Monday, April 30, 2012

"Strength In Numbers" an Anthill Films Production

Howdy Folks,
Winter time gotcha down? Have you been out on your bike here and there and can't wait for the mountain snows to melt off. How about a little motivation thanks to Mountain Sports? Ever want to go to Nepal, but just can't afford the trip? Then come check out this premier showing of "Strength In Numbers". This should be a ball. Come show up when the doors open and check out some of the gear Mountain Sports has to offer, enter in for some door prizes, and then sit down and relax to the sights and sounds we are all so familiar with and can't wait to hear first hand. Come get stoked for all of the fun biking to be had this summer with like minded individuals who are just as excited as you are. (Like some of us need any more incentive:)  ) Beer will be sold by the Wonder Bar for those of age, and of course all of the normal movie snacks. Here's the details:

WHEN: Thurs. May 10th
TIME: Doors open at 6:30PM  Movie starts at 7:30PM
WHY: Great movie that covers all disciplines of the sport we call mountain biking.
WHERE: The Iris Movie Theater
Get your tickets early at Mountain Sports for $10 or $15 at the door. Some proceeds will go to support C.A.M.B.Y.R.(Casper Area Mountain Bike Youth Racers- the Casper high school mountain bike team.)


OH Yeah.....TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Race Flyer for the May 12th Trail Festival 

Check out this race flyer!!!  We can't wait....  Register soon so you get your free t-shirt.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

2 days to race

It is pretty simple for me to write this racing tip..... Be prepared!  Don't wait until 11pm the night before you leave to your race to get packed.  Getting my bike ready for race day took nearly the entire night and I don't even have any 'real' biking time on my tires to know if the sealant is going to hold up for the race.  I just hope that the Cafe Latex holds up as well as it has in the past.

Gotta go....  there is more to get done before bedtime.

I probably won't get a chance to post until after the weekend.   So have a fun couple days and RIDE HARD.  Even if you're not racing, get out there and put your legs through a good hour of pain.  You'll be happy you did afterwards and it will be good training for you.

If you are racing, good luck and always remember....... keep the rubber side down :)

~adam

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

3 days to race

Todays racing tips come from Catharine Pendrel.  She was the 2010 World Cup Series overall champion and in 2011, she took 1st in the World Cross Country Championships.

-Respect your competition and then try to best them.
"One of my strengths as a racer has always been that I respect my competition.  This means I ride scared!  I know I have to give everything, because if I don't, there is someone behind me who will"

I thought that was pretty good racing advice.  She also has one more bit of racing advice that I took from her article and have always remembered it.....

-Race to move forward
 "Every rider in front of you is a rider you want to pass.  If you've caught the rider in front of you, chances are you're faster, so pass them and move on to the next rider.  Pass them too, and don't look back."

I hope these tips help you as much as they helped me when I first read them.

Happy Racing!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

4 days to race

1: Know the course
2: Have a plan
3: Be flexible

If at all possible, I love to preride the course.  This helps to know the parts of the race where I may excel and where I might be better off settling into the pain.  Are you a climber?  Do you have mad bike handling skills?  Figure out your strengths and use that to make your plan.

Lets take this race on Saturday for example.  The course profile looks like a 5 mile hillclimb (it's a pretty small % grade not exceeding over 5% for longer than a hundred feet), followed by a 5 mile downhill ride to the beginning of the loop.  The Sport and Single Speeders will do two of these laps.

My race plan usually starts the same for every race....  Go 110% for the first 10 minutes or so.  This either discourages the other racers to the point where they will slow down so they don't explode, or if the guys are faster, it at least gives them the impression that I could hang and that I might just be seconds behind them the whole race.

For the rest of the climb on the first lap, my plan is to settle into a fast pedaling cadence without burning up my legs to bad.  I want to maintain a hard pace up the hill, but still know that I have another lap to go.  The next part is huge...... When you get to the top of the hill, DON'T STOP PEDALING!!!  Just keep going!  Never let off the gas and your competitors won't be catching up.  Stay calm and smooth on the down hill section.  Generally in a Cross Country MTB Race, descending is NOT where a guy will WIN the race, but it could be the part where you can LOSE the race.  Don't crash!

Lap two will be harder than lap one.  I intend on putting every ounce of energy into getting to the top of the hill faster than anyone else.... "why would you do that when there is still 5 miles left in the race?"..... Like I said before, nobody will win this race with descending skills.  Just maintain a smooth (smooth is fast!) style down the mountain and always be ready for a possible sprint to the finish.


Lastly, be flexible.  A crash, a flat tire, your chain falling off, getting stuck behind someone in some tight single-track could ruin your flow.  Race your race and don't let anything get to you.  Brush off the dust and think "be smooth bro, be smooth".  You will get your groove back and you may actually find yourself going faster afterwards.  Sometimes it's more fun to chase down the guys or girls that just passed you and blow them away on the next climb :)

Happy racing!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

5 days to race

With 5 days left to the first important race of the year, I thought I would share some tips and race day info leading up to Saturday.  A whole gang of the Fish and Friends (That name is copyrighted... jk) are headed to Fruita, CO to race against some of CO and UT's finest.  We are all prepared to show em what Wyo's got to offer.  I think all the new jerseys will be in on Friday, so we all are going to be looking pretty shnazzy out there on the trails too!

My advice for today is something that is not new to you, even though you probably have not converted yet...  That is converting your tubed wheels and tires to a tubeless set-up.  It is so nice to be tubeless where we live because of all the cactus.  I went all of last year without having to fix a flat or even add new tire sealant to my wheels.  The Stan's tubeless or Cafe Latex tubeless fluids have worked so great for me and most of the Fat Fish Racing Team.  We all use it and love the stuff.  You can run lower air pressure in your tires which means you'll get better traction and "float" over the small trail chatter that you would normally feel on a tubed wheel where you need to run a higher PSI to avoid pinch flats.

Oh, and it makes your bike lighter too!!


One thing......   The directions say to refill your tires with sealant every 3 to 5 months.... DO IT!!  Check out this sealant booger that i pulled out of tire yesterday :)   The old sealant dried up over the winter and its a good thing I checked it out.  The tires held air just fine, but if I would have run over a cacti during the race on Saturday, there would have been no fluid in the tire to fill the hole.  Wheeewww, glad I caught that one!


More tips tomorrow
Have a nice ride!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Bark at the Moon!!!

Full moon on Friday night!  at 8:30pm the wheels will be rolling at Crossroads.  Ride hosted by Leif.  No lights needed if the sky is clear, but even a camping headlamp is nice if you are a beginner to night mountain biking.  See you out there :)

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Online Registration for Trail Festival

Hi folks!  Online registration for the trail festival is available now at:

http://www.prerace.com/races/event/36420/Fat-Fish-Racing--Youth-MTB-Fundraiser-Casper-WY

This event, though hosted by the Fat Fish Racing Team and Windy City Striders, is a benefit for the youth mountain biking team in the Casper area.  It would really make things easier on the Fat Fish and the coaches of the youth mountain biking team if you registered online and paid through prerace.com.  The cost of the race if your register online will only cost you a total of $27.54.  If you choose to wait until the day of the event, the cost to race will go up to $35 and only cash will be accepted.  Please register online to save you some doe and all of us some time.  The running event will cost you only 10 dollars and you can pay for that the day of the race with the Windy City Striders.

There is already some talk of some very excited folks who want to do the run and the bike races of the day!!  This is going to be soooooo much fun.

Kids will get to race to!  So bring the training wheels if you got em and we will watch the kids do a couple laps around the playground when the older kids are done racing.

Register soon.... The first 75 people to register get a free t-shirt!