JOEBRON CONTINUES:

Joe on his way to a 2nd place at the Stony creek XC:
Photo by the Biz: http://www.cycletherapyracing.com

Joberon Race Notes Cont.

So Erin and I rolled out of beautiful Windham NY with bandages on my knee, ice on my thumb and a few medals hanging from the rear view. A successful outing for sure and great start to our trip. Next up was US MTB Nats at Mt. Snow in Vermont. But first, we were off to Boston. My sis Mary and her hubby Garett live there. It ended up being a great pit stop. Our hosts set us up nicely in their sweet downtown condo. We had a great time touring Boston with Mary(www.marylynnburke.com) and Garett. Both by foot and by bike. We hit up a few different eateries sampling some great pizza, brew and, of course, the clam chowda. We also made a late night appearance at the aquarium to visit the fat lazy seals. We started our trip up to Mt. Snow around lunchtime on Tuesday. We arrived with enough time to sneak in a pre ride of the race course. Like a smack to the face, I was reminded quickly just how tough this course is. There were a couple of mods to the course this time making many of the climbs much steeper. The downhill's were...the downhill's. Good o'l white knuckle stuff. We took it as easy as possible on our pre ride then set off for some dinner and R&R at a local motel. Wednesday came and we had more pre riding, eating and poolside chillin' on the menu. I busted out two, probably to hard, laps of the course. I felt pretty good. Riding solid and feeling strong I felt much more confident than the day prior. Then, just as planned, we had some lunch and hit the pool. Thursday came and I could feel the nerves starting to develop. Early Friday morning it was game on. Thursday I went out and hit the course again. After one fairly brisk lap I decided that was enough. I spent the rest of the day and my nervous energy tinkering with my bike. That evening we moved all our things into a sweet mountain/course-side condo. That's when the rest of the crew showed up. Our teammate John along with Mike and Michelle Simonson(Trek Midwest) arrived after a long haul from Michigan. Our good friend Kelli Emmett(Giant) even made a appearance for our pasta feed dinner. It was fun and helped keep my mind relaxed. Friday morning came quick and I had slept fair. I prepared my break quietly trying not to awake the crew. Eventually we were all up drinking coffee, chatting and watching some TV. Then the time came to suit up and warm up. So listen to what happened next. Mr. Semi Pro mountain biker dude walks outside with bike in tow to the car. I top off the tires, put on the helmet and throw down a few sweet looking yoga style stretches for good measure. Here we go. I hop on the machine, lose my balance and tip over into the bushes. No one saw this ridiculous moment in my cycling career. I quickly stood up, brushed off the top soil and pine needles and headed out to race. Mt. Snow. Nationals. Yeah, I'm so cool;) Not! There were around 70 guys at the start. I was standing somewhere in the middle when the start whistle was blown to begin our 4laps of fun. It seemed the leaders were halfway up the first climb by the time I hit the base. The climb starts fairly mild, for Mt. Snow, with a not so steep gravel road. The new section has riders turning to go up a slick with morning dew grassy wall. I was already thinking "granny gear". I just wasn't able to put the power down. The legs and back weren't on my side this day as I tried and tried to work my way forward. The looks on my friends faces kind of said it all as I rolled through the feed zone to start lap 2. I was riding and surviving. I've had these days here in there over the past couple seasons and just accepted it. I never gave up. I certainly didn't stop pedaling or trying to chase. It wasn't my day but there were many others in the same boat. I saw one dude puking. It is a grueling and relentless course. It just keep hitting you no matter if you're going up or down. I ended up finishing 38th and a mountain of minutes off the lead pace. Next up was the short track on Sunday. Saturday morning was spent supporting and cheering on Erin and John in their Expert races. The afternoon brought out the pro's and we had a blast hiking to the crazy spots on the course to spectate. That evening we all went out for some Mexican grub and cervesas to celebrate a job well done. Sundays short track warm up went pretty smooth. The balance was there and I kept the bike upright. I packed in to the on deck circle with about 40 others when they started the call ups. Eventually they released the masses and elbows were flying as riders tried to find a good spot on the start grid. Mine, unfortunately, was towards the back. Bang! We were off and I was immediately gasping. By the time I reached the first corner the leaders were on the other side of the course heading the opposite direction. Work to be done. For the first 3 laps I felt like I was holding my breath. Gasping once or twice as I sped through the start/finish. Eventually I had worked my way into the top 20. I was suffering. I was afraid to look at the clock. But I did. 9 minutes! Damn! Only 9 minutes had passed. I took a breather and went back to work. I was actually working my way up towards the leaders. Next thing I knew I was in the top 10. The last lap had me in a battle for the 7th spot which I missed going into the finish giving me 8th on the day. I was pleased and could only wonder how things would have went had I started up front. After a hour or so I started to feel recovered. From there Erin and I loaded up and began the long drive back home. We made it safely and avoided the bushes.

