Guest Blogger: Mike Festa- the Dude on a Mountainbike in the Elite Race last weekend

Dear Readers,
We are lucky to have another awesome guest blogger here on Fatmarc is cutter than James Franco! I'll be honest my recent goal has to been to ask folks who used to have amazing blogs, but have retired from blogging to post here. I'm grateful for their contributions! Today's guest blogger is Mike Festa. Festa is one of my favorite people in bike racing, always a smile on his face, and making the best out of each situation. I think does an amazing job of going really fast, and keeping balance that heck it's just silly bike racing. Here's your current PACX Elite Men's leader:

I committed cross blasphemy...

 I rode a mountain bicycle in a cross race. More specifically, I bought my two tubular tire equipped Cannondale SuperX's, rode a lap, put one of them back on the rack, drove back to my house, did 15 minutes of work to my Cannondale Flash 29r which was not seen action since June thanks to the purchase of a dual suspension, racked it up, drove back to the race, and then still with a fully functional cross bike on site, chose to start on my mountain bike. 2.25 tires. 4 piston brakes. 100mm travel Lefty fork with remote lockout. The bike I rode 3 Trans-Slyvania Epics on was about to start a cross race. 

photo Tom Burrows

What's wrong with riding a mountain bike in a cross race? Well unless you are super new to the sport and are trying it out before you jump in head first with 11 sets of wheels and n+1 bikes, everything is wrong with it. 99.9 percent of course I have ridden, I honestly feel I would be at a disadvantage on a big floppy mountain bike. It's the wrong tool for the job. Quaker City Cross ended up being that 0.01%. 

Let's take a walk through why:

-My back lasted exactly 31 minutes at Town Hall CX. The problem is that I raced for 64 minutes. It did not correct  itself overnight. (Surprise!)

-Bumps: The course had bumps. Courses in un-mowed fields have bumps. Bumps equate to back pain.

-Rocks: The course had rocks. Tubulars hate rocks. 33mm tires in general hate rocks. It's just the way it is. Tubulars cost money, and these tires aren't going to glue themselves. 

-#yolo Barriers: Technically illegal downhill and more than 1 set of barriers. Barriers mean dismounts, dismounts mean back pain. 

-PACXUCI: With no UCI races at all scheduled last weekend due to the World Cup in Canada (which got cancelled) All the local fast dudes were home, and bored, pushing me back back back into the scrub zone where I belong. 

The most important part of why my decision ended up being correct: It was more fun. I was not going to have a good time on my cross bike. I was in a tailspin of first world problem despair and the only solution was to brap around on what was effectively a monster truck, when everyone else was in a Prius. All the things that could kill my back or my tires were completely neutralized. 

photo Tom Burrows

PROS: 

-Crowd Feedback: The heckle lens was definitely pointed at me. I got some good ones all around the course. "Manuel Fumic" was popular

-Barriers. I hoped everything. I cannot hop barriers on a cx bike. I never dismounted. My back thanked me. Rule: if you ride a mountain bike in a cx race, you must ride everything. 

-Fellow Racers: 1 person out of maybe 50 that said something to me was negative about my choice of bike. That person was a roadie. Everyone else said it some form of "That's effing awesome".

-Getting the PACX Leader Callup on said mountain bike. 

-Brap: I did X Ups.

-I punched Werner Freymann in the stomach when he wasn't looking. 

-I got 6th!

CONS:

-Rolling Resistance: There was a 15 second section of the course where I might have been slower. 

-Cornering: Mountain bikes do not corner on grass very well.

-Guilt: I firmly believe what I did was completely against the spirit and intent of the sport. 

I have some very strong opinions on course design and what belongs in and out of cx racing, but I also do not promote every single race, and on your day, you get to do what you want with your course (within the confines of the series/USAC/UCI rules. Will I ever race mountain bike in a CX race again? Let's hope not, I don't think it will every be as fun as Sunday. 

Thanks Mike!

Thank you for reading!

respect

fatmarc

Wallie...

Dear Readers,

Backside wall rides were one of my favorite tricks. The first time I ever saw one was Mike Vallely in the INXS Devil Inside video. (see 4:55)


I can remember trekking off to downtown Wilmington with Bret and Bill to learn backside wall-rides over the stairs in park adjacent to the state building.

The next progression of that was the Wallie, which was basically a backside wall-ride off the corner of a building, where after riding the wall you'd launch into the air, level out the board the roll off victoriously. These were my all time favorite tricks. So much fun, and such an amazing feeling. While I have no muscle memory of the time when I could actually do a Wallie, I do vividly remember the feeling of doing them, and that second of floating you felt coming off the wall. Sometimes I dream of skateboarding, not the park cruising I do these days, but of when I could really skate and that's the sensation I vividly experience.

