Hello all, I have a 08 gary fisher Paragon which I have been riding between 13 to 20 miles a day mostly on the road for about 2 months, I have been trying
hard to get my body in shape, I have been riding all my life on offroad dirtbikes and have no issues with trail obsticles, I am the contingency chairman for
the Arkansas harescramble championship series but want to get away from that and start racing mountain bikes, I am 43, 6 Feet tall and am currently at 216lbs
but its falling off fast, what class should I start with? I have learned with dirtbikes not to be too confident about the competition, I will be at the Phat
tire festival. I live in Fayetteville.
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first time racing mountainbikes
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 combatcontrol |
first time racing mountainbikes |
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Posts: 1 (07/04/08 06:45:49) |
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vinny72758 |
Class | ||
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Posts: 294 (07/04/08 07:17:52) |
Try the Beginner Master 40+. Don't let the title 'Beginner' fool you. The competition in that can be class fast and fierce.
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guehead |
clids. | ||
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Posts: 262 (07/04/08 15:10:48) |
you could try clydsdale but be worned, those big ole boys can ride a bike!!! most of them are full blown down hillers that dont mind the break neck speed. we
look forward to seeing you at the series, its a good venue for family. by the way, im a little slow, what is harescramble?
guehead |
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Dewwwd |
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Posts: 7 (07/05/08 13:17:57) |
Last years Fat tire was my first mountain bike race ever. I raced the beginner class and got 5th in my age group. I will race the beginner class again this
year and hopefully do a little better. The way I look at it is the sport distance is "do able" but I wouldn't be competitive. I live in
Fayetteville also and will be going over to do a pre ride with a first time racer either this coming weekend or the next. You and anybody else for that matter
are welcome to join us if interested.
~Dallas~ 
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combatcontrol |
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Posts: 2 (07/06/08 07:51:22) |
I would be interested in going early and pre-riding, I have a freind that used to do this named Nathen Jenkins, he got me and another buddy into this and now
Im addicted, A harescamble is a two hour dirtbike race through natural terrain, dead engine start and the laps are between 8 and 12 miles around depending on
how much land the promoter has, we have a member list of around 300 but usually we have 150 people on a regular bases, its a 12 race series all in Arkansas,
never in the same place twice per year, www.AHSCS.com we have a barcode sticker that we hand out and put on the left side of the helmet that gets scanned once
each lap, its a very tough sport that will destroy your body in time, my knees are shot and I have lots of compression fractures in my back, the mountian bike
doesnt hurt my back or knees at all, my abilities off road are great, Im just trying to get my body into another shape other than round. I may be down under
200lbs before the race so the beginner class may be the one for me. Let me know when you are heading over and we can hook up this weekend or next.
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AllNames |
If nathan is your friend watch your back. | ||
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Posts: 550 (07/06/08 17:13:31) |
Just joking.
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bsr564 |
You can run but? | ||
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Posts: 1 (07/06/08 19:20:58) |
OK MR Combat.You have been ducking me all year at the scrambles.I guess I will have to get on a mountain bike to beat you this year.See you in Eureka
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Nathan |
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Posts: 324 (07/07/08 06:43:06) |
Oh man, all these years of Carbo Loading, Cryin' Wolf, double-secret training, false-alarms on the return to glory, are all now paying off...
I'll catch all the other fat-boys asleep at the wheel, and they'll all be victems of my evil plan...moooo-ha-aha0-aahaa (insert Dr Evil laughter
here).
Last Edited By: Nathan
07/07/08 07:31:47.
Edited 2 times.
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combatcontrol |
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Posts: 3 (07/07/08 19:16:56) |
Well I cant go anywhere anymore, seems like I try to retire (slow down) from racing dirtbikes and my evil classmates are already tracking me here, I guess
there will be four of us from the motorized world but only one of us has actually been scared enough to actually be training for the scene, my only fear is
that I will drop below 200lbs too soon! Mr Jenkins may truly be evil after all. I have military duty this weekend so I cant go riding, but I am very excited
about getting to my first ride next weekend.
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Nathan |
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Posts: 328 (09/05/23 12:15:52) |
Me thinks you'll not lose 16 pounds in 12 days...unless you take up Meth or something, immediately. (please share, I've got 44lbs to lose before
I'm no longer qualifiying).
