Leadout Racing » Racing

Farmer’s Fat Bike Race

Leadout Racing — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:32:21 +0000

Going into the race I had no idea what to expect. I borrowed a bike and picked it up Friday evening and was able to get in about an hours ride. Showed up Saturday morning sort of ready for the race and still not sure how the bike would fit or handle. The duo teams started first then the solo riders followed a couple minutes later. As the race started I soon found myself riding at the front with Dan Jansen from the Farm Team. The course was pretty cool with the typical route around the outside of the orchards (or least where the orchards use to be), but then there was a new section added. It was a really nice wooded trail with lots of little challenging climbs and some twisty turns. Lapped traffic was constantly an issue, but no major problems, just lots of “passing on your left”. On the third lap Dan and I asked what the time was and to our surprise they said 38 minutes. We were both in agreement that it felt like much longer and I started to settle in for a very long race. We had already separated ourselves from the rest of the solo riders, so it was going to be just the two of us the rest of the day. It was pretty uneventful the second hour as Dan is not much for conversation while he is racing. I had a few attempts at levity, but Dan returned all my attempts with stern silence. As the 2.5 hour cutoff was approaching I briefly thought about my strategy. I decided it would be best to just try to hold on to Dan’s wheel and hope that he would let me stick around to the final straight. I was pretty confidant I could carry a lot more speed than him on this long flat area. Well, Dan is a lot smarter than that and on the second to last lap he put in a good effort going through the wooded section. I had no answer for his speed through there and he quietly rode away from me. We ended up doing 13 laps in just over 2:30. We lapped all the other solo riders and even beat all of the teams. I don’t think I am sold on a snow bike, but this race was definitely fun and I would love to do it again. The Farm Team does a great job putting on races and i have to give a big thanks to Scott Chambers for letting me use his bike.

2011 Iceman Cometh MYC 12-18

Leadout Racing — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:16:03 +0000

Coming into this race, I was excited and nervous because this was my first shot at the big race. I had only done the Slush-Cup up until this year. When I arrived at the starting line I saw that Luke Mullis and Spencer Grasl were there. They had beat me in every other race. Luke beat me on the road and Spencer has beaten me both times we have raced MTB’s. There were plenty of other strong riders there, but those were the two that I knew. As I warmed up I was talking to Luke about the race and we knew it was going to be fast. Ten minutes before the race we started to get lined up and I was happy with being around the 3rd row behind the fast guys. As the start got closer I became more nervous, but when the race finally started I took off trying to stay with the front. Almost immediately they were gone. Spencer was on the very back of the front group and I knew I had to bridge up. I tried to catch him, thankfully Luke went by and I jumped on his wheel. We were not making up any ground, but we weren’t losing any either. As we are getting to Tornado Alley the 3 of us are together with one older kid. Once out of Tornado Alley I pass Spencer and never see him again. Luke and I continue together through the never-ending hills. Going through Williamsburg was awesome as their were tons of people cheering me on and inspiring me to keep going. I would loss Luke on almost every downhill, but he would come back on the uphills. When we got to the 3k sign i knew the course from there as I had ridden it the night before with my mom. I took the first single track hard in hopes of getting a gap on the people behind me. I came out of the singletrack and then straggled up Icebreaker. The last single track I went hard again and I heard someone crash behind me. I didn’t look back and just kept going. I went up Woodchip in my big ring and really liked all the people yelling at me. i came to thefinal stretch and I got outsprinted by another kid. Afterwards, I was resting on my bike and I saw Luke come in. I was happy to beat him for the first time, but really appreciate his competiton.

2011 Yankee Springs TT (Elite)

Leadout Racing — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:24:34 +0000

The Yankee Springs TT is a race that I absolutely love. The course is awesome and no matter how many times you ride it, you will find parts that are challenging. It is also the first MTB race that I ever did. It was 4 or 5 years ago that I raced in the beginner clydesdale catagory and took 3rd place. The 40 degree temps were a little colder than expected, but a little Soigneur Embrocation warmed my knees and back up nicely. As I rolled up to the start area I could see the usual contenders were present and a few other guys that are really fast. Before I knew it I was at the start line and on my way. The first couple of miles I continually kept telling myself to slow down and breath as I did the usual blast out of the gate and needed to settle for the long race ahead. I was the 7th person to leave and we had 10 seconds between us. I caught a couple of guys right away and was feeling pretty good. The plan was to keep a comfortably hard pace on the first lap and then kill it on the second. After the first lap (46:51) I had passed 4 of the 6 people in front of me and felt like I could stick with the plan and start to really push it. The plan didin’t last real long as killing the hills was taking a ton out of me. I began to settle into a good pace when the fatigue got the best of me. I was rounding a corner and took it a little tight and got completely knocked off my bike as I was introduced to a rather large tree. I shook off the cobbwebs and got back on the bike and started rolling while trying to figure out if I was ok. Finger hurt, hand hurt, shoulder smashed, bike ok. Some good pain but everything was working so I continued on. The rest of the lap was pretty uneventful as their was no one in sight either in front or behind me. I crossed the finish line in 1:34:54, which was good enough for 3rd place. Full results here. I was pretty proud to place so well against some really good competition. I got a little time to relax then it was off again as I rode with my daughters in their race. Ellie (11-14) took 3rd, Kiersen (10 and under) took second. Keegan raced sport 15-18, even though he is only 12 and finished 4th, just 2 minutes behind first place. All in all, a great day of racing for the whole family.

Dan K.

Snowcross #2

Leadout Racing — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 21:46:29 +0000

Well the second and last Snowcross of the year is in the books and I will be cleaning my bike for several months. I would like to be posting about my second win, but a couple of timely mishaps have me reporting about 2nd place. Unlike last time when it was a true SNOWcross this was going to be a mudfest. The course was horribly muddy and the Farmer was nice enough to find every bit of water and mud on his farm. Geoff, Lupe and I lined up at the start along with about 10 other idiots. Right of the bat Shawn D. from the Farm Team went to the front and Geoff and I were right behind. As we approached the first corner Geoff got a little squirelly and down he went. I quickly found myself in first with Niel Scharphorn on my wheel, I looked around for Geoff and Lupe, but they were a little too far behind to catch back up. Niel went to the front and I was feeling pretty comfortable behind him. As we were going down the backstretch I slid out on a little bump and was immediately dropped by Niel. I managed to get close and with most of the race left I was not worried. On the 2nd or 3rd lap I was flying down one of the muddy downhills. I had just went through the water and had called out “on your left” to a slower rider when down I go. Chad would have been proud at how I slid, then quickly popped up and then angerly got back on my bike. I was happy to see that the bike was ok and I felt decent, but Niel was now long gone. I spent the rest of the race putting in a weak effort to catch back up. Niel stayed about 20 to 30 seconds in front of me and third place was nowhere in site. I did enjoy passing Laura and Keegan as we did our best to try and motivate each other. I ended up in second place and was happy that I lapped everyone except 1st through 4th place. Lupe continues to get himself back in shape and had a very strong showing with a 6th place. Keegan accomplished his goal of finishing and was done before I was.

Dan K.

Snowcross #1

Leadout Racing — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:07:52 +0000

My preparation for this race was pretty relaxed. I rolled up to the line without a warmup and I never put a tire on the course until the gun went off. At the start of the race Niel Sharphorn and Farmer went to the front and I was able to get 3rd wheel pretty easily. About a half mile in Niel was starting to put a slight gap on Farmer and I decided to go around and close the gap. I settled in behind Niel and he soon put a gap on me as I struggled with some deep snow. I could see him looking back and start to push his pace. I put in a decent effort and was able to catch him. I stayed behind for the first lap, but thought the pace was a little slow. I passed him at the start of the second lap and I was quickly all alone. I put a considerable gap on him and the rest of the field was pretty much gone. As I rode around the course I was passing tons of people and began to think about the possibility of lapping Farmer. About 6 or 7 laps in I started to ask where Farmer was and I pushed a little harder in hopes of catching him. Chasing him made the last laps go by pretty quickly and before I knew it the race was over. One more lap and I would of had him, but I was happy to get first place especially when it meant beating a couple of very good bikers. Looking forward to Snowcross #2.