MMBA #3 Race Report 7/13/08

2nd Overall
1st Expert Vet

This is going to be brief because I am already 1 race behind reporting.
I left the fam on the Cape on Saturday and drove home to ME for a night's sleep at home before heading to the campus of UMaine Orono for the Campus Krusher.
Master of Mud bragging rights were on the line between Racin' Rick and I. But we were all competing for 2nd place as I brought French Freye up with me.
We arrived ample early and Rick, Freye, and Big Al and I had a spirited pre-ride of the 6 mile course. It was a mix of technical, rooty, baby head rock singletrack/XC ski doubletrack/open road. Climbing was virtually non-existent.
At the gun, Freye took off and was never to be seen again. That left Al, Rick and I in a mini-group. There was an exchange of positions as I hesitated in the 1st techy stuff and Rick passed. At the next open section Al came around and appeared to be planning to set the tempo for us. I wanted to avoid any team strategery and passed them both just before the next singletrack. At some point Al passed me again and I really thought I was getting played as it didn't sound like Rick was close and I thought Al was going to kill the pace to let him catch up. To make matters worse, I dropped my H2O bottle very early on and with only 3 laps to race, I was very concerned I was going to be hurting later on and didn't want to go hard. Then again, I deduced Al was doing his pre-cross training routine and going hard early on because he sure wasn't slowing! Then, we came around a bend and there was Rick with his injured bike. So the pressure to beat Rick was off. It was now simply a matter of finishing strong and intact. Al, a consummate good sport gave me a pull of his bottle at 1 point and that was all I needed to feel like I could hang on. We headed into our 2nd lap together, I behind Al, as I picked up a fresh bottle. I washed a front wheel once and lost some time, but Al dropped a chain after a mud bog and I slipped by, and the racing ended there. I went hard to create a gap and then rode my pace for the rest. I really enjoyed the course, but my body took a bit of a beating from the tough terrain.
I was pleased with my time, -3 minutes behind Freye and glad to have made the trek north for a great ride. It was unfortunate the drama between Rick and I didn't play out, but there will be more opportunities!
Next up is Natz at Mt. Snow!