EFTA/MMBA Finals Report 9/16

1st Overall Experts on the day
1st Series Vet I Expert
Master of Mud

The mountain bike season came to a close in proper fashion this gorgeous fall day at Reid State Park. I selfishly forced the whole family out of the house at 7:30am on a chilly Sunday morning to spend the day watching me do some laps and hand me bottles. Fortunately, this is no ordinary venue as the course resides in a gorgeous park right on the ocean. This would easily occupy Drake and his fish fetish and allow Fenix some open air run-around and play trucks time while Babs could hang out at the beach. Now that's not to say folks were hanging out in swimsuits, it was 50 degrees! But the sun was shining and it was just a great all-around day.
Freye and I snuck over on Thursday prior to the event for some recon laps. The course was unchanged from over the years. Conditions were good and it was helpful to reacquaint ourselves with the good lines. This is definitely not my favorite course, as the climbing is negligible, and the roots and rocks are a real drain on one’s energy level. The first 3rd has a couple of ups and downs and is mostly soft dirt/root riding, the 2nd 3rd is gravel pathway, and the final 3rd is the toughest of all including the infamous “pipeline” section which is chock full of pointy Maine granite just trying to cause a flat or endo. Freye and I did 3 laps worth and I felt good going into the race. Unfortunately, Saturday saw significant rainfall in the area and I had to change my focus equipment-wise. I had planned to run beefy 2.25 Cinder X tires to aid in traction and avoid flatting. After the rain, I decided to be safe and go to the mud tubeless tires which would be the best bet for any conditions.
Going into the race, I had the Vet I category wrapped up for the series. The Master of Mud Award given to the top overall rider regardless of age or category was still up for grabs. Rick Nelson and Adam LaRochelle and I were all in contention. If either of those guys won, I would have to finish no worse than 6th place which meant I couldn’t afford to DNF. Hence my concern to choose the right tire application.
To the racing. Rick and I lined up side by side and all of us Experts took off at the gun. Because this was also the EFTA Series finale, there were a handful of New England guys looking to improve their position in the overall standings. I only did a few EFTA races so I wasn’t in contention there. The irony is I beat the series winner every race we were both entered in, but it’s often he who races the most races who wins a series. We did a small loop around the parking lot before hitting the singletrack which as expected proved to be a log jam as riders struggled to maintain a straight line while going anaerobic. I was in pretty good position, about 4th with Rick behind me and Adam in sight ahead. There were a couple of other guys ahead as well, but my approach was to race for the series, not the day’s event (more on that later). One NE guy dabbed and I snuck by leaving Adam just ahead and 1st place further up. I sat in behind Adam as he struggled to get into a rhythm and ride smoothly. 1st place was pulling away so I snatched an opportunity to pass Adam and ride my own pace. I edited my approach to the race to include get out in front as far as possible in the event I suffered a mechanical and would need time to work on it and lose minimal positions. So I settled into a groove and soon ended up reeling in one of the Elites who had started 1 minute ahead. I passed him on the open road section as my strategy (contrary to most guys I think) was to actually hammer the easy areas rather than recover as I expected I’d be riding slowly through the technical stuff just to stay safe and upright. My sights were set on the leader in my category now. The Bikebarn guy stayed on my tail through the pipeline and across the start/finish and we were now a group of 3 as the Expert leader was reeled in by us. He stumbled on 1 of the quick ups and got passed by us. I then stumbled on the next up and the Bikebarn guy passed me. But, my temporary mission was accomplished as I now was in the Expert lead.
I never looked behind me so I had no idea where Rick or Adam were. I knew if they weren’t in front, I had nothing to worry about. The Elite guy and I ended up dropping the other Expert and I just rode his wheel for lap 2 and the first half of 3. He was a superior bike handler as he rode virtually every section whereas I was a whimp and actually ran the pipeline section every lap (‘cross training I justified!). I would lead the open sections and it was clear he was going to run out of gas. On our 4th lap I passed him at the start/finish and I set out to finish safely and bring home the prize. Then, I spotted Elite rider Matt O’Keefe and all logic went away. Remember I was just going to race safely? Well, put a rabbit out in front of me and I’m going to chase! I wasn’t sure if he had a mechanical or was just having a bad day, but I wanted him behind me! It was at this point that I apparently lost all control of the bike! I proceeded to go on a crash fest riding way too fast. All those laps riding behind someone I felt like they were going too slowly. Now that I had the open trail, I was in control of my speed. The thing is, I was riding too fast. I should have been riding slowly like the other guys, you know, go slow to go fast. But I wanted O’Keefe. Well, he pulled away, confirming he must have had a mechanical, and I dabbed several times and had one hellacious endo into a log pile that could have been way worse than it was. Somehow, I managed to keep it all together and rode across the line Superman-style as the first Expert and Master of Mud recipient. Adam had an off day and turns out Rick DNF’d due to a loss of air pressure and loss of CO2 to boot. Tough luck as it was semi-fun battling it out for the title
There was more drama apparently as I was off for a cool down ride on the Major Jake. Seems as though the 2nd place Expert (who ended up not far behind me) protested my finish. Apparently he never saw me so he thought I either started with the Elites or cut the course. Luckily, my lap times were enough evidence to combat his theory and the results stuck.
This was a rewarding and enjoyable finish to the mountain bike season. As it turns out, I won my category in every race I entered save for my 2nd place at Nats. Those 7 seconds are going to fuel me all winter. There was great camaraderie amongst my fellow competitors; Babs and the boys were the best support crew I could ask for; and the Hei Hei performed flawlessly thanks to Kona’s craftsmanship and the guys at Kennebec Bike & Ski setting it up right.
Cyclocross season is now upon us, so the crazy train rolls on!