Sharks, Grass Track and Stuff...

Dear Reader,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I once dreamed of being an underwater photographer and getting up close pictures of sharks and saw-fish and stuff.

Went to grass track yesterday. Perhaps in spite of my better judgment. A very strong yet small group was there. No one took the warm up sprints too seriously, as the wet grass had everyone being extra cautious. With my reduced fitness, and reduced cross schedule I was kinda questioning myself as to why I was even there…

Then it happened.  Then we were racing.

I went too hot into the corner, the front tire sliding out as I had too much weight on it, I threw out my left leg, dabbed it on the ground as I felt the bike sliding out from under me. By the grace of god,  I kept the bike up right, and came out of the corner, clipping my foot back in and standing to accelerate, and not let any of the gentlemen in the group I was riding with pounce as they saw me flounder…. I held my spot, but lost some momentum. This was going to hurt. Out of the last corner three of us were going for it, digging deep. The line. is. right. there. Chappy took the effort, I might have edged Dennis, but maybe not. Crossed eye, and breathing heavily, I rolled up alongside my peers after the effort. Chappy said, “that was a good save, thought you were going down for sure.” nodding barely able to reply, I acknowledged his comment, “so did I” …

Next effort, everyone decided they wanted to slot in behind Anne Rock, who stole the holeshot with a killer start, and explosive acceleration. I was in the middle of Dennis and Chappy, as we headed into the corner. Chappy leaned on me a bit, I leaned back as we sped into the bend. It was subtle and maybe silly considering what we were riding bikes in circles in the grass, but it was awesome.  We entered the corner, my tires dug in. I held my ground and  I had half a wheel at the apex. We rolled through cleanly, packed tightly, and still fighting for position. I stood and jumped out of the corner claiming my spot behind Dennis, who had slipped ahead as Chappy and I did our impression of a hockey match at a bike race. 

Not one second after finishing one small battle, my mind raced and began trying to figure out a plan to get around Dennis, in the next three laps of the effort. I would be unsuccessful in that attempt, but the intensity, and attempt would be it’s own reward on this day.

 

at the end of each grass track we do a 4 lap ITT. I can never understand how a 1 minute 20 second effort can hurt so badly. Lisa goes sub 1:20 here... Photo From DennisBike.com

It was a rad time. Maybe it was just a few friends riding around in circles in field (literally) but it was racing.

It was fun. Racing bikes is fun.

Thanks (i)Paul, Lisa, Blakely, Anne, Travis, Jimmy Rock, Chappy, and Dennis…

thanks for reading.

respect

Vanderbacon

drop the zero and get with the hero

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I once gave a gold star to robot boy.

I was out on a ride on my cross bike this evening. Fuck that bike just feels like a rocket right now. Down side is that I got no engine for it. I wish I did, because fuck the bike FEELS SO GOOD.

But I DIGRESS:

I was out on a ride tonight, and the last section a guy on a motor cycle came by me. He past kindly, and came around me, I jumped and tried to get to his wheel. It was a fools jump, and while I didn't make his wheel I did get feel the benefit of his draft or a few yards and then he pulled away. I sat up and rolled into the parking lot where I started my ride from.

Low and behold who should be in the parking lot but the moto man who passed me. I smiled to him and said, "hey man, thanks for passing nicely, I tired to jump onto your wheel and draft you for a bit."

He stood and looked at me, perched in the parking lot on his bullet bike eyeing me up and down, lit a cigarette, and nodded at me. Clearly, he was so much cooler than me, that I didn't deserve any of his awesome words.


Yeah, he was really THAT COOL. So much for the brotherhood of two wheels huh?

Okay, I'll admit that I'm on a Guided by Voice kick lately. I'm not apologizing, I'm just own it.





yeah, I'm kind of a geek. Monkey and I argued Wolverine vs. Batman at dinner tonight.
I'm not proud. But I am comfortable in my own skin...

get down with your badself:


thanks for reading.

 respect.
 fatmarc vanderbacon
 your team's mid pack masters rider

Finding a little magic...