While I recommend the entire clip, skip to 2:00
yeah that left me pretty speechless..



that's all I have to say about that...

love this shot that Tom Burrows got of Monkey, John and Mr. Joe after Monk's race...

photo Tom Burrows

thanks for allowing me this journey down skateboard lane.
Thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Quaker City Cross : Two Outta Three ain't bad...

Dear Readers,

Monk and I loaded up the car and headed to Quaker City Cross this weekend. On the way home, Diane and chatted about our races, and joked through bouts of cross cough. While it was a good day,  all I could think of  were the magnificent and wonderful words of the great prophet  Meatloaf who once sang, "two outta three ain't bad!"


That's how I felt about today's race. Great Venue, Great Production- but the course. the course not so much.

great crowds, and venue (photo by Dennisbike)

I am a grateful racer. I appreciate racers, I appreciate promoters. Promoting race is really hard work, and really thankless work. As a former promoter, I know how hard it is. I am happy to be a former promoter. Thank you QWC for your efforts.

The venue was super cool. The race was really well organized, all the volunteers were awesome. The weather was beautiful. The results were fast and accurate. The beer was awesome.

The course was the worst cross course I ever raced on. That's all I have to say about that...

I'll admit I choose to do this race because these guys did such an amazing job with the Hill Billy Hustle in the past. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

The good news is this: The QCW crew races a lot of cross. These guy and gals know what they are doing. This was a first year at this venue. They have the killer vibe, killer venue- it'll be better next year for sure.

Heading to pit for Monkey- Photo Dennisbike

My race was solid, not great but I was pleased. If the past 3 weeks, I won my group, today I lost my group. Had a good start, settled into a group that had Mr. Joe and Johan dangling off the front, with Benny, Luxy, Stevens and I. With 3 to go I fell off the group. With 2 to go D-Lowe caught me, and I gave chase but he held me me off in the end. Racing was fun, because I like to race with these guys...

Monk had a good day after being sick for a week. She battled in and seemed to get stronger as the race went on... She was pleased and tired on the way home.

Photo Dennisbike

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Hub Labels Cross Classic (Ft. Ritchie Cross)

Dear Readers,

Pulled into Fort Ritchie and parked next to Mike Birner. I'll admit as he came over to give me a hug, I wasn't 100% sure he wasn't gonna put me in a headlock. But sure enough it was a hug. I like hugs, although I've spent sometime in headlocks too.

I have never done this race before. The venue was really cool. The course was fun, bumpy, and I'll admit I didn't love it warming up, but at speed the corner to corner action required you to stay focused. Cheers Joe Jefferson and team.

I had expected a slop fest, even had the baby limus all set up on one of my bikes, but the course was in great shape. One little soft spot, but no water, no mud. I like mud, but you know, not having to totally clean my bikes doesn't suck either!

As I waited to start my course inspection, one of the Junior Jr races was finishing up. A young girl from Baltimore Youth Cyclocross had a flat and was running it in. Her teammates- probably 20 kids all adorned in the yellow and red team kit ran along side her cheering. You've never seen a kid with a broken bike running towards the finish line with a bigger smile on her face. Kinda gives you hope for humanity...

But I digress- here's how my race went down:

There were 24 or so racers. I was lined up in the third and final row. Jon Hicks(Sportif Group) graciously offered to swap with me on the second row. I declined but appreciated the offer.

The race took off quickly, we came off the asphalt and onto the grass, the field filed into single file behind Mike. I charged up on the inside and moved up to Mike's wheel just around the first corner.
I'll admit my brain was squirming a bit as we worked through a tight section, after charging from the back row  up to second  wheel the voice in my head- all hopped up on courage and adrenaline was shouting "Go Man! Go Man!"

I know better, I know to be patient... but what the hell- I charged off the front. First time I have lead a cross race since 2012. It was pretty fucking magnificent.

But it wouldn't last.

At the end of the first lap a group reeled me in and dispatched me. I settled into a nice group with Peter (NCVC) and Jonathan (AFC).  Mark (SRAM/SANTA CRUZ) was chasing in no man's land. Peter and Jonathan were throwing down watts at me. Jonathan went to the front of our group, and I clung onto his wheel for dear life, Peter seemed to come off our group a bit.

With one to go, I followed Jonathan across the line. We hit a tight series of 180's and figured it was now or never, I passed on the inside and stood to accelerate out of the corner. Much to my surprise I had a small gap, which I was able to maintain to the line, as Jonathan never let me ease off the gas...

it was a good race, super fun battling/riding with those guys. I was exhausted, and really damn stoked.

my first podium since 2012. I was pretty damn happy, I won't lie.