It'll be good. Real Good. Painful. But good. |
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Corey Gilstrap |
yep its really me | ||
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Posts: 1 (07/08/08 20:50:14) |
Ok all you posers its on.....er um again. Anyone showing up to clydesdale line better hide their twinkies and cliff bars. I am the original Fat man. Unless
you know anyone else crazy enuf to get out the old proflex frame, fly to Jonesboro and then torture themselves for hours before tossing their bike in the
parking lot only to noticethe race promoters slipping off with the cash. Ahhh the good old days. I am also planning to be at Eureka so Vinnie you are hereby
warned. If you get too close to me I may have to play the old hook your front brake routine. Hey its worked before and "accidents" do happen :P I
have officially topped out. At 285.80 pounds as of this writing I am certainly due to be the largest clydesdale out there for the hilly climbs in Eureka. I
along with Vince and Nathan have called out others in the Clydes class on weight, even bringing the scales myself for the Springhill race many years ago. If
you needed a pace man, well you get the picture. Best not to let me catch you cuz living it down wil prove harder than you think. Hope to see you all at the
Fat tire.
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Movietown1 |
Missing the Clydes | ||
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Posts: 111 (07/09/08 07:26:54) |
Well for the first time since dropping some weight I am regretting it! I started racing Clydes about the time you were all quitting and got to race Vinnie and
Nathan a few times. I heard a lot of stories about the "good old days" and then the class turned into 200 lbs of muscle. So now I drop below 200 and
all you guys decide to come back? Were you afraid of me - thats the story I am telling everyone! Maybe I will start with my class and drop Twinkies for you
guys so you can make it to the other end.
 Anyway, good to see
you guys coming back to the bikes and I hope you all have a good race. CC put a hurtin on Nathan so he will stop posting that GIANT picture with that
trophy that should be some kind of message board foul that the
same picture can't be posted over and over (Yes, I am Bitter that Nathan won the Big Kahuna trophy)
Tim |
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vinny72758 |
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Posts: 297 (07/09/08 07:53:44) |
Tim,
Just do what I did when I started losing the weight real quickly the first year I raced and was in danger of not being a Clyde. The Guisness Training plan. It consists of doing the following: 1. Ride your bike in the dirt once a week, so you have some semblance of skills. 2. The rest of the week spend 3 hours a day riding a bike on the indoor trainer while watching TV. Use the commercials for 5 minute intervals 3. While on the trainer, replace all the various sport drinks in your water bottles with Guiness. Expect to drink 5 or six pints over the course of three hours to prevent dehydration. Don't be frightened if your urine is dark brown. The urologist will tell you it goes away after you drink some water. This is guaranteed to keep the weight on, you might even gain a few, but you'll have the heart and lungs of a lion and can tear the legs off those skinny little guys. I must have spent $500 in Guiness my first year just to keep up with you guys. Vinny |
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Nathan |
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Posts: 330 (07/09/08 13:01:04) |
Oh yes, the days corey recals shall live in infammy. Fo' Sho'...
Corey at Jonesboro, circa 2001...Corey and I literally FLY his single engine plane over with bikes packed in the back, hitch a ride form the rural airport, deep deep mud like you've never seen, figure 8 course, the rest of C-dale field and women and kids are done racing and changed back into street clothes, when finally corey comes through the "cross-section" of the figure 8....granny gear, flat/gravel road section...doin' about 1.2mph... 2 hrs later, he finishes up, awards over, taking camp down. That was the same race that, as he notes, goes down in infammy as promoters told the X-classes that "check's in the mail" then apparently bolted to Colorado or something thing.. That same season I think turned into a dirty grudgematch between Corey and Vinny, and all became fair in War & Racing, mostly notably the apparent loosening of Vinny's brakes by Corey prior to a race start, and Vinny crashing badly as a result there of? Or was that Urban Myth? I just remember a front brake and a wipeout... Then of course perhaps a year later at that ultra long Pigeon Roast race, in a driving rain, at the other/old location...vinny/Corey... DEATH MATCH... 2 laps, probably a 2+hr race (yes, back then Beg & Clyd always did 2 laps), and it comes down to the sprint to the line...2 big men, comin' in for the line...jump 15 foot back, BIG MAN FLYING.... Oh yea...those where the days... long since passed...and remembered by few, i would guess... And Tim...good times there too... Didn't you used to line up with us in C-dale, but then coast...riding with your son...? Beating us 1/2 the time in the process it seemed... as you can see from the above photo, and the type of guys that often ride C-dale... the 200 pound rule is more a "guideline" than a "rule".....or so it would seem (not that I"M BITTER or anything).. Carbo load some Krispie Kremes, then get on back to C-dale.... and i'll never EVER get tired of that photo... it is the perfect capturing of the essence of C-dale class... 200 pound class, a muscle, a bean pole, and a fatty, 627 pounds of MEAT on that podium, and 250 of it was me (do the math)....and the big trophy going to the guy with the most Twinkies'....there is no greater level of perfection in capturing the agony and the esctasy of what is...CLYDSDALE!!