Dear Readers,

My name is Fatamarc Vanderbacon. I spent the lion's share of the weekend hanging out with my awesome family, drinking beers and picking crabs. Really was an amazing time. I could wrap up the blog and be pretty stoked here...

But I digress...

Okay, from a bike racing standpoint, this has been a weird year. My focus has squarely been on school and riding when I can. I haven't raced much. I am embarrassed to say I've run more 5k's than bike races this year.  At no point during the year have I felt like I had any real form, or was in a real good rhythm.  That said, as your team's mid pack masters racer, I had a plan.

 I had 8 weeks off of school the summer. My plan was simple, continue to do my efforts, get in some good miles, and take advantage of my chance to recover appropriately. Meaning, sleep- not get up at the crack of dawn every day to study. Goal was to try to eat a bit better. The plan came together pretty well. I had my highest volume of riding in the month of July in 7 years. I even had a pretty good race in July, which never happens.  I went to Oregon and rode my bike at not high altitude, but 7000ft or so.

I came home expecting to be flying. Frankly, expecting to ride how I want to ride.

But it did not happen.

Reality has been since we got home, I have not felt good on the bike one day. Not one day. I feel like I'm pedaling squares, my HR is too high, and I'm struggling when I shouldn't be. Some dude even asked if I was racing the Cat 3 race!? In short, I have been horrible.

School starts again next week. I'll admit I'm excited for school, but am very frustrated with how I'm riding.  I was ready to throw in towel. Just put the bikes away, and start riding again once I graduated.

Adding to this, I usually am pretty excited for cross, but this year, I'll admit it, the thought of it has caused me to fill with dread. I'm not ready for it. I haven't been stoked for it...

But then, I pulled out my cross bike. My brother, Skinny-Craig Vanderbacon was in town. We rolled out the cross bikes and took a trail ride over at White Clay. The bike felt like magic. I haven't been on this bike since last December, but it felt like the most comfortable bike I ever rode. As we were ripping through single track, I didn't even notice the bike was there... As we climbed, my legs felt- right. I stood and accelerated, and the bike felt amazing. Craig sat comfortably on my wheel, and we moved through the trails, and just rolled...  I'll say that there were moments when were probably going faster than was safe, but it was SO MUCH FUN.

The bike, was magic. Clearly not the best tool for ripping single track, but on this day. This ride. It was perfect.

May be it was the crabs. maybe it was the beer. Maybe it was riding with my brother. Maybe, just maybe it was a little magic left in my cross bike. This day it didn't matter. I felt good. Bike was amazing.

I have a feeling that cross is gonna be ugly for me this year, but after this weekend, I'm pretty excited, regardless...

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Not sure if I posted this before...

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. Once (okay more than once) I got to be a coach at a JBV/Fulcrom coaching/Powers cross clinic. It was fun. Some where over the years I became the guy that would chase J-Pow around the tight stuff. Really  fun stuff.

Anyway, I found this clip this morning and figured I'd share.
good times.


CLINIC from SuperLuminal Films on Vimeo.

thanks for reading

respect
Fatmarc

Hey, I'm famous.

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I am famous. Well, not really, but I was recently interviewed by fattireffests.com. It was pretty cool, and I was honored. I hadn't seen the kind words that Auer had to say about me prior to this being published.

I'm pretty speechless. It can be found here.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Rule #23

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon, and I fully believe and support rule #23. Rule #23 of course being that weddings are awesome. I would further add, that being in the weddings is even more rad. I had the awesome opportunity to be in the wedding of my good friends Jake and Alyssa Davidson last weekend. The weekend was an extravaganza that started on Friday afternoon, had bike rides and yard games on Saturday and wrapped up with a beautiful ceremony Sunday morning.

While we are really bummed that Jake and Alyssa have recently moved to Denver, I am so happy and stoked for them. They are awesome people, and will be awesome together. We'll being coming out to do some couch surfing soon enough! Monk and I had an amazing weekend, and were so honored to be part of this incredible weekend.

