Flat out @ the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial # 3

This weekend was by far the best weather this year and possibly the history of the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial series. The course was dry and hardpack, beyond immaculate, as nearly all riders set a new personal record at the 3rd Snake Creek Gap of 2009. Luckily, Jafer's new training plan is working, as he has learned to pace himself better. He started on the first wave of the 34 miler, with Thomas Turner, Sam Koerber, Marshall Hance, and Timothy Carson, who were all in the open money category. Sam attacked literally off the line and separated himself from the chase group. About 20 minutes in Jafer lost contact with Thomas, Marshall, and Timothy, but was able to keep them within eye sight for a few more miles. He knew that he was riding above his limit and needed to back off or else he was going to blow up. Even though he lost contact, his hope remained that he would be able to reel them back in even though he hadn't seen them in about 20 minutes. At the halfway point, Jafer passed Marshall, but was quickly passed back on the long climb and lost sight of him once more. A little mad but not discouraged, Jafer kept his steady pace, eventually closing the gap and passing Marshall at the next pit stop area with about 6 miles to go.
It was a tough battle as Marshall would get close then fall out of sight which spurred Jafer further. Then, literally out of nowhere, Jafer rode up on Tim with a few miles to go. Both riders were pretty tired and nearly all finesse was gone as they plowed through the rockiest sections of the course. Gone were the smooth lines and light riding from earlier, as both riders made mistakes through the rocks. Meanwhile, Marshall was still charging and caught them with about 1 mile to go. Shortly after Jafer and Marshall, passed Tim about a couple minutes before the radio tower and the end of single track. Jafer was only able to enjoy his lead for about 30seconds then his rear tire blew out on the rocks, as well as his hopes for a top finishing time. Unsure of what to do, he ran the bike, rode the bike with the flat, then finally decided to pull over and fix the flat so he didn't destroy the rim. He only had about one minute left in the single track then literally everything else was down hill. It was very disheartening to have a blowout that close to the finish! It was a fairly fast change as he lost only 6 minutes on the other two riders, for an official finishing time of 2:57:12 but his unofficial real time should have been 2:51:18 for the 34 miles. Jafer would have loved the opportunity to show the mountain bikers how a roadie throws down in a sprint...until next year!

Here are a few pictures from a creek crossing, pictures 338-341 are Jafer.

Blowing Out the Cob Webs @ the Snake Creek Gap Time Trial # 2

It's been five weeks since the last Snake Creek Gap mountain bike time trial in Dalton, GA. During that time Jafer has had plenty of time to train and work his way back into shape. Today was the best weekend in recent memory as the mercury rose to near 70 degrees with clear, sunny skies. While Jafer was busy tearing up the single track in Dalton, Oscar and Joey were tearing up the roads in Athens at the Winter Bike League's 130 mile Toccoa World Cup on their brand new Louis Garneau road bikes.

Last month, Jafer struggled to post a 3:17:00 with the 34 mile trail as he had just started training. However, this month he shaved about 16 minutes off his previous time to finish with an official time of 3:01:17 (split time 1:20 at mile 17, 1:41:17 for second 17 miles). The second 17 miles is more technical and requires a little more finesse to avoid flat tires and a trip over the handle bars, which Jafer lacks since he doesn't get to ride/race his mountain bike very often. The race course is one of the most fun point to point races around with switch backs, fire roads, fast descents, short steep climbs, rock gardens, and long sustained climbs. Today was also the first race that Jafer has used his Ipod in a race for a little bit of extra motivation, which really paid off. One of the best things about the event is the snack food table at the end of the race complete with chili, cookies, fig newtons, pretzels, and the local homemade mega cookie (chocolate chips, oatmeal, cranberries, etc). (photos courtesy of J Burnette)
The trail conditions were near perfect allowing Thomas Turner to blaze to an official time of 2:46:25. Other notables were Sam Koerber @ 2:46:49, Harlan Price @ 2:52:20, and Timothy Carson @ 2:56:06 who all rode the 34 miler.

2009 Snake Creek Gap TT #1

On January 3rd, Jafer set out on the first of three mountain bike time trails on the Pinhoti trail system in Dalton, GA. The time trial is 34 miles long across some of the most technical trials in north Georgia (only the last 6 or so miles is really technical). Rain clouds, mist, and fog greeted all of the 200 plus racers to make for a very unique race.

The race is point to point, so all of the racers and their bikes are bussed out to the start and then we race back to the finish. The last time Jafer had spent a significant amount of time on his bike was way back in October at the Oktoberfest race, so shifting (and fitness) was significantly impaired from gunky cables and housing (from all the mud and corrosion). Since his shifting was less than stellar, he relied heavily on his granny gear to make it up the climbs. He finished in 3:17:52 with hopes of dropping at least 10 minutes by next month. It's amazing how fickle fitness can be, he didn't feel like he was riding hard but still managed to post a decent time, likely due to his new 29er. The route has some awesome descents, short steep technical climbs, rolling terrain, and a couple of creek crossings, but most importantly is a very fun trail to race.

Some of the bigger names attending the race were Thomas Turner and Harlan Price, both seasoned pros. Jafer was able to talk to Harlan after the race and found out that he had doubled flatted and still posted a 3:03:50. The winning time was set by Thomas in 2:57:58 but was slower than the fastest time of last year, 2:50:06, as set by Thomas, due to trail conditions.