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Granogue Cross Clinic: sharing our passion for cross

Dear Readers,

About 2 months ago I got a strange email from my friend Lisa Vible about a cross clinic headed up by Nick Sears and I the Wednesday before the Granogue Cross Race. I had no idea what she was talking about.  No sooner did I finish reading my email than I got a phone call from Nick, "so man, not to put the cart before the horse, but do you want to put on a cyclocross clinic at Granogue the Wedneday before the event with me?"  I laughed and of course agreed. The Train Smart Sports Coaching Cyclocross Clinic at Granogue was born!

I'll admit, I drug my feet a little bit. It felt an awful like a race promotion and a lot of work I wasn't sure I wanted. But as I worked with Nick, Paul and Lisa their enthusiasm and excitement was contagious. I was excited that we could add to what was already going to be an amazing Granogue weekend. Before I knew it, I was writing up curriculum for the clinic, working with Nick and Lisa on the bikereg page,  and planning out where we wanted to teach at the venue.

Early on, Nick asked me, "how many people do you think we'll get?" I replied if we get 20 I'll be stoked. Lisa and Paul- ever the optimists recommended that we allow for more than 20 spots on BikeReg. It was with great pride that we sold out the clinic a week prior with 60 riders!!

Photo Dennis Smith

Nick and I quickly recruited some of the Mid Atlantic's top cross minds to help us share our passion and knowledge:

Train Smart Sports Coaching Granogue Clinic Staff- Photo Kita Roberts

Our coaching staff for the clinic: Heather Heindrich, Ben Anemone, Kevin Fryberger, Nick Sears, Kelly Cline, Fatme, Diane Vettori, Chris Consorto, Bad Kat Wulfkuhle and Bad Andy Wulfkuhle.

We had two groups: Advanced and Intermediate/Beginner. We worked hard to have a 6 to 1 coach to rider ratio.

Ben encouraging... Photo Kita Roberts 

Monkey explaining- photo Kita Roberts

Kelly demonstrates three points of contact. Photo Kita Roberts

Under the watchful eye of Consorto- photo Kita Roberts

While shouldering is a little used skill here in the mid atlantic- Bad Andy shows the proper technique.

Photo Kita Roberts

Paul walks some riders through the 3 points of contact drill- photo-Bill White

Kevin, Nick and BA lead the group through drills on Bamboo Hill. (photo Bill White)

From the outset, we knew that we had a lot of information we wanted to cover, and just 2 hours to do it. We raced the sunset to the very end. While the feedback on the clinic has been overwhelmingly positive- as a coaching team we recognized that in 2 hours we had to cover a lot of ground. Each of us felt like there were areas where we would have liked to have taken a deeper dive. Nick and I admit that we were both task masters as far as watching the clock, and making sure we stayed on target with the agenda. Spurred on by the great feedback, and great time that we had, we have already begun planning for either a 1/2 or full day clinic for 2016. I am incredibly excited at this possibility.

One of the most rewarding things for me post clinic was talking to folks who came Wednesday and then raced Sunday and were able to apply what they learned. I'm really proud of that...

thanks to all the coaches for giving up their time.
thanks to all the riders who could have been anywhere in the world, but chose to hang out with us.
thanks to Nick, Paul and Lisa without whom none of this would have happened.

Finally, thanks to you for reading.

respect
Fatmarc
(still stoked from this clinic)

The Ghosts of Granogue

Dear Readers,

Granogue is my favorite race in the Mid Atlantic. I'll be honest that I'm biased, but I love this race. I'll admit it's weird for me now that I am no longer a member of the promotion team. Naturally, folks will ask me questions- and I happily direct them to the current promoters of the race: Paul and Lisa.
Paul and Lisa are awesome. I love what they have done with the race and the I love their vision. Most of all I love that I'm not a promoter. Paul and Lisa inspire me. Cheers to them.

That said, I admit I felt a weird stress Sunday Morning. I was rushing to get out of the house and Diane said to me, " dude, we aren't on the promotion team anymore. Paul and Lisa have this..."  And I relaxed.

At the venue I walked around and took it in. Granogue lingers with me in a way I can't easily express. It will always be a special place a special race to me. Thank you Paul and Lisa for bringing this back. Thanks for your graciousness to Monk and I...

Loving the Vanderbacon Logo on the podium!

My race was really hard and really fun. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty damn stoked... I got a good start, and after two laps settled into a nice group with Johan (EVO), Peter (Bikenetic), and D-Lowe (Philly Ciclismo).

My group this weekend. - Photo Credit Bill White

across bamboo hill

We rode together each taking turns pushing the pace at the front, and stretching things out. With 3 to go  Peter went to front and lifted the pace. Johan came of off our group. With two to go, D-Lowe went to the front, and I struggled to follow his wheel, but just made it. It was down to just D-Lowe and I going into the final lap. I knew that no way, no how did I want to come into the final straight and have to sprint D-Lowe. I put in a dig on one of the steep pitches and got a small gap. D-Lowe chased me around, and I stood and sprinted as we hit the pavement for the last time nursing the little gap to D-Lowe. 