Here is some photo blogging:

Rehearsal Dinner. Alyssa ruled with an awesome teacher voice and a kinda heart.

Jake and I. All smiles this weekend.

Zack and Brett feverishly work to clean parts for the presentation...
Bike grease and tuxes what could go wrong?

Saturday Morning Jake/Brett hosted a michaux mtb ride.

It was a pretty awesome group of people.

Still Awesome.

up a dirt road, heading for the community service trail...

Somebody had a 25th anniversary this weekend too!

Saturday Garden Party Was rad...

Sunday Morning Ceremony was a 6:30am call...

Brett has to keep Zach and I seperated.

Had the PLEASURE of finally meeting and riding with Brett. What and awesome guy. Working on some up coming fairhill and michaux play dates!

This one might be a Christmas Card Photo...

While we rode Michaux, Monk headed out for a little road ride, and went up King's Gap. The view at the top was worth the effort

king's gap

pictures are worth a thousand words.

all smiles today!

the Bergey girls are breaking the rules.

The presentation line, and the fruit of Zach and Brett's efforts pay off...

Congrats again to Jake and Alyssa, such a fun weekend, and thanks for letting us be a part of your awesome weekend.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

What I did on my Summer Vacation. (5 days on the Umpqua River Trail, Oregon)

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I just had perhaps the most amazing one week of my life. Monk and I jumped on a big ole jet plane and headed to the west coast. We did a weeks worth of riding and it was awesome. This post will be a small collection of thoughts and memories from the trip, I'm sure if you ask me about it I'll have lots more. This post will also a little bit longer, and I realize that looking at vactation photos and selfies can be lame. Indulge me a bit. I write this to remember how awesome the trip was before heading back to work and the real world. So get a cup of coffee, or a beer and I hope you enjoy the following recollections.

Northern California is Rad. So Monk and I had a day before the tour started. The town our hotel was in was a little bombed out. I blame walmart. I mean all the small shops and the center of town were all abandoned, but the new Walmart was jumping. But I digress by taking needless shots at a fine retailer and homogenizer of the world. We jumped in the car and headed south. South to California. It was amazing. Bucket list stuff for me.

The Red Wood Forrest was breath taking.

Diane photo bombs her own shot.

Mountains in the background of the beach. awesome.

Ashland, Oregon was pretty rad too.  We ate here when we first got into Oregon, and hung out in a super sweet small book store for a few hours. It didn't suck. It did make me realize that I'm not a barnes and noble fan. Fun little college town, lots to see and eat.

Ashland...

Destination Rides: One of my favorite things about this tour was that we rode from campground to campground. We worked out way down the 80 mile Umpqua trail over 4 days, plus a fun ride around Lemolo Lake. It added to the sense of adventure. We got in the van on Monday and not again until Friday. The complete lack of cell phone and internet access in the mountains was also a giant plus. Map time each morning detailed our route and any hazards we may face in route.

Our Guides were Awesome.  I know this is their job. And damn are they good at it. Great time, funny and they love to ride as much as any of us. The weird part was that they did all the set up, all the break down, loading the van each day. It felt weird not to help, but they were always like, "we're working this is your vacation" and were super cool. The Food was amazing. Frankly, having John and Lucy as guides was a lucky break and amazing stuff. All we had to do was focus on riding, eating and taking it all in. They also did an outstanding job of making sure we didn't miss important stuff on the trails like water falls, as we rode.

No waterfalls like this in Fairhill.

John on the left, Lucy on the right.

Swimming Holes:  At the end of each day's map time John and Lucy would explain that there was an awesome swimming hole. With no showers during the week the swimming holes would be how we would clean up. The water was freaking cold. Each day the guides would explain the route and follow up with, the swimming hole is rad, and the water should be warmer. We all laughed.

