XC: 4th/28
Hard to believe my biggest mountain bike race of the season has come and gone already! Riding the trainer in the playroom and lifting weights all winter, although arduous at best, certainly prepped me well for the weekend. The hard work was definitely worth it I headed to the mountain early Friday to do a pre-ride of the course, get settled in the hotel, and prep for the short track race later that evening. Upon my arrival, the weather was perfect and I dressed immediately and hoped on to the course. It was essentially the same as 5 years ago when I last raced there and finished 11th: climb to the top, and hang on for dear life to the bottom! The climbing didn’t intimidate me, although I was concerned we would have to do 4 laps. The descents were a different story, however! My lack of off-road riding was rearing its ugly head as my legs were literally shaking with fear at some of the sections. There had been some rain during the week and it made the technical stuff even more treacherous. To compound the situation, I was running Hutchinson Pythons, these tires are useless in the mud and they provided zero traction on wet rocks and roots. There were 2 occasions when I was in a controlled crash situation and I crashed once. My confidence was ruined. I finished the lap and enjoyed an awesome sandwich Babs made then checked in to the room to relax and try to stop thinking about how intimidated I was by the course. I brought my World Cup fork with me in hopes of getting it repaired on site. I dropped it off at the SRAM trailer and they said they’d have it ready Saturday. I really had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up for the STXC. I assumed it was a crit-style race on the dirt but didn’t know what the course would be. I did a quick warm-up plus 1 lap on the course (which was comprised of the open flat at the start-finish line, the first dirt road climb, a traverse of the main ski trail, and a quick descent leading back to the start-finish) and lined up on the front line right where I told myself not to: far inside left next to the barriers. I told myself not to line up here because the first turn was a left-hander with a fence post sticking out. I guess I don’t listen to my wife or myself! Anyway, the start went as predicted: I was a little slow off the line and then the entire field began pinching in to the left forcing me to break to avoid the fence and other riders. So I’m basically in the last 1/3 of the field heading up the first climb and forced to play catch-up the whole rest of the race. The race consisted of 20 minutes of “go hard or go home” plus 3 laps. I forced myself through the field eventually settling into 8th place. I could consistently see the pack ahead of me so I knew I was maintaining their same speed, but I could never bridge the gap. I had effectively missed the bus! I finished on the lead lap in 8th. The Bailey family showed up to watch my suffering, it helped me push on though. Saturday provided fair weather with a few showers here and there that never amounted to much. I took my bruised ego and set out on a “hot” lap of the course amongst the sport racers who were doing 3 laps (ouch!). The climbing was as expected. But this time the singletrack was a little drier and I found some good lines and regained confidence as I descended smoothly. Now I was looking forward to the race. I picked up my fork from the SRAM guys and decided to put it on. I was having trouble getting the pop-loc cable on so I just swung by the trailer again to have them help me get the right tension. Plus, I needed a different stem cap to hold the fork on. A mechanic and I did it, but he sensed the shock was still not right and asked me to leave it again. Turns out, there was more wrong with the damper and so it was rebuilt, this time with some factory-riders-only innards so I guess that’s good! I was stoked to run this fork on race day, further boosting my confidence. My pit crew arrived soon thereafter and it was pool time! Jack Bailey mentioned something about how his skiers hop in hot/cold water to aid recovery. So I jumped from the hot tub into the pool a few times and my legs really felt fresher than they had been all week. I’m going to look into this further as it may speed this old man’s recovery time, especially during the upcoming Fitchburg Longsjo stage race. Race day started early with a 7:45am staging. After a fair warm up, I got to my group early and lined up on the front row, right of center this time! It was the proper call for when the gun sounded, I took off, got the hole shot and brought the field around in first place for the first half lap.
I felt fine and wasn’t worried I was going out too hard too early. I knew the series leader from Texas was in the field and wasn’t surprised when he came up and passed me. I planned to ride my own race and battle the course rather than worry about other riders. I knew another guy in my group passed me, so I thought I was in 3rd. I was a little sketchy in the first singletrack as I was pretty anaerobic. The descents were dry and in great shape, so my Friday fears were for not. I headed out on the 3rd lap intent to at worst, hold my position but came across another guy in my group whom I thought was lapped, but he said he had been ahead of me. I passed him and again, just rode my race. I felt like I was riding at my limit to the top, but wished I put more into it as I didn’t drop this guy. I was held up some in the final descent and I was taking lines I didn’t prefer and then hit a tree. The guy slipped by and checked out. So, I rode out the final stretch as hard as I could, content with my position, but not satisfied. I guess that’s what makes you train: gotta get the next guy!
It was a great weekend, and it was topped off by a fantastic Fathers’ Day spent with the boys and Babs. Drake and Fenix raced the kids race with a bunch of pros, then it was pool time and off to the Bailey’s.
Special thanks go to the crew for their support, encouragement, photos, and willingness to let me play. Also, to the boys at Kennebec Bike & Ski for putting in extra time and effort to get the ProAxe right, and it was. Shifting was smooth and it held up under the direst of conditions. Finally, to my coach who got me to this point. My preseason goal was to earn a top-10 here. A top-5 exceeded my expectations for sure.Next up is MMBA Series #2 at Biddeford.
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