The big announcement....

Landis to Shenandoah Mountain 100
Floyd Landis at the Leadville100
Photo ©: Wesley & Garrett Geer

Floyd Landis will be racing at the Shenandoah Mountain 100, the finale in the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series to be held on Labor Day weekend near Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the George Washington National Forest.
"I am honored to be invited to be part of the Shenandoah Mountain 100 event. I look forward to racing on the challenging course they have put together since it includes the kind technical trail riding that first got me hooked on mountain bike racing," said 2006 Tour de France Champion Landis, who started his career growing up and racing his mountain bike throughout the mid-Atlantic.
While waiting to learn the outcome of his May anti-doping arbitration hearing that followed a positive doping test for testosterone in Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France, Landis has kept himself busy by returning to his roots and racing his mountain bike. Just a few weeks ago, he finished second at the Leadville 100, and earlier this summer, he took part in the Teva Games in Colorado.
Landis accepted an invitation to race the Shenandoah Mountain 100 offered to him by Mid Atlantic Off Road Enthusiast (MORE) member Scott Scudamore, who served as MC at a Floyd Fairness Fund event held in Northern Virginia in January. At the time, he deferred committing and joked instead, "I'd like to come, but I don't have to race if it's raining, right?"
"I'm pretty stoked that Floyd Landis has decided to return to his mountain biking roots and show up for the SM100. I've been dogging him for close to a year," said Promoter Chris Scott.
"If he's really on his game, he could beat the course record set by Jeremiah Bishop last year of 7 hours, 15 minutes," said Scott.

Shenandoah Mtn 100

I've finally signed up for the race after getting info that the race organizers were getting close to maximum capacity of 450 racers. So I'm starting to get excited for the race that is on Sept 2, in Stokesville, VA just a few miles southwest of Harrisonburg. The race course is a mix of forest roads and single track with 14,000 feet of climbing. This race is the final race in a series entitle the National Ultra Endurance(NUE), which consists of 6 races around the country just like this one. This event draws some of the top MTB pros. The goal for this event will be to finish, and I'm calculating the goal for the number of hours to finish. Right now the number is 12 hours, and that would be extremely successful if I did it near that time. The big news just a couple of days after I officially registered, is that 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis will be racing in this event. Floyd has a background in MT B before his roady days. He finished an event in Colorado earlier this year in 2nd place pushing the winner to a record time. That event has a much larger portion of the race on forest service roads, and is much less technical than the SM100. I'm sure the top MTB pros that will be running this event are looking forward to the challenge of Floyd. One more week, to get everything ready.

Cranky #3

August 19- Fountainhead Park Fairfax Station, VA

A great day for a race. The weather was cool, by august standards, and the course was in good condition. Fountainhead(FH) is a course that is ROOTY, and has many short, steep ups and the infamous downhill called Shock-o-billy(SOB). This course has been a nemesis of mine. I pre-rode the course last Sunday with a friend of mine in the Sport 45+ group that is an excellent racer. He always fills the time with strategy discussion about cycling. This race starts with about a mile or so of road, to thing out the pack before entering the single track. Though this is a great idea, if your not in the top 10 entering the single track, it still gets backed up enough that you can't carry momentum up some of the early sections because of the congestion on the course. I entered the single track in about 20th, typical for me. The single track has a one mile lead in section, then we do two laps around the 6 mile loop, with a final ascent out on the stairway to heaven climb. I was moving along pretty well on the first lap, passing a couple of racers in my category, a few expert women and one expert man(he must have been having a terrible day or didn't really know what he signed up to do.) coming to the end of lap #1, you have the final descent down SOB, which gathers a crowd of spectators and photographers to cheer on successful riders and witness the carnage of the unsuccessful. I fly down this section, make the turn for lap #2, hear the encouragement of teammates and friends that keep me going. I reach down for a Hammer Gel to get the energy the the second half, and I hear a ticking sound. Damn, what is that. I stop on a little flat section by the creek before the next climb to inspect the bike. I've blown a spoke on the rear wheel during my Knievel-like descent of SOB. The wheel is WAY outta true, so Better judgement tells me to bag it, rather than destroy a wheel. I was feeling pretty good, too. I had a couple of riders in sight, and I felt as if I might be able to pull them in. Oh well. Another DNF do to a mechanical. I'll be rebuilding a wheel next weekend....

CM #2

August 5- Wakefield Park Annandale, VA

The second race in this series is a short track event, or incorrectly title a crit by the organizer. A crit is a road event, a short track is a cross country event. Basically the same thing, though. These events are cool for the spectators, since the course is typically very short with more laps. This course was about 1.5 miles long, and my class ran for 45 minutes plus a lap. I went out very hard on this one, since I knew the start would be a complete cluster of riders. After lap #1 I was in 16th. Like many other venues, riders excel at different aspects of riding. On laps 2 & 3, I was on he wheel of the rider in front of me through the rough, rooty sections that were a bit technical, but he would open a gap on the pure speed and climbing sections. I ended up fading during laps 3 & 4 and recovered a bit for the final laps. I ended up sliding so far of the back that I finished one lap off the leaders, in 21st place. The heat got to me a bit on this day.