Russell:  Our actual tour group was very small. Diane and I and Russell. Russell was a really strong rider from Oklahoma. I was stoked to meet him, and get to hang out with him for a week. He was brutally funny, and was by far one of my favorite things about the trip. I hope to lure him, and for that matter the John and Lucy, out east to share a weekend of Fairhill riding...

Monkey: As regular readers of Fatmarc.com know, Monkey has been battling a knee injury for about 6 weeks. We had concerns that she might not be able to ride at all on the tour. I had a rope packed in my bag in case she couldn't pedal, and I was prepared to pull her around the tour. All that said, and Diane did wonderfully. Now I know she'll protest and say her fitness is a disaster, and clearly her knee is not right yet. That said, she did amazing. The first day, we climbed 3+ miles right off the bat. 40 minutes or so. The longest climb timewise of her life. I had to remind her to be patient. She was. That first day she was stoked, and in the end, she rode 4 days. Now to get that knee working correctly!

Dread and Terror: is the namesake trail of the trip. John explained that the name has very little to do with the trail, and everything to do with the canyon it is in. The firefighters gave the section it's name because if it ever caught fire there would be no way to control it. Now I have entire different theory on the name. At the end of the trail, there are some hot springs. The hot springs have become an attraction for the lots of naked dread locked hippies. I came flying into this final section and into a nice little techy section which I proceeded to totally screw up. I said something like, "Fuck me" as I narrowly avoided throwing myself on the ground." Being that we hadn't seen another soul in two days on the trail imagine my surprise to look up and see naked, and half naked hippies everywhere. I collected myself and said, "err, sorry" jumped on my bike and got moving again...

Deer Leap: You know when you look in the Bike Magazines and they show these incredible lush forests of the North West? Well, that was pretty much standard course for this trip, but no more so than on the Deer Leap trail. It started with a 3+ mile rolling switch back climb that could only be described as riding through the forest moon of Endor. Words will not do this section justice. This section, this day was one I will remember for a very long time.

Russell Gets Some.

Compression Socks: Okay, not really. As we came down in elevation, poison oak became more prevalent. In an effort to protect ourselves we wore some damn sexy knee highs. I make this look good.

I make this look good.

Local Lines: There was a gnarly lava rock step up section that I wanted to clean pretty badly. I took 4 shots at it and came close, and by close I mean maybe a half pedal stroke from cleaning it close, but ultimately didn't get it. John was watching and I asked him, "hey man is there a local line, or any beta you can give me to get this?" John smiled at me and said, "well, you seem to have the line, here's your local line- get a full suspension bike buddy!" we all laughed as John flew into the section and almost cleaned it before getting bounced off line. "Karma, my friend" I said to him. We all laughed. That's really a flavor of the fun, and friendly smack talk we had going all week long.

John killed this wet series of step downs to a wet bridge.

Bob's Butte:  All week long Lucy and John had warned us about the last day and what would be the two toughest climbs- Tioga and Bob's Butte. While I didn't show it, I will admit I was a little nervous. Fatmarc isn't a name that screams "good climber". We got over Tioga, and it was tough we rolled into Bob's Butte, it kicked up right away, and had a series of maybe 10 switchbacks. Near the top the trail came out into the open and in the sun. At this point I was full euro with my jersey unzipped as we covered another pitch and entered the woods.  We stopped to regroup remembering the map and that there was one last pitch in my mind. Lucy came up and told us the climb was over. Russell and I high fived. The toughest climb of the day was behind us. Sweet.

Get in the Van:  We rolled into Swiftwater and wrapped up the trip. I felt a sense of accomplishment, and joy, but was also bummed. This had been a really special and fun week. Diane rode 4/5 days and didn't have any additional issues with her knee. We met some really cool, skilled, and fun people in Russell, Lucy and John. As we stopped at the gas station, we all grabbed some fresh beef jerky from the local butcher that was next door. We traded different flavors and joked as we rode back into cell/internet service areas as our phones began to ping, chirp and sing as the reality of the outside world crept back in.

