Race number three. The Huntsville Classic.
Best weather yet very sunny tempreture in the low 80s. I was feeling pretty good.
The Start: I got to the line a little early after doing a very short warm up. The start was on a slight uphill section 25 yards long then a hard right onto a road for 50 yards and straight into the single track. I jammed off the start got into the pedals really quick but as I was shifting the chain and it dropped off and the force of me pushing and pulling popped both feet out of the pedals and threw me into the guy next to me. I got back in(the chain didnt come completely off it just dropped down to a smaller ring) but bumped with that guy two more times before we went into the woods. This did not bother me at all, I guess shouldering all those trees taught me how to handle this. I was in a pretty good place going into the woods. People started sensing a back up and started slowing down. I put my head down went big ring and pushed, made up a lot of spots here. After a very short distance there was a series of steps I think three but no more than four. The third one drops off about a foot. Now this is where I think Im a little different than most people and I dont know if its just me having fun or if Im actually doing a good thing but most people bailed out and took the right line pretty much around the obstacle. I took the center line and plowed right though the center of these in the big ring, that really got my heart pounding and put a smile on my face because thats what I ride for. Big Air = Big Fun. Having grew up ridding this course was an advantage. Theres a really big sandy climb right after the drop offs and I had to drop down almost into my granny gear to get up and lost a few spots but I knew I could make most of them up. I know every little nook and cranny and without even being able to see in front of me I knew where all the turns, sand, hills etc. were and was able to prepare for them. Half way through the race being a little spent, and part of my game plan, I got behind a rider that looked pretty good and let him drag me down the course for a little while. My buddy was behind me and after about 1 ½ he comes up beside and says if the guy wants somebody else to pull drop back and somebody else will take the lead for a while. I told Kevin to hang back for a little bit, or if he felt good enough to go head and take the lead. He dropped back in line. That was a mistake for him. After another mile there was a very rooty, long climb and this was the place I had planned on over taking big boy (he had at least 60 lbs on me). I looked back at Kevin in that ever immortal Lance Armstrong look, Its time to go look, and preceded to drop big boy. Kevin and I started on the down hill sections and I was jamming. No fear. Kevin had hung back to long (this is know as the yo-yo effect and the mistake is mentioned earlier) and started to flag. He scenced it and told me to push so I did. Dropped him too.
The last 2 ½ miles start with a crossing of a pallet bridge of about a 100 yards or so. Twisty and can be very slick, dubbed alligator crossing. This sparked off a fast rolling section that leads into the final few climbs. I dropped it into the big ring a tried to rest a little bit. Bike Mojos buddy had a mental(he probably saw a bunny, I dont think he read my last race summery) here and wiped out and Alang stopped to help him out, those guys were top 10 for sure maybe even higher, very unfortunate.
I had planed on resting through the next section and blasting up the final few climbs but felt good and flipped flopped the plan. I got to the bottom of the final climb and asked some people behind me if there was anybody close and they said no. The only person that was close in front was another category so I eased up a little and finished the race at about 75%. Right at the end there is a hard right turn and the finish is about 50 feet away. Right as I got to the turn my right calf muscle freezes up and I have to pop my foot out of the pedal and finish with one foot in. I think about 50 people got a picture of my agony. Another great Urrrggggg face. I found out later that the guy in front of me was in the same category he just had the wrong marking. I could have took him but thats ok next time.
I got 14 out of 49 riders. I think this is my best showing so far because of two things:
1. There was 49 (35 behind me) riders, thats a lot of people to have to fend off.
2. I had set a goal time for the course having known it so well. I wanted to do a 45 minute lap. By checking the past time I knew that would be in the top 20 and my pervious personal best was a 47.5 or 48 I knew that I could do it. My final time was 45.29 thats so close that I really feel like I accomplished a major goal. I have set a goal time for next year, if I race, sub 41. I might be sport by that time so I actually have to do two of those but I think I can do it. We'll see.
Best weather yet very sunny tempreture in the low 80s. I was feeling pretty good.
The Start: I got to the line a little early after doing a very short warm up. The start was on a slight uphill section 25 yards long then a hard right onto a road for 50 yards and straight into the single track. I jammed off the start got into the pedals really quick but as I was shifting the chain and it dropped off and the force of me pushing and pulling popped both feet out of the pedals and threw me into the guy next to me. I got back in(the chain didnt come completely off it just dropped down to a smaller ring) but bumped with that guy two more times before we went into the woods. This did not bother me at all, I guess shouldering all those trees taught me how to handle this. I was in a pretty good place going into the woods. People started sensing a back up and started slowing down. I put my head down went big ring and pushed, made up a lot of spots here. After a very short distance there was a series of steps I think three but no more than four. The third one drops off about a foot. Now this is where I think Im a little different than most people and I dont know if its just me having fun or if Im actually doing a good thing but most people bailed out and took the right line pretty much around the obstacle. I took the center line and plowed right though the center of these in the big ring, that really got my heart pounding and put a smile on my face because thats what I ride for. Big Air = Big Fun. Having grew up ridding this course was an advantage. Theres a really big sandy climb right after the drop offs and I had to drop down almost into my granny gear to get up and lost a few spots but I knew I could make most of them up. I know every little nook and cranny and without even being able to see in front of me I knew where all the turns, sand, hills etc. were and was able to prepare for them. Half way through the race being a little spent, and part of my game plan, I got behind a rider that looked pretty good and let him drag me down the course for a little while. My buddy was behind me and after about 1 ½ he comes up beside and says if the guy wants somebody else to pull drop back and somebody else will take the lead for a while. I told Kevin to hang back for a little bit, or if he felt good enough to go head and take the lead. He dropped back in line. That was a mistake for him. After another mile there was a very rooty, long climb and this was the place I had planned on over taking big boy (he had at least 60 lbs on me). I looked back at Kevin in that ever immortal Lance Armstrong look, Its time to go look, and preceded to drop big boy. Kevin and I started on the down hill sections and I was jamming. No fear. Kevin had hung back to long (this is know as the yo-yo effect and the mistake is mentioned earlier) and started to flag. He scenced it and told me to push so I did. Dropped him too.
The last 2 ½ miles start with a crossing of a pallet bridge of about a 100 yards or so. Twisty and can be very slick, dubbed alligator crossing. This sparked off a fast rolling section that leads into the final few climbs. I dropped it into the big ring a tried to rest a little bit. Bike Mojos buddy had a mental(he probably saw a bunny, I dont think he read my last race summery) here and wiped out and Alang stopped to help him out, those guys were top 10 for sure maybe even higher, very unfortunate.
I had planed on resting through the next section and blasting up the final few climbs but felt good and flipped flopped the plan. I got to the bottom of the final climb and asked some people behind me if there was anybody close and they said no. The only person that was close in front was another category so I eased up a little and finished the race at about 75%. Right at the end there is a hard right turn and the finish is about 50 feet away. Right as I got to the turn my right calf muscle freezes up and I have to pop my foot out of the pedal and finish with one foot in. I think about 50 people got a picture of my agony. Another great Urrrggggg face. I found out later that the guy in front of me was in the same category he just had the wrong marking. I could have took him but thats ok next time.
I got 14 out of 49 riders. I think this is my best showing so far because of two things:
1. There was 49 (35 behind me) riders, thats a lot of people to have to fend off.
2. I had set a goal time for the course having known it so well. I wanted to do a 45 minute lap. By checking the past time I knew that would be in the top 20 and my pervious personal best was a 47.5 or 48 I knew that I could do it. My final time was 45.29 thats so close that I really feel like I accomplished a major goal. I have set a goal time for next year, if I race, sub 41. I might be sport by that time so I actually have to do two of those but I think I can do it. We'll see.
You could have done nothing by stopping but by telling the folks at the next turn they sent a rider back to check on us. But we were already up and running.