ESI Grip Review

   In my year's of racing motocross I have found grips that I found a liking to. In the last few years I took a liking to the Renthal half waffle grip. So when I transitioned from the motocross scene to the mountain bike scene I found out that Renthal made lock on mountain bike grips. After a year of racing with these I wasn't very happy with the feel. They became slippery when they got wet and they wore out very fast. The grip didn't allow me to have the feeling on the bar that I would have liked. I found that my hands would slip off more than I would like and the overall comfort wasn't to my liking.

   When getting ready for the Hanson Hills 100 mountain bike race I looked for a grip that would not only provide a sticky grip but also something that was soft and wouldn't spin on my. A few friends advised me to try the ESI Grips. After looking into them I was very impressed what they provided and how cheap they actually were. I bought a pair of the racer's edge grips. The 100 mile race was not only my first race on the grip but also my first ride with the grips and I was beyond impressed. They provided a sticky feeling that I was looking for, even when my hands were wet from sweat. Since switching over to ESI Grips I have bought a few more pair and they will be on my mountain bikes for as long as I keep riding. For 2015 I will try the RCT wrap for road bikes. Since my road bikes are in need of new tape I will give it a try and if they are anything like their famous mountain bike grips then I can't wait to try them.

For more information on ESI Grips check out their web site.

http://esigrips.com/

2014 Bell's Beer Copper Harbor Trail Festival

Both Bike's rocking out ESI Grips for the 2014 USA Cycling XC Mountain Bike Nationals

Crystal Cross October 19, 2014

The 2014 Crystal Cross is a race like no other this season. It falls the day after Peak2Peak at a great venue. The 2013 Crystal Cross was my favorite race of the X the Bay Series. It has short laps that have plenty of challenges. Between the stair section to the tight switchbacks that include small climbs makes the course flow and room for a lot of good racing.

This year the course was slightly different but still a very great one. They put a challenging sand wall in the course that proved to be a challenge for everyone. The fastest way through it was to ride it but you had to put the power to the pedals hard during the short run up to it.

Last year I won the B class riding my hardtail mountain bike. This year I chose to ride my full suspension mountain bike because the hardtail was shifting funny after the mud race the day before. So I went with a bike that shifted smoothly even though it put me at more of a disadvantage because of the weight.

The morning of the race it was in the high 20’s. By 10am it was slowly getting warmer and the sun was out. As the B class lined up it was noticeable to see who could be heavy hitters. My warm-up was very short because my legs were trashed from Peak2Peak. I wasn’t expecting much as far as speed. I would have been happy to make it onto the box but realistically I didn’t think it was a possibility. As the race took off the paved walkway I put myself toward the front. I made some time up on the opening stair section and pushed hard riding the wheel of Jacob Ellis. After racing with Jacob last year I knew how fast he was so I tried by best to ride his wheel as long as I could. I knew I had no chance in pulling time off him so I rode his wheel to

open a gap up on 3^rd and 4^th place. It was fun riding toward the front for a few laps. After about 15 minutes of the race my legs decided to give up and I just tried to maintain solid lap times and continued to open up a gap on 3^rd place. Jacob took off and opened up a huge lead that I couldn’t bring back even if I had fresh legs. This race was full of lappers and that almost messed me up on lap 14 of 16. It was a slow lap and I lost another 10 seconds in the short lap. The last two laps I just rode it in with solid lap times to finish off 2^nd. Congrats to Jacob for winning it this year.

After the B class race there was an hour for me to recover for the A class race. I decided to ride the A class just to put in some more miles and get my money’s worth out of the race. Plus the course was so fun I just wanted to put in another hour worth of laps in. I rode this race easy. I tried to put in as many laps hard as my legs allowed but after 20 minutes my legs gave in and I just tried to maintain a solid pace and not look like too much of a fool. The best part about the A race was the awesome spectators. The PBR and Twinkie hand offs were so fun. The beer hand off people were offering beer 10 minutes into the race and when I passed them one lap and didn’t take the beer I got heckled and just laughed it off. The next lap came around and they offered me a beer again and I missed the grab but the guy ran across the course to the next corner and did a great hand off. I put down half of the can and continued onto my race. That morning I planned on taking the B race serious and do the A race for fun.   

 Overall it was another fun Crystal Cross. The guys at Einstein Cycles put on a fun race. Big shout out to Cody Sovis for his awesome announcing during the B race. Made the 45 minutes even more enjoyable. Racing two days in a row like this is something that proved to be a challenge but it was well worth it for the great experience. Cyclocross is a fun type of cycling and I enjoy doing them. The next three weeks are going to be dedicated to preparing for Iceman to hopefully end the season off with a bang. 

Great job to all the racers who raced either of the days or both days at Crystal Mountain. 

Thank you to all of my sponsors and people who support me.

-Mom and Dad
-My Sister and Niece.
-Breakaway Bicycles of Muskegon. 
-Hammer Nutrition
-Crank Brothers
-Spy Optics

 

2014 Peak2Peak October 18, 2014

The Peak2Peak mountain bike race is held at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thomsponville, Mi. This was my first year doing this race. For most people its a great test before getting ready for Iceman in a few weeks. This year the weather was playing a huge factor in the outcome of the race and it was the talk of the morning as the beginner and sport classes took off early.

For me this race was going to be a test to the work that I have put in 5-6 weeks after the Copper Harbor Trail Festival. With Iceman coming up I wanted to use this race as a test to see what the legs were going to produce. Since I ride 100% by myself up here in the Soo I had no way to judge my fitness besides off of past rides.

For this race I was racing the 18-29 Expert Class. For the Elite and Expert Classes we had to do 3 laps on a 12 mile loop. The race is called Peak2Peak for a reason. The course takes off at the base of the mountain and then travels on a flat ground for 10 mile of the loop before making a very steep mile long climb to the highest point of the hill then making a fast switchback decent to the finish or on to the next lap.

My wave took off at 12:33. As the race started the pace was very high. After a short road section the race hit its first dirt section. This is when there was a big crash. I just seen bikes flying in the air. Then as the race proceeded the pace was high. This entire race was like a road race but in the dirt. There was no room for error and no room to rest on a decent or through some technical single track. I made it through the first lap in a decent time. I new I was feeling a little off today. The long hill at the end was getting to me and the fast paced race wasn't what I'm use to after racing in the U.P. I worked off of groups and tried to hold a solid pace for all the laps and tried to have solid lap splits. With about 4ish miles left my legs blew up. I tried my best to bring it home with a solid finish. I finished 6th out of 15 in my age group with a time of 2:33:28.

Overall I'm not thrilled about my race but I rode a smart race and did what I had to do. I just didn't have it in my legs. It has only been just over 2 months since I got over the mono and I've only put in solid training for about the past 5 weeks. So to end up the way I did in a hard class there is nothing to complain about and I just need to take this as a learning experience and get rested up for Iceman.

Thanks to all of my sponsors and family
-Mom and Dad
-Breakaway Bicycles of Muskegon
-Hammer Nutrition
-Crank Brothers
-Spy Optics