I'm glad to be home. My bed was awesome last night. I'm stoked to have slept in it. I also know that if I get a chance to get in the van again. I'll jump at it...

thanks for reading.

best to you.

respect
Vanderbacon.

I'm no Bill Strickland*

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I admit to dressing up in lycra and riding all over town, and to reading/subscribing to a number of comic books. That said, at the end of the day that COS PLAY stuff just freaks me out.

So I was out for nice a  Friday evening spin. Just a quick hour to wash off the work week and prep for the weekend. Riding down Leeds road, a generally speaking not busy road, I heard him coming. He honked at me, and as I crested the hill, he ran up really close to my rear wheel. Close enough that I knew he was driving an older Cadillac.

The road turned down hill, and I was going about 35 as it twisted down close to the Big Elk River. The speed limit is 25 on this section, but I could hear my guy just off my back wheel, and honking...

The road flattened out and the classic caddy came around to pass me. There was no one else on the road except he and I. Of course he passed close to me, and was foaming at the mouth screaming at me as he drew parallel to me. As he passed, I sat up and took my hands off the bars throwing them in the air. "Really, Dude!" I yelled.

The Cadillac slammed on the brakes in front of me, I quickly put my hands on the bars, and swerved up along side my new friend, who had put down his window at this point.

Calmly, I said to him, "So when you kill me, are you going to be able to look my wife in the eye, and tell her you were in a hurry? How's your life going to be then?"

He was fuming. His face was beat red. He was furious as he shouted at me," YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. YOU DON'T BELONG..."

Calmly, I said to him, "Sir, you're wrong I do belong, read the law. You have to give me 3 feet to pass in Maryland, it's the law."

"FUCK YOU" he screamed at me as he started to open his door.

I stayed calm, but with purpose I said, "Yeah, go ahead and get out of the car."

At this point one of two things happened. One, the angry driver who was frankly stuffed pretty tightly into his car, realized how much effort it would be for him to get his ass out of the car. Or Two, I'll admit I can have a pretty menacing voice when need be, perhaps he reconsidered my invitation to dance.

Either way, I'm glad he didn't get out of the car, because god knows how that story ends.

"GOD DAMN IT!!!" the angry driver screamed, as he pounded on his steering wheel and he stood on the accelerator and drove away quickly.

The last ten miles of the ride my mind was racing. I was listened for the sound of that classic Cadillac running back to find me, and take me out. Conspiracy theories ran wild as I worked my way home. Shit, this is Cecil County, he's probably getting his freakin' gun. I tried to spin calmly and respect the goal of the ride, and who am I kidding: JUST GET HOME.

At the end of they day, the exchange didn't go well. Maybe I hoped if the angry guy realized I was a human, not just something in his way, he'd get it a bit. There wasn't any reason for our exchange. Frankly, it totally ruined my ride. My guess is it didn't make his day either. I am happy to be alive.

I would like to think that when angry man calms down he'll say, " you know hitting that guy would totally ruin my life." or maybe that when he tells the story of our exchange, his audience might say "you know if you killed a cyclist, it would ruin your life..."  But I also know that's probably a pipe dream. I just hope I didn't make things worse for the next cyclist this guy sees on the road.

Hindsight is 20/20, why didn't I pull out my phone and get a picture, or memorize his licence plate, other than being a historic Caddy from Maryland, and the driver being large and missing a few teeth...

Fuck, here's an idea, what if he had just given me some space or passed me legally?

be safe out there folks, be safe.

respect
fatmarc.

title reference here.

Stoudt's Summerfest 2013-

Dear Reader,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I am a complicated creature, a fine mix of debonair and adrenaline. I often wake up and realize that it is a perfect day outside, and spend it on my couch feeling guilty. I am a mudder.  my mother, she was a mudder. My father he was a mudder too.

see I told you.