Cranky Monkey Series Race #1

July 29- Wakefield Park Annandale, VA

The annual CM Race got kicked off on this day. The Sport 35+ men had a 1PM start time. The early races went off without any problem, but dark skies threatened, and delivered, for our race. The rain started to come down just @ the start, and didn't let up. I would have been better off with a diffenrent set of tires, but I had to run what I brought. The race organizer stopped the race after one lap, since additional time on the trails were going to completely destroy work that the local club has done to develop & maintain this trails. I finished in 2oth place, and I finished wet and muddy.

12 Hours of Cranky Monkey

June 24- Quantico, VA

The inaugural relay race in this series took place @ the Marine Corp Base. The weather was great, not too hot and there were lots of teams(and solos, too). I teamed up with Todd Bayliss and Sean Peterson to compete in the Sport Trio category. Sean and Todd, like myself, are new to the PedalShop/ODBC team and they had never met before. I new both of these guys were stronger than me based upon my experience racing against them. I thought we had a shot at the podium at the beginning of the day, and my suspicion turned out to be correct. Sean and Todd went out 1, 2 in the relay. In this event each team needed to start their final lap prior to the 11th hour. At the end of Sean's final lap, we were in 3rd place, but only 2 1/2 minutes behind the team in second. On Todd's final ascent up "Puke Hill"(this is on a Marine corp base) he gets a flat. While changing the tube, the team in 4th passes him. fortunately Todd was nearly complete with the fix and was able to chase this guy down. We finished the race in 3rd place, 15 seconds ahead of the team in 4th. WOW, close call! Great Race!! Maybe we'll be back next year. The PedalShop/Old Dominion Brewery team did well on this day. The ladies, Lewis, Kat and Amy, racing Sport trio, finished in second place. and the SS trio of Nick and the bros. Claman finished in 2nd as well. PS/ODBC was well represented with members on at least 4 other teams this day.

W@W Races 2-4

I finally get back to updating this blog I started way back when..... OK. Let's get a wrap on the Wednesday Series, so I'll summarize races 2-4.

Race #2, 6/27/07: Well after flatting on the final lap the week prior I was able to finish the race without changing a tube in the tire. I finished 23rd out of 48 competitors this week. I was also pretty darn close to my target finish time of 60 minutes, crossing the line in 60:39. this is the official time, but I think these guys screwed up the start time, so the calculation is off by a minute or so. It's been to long since this race for me to remember what the computer on my bike gave me as a time. Anyway, not a bad race and almost in the points(needed to get to 20th place).

Race #3, 7/18/07: Jim Casey pinged me in the afternoon to swing by his office to pick up the sponsor supplied beer, ODBC, for the after races festivities. Of course now I have to take care of the beer, find the ice, and get somebody to watch it while I get ready for my race, while the 1st race is finishing up. Problemed solved when I get there and find out Tom just finished building up his new Niner SS, and wasn't racing today. I get warmed up and decide that I'm not taking items to repair a flat today. The stars were going to let me drink early tonight. Races gets started, I'm hammering up the switchbacks on the far backside of the course, when I notice the back end getting a little squirrely. DAMN, another flat!!! I've got to walk back the the car from the far back side of the park, about a mile or more. Another DNF.

Race #4, 7/28/07: The finale of the W@W series. I've now figured out the the rim tape supplied by the manufacturer sucked, hence all the flats. I've finally solved the problem. At the start line, there's a last minute announcement that there is a small re-route of the course because of BEES! With all the dry weather the ground dwelling bees have been a nuisance. This is the second time, and not the last, for a course re-route to avoid the bees. I finish the race today a little better than in Race #2, crossing the line in 21st spot. I tried to go out as hard a possible, which I did, but I blew up a little towards the end of lap #2. I recovered for the 3rd lap, but still could not crack the top 20. Maybe next year I'll garner some points!

W@W June 20, 2007

The local MTB race season got underway on Wednesday at Wakefield Park in Annadale. It was quite beautiful day, with perfect weather and a reasonably cool temp for this time of year with low humidity :). I have stepped up to the Sport class this year, so there's some pretty fast guys in this class, as compared to the Beginner class which I raced last season. My pre-race plan was to get out to a good start, and try to ride pretty smooth for the first half of lap #1. I also had targeted a 20 minute per lap time, which I thought would bring me in mid pack @ one hour for total ride time. I was doing great and on track for achieving my goal. On lap #1, I came in just under 20 minutes when I crossed the timing table. As lap #2 started, the racers were now pretty spread out, so I was able to hammer a little harder on this lap in the sections I had to just cruise along with the traffic on the first lap. At this point, things were going pretty good. I crossed the timing line on lap #2 at roughly 40 minutes, but I don't remember looking down at my watch, with a few guys from the team cheering me. These guys had already completed the early race, and were enjoying nice cold ODBC brews! I start the third and final lap and I'm mentally preparing to let it hang out. There a few guys that are within sight and I’m focused on pulling them in, and passing, before the finish. About half-way through the last lap, my front tire begins to wash out in the turns. I hear the dreaded sound of air coming out of my tire. Damn!!! I pull off the trail to change the tube. I didn't put the tire levers in my jersey, and of course struggled in the panic to get the tire off the rim. After about 7 minutes I get everything back together and I start rolling again. I just want to finish up and get to the beverages that are awaiting my arrival! I let a few on the Expert guys around me on the way in. My stopwatch, which I stopped while changing the tube, reads 1:01 as I cross the line. I think my total time was ~1:08. I finished 35 out of 60 racers. I think I might have been near the top 20 sans the flat. I'm still awaiting the final times to be posted on Potomac Velo's website.