Kings Gap TT Photos and Iron Hill MTB Race Report

From Uncle Don, some great photos:

"Hey Mark,

here are some of the photos from last evening's HC/TT. Man they were fast!

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5764910_UMJVz#356525484_YYVDo

dp:

Raise your hand if you think that C-Bo is photogenic...

...and here's more from Uncle Don...his Iron Hill MTB race report:

"Firstly, here's the link to some pics from Iron Hill:

http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5750058_7ViUE#355328377_CC7AT

Now...the report!

I know this is late, but its been a crazy couple of weeks, and I'm bleary eyed and brain dead (brain deader? deader of brain?), as usual. In fact, what prompted this report is that I bid young Zach Adams fairwell this evening as he is headed off for college tomorrow, and seeing him reminded me of our very long and very fun day last Saturday. Zach and Jake had been training for and planning to do the enduro event, which was to begin at 9am. Iron Hill is in Newark, De, so I showed up at Zach's house at 6am and loaded up his bike and gear and stared brain dead-edly (ie with significant deadness of the brain) at the numerous directions I'd printed the night before from mapquest, expedia, google, you name it. We finally decided to head in a vague Lancasterly direction and hope for the best.
Somewhere on the maps 222 was to give way to 272, but apparently some evil force of nature swooped down and wiped 272 off the face of the earth, because I swear to God and the inventer of carbon fiber that IT DOES NOT EXIST ANY LONGER!!! We meandered all over that general region and saw things that made us say "hmmm....", but no route that at least 2 maps agreed should be RIGHT THERE!!! So, in the heat of the moment I gunned the manly pagano van toward Rt 30 and once again, hoped for the best. Back on track, we both wondered why we didn't decide on this route in the first place, but foggy brains can make bad choices - just ask prez Bush. Pushing the limits of tarmac and the manly pagano van, I hoped I could deliver young Mr. Adams to the start of the enduro race in THE NICK OF TIME! Who in fact is this Nick, and what's he got to do with cheating time? Alas, Iron Hill continued to evade us, our efforts thwarted by detours, construction, plauges, hurricanes, errupting volcanoes, and the dreaded foggy brain syndrome (FBS - not to be confused with IBS, which can be a result of prolonged FBS). We arrived with just minutes to spare, and we both knew it was too late for Z to register, but he sprinted off toward the tents in a vain effort to find that Nick dude and cheat time. Moments later Z appeared and announced that he did indeed miss resgistration, but got talked into racing Elite. Cool. With joy exploding in my heart that Z was going to race after all, I chanelled all that emotion and energy into a power nap.
When I came to I was faced with bike prep issues, since I never finished swapping parts the previous night, despite staying up wayyyy too late messing with the bike, which accounted for the foggy brain brain syndrome (enough on that topic). I also had to decide what category to race. I had brung me trusty fully rigid single speed, but was on the fence about racing Expert Master, or Sport Single Speed Open. Whilst twirling tools and sprockets and what not, I opted for SS Open, since the SS guys would be attacking the hills, not shifting down and spinning, which is what I'd encounter racing with the geared folks. I managed to grab some shots of Z's start, then bolted to registration, then to the Mega Dip for photos. Grabbed some Mega Dip shots, then back to registration since they weren't ready for me the first time, then over to the Bike Line tents to hand out bottles to Z. Grabbed some pics, handed some bottles, then got dressed, gulped food and water, and warmed up for my race. I felt HORRIBLE!!! The same evil forces that erradicated Rt. 272 from the face of the earth were conspiring to cause me to feel HORRIBLE! Apparently evil forces live in Yuengling Light bottles, because on top of sleep deprivation, foggy brain syndrome, and driving all over the state of De, I had innocently enough embibed many golden Lagers the night before not knowing that they were full of EVIL FORCES!!! You can only imagine that an Evil Force with the power to erase roads from the map could do terrible things to a mere mortal about to race a single speed over hill and rock. It apparently has the power to make mortals feel HORRIBLE!!!
Now at the start line, I'm looking over my competition, many of whom are baby faced and dripping with youth and energy, and I was wishing I'd extended that power nap by several hours or so. Then the suffering is begun. I clip in, mash the pedals, and...I'm in third. Huh. Where'd those evil forces go? Off to erradicate something off the face of the earth I suspect. I managed to stay in third for a long time, but on a taxing climb I decided to back off a bit and dropped quickly to 5th. Iron Hill when dry is superbly fast, but deceptively demanding. Lots of embedded rocks (I'm sure Jake could tell you what kind of rocks are embedded in Iron Hill's earth), roots, tight turns, fast descents, long climbs, and of course the Mega Dip, conspire to sap one's energy. By lap 2 I'd edged back into 3rd, and began to distance myself from the rest of my group. By lap 3 I was trading places with a guy who I finally decided was running at exactly my pace and settled in behind for much of the fianl lap. We added a third to our little gang and eventually caught up with a Shirk's racer who began to fade. We slowed considerably, and I began to get antsy as I could just FEEL racers behind me making up ground on us. Just before the Mega Dip all three of us made a daring 1, 2, 3, pass on a steep climb that brought out pangs of legs cramps as I stood and accelerated. Now I'm flying down the Mega Dip, G-forces reaching F-16 proportions at the bottom, and rocket up toward the other side just as one our 3 Amigos stops short right in front of me. Ahh, the Evil Forces are back. I knew they were gone for a while because despite nailing numerous rocks and roots at full throttle, I never once flatted, and even though I was tired and fighting off cramps, I no longer felt HORRIBLE. In the NICK OF TIME I skirted to the left, avoided dissaster, and sprinted for all my 46 year old legs were worth. Even though none of the Amigos were in my category, I held off the guy who bobbled on the lip of the Mega Dip and cruised to what I thought was a 3rd place finish. Turns out I was 4th, dunno know who passed me when, but I was happy, and the Amigos re-united to swap storries, smack each other on the back, and celebrate our finish to a glorious day of racing on some of the finest trails DE has to offer. Zach won major cash, Jake kicked heiney in the enduro, and I got to meet the guys behind Eastern Woods Research and ride the BEST HANDLING BIKE I'd ever slung a leg over. I'm not kidding - EWR are on to something here. There 29ers are awsome. I've heard the term "telepathic handling" before, but that was the first I'd ever experienced it. I WANT ONE!!! Thanks for reading, I'm off to bed now so I can avoid FBS tomorrow. I'm also dissabling my caps key. YEAH!!! (I'll do that tomorrow).
Oh, a bunch of us headed off to Famous Dave's for killer BBQ, but instead settled on a Red Robbins for chow and suds and then headed home. A fitting end to long, but very FUN DAY! I know, nix the caps key.

Did I mention pics at:
http://singlespeeder.smugmug.com/gallery/5750058_7ViUE#355328377_CC7AT

Uncle Don"

M.