Myself and two more of my team mates made the journey from Kentucky down to Birminham Alabama to race Bump this past weekend. For those who have never been Bump is a huge xc race at Oak Mountain that has a purse of $10,000 and has the feel of a National.
We got there early Saturday,checked in to our hotel and headed over to preride the course. The preride was rather uneventful but made some mental notes. 1) The start was goin to be crazy fast,over 1.5 miles before you get into the woods.2) Once you got into the woods it would be 2+ miles before you could pass.3) The climb to the feed station was a looonggg grinder.4) Now we get to Blood Rock,this section could end your race quick! All things considered i was hoping for a mid pack finish and felt pretty good about my chances.
On to Sunday. I was in the second row at the start. Once the horn sounded it was WFO!!!! Was we setted in a little i notice i was in about 20th and knew once we got into the woods i wasn't goin to be able to pass.We hit the road leading to the woods and i ramped it up a notch and was able to make it up to 14th as we hit dirt. We were nose to tail ,about 20 of us making up the lead group with the other 30 fallin off fast. Pace was crazy but i felt good. I managed to get around one more guy when he bobbled in the woods.So now i'm sittin in 12th. The guy in 11th was having problems with the tight hig speed turns. I yelled out coming around onyour left. He blocked!! I made several attempts to come around and he was not goin to let me around. I had a train of 4 more behind me and this guy was gettin an earful from them all. The lead group was now gone,outta sight!!! After several blocks by this guy i was actually buzzin his back tire and pushin hard and he lost it and blew a turn and i pulled the train around. The leaders were outta sight and i turned it up a notch to try and reel them in. I slowly threw the guys off my wheel one by one adn then i hit the climb. I passed well over twenty riders on the climb, all from other groups with my guys not to be seen. Finally about 300 yards from the top i saw the 10th place guy and pushed hard.Once the climb was over it was across the ridge top before you decended dwon to Bloodrock. I hit big ring and quickly was in the basement on the cassette and pushing a hard tempo. Right before it veers right back to singletrack i passed the 10th place rider. After a short decent i could hear the spectators yellin and cowbells ringing,it was Bloodrock. I only cleared 3/4 of it on my pre-ride and it was desicion time. I flew into it and knew i was going to clear it or eat it. Cleared it no problem and was smiling ear to ear and though to myself, after this short fast rocky decent its only 6 miles of flowy singletrack to the finish!!!!! I knew if i rode smart none of the guys i passed could catch me. Holy crap a top ten at BUMP!!! I was stoked. I hung on for the rocky decent and as i hit the turn at the bottom and went to crank the chain snapped and flew off in to the woods. You have got to be F*ckin kiddin me!!!! There was nothing i could do at this point. I have never had a DNF at a race and decided i wouldn't start today. So i ended up running with bike in tow the last 6 miles of trail to the finish.
I ended up 31th with a 1:41, 10th place had a 1:22 so not to bad all things considered.
Next year that mountain owes me one
We got there early Saturday,checked in to our hotel and headed over to preride the course. The preride was rather uneventful but made some mental notes. 1) The start was goin to be crazy fast,over 1.5 miles before you get into the woods.2) Once you got into the woods it would be 2+ miles before you could pass.3) The climb to the feed station was a looonggg grinder.4) Now we get to Blood Rock,this section could end your race quick! All things considered i was hoping for a mid pack finish and felt pretty good about my chances.
On to Sunday. I was in the second row at the start. Once the horn sounded it was WFO!!!! Was we setted in a little i notice i was in about 20th and knew once we got into the woods i wasn't goin to be able to pass.We hit the road leading to the woods and i ramped it up a notch and was able to make it up to 14th as we hit dirt. We were nose to tail ,about 20 of us making up the lead group with the other 30 fallin off fast. Pace was crazy but i felt good. I managed to get around one more guy when he bobbled in the woods.So now i'm sittin in 12th. The guy in 11th was having problems with the tight hig speed turns. I yelled out coming around onyour left. He blocked!! I made several attempts to come around and he was not goin to let me around. I had a train of 4 more behind me and this guy was gettin an earful from them all. The lead group was now gone,outta sight!!! After several blocks by this guy i was actually buzzin his back tire and pushin hard and he lost it and blew a turn and i pulled the train around. The leaders were outta sight and i turned it up a notch to try and reel them in. I slowly threw the guys off my wheel one by one adn then i hit the climb. I passed well over twenty riders on the climb, all from other groups with my guys not to be seen. Finally about 300 yards from the top i saw the 10th place guy and pushed hard.Once the climb was over it was across the ridge top before you decended dwon to Bloodrock. I hit big ring and quickly was in the basement on the cassette and pushing a hard tempo. Right before it veers right back to singletrack i passed the 10th place rider. After a short decent i could hear the spectators yellin and cowbells ringing,it was Bloodrock. I only cleared 3/4 of it on my pre-ride and it was desicion time. I flew into it and knew i was going to clear it or eat it. Cleared it no problem and was smiling ear to ear and though to myself, after this short fast rocky decent its only 6 miles of flowy singletrack to the finish!!!!! I knew if i rode smart none of the guys i passed could catch me. Holy crap a top ten at BUMP!!! I was stoked. I hung on for the rocky decent and as i hit the turn at the bottom and went to crank the chain snapped and flew off in to the woods. You have got to be F*ckin kiddin me!!!! There was nothing i could do at this point. I have never had a DNF at a race and decided i wouldn't start today. So i ended up running with bike in tow the last 6 miles of trail to the finish.
I ended up 31th with a 1:41, 10th place had a 1:22 so not to bad all things considered.
Next year that mountain owes me one