Thanks for Reading.

Joberon

Ore to Shore 2008

Jason Lummis 8th

Joberon 11th

John Meyers 18th

Erin Vicary 7th

Scott Quiring 1st male tandem with Ken Blakey-Shell

Jason Jones 7th Single Gear Soft Rock

Results

Joe is that a HOPSLAM your holding ?

Heart surgery Survivor and still racing JAJ ---

Here is a great way to say good job today !

Dads #1 -- I hope this was what he meant !

Joberon Checks in !

Joberon's Race Notes:
Since my last update I've managed to get a few races in. Some poor, fair and good results to take away from it all. It started in mid July when Erin and I hit the road for some east coast racing action. A NMBS in New York and the US MTB Nationals in Vermont. Then it was back home for some local race action then up to the UP for the seasons first big P2P(point to point). Here's a little review. First up was a all new venue on the national MTB circuit. Windham Mountain New York. Not too far from Albany this venue is nestled in the beautiful Catskill Mountains and would prove to be a great warm up for MTB Nats. Besides lots of ski resort climbing I wasn't sure what to expect. This would also be my first true test with the Semi Pro's. We arrived a couple days early to allow for some pre riding. After one lap around this sub 5 mile course we were all smiles. Yes there was lots of climbing but it was broken up into smaller bits with super fun traverses and down hill's in between. Lots of sweet bridges and flowing single track and everything was ride able. It was difficult to control myself as I wanted to keep riding laps. I'm on vacation, the weather was perfect, I was in the mountains and the course is SWEET. And I had to stop riding? Racing is a funny thang. Anyway, my XC race was on Saturday morning. After a nice warm-up I was lining it up for my first NMBS Semi Pro race. I wasn't to nervous as I decided to just ride my own race. I started conservative. I was going for consistent lap times and hopefully a strong finish. I felt good for this race. I enjoyed it from start to finish as I was able to pick riders off with each passing lap. 4 total. On the last lap I tried to lift the pace and, to my surprise, it worked. I felt great. I was catching guys on both the climbs and the down hill's and was nearing the top 10 when...you guessed it, FLAT. My rear tire was leaking after hitting a sharp rock...or something. It was a mess. I was hoping the Stans would seal it. I tried a couple times with no luck. I ended up pulling the wheel off, removing the valve, replacing the tube, blah blah blah. I lost a lot of time. But, I got back up and rolling, rode hard, passed a few riders and cruised in for a finish in the 20's. Flats suck but I had fun. And I'm on vacation dammit! 2 beers to celebrate thank you. Next up was the Short Track. I was positioned mid pack at the start line and knew I'd have to jam it when the gun sounded. After a couple of laps of major suffering I was 3rd wheel. I was happy with the progress but had NO idea if I could survive to the end. After another lap or two there was a lead group of 7 or so and the games began. Someone would attack then things would slow. Testing each riding with every surge eventually we cracked a couple guys. With about two to go a rider launched and only one person could respond. Unfortunately it wasn't me. I fought with two others to the end and rolled in for 5th and a spot on a NMBS podium. I was pumped. To celebrate my visit to the podium I thought it would be fun to try out this Super D business. It was my understanding that it was XC racer friendly. Haha. The Stupid D, as I now call it, was the very last event of the weekend starting after the Short Track. I was feeling happy and confident as me, my skinsuit and 22lb hard tail loaded the chairlift. Joining me for the ride up was a dude in full body armor and a DH bike. Hint hint. After speaking to a few of these Super D specialists they had me convinced that this was a course that favored the cross country rider as it was long and had some "climbing". The start was interesting. Both the bike and rider have their own start line. The riders were about 100ft behind their machines and had to run to them at the sound of the gun. So here I am. Atop a mountain, running to my bike and riding as fast as I can. Downhill. Off we go and I find myself getting boxed out by the front runners. The start was fast and furious and I quickly forgot about the massive amount of vertical that was head. Negative vertical. Next thing you know I'm sitting in 3rd or 4th. Game on! "This ain't so bad" I thought. Suddenly things got a touch steeper, a touch faster and a touch rougher. Jagged rocks and debris everywhere. I came into a corner way to hot and almost lost it. The top 5 guys gapped me at this point and, like a total moron, I CHASED THEM. I regained contact somehow and that's when it happened. The freakin' bottom dropped out. I was already doing at least 25mph when the trail got so steep I nearly pee'd my...skinsuit. Naturally I'm ALL OVER the brakes. Total panic mode. At the bottom of this steep section, yup, a 90 degree turn. Needless to say I went flying. Up and over the handlebars landing in a flying Superman-like position. Hands and knees first. Honestly, I knew I was pretty banged up at that moment but wasn't to fussed. I was happy just knowing I made it. I was in way over my head for sure. "XC racer friendly". Yeah, right. I took a few moments to assess both myself and my bike. My left knee was pretty banged up and bleeding and I thought my thumb was possibly broken or badly sprained. Somehow I managed to make it down the rest of the way and even finish my "race". In the end I was 11th out of 13 I believe. The two guys behind me? DNF's with mechanical. Erin was nervously awaiting my arrival. She looked at me with that "you idiot" kind of look and took me over to the medical center where the friendly Windham staff put me back together. Thankfully I was OK. Lots of ice, bandages and sports tape and I was able to salvage my racing/riding holiday. Race review to be continued. Next up...Mt. Snow. Maybe some photos too. Thanks for reading.
Joberon

NATIONAL 24 HOUR CHAMPS 30+

THE MICHIGAN MASTERS: l-r
NEIL SCHARPHORN
DAN JANSEN
NATE VERSLUIS
JOHN MEYERS


GREAT JOB GUYS: RESULTS

John Meyers:

Brief National Championship Report!

National Champion!

Wausau Wisconsion

Finally the stars aligned for the four teammates on August 01-02, 2008 and they were awarded the National Champion Jersey for winning the Masters 30+, 24 Hour Race.

This was a collective effort by all and it could not have been accomplished if we had not work so flawlessly!

The race started at 10:07 a.m. It was decided the night before that with my running and xterra background would benefit the team most for the crazy lemans start. Race start and off for about 1/2 mile run or so and on to our bikes....lots of disorder....bikes bodies everywhere. I made in in about 15th or so not bad. By the end of the first lap I was somewhere around 6th. That first lap was my fastest lap and the fastest for all 30+ team laps. The race continued along with each of us having to basically race a timetrial every 3 hours. I completed 6 laps on the course with my lap times increase into the night. The last two laps were slower due to my overall upper body fatigue from the rocky, rootie course. When all was said and done we had complete 23 laps on the course and had a lap on the second place team!

I am so very grateful the Dan Jansen, Nate Versluis, and Neil Sharphorn were there as my teammates for this special day. Thanks Guys! We will have a special toast at Founders and at Bells in the near Future! And once again NASTROVIA!!!! (to your good health)

http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3764

http://www.grannygear.com/realtime/public/nm_class.php?display_fastest_laps_flag=1&class=TH

http://www.xtrphoto.com/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=481357&g2_page=2

USAC National Championships

John Meyers, Erin Vicary and JOBERON attended the National Championships in Vermont over the past weekend.


John Meyers:
Race Report:

2008 Mountain Bike Nationals Mt. Snow, Vermont.

I raced this past Saturday morning at Nationals and placed 11th. of about 40 - 45 riders. The placing was not what I had set as my top five goal. I believe that with training and schedule that I had put together had me on target for that week. To pull off a big win at nationals this year it was going to require that I dial in the bike as well as the course. So when we arrived on thur. evening Mike and I threw our riding gear on and checked are tire psi and we were off for what we hoped would be a good solid lap on the course and if time permitted we would do two. We finished the first and then cut off the start climb out and went back out for a second lap. The rough downhill denture rattling section was 90% dry and dusty. I felt much better on this lap. Early the next morning back up and out for two more laps.. These laps were intended to be easy but sometimes the pace and heart rate is just not controllable when you are going up. Two laps done and ready for some work on the bike. The small 22 tooth appeared to be giving the problems with the chain suck and jambed chain clear back to the Lumberjack chain break.....off to find a new chain ring. I found one and took Mike's advice in removing a link also. So late that night not remembering to lubricate my chain I begin the process and notice a problem with my chain....damm it's bent! I should not be messing around at 10:30 p.m. the night before my race but better than during the race.
Race day started great! About a 45 minute warm-up to see how the previous evenings thunderstorms affected the course...things were greasy but not so bad. The climbing up the start hill would be important because of the grass and possibly only one lane.
As I was waiting for our wave #6 to take off I had just enough time to reflect and say a quick prayer for success and we were off. Off the front line I went and damm I did not get the hole shoot....instead my left foot would not clip in....damm I was getting caught in the middle of the field....damm I charge up part of the first hill and just get my foot clipped in. As we came over the top I think I made it back into about 4 or 5...feeling a little better I held my ground until we got to the down single track section.....It was 100% crazy, yelling, bitching with riders being lapped from the waves ahead off us.....lot's of crashes and angry aggressive riders behind wanting behind....struggling with this I let numerous go by.....big mistake.....I lost contact with the race and the top five goal that I had established. Mr. nice guy was the wrong mode to be in during the race. The second and third laps were much of the same except on the second lap I did have some chain suck and jambed into my chain stay....off the bike to careful free things up. A few riders went by and I had to play chase. The additional two times down the technical down hill were much less negative and not so congested. I kept things moving but somewhere in the third lap I new that I was not were I needed to be no matter how hard I went to chase down more riders I would finish out side of the podium.
I did finish but discouraged and frustrated. Over the past few days I have processed things that I will not do before a key race in the future.....
1. No extended 3 1/2 group rides 72 hours before Nat.'s with the final 40 minutes time trialing home to beat a thunderstorm.
1a. The taper down takes place many days before and it's better to be under trained than over trained and tired.
2. two laps on the race course 48 hours before race time. one is enough.
3. two laps on the race course 24 hours before race time. one is enough.
4. Repair and replace parts on a bike less than 24 hours.
5. Replace a chain on race bike less than 10 hours.
6. No new cleats put on shoes with out 7 - 10 days worth of wear.
7. Stay in the front or one or two places back at the most.
8. No more Mr. Nice Guy in the single track.....So what if someone wants to get by....tough to bad....wait your turn bro!
9. Rest....Rest....Rest and more Rest!
10. There's always next year.

Overall it was a great experience and had a great time with Mike, Mitch, Joe and Erin. We will have to do it again soon.

Next race is Nationals #2 August 1-2 in Wisconsin. I will be participating on a powerhouse four man team that Dan Jansen has formed. We will be heading to wisco next friday! Just maybe the stars will align for us on that day and we can drape ourselves with a coveted national jersey.

John