Singlspeed-A-Palooza 2013

This race could be titled the right attitude but the wrong gears. Single Speed a Palooza is put on by Dark Horse Cycles in Montgomery NY and it has by far some of the best single track in a race course setting. Fast and flowy, but nothing to technical and plenty of mileage. This along with the single speed vibe will put a smile on your face for days to come. Taylor and I packed up the Volvo and headed on our 4.5 hour trip south. Arriving around noon time we hooked up with Nick Carl and Alex Booker to pre ride the course. Right away we noticed our gearing could have been taller. Our 32x19 and 32x20 wouldn’t cut it for the long fire road at the start. In the woods it would have been fine but we were going to run what we brung and have a great time doing it. We pre road the entire course and then hit up some awesome race food at Five Guys (Danger!! This shit can be addicting! The next thing you know your looking in you wallet and thinking I have $13.00 lets go to Five Guys.) and some beers to finish off the night.

Race day started off early. Our legs were a bit tired from the day before and the start time was at 10am. You can’t help but smile at these events because there is always something going on. If the guy next to you is not dressed up like Super Woman or a Pirate then it’s someone or a whole group with taller gearing passing you in the flats, as you spin out, and then you are passing them on a hill section as they’re struggling, each looking at each other and thinking WTF?  Wishing we hadn’t pre ridden we hit the line in the open class with 120 other guys getting ready to kill it on some fast dry conditions. The start featured 120 guys crushing one gear for a couple miles in a complete cloud of dust. Hitting the single track in what seemed to be the second wave of riders, Taylor and I rode the race on each others wheels from start to finish and the legs held up. Hitting the beer tent at the midpoint for a couple of beers and loosing 8 spots cost us, but how many races feature a beer stop?  You have to stop its part of the culture (plus we love beer). This event is worth the trip for an early season race. Our race results could have been better but we had shit-ton of fun.

A big Thank You to Dark Horse Cycles for organizing a fantastic race! Already looking forward to Singlespeed-A-Palooza 2014.

-AC

Packed up and heading to NY

Race time

Anthony Catauro

Taylor Clark