GrillZ Memorial Report 9/14

2nd Overall (this is getting redundant!)

This was it, the final MTB race of the season. On the line was the Master of Mud award hotly contested by French Freye and me. Although there is 1 more race in the series, Freye and I made a gentleman’s agreement neither of us would attend it. That meant this race was for the infamous 1M number plate. The way the points stood, if I finished ahead of Andrew I would win the title and vice versa. I would have loved to have built it up in advance of the race as a big showdown and epic battle between the student and the teacher. But the reality was, I didn’t think I had a shot at winning. Aside from 1 race in which Freye suffered 4, count ‘em 4 flats, he beat me every time. True, the margin of victories was narrowing of late from 3 minutes, to 1 minute. But the GrillZ course was not exactly my style and my pre-ride on Thursday was only helpful to the extent I committed to memory where I was going to have to get off my bike and run! So, to say I lined up on Sunday with nothing but a humble attitude is an understatement. Oh, did I mention it was raining?! Did I mention last year’s winner and newly crowned New England ROOT 66 Pro Series Champ Thom Parsons and Green Mt. Stage Race Cat. 3 GC 3rd place finisher Chris LaFlamme showed up to screw everything up?! Dang, why wasn’t I at the Amesbury CX race?!
Fellow KHS colleague and Kona rider Matt Moore also made the trip to test his resolve against the elements and the course!
The course is a short and challenging loop comprised of serious granite boulders and sharp baby heads plus roots galore. There is also a lengthy open road stretch to rest your eyes. But it’s your choice what to do with it. Power through and make up time, but risk being cooked going into the toughest singletrack of the race? Or recover and stand to lose time.
The 4 of us represented the entire Elite field and off we went. We did a quick parking lot barrel rodeo and rode 4 across. We were just jabbing at each other as no one seemed too interested in taking control and diving wheel first into the singletrack. Thom eventually had had enough of our antics and led us in. Big surprise, I am the lantern rouge. Way to be aggressive and take the race into my own hands, eh?! Soon into the slippery stuff, Chris has his first stereotypical crash and I get by. I ride comfortably behind Andrew now. Then Thom shocks us with a slip on some roots and Andrew and I are past him. Thom was unfazed and he soon powered by to take control once again. We 3 remained intact to the end of the dirt road, but not before Chris rejoined us after he no doubt engaged his Cat. 3 legs into action on the open section. We rode the infamous pipeline pretty smoothly. It was great following Freye as I followed his line and felt confident in keeping up. I dabbed at the beginning of the long granite section and Chris rode by. This was my run section and I retionalized it as training for CX. I knew I’d be on and off the bike so I just stayed off. I kept up pretty well but this was Thom territory and he motored ahead leaving Andrew, Chris and I to ride together. At some point Chris faltered again and I got by on lap 2. We remained a chase group of 3 on the pipeline and the granite section was a replay of the first lap, I hopped off, Chris snuck by ,and I chased on foot. But, the dynamic changed, and Chris wiped out and I ran by. Then he was running and I heard a small bike/body explosion behind me and I lapper commented “Ouch, that guy just crashed running!” “Shit happens” I said. I think Chris was experiencing what it felt like if you don’t chill a bit on the flats. Anyway, that was the end of his threat of victory and I kept pace with Freye.
We lapped through for our 3rd lap and it felt like Andrew really turned up the screw. I normally would have slowed on this lap to save some strength for the final turn. But I wasn’t about to let Andrew go at this point. I was still anticipating rolling in behind him. My honest motivation was to catch up to Thom and I figured Andrew was planning to do just that. Sure enough, we made pretty good time and he was caught on the road. Of course, this also lit a fire under Thom and he ramped up his effort, maintaining his lead going into the final singletrack section. Andrew and I did our best to keep pace. Suddenly, right before the finish Andrew went down. What’s this? A chink in the armor? Naw, shit happens. I’m going to finish 2nd. I did pass and was now 2nd heading into the white flag lap, but Andrew soon gapped back up and passed me. We were definitely on the same page as he spurred me on to catch Thom. We put in another sizeable effort and Andrew led out onto the open road. After about halfway, I decided to share the load and pulled ahead. I wish I could say this was my winning strategy to beat Andrew. But honestly, I was just doing what I thought was going to help both of us catch Thom. Sure enough, the pink helmet loomed ahead. About 200 yards before the singletrack I looked back for Freye and I noticed I had a bit of a gap. Hmm. Bah, he’ll bridge up. But, for the first time, I realized I had an advantage and the outcome of the race may be different than what I was anticipating. I returned my focus to Thom and did my best to attempt to catch and pass him before the singletrack but to no avail. He tapped into his angry and buried himself as well to earn the coveted spot and I could only grab his rear wheel. Nonetheless, this was my best position of the day and I couldn’t hear Freye on my wheel. It was at that moment when I transformed from rider to racer! This was my chance to beat Andrew, shoot perhaps beat Thom. I rode with him the entire first half of the section. If either of us bobbled, the lead would change in an instant. It was this battle and motivation that ended up separating me from Andrew for good. Thom and I were together all the way until the section I always ran. Instead of risking trying to ride it and maybe be a little faster, I stuck with my game plan and ran it to be safe. Thom’s superior skills earned him some time and he put a few seconds on me and held it to the finish. I rode across the line wishing I was 1st, but in total shock I beat Andrew.
Whew, I’m sweating a bit writing this! Man, that was a great feeling at the finish line. A sense of accomplishment like I haven’t felt in a while. This was a race where my performance was elevated by my competitors. So often you end up riding around in no-man’s land and have nothing but your own voice either urging you on or screaming slow down. It was a lot of fun to ride with Andrew and work together despite having the title on the line between us. Without Thom there as the rabbit, the race would no doubt had a totally different outcome. Looking at my finish time, I was a full minute faster than last year, and course conditions this year were way worse. Older and faster, that’s my motto.
Matt ended up gutting out a 5th place finish. I’ll hold off on claiming Master of Mud until the final race is run just to be sure. Andrew did skip an early season race and he could conceivably compete for the points. I promised him I’d chip in for entry fees next year, donating towards the cause!
It’s hard to believe it’s over. But, unlike year’s past, I’m enthused about CX and looking forward to kicking off the season right away at Sucker Brook next weekend.