Go to your calendar, and circle the dates of July 12/13 2014, or thereabouts. Stoudt's Summerfest is an event not to be missed. SUCH A GOOD DAY.  Now I'll say the course was a little on the short side, and a second hose at the bike wash would have gone a long way,  but that said it was the most fun 1.5 miles you could squeeze into a lap. The fact that the course was a little muddy, added another layer of awesomeness to the event for me. Congrats to the entire JB Bikes Team for an outstanding and wicked fun event.

Buddy the keg breaker and I competed in the 2 person class of the 4 hour relay. After it was all said and done we finished up 2nd- 3 minutes or so out of first. I have to be honest, I am really stoked. I'm known for doing a little "Google Stalking" or "scouting" before a race. BTW Hey COLIN What's a brother gotta do to get some "mountainbikeresults.com" going? But I digress, know the field, know the course. I pride myself in preparing for these events.

On paper, I thought we'd battle for 5th or so. That said I knew with 16 teams, there would be some super tight and fast racing. I love this style of racing, and frankly for the first 2 hours I could see the race leaders, just in front of us, and I could hear 4th and 5th breathing down our necks. I have said, and I know this to be true about myself, that I enjoy the fight, more than winning. Meaning, I love the battle, the scrape. The drive to win, isn't want keeps me in this game. Not saying I don't like to win once in a while, but damn the fight is what I love. Today there was tons of fast, tight back and forth racing. It was awesome, I left the Stoudt's brewery with a belly full of pulled pork, a six pack in my cooler and a smile on my face. Here's a couple of quick additional thoughts..

Congrats to Travis and Scott for a hard fought win today.
 Congrats to Webster and Curtis for landing on the box and some super tight racing...

- Usually when Buddy and I race together, I'm generally the starter. It goes back a long ways, but we have these rules about team events and batting order... When we were pre-riding I saw that Buddy, who doesn't share my affinity for mud, was cleaning sections much better than I was. He's technically a stronger rider than I am, and it showed today. 10 minutes to the start, we called an audible, as the run was short, Buddy also doesn't share my affinity for running, and Buddy agreed to start. Here's a quick video of the racers coming down the hill after the run.

Buddy finished up the lap in third overall and was able to help launch us into a great ride today. He crushed that first lap, and frankly set a tone for our team for the day. It was rad.

-This is my C3: Twenty 20 Cycling Company teammate  Glen "the Nature Boy" Turner. He raced on a 4 man team today called the 4 horsemen.(along with Derek, Keith and Mark)

Pretty clear to me who the better Nature Boy is...

The end of month uniform violation fees that come from our director can be steep. That said being that Glen raced in hot pants and a feather boa all day will probably result in amnesty. The fact that his team (along with Derek, Keith and Mark) passed a championship belt to each other on each transition, and threw down smoking fast laps will certain garner a uniform violation fine waiver. These guys were turning the fastest laps all day. Congrats for the  well deserved win in the 4 man class.

Pricey was teamed with Dennisbike on the day, and one of the favorites in our class. Chris had a bike "modification" about half way through that hurt their chances. Geared to single speed...

Dennis tapped out 7 laps in a row, while Pricey tried to get his bike functional again..

Weaver Cycles Team Represented today... (4th)

James and I have been racing together for a LONG time...

The People Primarily responsible for me not being able to walk up stairs- heck walk at all today.

Philly Ciclisimo Compound. Like Pryor needed amplification!

- This is Didi Deluxe of Didi Deluxe and the Dirt Devils.

Wonder if we could lure Didi down to Granogue next year for our podium ceremonies?

The band played after the awards. I only caught one song, but did listen in to them on the You Tubes. They kick ass. She was pretty much the best unintentional podium woman EVER. As I was getting off the podium and they were getting ready to go on, she says to me, "why are you the only one still wearing your gear? I liked seeing all you guys in your spandex!" I laughed and told her that we kicked ass all day, and now it was their turn. She smiled and said they would. She was super cool.

It was a long day, but a great one. I'm stoked as I felt as good on the bike today as I have all year. I know that Buddy and I were well prepared, and left everything we had out on the hillside of the Stoudt's Brewery. So Stoked right now...

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon