I'd been thinking about taking a class for quite a while. I know that Shane Watts does a great job with classes and lots of guys say good things about his methods. Rich Laffterty has gotten some good press in Trail Rider recently and I'd been looking at his website too. It took a couple tries at scheduling it, but yesterday I finally got down to South Jersey to work with Rich. It took about 5 hours to get to his place, so it made for a long day trip, but it was worth it.
We'd scheduled a four-hour session starting at 1:00. Pretty hot and humid, but a great day for a ride. Rich showed a real interest in addressing my needs for the session, my particulars regarding how I fit on the bike, and understanding what I do pretty well and where I needed improvement. We spent the first hour talking bike set up and thought processes when getting ready to corner. Originally, Rich said that the setup of my bars looked pretty good but later, as I started to apply some of his techniques, it became obvious to me that a couple small changes might make a measurable difference. One of the first things Rich pointed out was my standing position. Which I've never really thought about - other than trying to be in it more often rather than sitting.
On a quick trail ride to warm up a little, I was trying to practice 3 or 4 different things that Rich had mentioned. I was riding SLOW, but it was possible to feel that each one could contribute to smoother riding. We worked a little on standing while wiggling through tight trees. New to me and I can see how it would work, but I'll need more practice. After this activity, Rich gave me a chance to ride his Husa - he wanted me to take note of the bar position. While I'd always assumed that my layout was best for me and had become very comfortable with it (using the same exact set of bars since 2005), it became obvious that his bars would suit me better, even though he and I are very different size-wise. This would definitely be a necessary component of implementing his recommended standing posture.
Next we did what he calls a triangle drill. Three slightly bermed corners on a low-traction hard-pack dusty flat. He worked me through a very well thought-out progression of exercises - each time adding one new layer of complexity. We added facets of weighting, seating position, vision, balance, and braking. Rich did a good job again of spotting what I might have been doing well and where improvements were possible.
On our way back to the house we did a little work on log crossings - from a small one to very big on an enduro-cross course. He showed me a few different ways to handle small and medium logs that I hadn't thought of before. The biggest one was a challenge and psyched me out a little. Crossing it while seated to loft the front and then push over with my long legs is my usual approach. Rich showed how to do it while standing and - again - this will take practice.
All in all, a very good day. I was impressed with Rich's ability as a clinician. He has a real interest in taking a word that riders use like "uncomfortable" or "smooth" and then breaking down that feeling into tangible components of body position and technique. Some guys that have a boatload of natural athletic talent could probably implement these new techniques right away and integrate them into their riding very well. For me, I'm going to have to actually give up some "fun" riding time to methodically practice this stuff and then practice it some more. Otherwise the day would turn out to be a waste and I'll go back to my usual style. So it's up to me to have discipline.
Got home a little after 11:00 after fighting traffic most of the way home. A long day but a lot of fun.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Catching up...
It's been quite a while since I made an entry. A couple guys encouraged me to get back to it so I'll do my best to recap the first three NETRA enduros of the season that have now passed.
Rhody / Leyden Memorial:
As usual, the Rhody was a blast with tons of excellent trail and really good organization. As usual I felt like I rode pretty well. And as usual, my results were terrible. Don't really know what it is about that enduro. I always feel like I'm riding well and that I'm close to my max but my scores are pretty terrible.
The first section was basically the same as the past couple years, out the back of the tree farm in the twisty single track. Scott, Ed, and me on the same line with a few other PFers on a later line. Like last year, the route went up the sluice that drains the irrigation pond. This year they let the water flow for everyone in the morning and afternoon. Last year it was pretty dry on the first loop and then they let it rip for just the A's and B's at the end.
I think it was the second of the third section that they're now calling Sahara. Last year it was maybe just half a mile or so. This year we zigged and zagged across the dunes and it was a ton of fun. Section after that was LONG, fun, twisty single-track....about 18 miles in all, I think. Incredible riding. In this section, Ed and I were having a great battle back and forth. He was right on my rear and then I'd pull a few yard. This repeated four of five times until...... Less than a mile from the end of the section, Ed was again right on my tail. Over a small rise with a curve in it I heard a THUNK behind me. The hit was loud enough that I could hear it about 20 feet behind me over the motor, wind noise, etc. Looked back and saw Ed on the ground with his bike pointing the wrong way. Ran back to help him out. He and his new 'Berg were not looking good. After he regrouped he told Jim S. (who had also stopped) and me to take off.
The only glitch of the day for me was the long road section out to the "dash for cash" section. The mileage markers seemed a little wonky and I got the timekeeping wrong. This made Scott and me one flip late on the check in. This section was short, tough, and fun. After that it was out to the Pachaug section with the big rock garden that seems to get bigger each year, then back to the tree farm for just a quick mile there.
Already looking forward to the next one!
Clarkie's Closed Course Enduro:
Twice before, I've promised myself that I would never go back to Clarkies. Not sure what it is about that place.....just don't find a groove there. This time, I really give the trailboss credit for adhering the the NETRA rules. In years past, this was not true. The terrain is what it is, tough and technical. It lets you know where you stand. The course was laid out as three repetitions of the same 20-mile loop. The first time around it was two miles of free territory, about ten miles of timed section, then eight miles of free back to the trucks. I was already feeling like I'd had enough. The second loop started with a quick "extreme" section which......I was too stupid to realize that it was a timed section so I just lolligagged through it. Then TWELVE MILES of free territory that required me to ride pretty much at race pace in order to get the the Known start of the timed section of this loop. By the time I'd covered those twelve miles, I was pissed and called it a day. Scott was there too and he was riding well. At the start of the first loop I pulled away from him a little but by half-way he passed me. We got out on the same flip, though. He gets props for finishing the whole event when I wussed out.
KPTR enduro:
These three enduros where on three consecutive weekends. The day after Clarkies we had an awesome private track day with the club. At the track I could tell my back wasn't right. The enduro the day before had beat it up and I was in a lot of pain. The riding was too good to stop, though. I nursed it all week hoping that it would be good for the KPTR enduro.....one of my favorites even though I almost broke my femur there a few years ago. It didn't quite work out.
Scott, Ed, and I carpooled up there and pre-entered on row 3. It was a beautiful day and trail conditions were perfect. Like in years past, we started on the grass track and the whole first section was a ton of fun. I rode well in this section and ran the helmet cam the whole time. I think that this section is one of my favorites on the whole circuit. Grass track, lots of technical woods, grass track, woods, grass track, woods, grass track. Just a ton of fun. But, as we got out on the road after this, I could already feel my back tightening up.
The second section was typical KPTR. Flowing, rocky, technical single track. I was riding pretty well....for a while. I was flowing well and Scott was riding particularly well. He passed me about mid-section and pulled a gap. Ed and I were pretty close for the rest of this section. After that, it was all downhill for me. My back hurt so bad that I was at about half-speed and trying to avoid as many bumps as possible. I just struggled into gas. Ed and Scott were there long before me. I couldn't stand up straight. I muddled through one more section just to get at least half of the check and then called it a day.
It's ten days later as I write this. I did not ride or do the club work party this past weekend and the back is still a little sore. It's getting better very, very slowly. Going to skip riding this weekend too, even though I'd really like to do Sportsman at the BTR HS.
Rhody / Leyden Memorial:
As usual, the Rhody was a blast with tons of excellent trail and really good organization. As usual I felt like I rode pretty well. And as usual, my results were terrible. Don't really know what it is about that enduro. I always feel like I'm riding well and that I'm close to my max but my scores are pretty terrible.
The first section was basically the same as the past couple years, out the back of the tree farm in the twisty single track. Scott, Ed, and me on the same line with a few other PFers on a later line. Like last year, the route went up the sluice that drains the irrigation pond. This year they let the water flow for everyone in the morning and afternoon. Last year it was pretty dry on the first loop and then they let it rip for just the A's and B's at the end.
I think it was the second of the third section that they're now calling Sahara. Last year it was maybe just half a mile or so. This year we zigged and zagged across the dunes and it was a ton of fun. Section after that was LONG, fun, twisty single-track....about 18 miles in all, I think. Incredible riding. In this section, Ed and I were having a great battle back and forth. He was right on my rear and then I'd pull a few yard. This repeated four of five times until...... Less than a mile from the end of the section, Ed was again right on my tail. Over a small rise with a curve in it I heard a THUNK behind me. The hit was loud enough that I could hear it about 20 feet behind me over the motor, wind noise, etc. Looked back and saw Ed on the ground with his bike pointing the wrong way. Ran back to help him out. He and his new 'Berg were not looking good. After he regrouped he told Jim S. (who had also stopped) and me to take off.
The only glitch of the day for me was the long road section out to the "dash for cash" section. The mileage markers seemed a little wonky and I got the timekeeping wrong. This made Scott and me one flip late on the check in. This section was short, tough, and fun. After that it was out to the Pachaug section with the big rock garden that seems to get bigger each year, then back to the tree farm for just a quick mile there.Already looking forward to the next one!
Clarkie's Closed Course Enduro:
Twice before, I've promised myself that I would never go back to Clarkies. Not sure what it is about that place.....just don't find a groove there. This time, I really give the trailboss credit for adhering the the NETRA rules. In years past, this was not true. The terrain is what it is, tough and technical. It lets you know where you stand. The course was laid out as three repetitions of the same 20-mile loop. The first time around it was two miles of free territory, about ten miles of timed section, then eight miles of free back to the trucks. I was already feeling like I'd had enough. The second loop started with a quick "extreme" section which......I was too stupid to realize that it was a timed section so I just lolligagged through it. Then TWELVE MILES of free territory that required me to ride pretty much at race pace in order to get the the Known start of the timed section of this loop. By the time I'd covered those twelve miles, I was pissed and called it a day. Scott was there too and he was riding well. At the start of the first loop I pulled away from him a little but by half-way he passed me. We got out on the same flip, though. He gets props for finishing the whole event when I wussed out.
KPTR enduro:
These three enduros where on three consecutive weekends. The day after Clarkies we had an awesome private track day with the club. At the track I could tell my back wasn't right. The enduro the day before had beat it up and I was in a lot of pain. The riding was too good to stop, though. I nursed it all week hoping that it would be good for the KPTR enduro.....one of my favorites even though I almost broke my femur there a few years ago. It didn't quite work out.
Scott, Ed, and I carpooled up there and pre-entered on row 3. It was a beautiful day and trail conditions were perfect. Like in years past, we started on the grass track and the whole first section was a ton of fun. I rode well in this section and ran the helmet cam the whole time. I think that this section is one of my favorites on the whole circuit. Grass track, lots of technical woods, grass track, woods, grass track, woods, grass track. Just a ton of fun. But, as we got out on the road after this, I could already feel my back tightening up.
The second section was typical KPTR. Flowing, rocky, technical single track. I was riding pretty well....for a while. I was flowing well and Scott was riding particularly well. He passed me about mid-section and pulled a gap. Ed and I were pretty close for the rest of this section. After that, it was all downhill for me. My back hurt so bad that I was at about half-speed and trying to avoid as many bumps as possible. I just struggled into gas. Ed and Scott were there long before me. I couldn't stand up straight. I muddled through one more section just to get at least half of the check and then called it a day.
It's ten days later as I write this. I did not ride or do the club work party this past weekend and the back is still a little sore. It's getting better very, very slowly. Going to skip riding this weekend too, even though I'd really like to do Sportsman at the BTR HS.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sandy Lane 2011
The unofficial start of our enduro season finally arrived. It's been one of the toughest winters I can remember. Huge storms in January brought feet of snow cover to most of southern New England. I had the studded tires made and ready to go but they never even got mounted. Everywhere we usually get some seat time in the winter was unrideable....even canceling the Snow Run. Yes, the Snow Run Enduro canceled by too much snow.
So, it seemed like I was looking forward to the Sandy Lane even more than usual. Luckily, I'd gotten to go to Jersey to do a couple practice rides with Gilles. This was a huge help to helping me get my timing built up a little and to check my fitness level. Good trails and a fun time, but not a complete prep for the Sandy Lane. Practice was a lot of the faster, flowing, fun stuff and none of the tightest stuff that I knew would be in the S.L.
A group of seven of us went down and did the usual reg. and tech on Saturday afternoon. Most of us were on lines 42 and 43. I think I saw rows as high as 58 so it was the usually strong turnout for the Meteor club. Everything went smooth and we were at the restaurant for dinner by 6:30.
Sunday morning was cold and clear as predicted. The dash thermometer on the truck read 32 when we got to the event parking and was forecast to get into the low 50's. I opted to start with the enduro jacket on, thinking I'd take it off at first gas, but there were lots of dirt road sections where I was glad to have it so I wore it all day. Conditions were perfect all day. Tacky sand that was wet down by moderate rains earlier in the week. Probably some of the best conditions since I've been going to the S.L.
The first section was that stuff that we all look forward to right out behind the gun club. Smooth, flowing, rhythm riding was just incredible fun. There were only two drawbacks: at mile 0.5 there was a 3-mile reset....just when you started to get the flow going; and the whole section was set to 18mph when 24mph would have been doable and tons of fun. Instead, I led and kept time, slowing us down at almost every possible (0.3 mi.). As we were getting to what seemed like would be the end of the section I was riding very carefully, keeping our group just 5 seconds hot. I figured that I could easily scrub this time when needed but I was wrong. We came around an innocent-looking corner and BOOM, checkpoint. NO TIME to even tap the brakes. As a fellow trailboss, I was psyched for a very cool check placement. As a rider, I was pissed. I was being very disciplined and still got caught. The check was very well concealed. One of the check workers was even wearing a ghillie suit like an Army sniper. Showing just how close we were to the top of the minute... the five of us on minute 42 were riding pretty much nose-to-tail...the first three of us burned it and the last two did not.
The next section was more awesome flowing stuff. Lots of fun riding hard and building up a sweat. This is why we come to Jersey. Really, really enjoyable stuff. I was working hard to try to stay in front of Rick. It felt like maybe I'd pulled a few feet on him for a little while but he soon caught up. I let him by and rode hard to stay on his tail. I was able to stay close enough to end on the same minute about 20 seconds back.
Between the two gas stops were some transfer sections and the sections infamously known as "the meat grinder". This year, the really tight stuff didn't seem quite as bad because the club had it broken up into smaller sections with resets between. Last year, it seemed like it was one LONG section that was just demoralizing. Rick really took off in this stuff and I could not keep him in sight. There was another NETRA guy on our row that I could keep covered in the flowing stuff but he pulled away from me too in the tightest stuff. I think this is where being a big, tall guy is the biggest disadvantage. I kept trying different techniques to make better time...smooth flow, brake sliding, elbows in and wiggly, elbows out and aggressive....nothing seemed to make a difference in speed so I just tried to keep a positive race-oriented mindset and push on.
About half-way through, Rick did one of the cooler on-trail fixes that I've seen. Tony C.'s bike had blown off the plug on the smog system. Rick used the bracket from the headlight switch on his own bike plus a penny to plug the hole. He'll probably have a part number assigned to this deal and start selling it through Tucker Rocky.
Back to the gas stop after the "meat grinder" sections and we knew the final push would be fun stuff. The next section was epic. Just like the opening section of the day but a little more technical. Rick came into the section a ways behind me. I pushed as hard as I could trying to stay ahead of him. About a mile before the check-out he caught me and I pushed about 5% harder to stay in front of him. Flowing, carving, brake-sliding, and laughing under the helmet. When we finished I said to the guys that it was the kind of section that made you feel like a superhero.
The last section was all free territory to the known at the end and the beer tent that we'd all been looking forward to. It was about 5 miles of solid whoops. Lots of fun for a while, but this was a little bit of a wake-up for me. My legs were done about halfway through. Guys from my row and the row behind got by as I periodically slowed down to give the thighs a quick break. Part of the problem was that I could have had my compression set stiffer. The bigger part is conditioning. Need more leg workouts.
All in all, an awesome day of riding. Good trails, good event, good people, good BSing on the drive. When we left, three of us were in the top ten in B-Senior: Rick 7th, me 9th, and Scott F. 10th. Don't know if that held. Gilles was in 3rd A-Senior. A pretty good day and slightly better than I've done before if those scores stay.
UPs: I think my cardio is definitely better than the end of last year. My timing is definitely better thanks to the practice rides. I felt like I stayed in race mode pretty much all day instead of falling into trail riding. And, as always, the free beer at the finish.
DOWNs: Need to get my legs in shape...those whoops at the end let me know where I stand. Even though I was riding pretty sharp and just a little hot (on purpose), burning that check could have been the difference in a place or two in a NETRA enduro.
A group of seven of us went down and did the usual reg. and tech on Saturday afternoon. Most of us were on lines 42 and 43. I think I saw rows as high as 58 so it was the usually strong turnout for the Meteor club. Everything went smooth and we were at the restaurant for dinner by 6:30.
Sunday morning was cold and clear as predicted. The dash thermometer on the truck read 32 when we got to the event parking and was forecast to get into the low 50's. I opted to start with the enduro jacket on, thinking I'd take it off at first gas, but there were lots of dirt road sections where I was glad to have it so I wore it all day. Conditions were perfect all day. Tacky sand that was wet down by moderate rains earlier in the week. Probably some of the best conditions since I've been going to the S.L.
The first section was that stuff that we all look forward to right out behind the gun club. Smooth, flowing, rhythm riding was just incredible fun. There were only two drawbacks: at mile 0.5 there was a 3-mile reset....just when you started to get the flow going; and the whole section was set to 18mph when 24mph would have been doable and tons of fun. Instead, I led and kept time, slowing us down at almost every possible (0.3 mi.). As we were getting to what seemed like would be the end of the section I was riding very carefully, keeping our group just 5 seconds hot. I figured that I could easily scrub this time when needed but I was wrong. We came around an innocent-looking corner and BOOM, checkpoint. NO TIME to even tap the brakes. As a fellow trailboss, I was psyched for a very cool check placement. As a rider, I was pissed. I was being very disciplined and still got caught. The check was very well concealed. One of the check workers was even wearing a ghillie suit like an Army sniper. Showing just how close we were to the top of the minute... the five of us on minute 42 were riding pretty much nose-to-tail...the first three of us burned it and the last two did not.
The next section was more awesome flowing stuff. Lots of fun riding hard and building up a sweat. This is why we come to Jersey. Really, really enjoyable stuff. I was working hard to try to stay in front of Rick. It felt like maybe I'd pulled a few feet on him for a little while but he soon caught up. I let him by and rode hard to stay on his tail. I was able to stay close enough to end on the same minute about 20 seconds back.
Between the two gas stops were some transfer sections and the sections infamously known as "the meat grinder". This year, the really tight stuff didn't seem quite as bad because the club had it broken up into smaller sections with resets between. Last year, it seemed like it was one LONG section that was just demoralizing. Rick really took off in this stuff and I could not keep him in sight. There was another NETRA guy on our row that I could keep covered in the flowing stuff but he pulled away from me too in the tightest stuff. I think this is where being a big, tall guy is the biggest disadvantage. I kept trying different techniques to make better time...smooth flow, brake sliding, elbows in and wiggly, elbows out and aggressive....nothing seemed to make a difference in speed so I just tried to keep a positive race-oriented mindset and push on.
Back to the gas stop after the "meat grinder" sections and we knew the final push would be fun stuff. The next section was epic. Just like the opening section of the day but a little more technical. Rick came into the section a ways behind me. I pushed as hard as I could trying to stay ahead of him. About a mile before the check-out he caught me and I pushed about 5% harder to stay in front of him. Flowing, carving, brake-sliding, and laughing under the helmet. When we finished I said to the guys that it was the kind of section that made you feel like a superhero.
The last section was all free territory to the known at the end and the beer tent that we'd all been looking forward to. It was about 5 miles of solid whoops. Lots of fun for a while, but this was a little bit of a wake-up for me. My legs were done about halfway through. Guys from my row and the row behind got by as I periodically slowed down to give the thighs a quick break. Part of the problem was that I could have had my compression set stiffer. The bigger part is conditioning. Need more leg workouts.
UPs: I think my cardio is definitely better than the end of last year. My timing is definitely better thanks to the practice rides. I felt like I stayed in race mode pretty much all day instead of falling into trail riding. And, as always, the free beer at the finish.
DOWNs: Need to get my legs in shape...those whoops at the end let me know where I stand. Even though I was riding pretty sharp and just a little hot (on purpose), burning that check could have been the difference in a place or two in a NETRA enduro.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
PFMC Banquet
As usual, lots of great people, stories, laughs and bench racing at the Pathfinders banquet. Rick B. was event trailboss this year and everything came off really well. Not as many awards this year as in the past but lots of good stories surrounding them. I think for the first time ever I did pretty well in the raffle...a shirt that's actually my size and then horse traded for a MT-16 front, tire irons, and a set of Renthal fat bars. Not bad. As usual, New Milford Cycle was really supportive in giving us a lot for the club's money for the raffle prizes.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
NETRA Banquet 2011
Went to the NETRA banquet with Steve E. and Shawn B. this weekend. Nice to see lots of riders there. The Springfield club did a nice job of putting the banquet on this year at the Mass Mutual center. Big place made the expo seem small, but I'm sure it was the same size as usual, just a matter of the spaces being bigger than usual.
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