty hairpin to tree smash finish.
Times were around the 2+ minute mark.  From there riders climbed for a
couple miles up to the start of stage two.  This part was not timed so
you had a chance to catch your breath and take in the sights.  Stage
two was the real deal....  fast and challenging with a few tough rock
gardens and frustrating speed stopping hairpins that made me question
whether I could ride my stupid bike at all.  All in all I was stoked
with the course and blown away that it could be so dry with snow melt
at the start.

After the race we picked up our medals since we all made it to the
podium!!!  and went off to Post Canyon to see how the recovery process
from the ice storm was coming along.  We rode a bit there and are
happy to report that many of trails are open and ready to ride.

Happy Trails

Results

http://obra.org/events/20561/results

Matt Jagger            Pro               2ND place
Greg Satterfield     Cat 2 40+     1ST place
Matthieu Denuelle Cat 2 40+     2ND Place
Jamey Poelker      Cat 2 19-39  1ST Place

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Henry's Ridge, BuDu 2012 Final.
The day started out a bit drizzly when I arrived just before the expert start. The mist let up and it actually warmed up a bit and had a sun break to two by the end of the day.
Henry's Ridge is a cool area in Maple Valley just below a housing development. Twisty single track, climbs that aren't too horrendous, fun and flowy, except near the lower pond, pretty rooty and technical in there. Overall a really nice place to ride and I'll certainly go back to explore.
Lightly attended, I only saw Henry and Erin out there with me.
Henry rode Expert Men, taking a 2nd place and 4th overall for the series.  Pretty damn good since Henry started in Sport and upgraded to Expert, losing a couple points in the process.
Erin and I raced in Sport. Unlucky for me, less than 10min into the race a bad shift Reuben-ized by derailleur. After bending the hanger and pulley arm back around I was able to finish 1 lap, only having 3 gears left usable on the cassette. I got lucky on the repairs the next day, straitening the pulley arm and replacing the hanger, seems to work well.
Erin took a 2nd place and 8th overall for the season.  I took a DNF and 16th place overall.

So that's my blog update. Short and sweet, now get out there and ride!









BuDu Series Overall Standing (from the final printout)

Erin, 8th of 23, 4 races
Reuben, 29th of 62, 2 races
Lito, 1 race
John, 1 race
Mike, 16th of 25, 3 races and a DNF
Henry, 4th of 24, 5 races
Nancy, 1 race