Matthiessen Mounatain Madness 5/6/12

[jimithng23]

really...I don't know what else to say about that race.

as a paid racer, I didn't want to waste my registration fee (selfish thinking), but once on the course I felt I put myself in a situation that could easily lead to a freak injury. To me, it just wasn't worth it. Scoff all you want, but until you're laying in a hospital bed with a pan between your legs and a nurse checking on you every three hours to see if you've finally become flatulent so you can be discharged, you look at injuries, and the possibility/risk of injury much differently.

as a Steward, it pained me to ride the trails in those horrible, horrible conditions. those trails got TORE UP. TORE UP

and, as a member of a club that advocates and promotes responsible Mountain Biking, I've gotta feel for the IVAC Race Director. He had a difficult decision to make. The trails, according to IVAC's twitter feed, were in excellent condition pre-race. The skies opened up and began pouring literally 10 minutes before the Novice class began. What was he to do?

I could go all judgmental and say the dude shoulda called it due to rider safety and trail sustainability....but I will hold that judgment in light of IVAC's young age and lack of experience in such situations as well as the pressure and subsequent criticism if he were to tell all those racers (there was a pretty good turnout) to go home.

You think the '09 Stampede was muddy? That was nothing, NOTHING compared to what we went through today. I was only able to run ONE lap! Granted, the "mud" at Sylvan wreaked more havoc on the racer's components - chains, cassettes, and brake pads, but the Sylvan "mud" didn't cake up and convert a bike into a sled. A 50lb sled. It was more of a challenge walking then riding. The mud caked up so bad in my fork crown and drivetrain, my bike was rendered completely useless and it became a death march to walk the trail up from the river and out. I have crazy respect for the dudes who finished, including Mr. Paul Struck.

I hope those IVAC dudes get to work soon on those trails. I wouldn't be surprised if it took them all summer to rehab back to an acceptable riding condition. Such a shame cuz while I was riding...err, I mean, walking...the trails I could see they would be a ton of fun in favorable riding conditions.

I'm gonna chalk it up to the club's/Race Director's inexperience, which isn't their fault, and what else could the guys do? Live and learn. Lots of learnin' gonna need to be done from one day of livin'

Tough day for everyone.

[Steve D]

The skies opened up and began pouring literally 10 minutes before the Novice class began. What was he to do?

I could go all judgmental and say the dude shoulda called it due to rider safety and trail sustainability....but I will hold that judgment in light of IVAC's young age and lack of experience in such situations as well as the pressure and subsequent criticism if he were to tell all those racers (there was a pretty good turnout) to go home.

In the spirit of 'live and learn' when race directors are put in such difficult positions (esp. after reading these posts), how about "We're not going to let you tear up our trails or your bikes." I'm not being judgmental, either. I wasn't even there. Just a general observation for future reference. I hadn't thought about the damage to the hardware...

[Bexter]

In the spirit of 'live and learn' when race directors are put in such difficult positions (esp. after reading these posts), how about "We're not going to let you tear up our trails or your bikes." I'm not being judgmental, either. I wasn't even there. Just a general observation for future reference. I hadn't thought about the damage to the hardware...

Our club has been in this exact position. We hadn't had a race in the rain and in fact our mindset has been that we'd call a race due to rain and reschedule. Then April 2009 came. The Novice racers were on the line and it started gently raining. The radar looked like it was going to be short-lived. So, we raced. The rain picked up and it NEVER stopped raining -- all day. The trails were horrible. The consistency of a slushy chocolate milk shake. We were/are lucky to have Sylvan Island because of it soil composition. But, there were many equipment failures that day and I think EVERYONE had to replace their brake pads (our local bike shops sold out of brake pads the week after the race). I had to replace my bottom bracket and my husband had to replace his bottom bracket and headset. Yet, after the 2009 race and seeing how the island took the rain (the trails firmed back up and it didn't take anything more than more riding to smooth out the ruts), we now race "Rain or Shine -- but racer be aware of the damage you might incur to your bike if you do opt to race." Granted, Sylvan is uniqiue with it's soil and nothing like normal black dirt.

Give the race directors a break. They didn't want to disappoint the folks who had travelled to the race (WE didn't want to cancel our race in 2009 or 2012) and they full-well knew they'd be taking one for the team knowing that they would likely have plenty of work to do to fix the rutted trails post-race.

That being said, I will never race in muddy conditions again. It's not fun, it's hard on equipment and the trails, and clearly as seen here is hard on morale.

[jimithng23]

..."We're not going to let you tear up our trails...

In my eyes, as a Steward, that was the worst part of it.

Let me be clear, I am not ripping on Dan (IVAC Race Director) here. He was put in a very difficult situation and did the best he could. I'm sure looking back on it now, he would change some things but it's hard to make those decisions when you have 100+ racers ready to go.

Like I said, Live and Learn. Life goes on.