Ah, you were competitive at the thing that matters most! The infamous Mohonk Descent!!

Took me years to get that back.
Only to have it get snatched again.... ... it's back on the "To Do list".

I miss Chris all the time.
American Zofingen is a celebration of his spirit;
that willingness to embrace Stupid Human Tricks, push yourself beyond what you thought might be possible -
and then have beers after with all your buddies and swap war stories, enjoying the company of like-minded peeps.

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float , hammer , and jog

Speaking of 4%. No nike 4%!!! Not bc I dont want you to have an edge... more bc I don’t want you to ruin them.

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They cant stop me....Even if they stopped me!

Last weekend of training before raceday!

Get some.

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float , hammer , and jog

The 10 day forecast is looking good for next Sunday.

Rain before the race to ensure that the trails are nice and sloppy for us...

Oh, they're already nice and sloppy!
We aim to please!!

Did a final recon mission this am w/ Jim Stafford, we rode 2 laps, ran 1/2 of a lap.
We hit the bike pretty solidly, right on 1:30 for each lap.
(We rode from the main Spring Farm lot, not from the Pavillion, so that cuts a good minute or so off the lap times)

Both of us felt like the Tin Man without his oil can at the start of the run, but that got a little better as we moved along.
The views from the Pavillion were in full effect, as the sun came out late and it turned into a gorgeous morning.

Taper time begins NOW.

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float , hammer , and jog

Beautiful day!!

How many watts/kg gave you 90min / lap?

The slop will make the terrain soft which will be great on the joints - glass (more than) half full.

Logistic question: pick up race packet in the morning or day before? I need to get logistics sorted and stop prevaricating!

It was ~ 3.4 w/kg today.

Disclaimers:

Jim did pull a bit, but he was mostly in front on the climbs, and sadly there’s little to no benefit to having a beast climber pulling away from you.

I’m aero AF, and I know the course like the back of my hand. I’d imagine the average AmZof lemming would need some more watts to go the same speed - particularly on the descents.

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float , hammer , and jog

Nice, 3.4w/kg is very good. Especially for 3hrs+ and especially if one can run well off afterwards!

Homecourt advantage counts on descents, especially with poor road surface!

Race week!

Forecast looking pretty solid, but with all the rain we've been getting and just got, I can guar-on-tee you that the swampy parts of the run course will be very muddy.

Here's a quick recap of areas of the bike course to be aware of:

• Coming out of transition, the dirt road going down by the ranger station at the entrance has several LARGE potholes. Really nasty, be careful here.
• 1st time I ever saw this - there was some dirt/sand washed onto the road on the first tight L sweeper at the top of the Mohonk descent. Hope this clears up by Sun.
• Bottom of Mohonk descent at stop sign, R onto Butterville Rd - several small/medium potholes, some sand and grit.
• several sections of very rough pavement from W. Trapps Lot going up towards Peterskill. I'd suggest taking the lane if traffic allows.
• few small rough spots below top of descent after Awosting lot.
• HUGE pothole (as has been metioned up-thread) directly after the Jenny Lane hikers parking lot entrance, a bit before the Million Dollar View descent.
• some rough road lower down on this descent near the bottom

After the 180 turn onto Upper Granite, the vast majority of the back half of the course is in good shape, but there may be some stray things here and there, so keep your eyes peeled.

Get some.

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float , hammer , and jog

Thanks for the detail. This is why I always drive the course the day before, unless I'd been up in April for scouting rides.
Some of these locations are tough to understand for folks (me) less familiar with the names of various parking lots. Therefore I recommend: drive the course.

BTW, did you cross post this to the FB page?

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

There is also a deep pothole, hard to see in the shadows, under the old bridge on Butterville Road.

Sue - I'm not on BookFace, but I just emailed Tom the RD this info.

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float , hammer , and jog

Who, I ask you.... who, is better than ML!!!!!!!

Thanks for the information

I have done this before so can picture the rough spots apart from that the big pot hole

Is that right before you hit the hard downhilll after the last of the climbing ?

I am not familiar with the names of places and only arrive morning of the race

are you likely to be at speed when you come across it ?

Appreciated

Thanks

Assuming we're both talking about the same BIG pothole, it's a bit down from the Minnewaska and then Awosting lot entrances (the final summit of the climbing that starts on 299, and goes up in stair steps to that point).
Perhaps a half mile or so, after you start going down?

You start the descent after Minne/Awosting, go down a ways, and then there's a short roller UP, before you then start going down again, and see the parking pullout ahead for the Million Dollar View, where it goes to the left, and straight for a while.

It is the area near that short roller UP (where you are still carrying a lot of speed) that the pothole is located.
It's BIG, like probably 18" x 24" rectangle, and deep, with square edges all around.

Looks kinda like somebody carved a brownie randomly out of the middle of the pan.

It would line up w/ the R wheels of a car or truck - so, you can easily avoid it if you either stay near/on the shoulder there, or move further out towards the center of that lane.

