1st Overall Expert/Elite
The venue
Well, I had an elaborate report that is now apparently lost in cyberspace. So let me cut to the chase. I'm totally and pleasantly suprised by my result. At the line, my strategy was to keep Big Al in check, ride Racin' Rick's wheel on the descent, reel in Adam Larochelle eventually, and maybe ride with Freye for a lap or 2. Everything started out as hoped, Adam took off, Al had a ferocious start then settled in to a groove, and Rick towed Freye and me to the top and down on the first lap. Rick motored the descent and the rough stuff with his 29er. On lap 2, Adam was 2 minutes ahead and Rick, Freye and I teamed up on the ascent to begin the chase. At the top, all hell broke loose. Andrew slowed I thought just for a drink but was never seen again. Partway down the descent Rick pulled off stating he had a slow leak. This left me in sole possession of 2nd place. I felt lost without my riding partners! I soldiered on, trying to stay smooth and maintain a solid pace with the hope still of catching Adam. On the 3rd lap, I scaled back on the ascent and spun in the granny gear, wanting to save something for the final lap. The new sections were deceptively difficult. The soft and challenging terrain drained more out of you than you realized. Halfway through the 3rd lap I came upon Adam walking his bike. I couldn't believe what was happening! He broke a chain and I inherited the lead. Naturally, there's an adrenaline surge when you're first, but I had to temper it with the fact that I had another complete lap to go. Luckily I had conserved enough gas and made my way up the climb steadily, back in the middle ring. I was tired, yes. There were a few spots that I rode easily 3 times before, but now had to dismount and run quickly. But once at the top, I realized my fatigue was not limited to my legs, my left forearm and index finger froze on the downhill scaring the crap out of me! My upper body had taken a beating and it was rebelling at the worst time. I tried to flex it out as best I could, but I was forced to be extra conservative on the descent. The remaining lap wasn't pretty! I ate dirt a couple of times, including hitting a random tree stump and in the last singletrack section where you have to whoa down to fit between 2 trees! I was gassed to say the least! But I made it to the finish and was happy.
Props go to Big Al for toughing it out as long as he did on a rigid bike and condolences to Adam, Rick, and Freye for their mechanical mishaps. I thought this was going to be the first race where a strategy was going to be played out.
Now it's off to Nats at Mt. Snow to compete against the best of the best. This is what all the training has been for.
2 comments:
nice job man. I was hoping to gap you a bit on that downhill since I knew you would blow my wheels off on the 3rd climb. All told, it took me close to 5 minutes to get the sidewall cut fixed and rolling again. I did manage to pick a couple of spots back up but it sure was disappointing since I felt so good. The last climb totally blew me though.
I hear you had a couple of good races this weekend. Congrats!
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