If you didn’t know the national mtb championships were in Mt Snow, VT last week. Reading about the event got me thinking about my Mt Snow experience, and here it is.

It was 1996 and I had just graduated from college. I wanted some adventure so Nathan King and I plotted a trip from Tallahassee allowing us to hit NORBA Nationals at Mt Snow and Traverse City, MI. We hit Pisgah National Forest, Shenandoah National Forest, and a week of fun in Boston on our way up. All some of the best riding I’ve ever done.

One thing to keep in mind is that 1996 was arguably the peak of mtb racing in the US. Fields would fill at 100 riders and the courses were packed with fans. Mtb racing was huge. When we got to Mt Snow we, along with hundreds of others, parked in the lot of a Ski Lodge that was closed for summer. We suited up for a ride and off we went. We rode our own paces which means we split up. When I got back to the parking lot in the early afternoon, the car was gone. I sat there for quite a while waiting…. for nothing.

I spent the rest of that day eating the little Powerbar samples from the Powerbar booth and drinking water from the water fountain and looking for the car. I rode back and forth and back and forth between the original parking spot and the race venue. Night came and I was freezing in my spandex and hungry. I went to the Naked crit looking for Nathan and the car but didn’t find either. I did see some naked people on bikes though.

When the naked crit was over I got desperate. That’s when I saw the Cool Tool bus full of hippies parked in the lot where the crit was held. For those that don’t remember, the Cool Tool bus was a modified school bus with bunks, couches and other neat stuff. I went to the bus and explained my situation and they couldn’t have been cooler. They hooked me up with the little bit of food they had on the bus and also a pair of cool tools sweat pants. They showed me a bunk that wouldn’t be used that night and invited me to stay.

I was warned that the owner/founder of Cool Tool was out partying and that ]he was an obnoxious drunk and a loud snorer. They were right. Around 3am he and a buddy got back to the bus and woke everyone up. I noted several Cool Tool riders pulling the little mattresses off their bunks and going outside to sleep on the deck of the ski lodge so I did the same.

Early the next morning I returned the sweat pants and mattress and continued the search for the car. First place I went was back to the original spot and their the car sat with Nathan wondering where I had been. I remember being very angry.

The race went off the next day and I was slow from go. I remember getting caught by some of the junior experts and thinking about how much I sucked. One of those juniors was Tom Danielson so I guess it hindsight that’s not to bad.

I don’t know how much my ordeal affected my race but I tend to think it did, I was exhausted. The rest of the trip wasn’t all that fun for me. I had a decent race at Traverse City but still not what I was looking for. After that we spent two weeks in Vail, Co staying with Dave Baton which was fun but I just couldn’t get out of the funk I had dropped into at Mt Snow.

That’s my sad Mt Snow story. One day I’ll get back up there and exorcise that demon.

posted by Jason Sager

Sunday morning someone on the ride smelled bad. I don’t know how it’s possible to smell so bad at 8:30AM. All I can figure is he really wanted to wear a certain bike costume and since it hadn’t been laundered since the last ride he began the day smelling bad.

I’m not sure his name and I wouldn’t say it if I did because the purpose of this post isn’t to pick on one person, but to advise anyone who will listen. Please use soap.

Before you put on that fermented chamois consider your ride mates and their burning mucous membranes.

De La Soul just happens to have a jingle about this very subject.

When I say hurt more, I’m not talking about physical pain. Although the crash I’m about to tell you about was higher than average on the pain meter. Let me explain.

The ride was a typical eastside ride starting at Joe’s Bike Shop.

As we’re entering the second section of the cadillac trail I ate it on the big log just past the “Cliff Bar”. I think I’ve hopped that log at least 30 times, but today my back wheel bumped it enough to kick the back end up. I nose wheelied for a while but the back end just wouldn’t come back down. At that point I elected to eject from the cockpit. When I did this the bars violently flopped over and I was flung to the ground with gusto.

My physical injuries are bruised left palm, sprained right wrist and discombobulated right shoulder. My front shifter is dangling. That sucks.

I shake it off and continue the ride but my hand and wrist hurt. Especially on the singletrack. Dave D talks the boys into doing a full Alford loop. I’m surprised to find out nobody but me does this stuff. Yeah, the grass part sucks but once you get down to the lake it’s nice shady double track.

Back to the point. This crash hurt more than just my body and my bike, it hurt my confidence. When you’re pushing the limits of your skills or your tires, you can be sure that at some point you will pay. However, when you crash riding something you’ve done so many times before it hurts the mojo.

So now I must face that log mano a mano and make it my bitch. I just hope I don’t crash again. DOH!!! See what I mean! Doubt creeps in!

Now to end this post with some humor. Big Worm got some video of our ride through Alford. I call it, “Dear Kent, Love Chris”. Listen for the WOOOOOOOO at the end, I don’t know what that was about.

Looks like I’ll get my Fool’s Gold adventure in August. Dan and Ken F. are in for sure so that’s 3 strong which is enough, but the more the merrier. So here’s a shout out to Tallahassee MTB riders, join other like minded individuals for 50 (or 100) tough but gratifying miles in the North Georgia mountains followed by food, live music and beer. You can race it or ride it, whatever tickles your fancy.

I’m thinking I’m gonna race 50. My training is getting back on track and I’ve got 3 more weeks of riding and 1 week of resting.

Here’s a pic of Erica (far left) and Riley Fowler (far right) at the thursday track meet last night. This is supposed to be 2 and under race, I think that other girl is sandbagging or maybe she’s 2.9 years old or just big for he age. Riley took right to the running and got 3rd at her first track meet. Click on the thumbnail for a bigger pic.

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Your wife has had it up to here with the kids misbehaving and she grabs the shorts you just rode in from the laundry room floor, holds them up and yells, “You keep it up and you’ll get a face full of daddy’s shorts!”. I know that sounds like a joke that I just made up, but I swear on my best chamois it’s true.

The best part of this story is that the threat worked. I guess the thought of my Eau de Taint hit them like a right hook and knocked them right out of their misbehaving. Hey it’s better than actually hitting them with a right hook.