Some folks have claimed it can be hard to see, depending on light/shadows etc.
I've personally never hit it, nor come close.
But i'm also now very much aware of where it is.
YMMV.

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float , hammer , and jog

Cheers thanks , I know where you mean though does sound somewhat dangerous

Thursday BUMP!!!

Forecast for Sunday looks pretty solid - typical mid-50's at race start, warming up as the day goes on, maybe a bit too warm by later afternoon.
Sorry LC'ers!!

At least the run course is almost entirely shaded, so you won't simmer too badly there.
You could roll around in the mud to cool off. ;-)
Or wait for the (currently low %) potential late-afternoon T-storms to roll in.

I'm dealing w/ some new knee issues, which I'm hoping I can get sorted out so I can still toe the line and race.
The bike is fine, but I'll need to be able to run before and after, which right now is not a given.
Seeing an Ortho first thing tomorrow, and hoping for something good to come of it.

Enjoy your last few days of tapering!!
See ya Sunday am-

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float , hammer , and jog

Good luck to everyone racing, especially the long course crazies, wish I could be there with you.

Everyone be safe and enjoy the beautiful suffering.

OK, so THIS is pretty cool!!

Going to have live tracking at AmZof for this year!!

http://www.racetecresults.com/...p;RId=4023&EId=3

You can click on whichever distance and racer(s) you want, and check their progress as they hit the timing mats throughout the day!!


As long as I can make it thru Run 1 in one piece, I think I can have a pretty decent day.
Hope everybody else is feeling ready, but - ready or not, it's almost game time.

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float , hammer , and jog

Last night I built up my Captain America themed P3, and rode outside today. That’s about as ready as I’m going to get. Doing 15 on the trails tomorrow, so I should be fully tapered Sunday morning!

Sounds perfect! 🤪

Conversely, I haven’t run at all since last Sat.





OK AmZof peeps!!! Under 24 hours to go!!

It’s a beautiful day here in Ulstertucky, 50 degrees and sun is shining. ☀️

Some bike sprites went out and marked the worst of the bike gremlins, from the stop sign turning onto Butterville Rd at the bottom of the Mohonk descent, to the 180 turn onto Upper Granite after the end of the Million Dollar View descent section.

Notes: the sandy section on the L hand decreasing radius turn up top on the Mononk descent is clear!
Back to its normal level of terrifyingness. 😱

The rough patch at the stop sign is now very clearly marked, you can either cut inside (very tight) or swing around outside (recommended)

The holes under the bridge on Butterville are clearly marked.

Only marked the first batch of crap starting right after W Trapps Lot (this is just below the Steel Bridge) - it’s a cheese grater there for a while, so just keep your head up and either stay on shoulder, or take the lane if safe to do so.

There’s some rough stuff juuust after you start descending following the Minne climb, but now the worst is marked, and you’re not up to speed there anyway.

The nasty one(s) by Jenny Lane lot are marked.
It’s after the first ‘power roller’, just a bit after you start going down again.
There are 3 in a row, all marked - if you hit them now, you need to go hang out with Mr Magoo.

A bunch of cheese grater stuff in Kerhonkson, it’s almost all where a cars R tires would roll, so stay on shoulder or take the lane.
Only the most egregious stuff is marked, but it goes on and off thru there for a while.

Nothing after the 180 turn onto Upper Granite is marked, because I was nearly out of paint & time, and didn’t recall anything nasty thru there.

Related: I look like I have early-onset Skittles Pox, a bunch of small orange splatters on my arm from shaking the can.

Don’t know the status of the nasty potholes on the dirt road just below the ranger station at the entrance.
The Preserve is supposed to fix those, but we shall see....
(I do have a tiny bit of paint left, so I’ll mark them tomorrow if they’re still there.)

Looks like it’s gonna be a great day for racing tomorrow.

Game on!

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float , hammer , and jog

That’s all super-interesting ML... but says nothing about what’s gonna be on tap afterwards. I need a REAL race re-con... what kind of IPA are we talking about? I’m gonna need something that’s really “hop-forward.” I want to make sure I have Colin and Ross’s beers ready when they finish... 🤣🤣🤣

Ok, now the REALLY important stuff!!

Kings Court Brewing (new, in PoK) is a sponsor.
I’ve been there, they make some excellent stuff.

https://www.kingscourtbrewingcompany.com/beer

Jim Stafford (in a classic “bringing coals to Newcastle” manner 😂) claims he will also be bringing along a bunch of great beers.

So, I don’t know exactly what beers you’ll be giving the 2nd and 3rd LC losers, but they will be cold, FREE, and can be quaffed from BIG HONKIN STEINS!!!
(But, smaller than yours. 😉)
🍺😎👍🏻

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float , hammer , and jog

Hey,

Thanks for the Intel on the road conditions. Any chance you could provide the mile / km markers for those nasty craters in the road? I tried to match your description to the GPX file but was struggling...

Thanks, appreciate it

Eric