Expert Vet I: 1st
2nd Overall
My feelings at this point after the race are relief and disbelief. The “enduro” aspect of this race always intimidates me. Although I feel pretty good about having the endurance to finish a long race such as this, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the possibility of spending 3+ hours in the saddle off-road. I also haven’t had the best performance on this course in the past as I would either be hurting to finish or struggling to ride the singletrack efficiently. Fortunately, this race was different.
Race organizers made some dramatic changes to the event this year. In the past, the course began down a rough, fast double-track leading directly to singletrack. Last year, the first section of singletrack was fairly technical and new. Compound that with adrenaline crazed men all wanting to get ahead of each other with no room to pass and it creates a fairly unpleasant ride to say the least. The last 3rd of the race had the climbing section, making it more of a suffer-fest as you’ve already expended much of your effort over the course of the first 20 miles or so. Thankfully, the organizers had a revelation and this year we started with the climbing section and finished with the singletrack. Thanks to tons of volunteers and hours of effort, new trails were added and the entire course was very close to its 30-mile billing. However, I still went into the start with some trepidation. Another unique trait of this event is the start is Le Mans style where racers line up on foot about 100yards from their bikes and run at the sound of the gun to them, mount and take off. Definitely not my style! To further challenge my confidence prior to the race, I pre-rode the singletrack section on Thursday. I wasn’t ¼ into the loop when I was rudely thrown over the handlebars. It was a slow technical section and I knew there was a chance I was going over, but I proceeded to ride anyway. This one hurt though. My right shin hit the fork, my left thigh impacted the handlebar, and although I didn’t fall to the ground, the effort I made to stop myself from faceplanting gave me a painful stinger in my neck which lingers to this day. If that weren’t enough, I got tossed again shortly thereafter. Suffice it to say, my confidence was diminished and the entire remaining 15 miles was not the most enjoyable ride I’ve had. The day before the race, I pre-rode the new half of the race with Andrew Freye. Of course it was going to be impossible to remember much about the trail, but I absorbed the fact that the start was going to be a cluster as some of the climb was borderline rideable without pressure from behind. Come Sunday, I was prepared as I could be, albeit a little bruised and just had to work on my mental game.
Babs and the boys stayed home for this one as it was not a spectator friendly event without a kids race. Thankfully, the weather really cooperated on Sunday. There was some rain Saturday, but it could have only helped knock down some dust, the course was very soluble. I did a minimum warm-up, saving it for the long race and lined up for the run. About 100 pros, semi-pros, experts, and singlespeeders all charged for their bikes in a fairly frantic, yet comical manner. I mounted and started my computer without problem and set out across the field to the first singletrack bottleneck. We then cruised through the picnic area of the park and began our ascent. It had some switchbacks giving me an opportunity to see who was ahead of me. Unfortunately, it looked like a lot! At best, I may have been in the 20’s. so, it was nose to the grindstone time knowing I had to make passes now. Singlspeeders in front of me were a little frustrating as they had difficulty spinning up the climb forcing them and me as I was behind them to dismount. I passed 1 guy who griped it was a little early to make such an aggressive move. I told him not to worry as he wouldn’t be seeing me again. I had no time to be cordial! I forced myself to not think about conserving. There was ample time and opportunity later to recover. I picked my way through guys 1 by 1, swapping spots back and forth with R-Rick, moving past Big Al, fellow PVCer Ron Colavolpe before eventually settling into a groove with the climb behind us and the trail opened up for a stretch before hitting fresh singletrack. Not surprisingly, pro Michael Patrick passed me, but I later found him on the trail side making a repair to his bike. I bridged a gap to Adam Larochelle and Kirk Turner and sat in for a spell until I saw Aaron Millett who was in my group ahead of us. He became a carrot and I soon got to and by him. Adam was still ahead, but was having drivetrain issues so I moved on. There was also a singlespeeder tailing me. I knew he was quick on the trail so I let him go and rode with him for a bit, riding his line. Eventually, we hit a few more ups and he was a little downtrodden as they were just out of his gear range. I passed him and began a stretch of at least 15 minutes of riding without seeing anyone just riding my pace. As the trail wound back towards the campground, I made contact with a couple of guys and passed them. I have to give huge credit to my Kona Hei Hei. The trail was intertwined with huge roots and the bike’s rear travel was just enough to smooth out the rough spots while remaining efficient when pedaling. At the top of the terrain before returning to the start area to begin the 17 mile singletrack maze, I found pros Jon Bernhard and Matt Boobar just pacing. Knowing the fast descent was ahead, I made my move to get ahead of them and roared down the hill, a highlight of the race for sure. As I went through the feed station I missed my bottle and had to double back, thankfully Robin Seymour was there and she gave me a hand. Once across the street, I prepared myself mentally to stay smooth and ride intelligently through the sections that challenged me on the pre-ride. I was pleasantly surprised to see Freye ahead and we teamed up and rode together. I should say, I was making it a point to stay with him as he rode his race. We were quicker than Boobar and Bernhard through this stuff, so I was happy to push the pace here and hopefully force them to think they were mentally out of it. About 1/3 through the section, Freye paused to pick up a water bottle and I went ahead, assuming he was going to be on my tail. However, he never closed the gap as I went ahead at my pace. Thankfully, I was smooth and I think the key was getting my crash out of the way pre-riding. Nothing disrupted my rhythm and I was actually enjoying the ride for the most part. Early on in this 17-mile section, Andrew and I heard the leader was 2-3 minutes ahead. As I now found myself in 2nd, there was some incentive to try to reel him in. although he was competing in the Open class for money and I in Expert for points, I still wanted to have a good showing. I worked hard, yet the effort was masked by the terrain as it was just flowing singletrack. Thanks to a few fans spread out through the course, I was informed I was making time on the leader, pro Matt O’Keefe. I bombed through the last feed station as it was positioned on a descent and had to make a sketchy pass on a mom and her daughter which I fell bad about but they were riding 2-wide and I was just going too fast to even say anything! I kept my head down and eventually got as close to Matt as 30 seconds, but ran out of trail to catch him.
Of course, I’m totally satisfied with my result. I am clearly still feeling the effects of the peak for Mt. Snow. I put a little added pressure on myself to do well locally to support my finish at nationals, and I’m glad the way it ended up.
Its 2 weeks off from racing so I’m looking forward to doing some family stuff for once. Next up is MMBA #5 @ Sugarloaf.
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