MMBA #5 Sugarloaf

1st/3 Expert Vet I

I headed to this race solo with my mind full of trepidation. The hillclimb the day before carried no official significance in the world of USA Cycling, it was just one of those “Climb it, because it’s there” situations. Today, it was back to defending my first place position in the Maine Mountain Bike Series. As luck would have it, Sugarloaf is the course with the most climbing of the summer. So, either I was going to be fatigued from the day before, or I was going to be OK as it was a good prep for Sunday. My coach Beau assured me doing the hillclimb was only going to help, so I believed him. Turns out he was right.
Babs and the boys put in a stellar effort at Mt. Washington. Today’s weather was poor, not very warm and scattered showers so there was no real incentive for them to go. That meant it was Camelback time again as I wanted to be sure I was properly hydrated for the 3 laps of climbing and I don’t like carrying 2 water bottles on the bike.
The start line was a ridiculous 4 wide section directly in front of a climb. I think a couple of guys actually opted to run up it! I got through unscathed in the top-5 and headed out on the open trail leading to the climb. My objective today was to race strategically. I wanted to be smart points-wise and keep Alan Starret (2nd in points) in sight. As I said, I had no idea what my legs would do today, so I decided to work them only as hard as I needed to avoid blowing up. Several riders passed me quickly. When I saw Big Al go by, I grabbed his wheel and let him set the pace up the hill. I felt good and as we neared the top, I decided to go around as we were heading to the singletrack sections where I didn’t want to risk losing contact with him. The way my trail riding was going, I was very worried about losing time in the woods. A singlespeeder joined us and we rode together back to the finish. I couldn’t believe it came around so quickly! I was glad to see they took out the steepest climb of the course by the condos. Instead, we rode some new singletrack and open trails. I hate it when new sections of trail are cut just prior to a race. We turn into guinea pigs and have to beat in the soft dirt and establish proper lines. Hopefully, the next time we race there it will be sweet thanks to our efforts.
I maintained the same pace on the next 2 laps and pulled away from Big Al, but could never lose the singlespeeder. I created a gap at the top of the last climb, but he would always catch up to me in the singletrack. He had a 29’r which I believe helps roll through a lot of the terrain. In the final section, I went hard and smooth and made a couple of timely passes of lapped riders and coasted into the finish. I have always liked Sugarloaf, and I liked it even more today. It actually felt easy. I guess Beau knows!
Next up is the Saco Crit.