In my effort to distance myself from D-Lowe, I started to gain on my old buddy Benny the Jewlar, who had been tantalizingly in front of our group for the last two laps. Ben didn't realize I was there, and I didn't think there was enough room to get to him, but being the good friend that I am, I drilled it. He hit the line a half wheel a head of me! He looked over and smiled at me, yelling, "FATMARC!!"  I smiled and said, "I wasn't gonna get you, but I couldn't let you sit up either.."

Benny the Jewlar!

While I didn't get the spot, what I did get for chasing on my buddy down to the line? I puked. 

And just as I wiped the spittle off my chin, my in-laws came up to congratulate me. It was an awesome moment. I'm sure it's an image of their most favorite son-in-law in the world that will stick with them forever.

still on the vomit comet! 

It was a beautiful day. I am destroyed.

thanks for reading.

respect

fatmarc

PS- Blog about the clinic coming this week I promise...

"Have a nice ride- asshole!"

Dear reader,

It's been 7 days since Cross of the Corn. Still no results. 

On to subjects that make me happier:

Monk and I did a couple of laps around Lums Pond State Park this morning on our cross bikes. On our first lap, we came upon 4 equestrians all women, I would say in their late 50’s or so. We got off our bikes and let them pass. They were very nice and appreciative. On our second lap, we came upon them again, and again got off our bikes to allow them to pass. We struck up a conversation and the lead woman said to us, “You guys are so nice. Thank you. Lots of times bikers come by and don’t even slow down.” Diane chirped up, “I’m sorry, many riders are new and don’t know to yield” I followed up with, “we’ve been riding bikes in the woods since the late 80’s, maybe longer as kids. We all want to use the trails – bikes, runners, horses- we just have to work together.” The woman on the second horse said, “maybe they just don’t know.” I smiled and said, “Let’s hope so, but you know I hate to say it there are assholes in every crowd!” The ladies all laughed and shook their heads in agreement. We wished them well, and they started on their way. The last woman stopped her horse next to us leaned down smiled a Cheshire cat grin, winked at us and said, “have a great ride asshole!” we all laughed as she trotted off…

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Cross of the Corn #Crossishere!

Dear Readers,

Cross of the Corn!

It was spectacular. Perfect Kick off race. Monk and I are still stoked.

Before I dive in I'll say after staging for the 45+  men, we gave a moment of silence in honor of Kevin Breckenmaker. He was in all of our thoughts as the new season kicked off. As Luxy said, "I just felt like he'd drive around the corner in his Element any moment." God Speed Kevin.

This was one of those moments in bike racing and the Mid Atlantic  brother/sisterhood that sticks with you...

Monk and I traveled to Aspers, PA for the PACX kickoff race of the year- Cross of the Corn.

Monk and Bad Kat staged for the Women's Race!

It was rad. It was really hard, and it got hot.

This was an August Cross race. I know cross comes too soon. Blah, Blah, Blah...

I hate racing in the heat. I loved when cross started the last week of September and ran through December. However, that ship has sailed. Cross starts earlier these days, and frankly if you love cross I have a hard time reconciling being bummed about it.

This was a second year course. A good sign of a good promoter is that after the first year of the race, they work hard to get feedback and improve their course and learn from their mistakes. I'll be honest the course from last year didn't get a lot of love.

I heard nothing but good stuff this year. I dug the course, thought it was challenging, balanced and really fun to race. It had quick good power sections, tight bike drive sections and a couple of tough pitches. Two dismounts a lap rewarded those with good traditional cross skills.

It got hot in the corn!

It was amazing to see so many familiar and friendly faces. The first day of school analogy gets over used but it really is appropriate. It was great to be back in that fold. I was happy to connect with my teammates John and Mr. Joe. The Snitz Creek Brewery Team Recovery drink was delicious as well.

Monk and I both had good races and we were stoked. Destroyed, hot, smelly and sweaty, but stoked.

Monk chasing on the last lap...

As we rolled out of the Fields of Adventure farm/park Monk looked over at me and smiled and asked, "when is the next pacx weekend?"   I replied, "A couple of weeks why?" She smiled that shit eating grin that I fell in love with and said,  "I got a front row call up now, I can't let that go!"

Thanks to Scotty Roberts for my new FB profile picture!

It was a good day for both of us, as now we'll turn our attention to the Granogue Clinic on Wednesday and the Granogue race this weekend! Monk and I are heading up the kid's race sunday, so stop over and see us!

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc