The registration process took a little longer than anticipated so I didn't have time to get a full run of the Super D course to check it all out. But on my climb up to the top I popped on course to check out the ramp they built for the "steeze jump" competition and decided that I would be coming into it way to fast and would end up pile-driving my face into the next hill most likely, good to know. Continuing the climb up, backwards on the course, I discovered that while smoothed out, the turns and switchbacks on the steep hillside were loose and flat... a recipe for a washout and tumble down the hill in just about every turn. So while the course really didn't have any technical aspects as far as rocks and obstacles, it was still going to be a challenge to maintain speed. And finally at the top I discovered that the first 50 yards of the course consisted of 4 small bmx style double jumps. Not good for this penguin. I got a couple practice passes on them but it was definitely just going to be a "get through it" section for me and I'll have to make up time somewhere else. I was about the sixth guy to start so I was able to watch a few others on the first couple turns. One guy had already ended up washing out on one of those flat turns, confirming my course analysis. It was my time to start and as I rolled into the start shoot I just wasn't feeling it. Not a whole lot of fire, and as I was already thinking about it, Mark Weir shouted to me "Kill it Clint! But leave something for the XC!" Right... don't blow up the legs with the XC less than 3 hours later. 3-2-1-Go! I clip in and get a couple pedal strokes and gear shifts before having to brake check my speed on the rollers because I suck. But I got through them and back on the pedals... feeling like everyone watching me at the start was probably laughing at me regarding my non-jumping skills. Guess I need to spend some time at the local BMX/Pump Track. Into the first 180 degree turn I felt like I was on the brakes way too much and not pushing it, but I was smooth and clean. That was pretty much the same feeling on every corner as I made my way down the hill. Whether it was a tight switchback (there were a lot of them) or a sweeper... I just felt slow, but smooth (and still upright!).
The Tallboy was handling the hoof-chatter that was still on the trail with ease and the WTB Prowler SL's were digging into the loose dirt perfectly. I put the power down everywhere I could but just still felt off. I came into the "steeze jump" section and took my bypass line with a lot of speed and still had to brake check before the big dip at the bottom and bottomed out my fork. Thus confirming I would have done a good javelin impersonation into the next hill if I'd hit the jump for sure. I finished off the hillside singletrack and hammered the last 1/8th mile or so of flat grassy course before crossing the finish.
I had no idea of my time or placement for about 2hrs after the race due to a timing system snafu, so when asked I just described my run as feeling slow and "eh" and I just went into recovery mode to prep for the XC race a few hours later. Eventually results were posted so I strolled over to find out I was 2nd!!! Just 8 seconds back from Mr. Weir. Needless to say I was pretty happy with that result, but I also felt like knew exactly where I left 8 seconds out on the course... oh well... I got a cool custom pint glass for my efforts!
The XC start was set for 11am but that time came and went with the registration line still with at least 30 people waiting. So the start time was moved back to 11:30, which was fine, except I was getting a little hungry and it was beginning to get hot. The predicted temp for the day was 92 and there wasn't any wind to help. I prepped the Highball and set out on the XC course to make sure it was going to be the right choice and not punish me too much from the rough trail that remained. I wanted to run as low of a tire pressure as possible to help with this and the WTB Nano TCS tires with their strong bead were going to do the trick. I think I ended up with just 22psi in the rear tire and the bike just floated over those small bumps. I was good to go and continued to hydrate and pre-fuel with my Hammer favorites (HEED, Gel and Perpetuem Solids) in anticipation for the high effort in high heat to come.
Eventually I rolled up to the start and lined up with a few other top step contenders I recognized... Kevin Smallman, Cody Kaiser and Alex Wild were just a few but I knew there were some younger racers in the mix as well ready to pounce. There was also an older guy with rainbow stripes on his sleeve (Masters world champ)... always a threat! The gun went off and it was on.
After the first corner I settled into 3rd position and was feeling pretty good. It wasn't very long before we'd get into the steep climbs and I took the lead up the first one, standing up and taking full advantage of the Highball's stiffness and efficiency. I charged the next fast downhill and jumped the paved path and hammered up the next climb. At the top I glanced back and it seemed like I was starting to pull away which didn't make sense... I'm never a fast starter! The first trip down "hamburger hill" and the nasty corner at the bottom (hamburger... as in what your face looks like if you don't respect the steepness and lack of traction) was clean and I popped out of the trees onto a gravel road for about a 1/4 mile. I had a couple seconds on the next group but I knew I was no match on this flat stretch if they worked together so I didn't waste any effort. Kevin Smallman came around and took the lead but I got it back as we made our way up the next climb. This fire road climb steadily steepens to a real nasty pitch at the end on a small stretch of singletrack. Right before that I let two racers by and I had this feeling that was a bad decision because I knew there was a rooted and steep downhill with a couple small drops after this climb. When we turned downhill we navigated the first turn and open section fine with decent speed but the tricky right turn with a small drop was ahead. I tried to ease up a bit to allow room for a fumble up ahead but Alex, who was leading, didn't clear the drop and turn and ran into the next tree. He didn't go down but blocked the trail and the 2nd place rider and myself ran into him. Alex got going quickly and so did I, but in that melee my chain had come off... which I didn't know. So as I attempted to clip back into the pedals there was no resistance and it wasn't happening. There wasn't the time or room to stop there as the rest of the group was right behind me and I continued to rock this downhill bouncing on the seatpost with my feet out to the side as skids feeling like a total goober. I still almost ran into the back of Alex at the bottom but I pulled off at the turn and scoped out the bike. The chain was completely off and outside of the pedals. Trying not to rush and risk breaking something, I calmly took my time to get it back on right and when everything seemed ok I was back on my way but now in about 9th place and a lot of time back. I passed a few before we got out of the steepest climbs and when it opened up I could see a lead group of 4 riders about a minute or more up. So I pushed the pace as hard as I could... trying not to get discouraged because I really wanted to win this race.
By lap 2 I had passed a couple more and was trying to reel in that lead group. I could see Cody, Kevin and Alex there with one other I didn't recognize. I hammered the steep climbs and by the half way mark I had passed Cody who had fallen off the lead pace. I eventually caught the lead 3 on a perfect stretch of trail where I could pass them all at once before heading into some climbing and switchbacks. I was feeling really strong, but as I had figured Kevin was just cruising with that lead group and conserving. He jumped on my wheel as I passed and stayed there all the way up to the top. He is a very good descender so I didn't want to let him by on the long DH for risk of him pulling away. I attacked the downhill and all the nasty switchbacks hard and kept the pressure on him. It was pretty fun though, we were sliding into berms and squealing brakes all the way down and I would stand up and sprint out of every corner. After the race Kevin told me that I was absolutely nailing those switchbacks, which made me really happy because I think I suck at them.
He was still there on my wheel as we began the final lap and I knew I had to pull away on the climbing far enough so that he couldn't catch back up on any downhills. So I hit those steep climbs with everything I had left and attacked all the downhills as well. Riding scared, and really wanting to win. I made it through the final lap clean and only started to cramp at the very end. And 50ft after crossing the line in 1st overall after over 2hrs of pain I was handed a Corona... don't mind if I do!! (Thanks Murphy!). I was so stoked to have won this race. Not only because it starts me off in good standing for the series, but that it was my first race after Jen had broken her foot last year and for some reason it meant something to me. I guess I wanted to replace that painful memory with a positive one with a win... and to go along with the fact she finally was doing well enough to have the metal plate removed from her foot the day before this race!
No comments:
Post a Comment