2nd Overall
Race day was greeted with the threat of high heat and humidity and all indicators pointed to a grueling race. The course at the Snow Bowl was modified this year, resulting in a climb that wound its way to the top of the mountain. I missed this race last year, thus I haven’t ridden the course in at least 5 years so the change was not drastic for me. As with any re-routes, the trail brought the added challenge of soft terrain, and few established good lines. This particular re-route added much more climbing as one would expect, so it made it double difficult to ride all of the new sections. I thought the course was National caliber. It had a tough climb, fast wooded sections, technical singletrack, and some get-on-the-brakes-and-hold-on-for-dear-life spots! I much prefer to ascend on a course like this that challenges your handling skills as well as your fitness. Going straight up a dirt road or ski slope is just plain obnoxious. At this point in the season, this course ranks as my favorite.
Back to the weather, it was a hot one for sure. The event organizers decided to cut each category’s race 1 lap short, so we Experts did 3 instead of 4 laps. I can’t say that the heat really affected me and at the line I was kind of hoping we would do the 4 laps. However, with a finish time of just under 2 hours, and the toll that the climbing took, I was certainly happy to head into the finish chute rather than head out for another lap!
Finishing is good!
Briefly, I had a fair start, and began the climb in about 6th spot. The 3 laps changed my strategy somewhat. I was going to have to push each lap hard rather than conserve energy for the long haul and I didn’t want to have to play catch-up from the beginning. We quickly got in single-file and I settled in 1 rider behind local James Tyler who helped set up the course. My hope was to ride behind him on the descent as he knows the terrain and as a young ‘un, has way less fear than I so I know he’d be fast. Unfortunately, the climb took its toll on him and others early. Rather than wait it out, I took advantage of their miscues and moved on. I knew there were at least 3 others including teammate Adam LaRochelle out in front so I hoped to bridge up to them instead. I got to the top in 4th, but the front 2 were gone. I began my fluid-less descent and I could hear the guys behind me drawing near so I focused my attention on trying to stay on the bike as much as possible, nice strategy, huh?! I passed a Junior X kid mid-way through the first lap and headed through the start/finish in 3rd.
I attacked the climbs again the next 2 laps, determined not to lose time and hopefully increase the distance between me and those like Ryan Rumsey, Big Al, and Rick Nelson (who had an unlucky day with a taco for a wheel) behind me. The difference was I had no one ahead of me to judge the better lines so I had to read and react on my own. For me, I have no problem getting off my bike and running. Often times this is the fastest method to get through a tough spot and last I checked, there are no judges out there awarding style points. Any hang up I have, I’m off and running. So the name of the race suited me as well, I ran quite a bit of the final 2 climbs, especially the top section. I don’t know whether others did, so I can’t say whether this approach was quicker or not, but at least I wasn’t battling frustration to compound the difficulty. I caught Adam on the descent, and headed up the final climb in search of the overall leader but he had checked out.
Like father like son. Can't ride it, run it!
The final descent was a relief, but I did have to dig deep to push up the intermediate climb towards the end. My lack of off-road riding skills was again displayed on each descent. I would come to a complete stop at least once every lap and look at my race number plate because I launched off the bike at some point! This is the price I pay for riding outside of my comfort level because I worry about being caught from behind. I know the smart thing to do is ride in control, but my adrenalin has other ideas in a race.
"You go this way, I'll go that way!"
It ended up being a great day overall. Babs and the boys are back in town and they came over to cheer me on and have some fun.
Drake and Jamie with their race faces on.
The Seymours were there so Drake and Jamie rode around. Fenix was a madman on the bike riding everywhere! They all raced together and got their standard prizes which they love! Aegis owner Pete Orne and his son Will were there. Will raced and did well; he seems to have caught the bike-bug. The boys and I took an afternoon dip in the lake before heading home which was nice. I don’t think we could have asked for a better time.
Next up is MMBA #4, an Enduro event at Bradbury State Park.
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