Last Edited By: Nathan
07/09/08 13:06:42.
Edited 2 times.
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combatcontrol |
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Posts: 4 (07/10/08 14:59:46) |
I will do my best to beat Nathan but it hasnt been very long since he was slowing way up to let me keep up around lake fayetteville, there is apparently a lot
more to racing mountain bikes than just pushing pedals! I will also admit that although I am riding between 10 and 15 miles at least 5 days a week, the miles
are all road miles with hills, this will likely make a difference when I get on the trail, I am looking forward to getting out there.
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vinny72758 |
The grudgematch | ||
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Posts: 298 (07/10/08 15:36:37) |
That was sort of an urban myth about the brake loosening.
Corey did unhook the front brake (back in the days before disc brakes). I wound up noticing it when trying to slow down on a lap. Had to stop and rehook it up. That was at the old Atilla course before Cedar Glades. I crashed though because I was whooping Corey's butt and riding in third place right behind 2nd. We were hauling butt on that flat pea gravel area with the ravine to the left, just before the big climb where people had a bad habit of leaving their half-digested breakfast on the hill. I was literrally right behind 2nd because for some reason he slowed down and I hit his rear wheel. That sent me flying in the air. I remember turning a somersault in the air, and seeing Corey (who was in fourth and in front of Nathan) from above him, as he rode under my somersaulting body. Then I hit the ravine. I stood up to see Nathan ride by, then have my bike come fying down and land on my head. I think that was the last time Corey ever raced. Now the jump at Pigeon Roast was classic. The look on Steve Shepherd's face as he saw 550 pounds of man flesh sprinting at him, and the realization that we weren't slowing down was priceless. Corey and I literally rode shoulder to shoulder, bumping each other trying to force the other off course, because the organizer had built a dirt berm with a plywood board over it that was only 4 foot wide, and trees were on both sides of the berm. I know I figured, if I could hit him hard enough, I could beat him as he tagged a tree. No such luck. Somehow we both hit the berm side-by-side, going 24+ mph, and were airborne. Corey beat me in that race by crossing the line first in mid air. Yep. Those were the days. |
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Corey Gilstrap |
Those days are here again | ||
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Posts: 2 (07/10/08 22:09:02) |
I actually raced a good long while after that..finished like 4th overall for the season too. and yeah i felt kinda bad cuz vinnys crash was truly a case of
me cutting him off n cuttin it a tad too close...i felt kinda bad the rest of the race. unhooking his brake before the race is still the best ever although in
good fun i was at the top of the first real hill n stopped to holler n make sure he had reconnected it. didnt want him hurt Too bad. As for the infamous jump
finish no one recalls that i never planned to take that jump..just how cool it was to finish that way. Vince however put it right. We were shoulder charging
each other while standing up in the pedals. Vinnie didnt have enuf mass to push me off the trail..merely to force me to take the line over the jump...way too
mush flesh way too high. That ended the life of my front rim. I put the
 in taco that day. I am looking forward to eureka. with any luck i will even have a
bike. I would hate to have to pull it out of the box n assemble it the morning of the race......Nathan.
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Nathan |
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Posts: 333 (07/11/08 05:14:13) |
Corey's & my bike are theoretically in boxes on back of a truck somewhere...in the Midwest...
Plenty of time left to make up for 7 or so years of no training....before Eureka.. |
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Nathan |
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Posts: 334 (07/11/08 05:18:40) |
combatcontrol wrote: Billy, to put it in HS-perspective, it'll be roughly like: First time racing D-Trailrider on a shiney new 450 w/out handguards and matching flawless
TLD gear vs a crusty old verteran B50+ old-timer on a clapped out XR200 drinking out of a water bottle duck-tapped to his 1970's chest protector with a
siphone hose zip tied to his shoulder strap wearing an open-faced helmet.
Last Edited By: Nathan
07/11/08 05:21:58.
Edited 1 times.
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Corey Gilstrap |
water bottle n duct tape | ||
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Posts: 4 (07/12/08 15:04:47) |
Hey duct tape sounds like good idea. I wonder if old gas hose from a ktm 525 could work as a straw?????
I am laying my bet now. if he should catch you Billy...big IF I am betting you can easily raise the outsude elbow n put him in the trees. It has worked for me for years n if it gets serious at the start line, well revert to vinnie's urban myth for ideas :P |
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