Whew. What a week. Lots happening
including a much delayed race report…so let’s dive on in.
The Brown County DINO race was
just one event in a very busy 7 days, and I admittedly went into it in a less
than ideal mindset. Distractions with work and leaving town the evening of the
race (Flight to San Francisco at 6 pm that day…blog post on this is in the
works) contributed to the race not being forefront in my mind until the morning
of. This race would be a measuring stick for me as it was the first “for keeps”
DINO race. My previous Cat 2 races had ended well enough, but this would be a
test with a full DINO field at the premiere trail system in the state,
That morning of dawned bright and
sunny and promised highs in the mid 80’s. Luckily, the Cat 2 race was in the morning, so I was hoping the
heat would be a non-issue. As like past years, the route went straight up a
steep road section before dropping onto the trail. Thanks to the Cat 2 upgrade,
we’d be doing two laps of the course, not one. I debated with doing a bottle
swap at the lap, in case I needed more than the two bottles I planned on
carrying. In the end, I opted for just the two, plus one gel shot prior to the
race and another taped to the top tube.
As expected, there was a decent
turnout (although attendance did seem down), and all the usual suspects were
there. My plan was to not lead out on the steep climb. I did that last year,
and all it did for me was provide a wheel for my competitors to latch onto.
Instead, I decided I would stick to the wheel of Brian W., who based upon my
experience would be the strongest rider, of those I knew or had faced before.
So, off we went. I started out in
the small chain ring to avoid any chain issues as we hit the climb. The pace
was fast, and the riders stayed in a clump. I worked my way across the field
and latched onto Brian W’s wheel. Ahead
was a rider in blue, and a rider in a Norwegian flag jersey. Norway was going
strong but slowed and Brian W. Surged past in pursuit of Blue. I got past
Norway and was back on Brian W’s wheel by the time we hit the single track. I
went in at third position and kept it close with Brian W. and Blue. We
maintained this until somewhere on North Tower Blue made a grab for his water
bottle and nearly crashed. It was enough of a stop to allow Brian W. and I get
by him.
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| Chasing Brian W. into a turn. Photo: Beth Bragg |
Now the fun. My only task for the
race was to hold onto Brian W’s wheel. If I could stay with him, I might have a
chance at the end. He picked up the speed, but I managed to keep within a comfortable
distance. Unfortunately, we ran into a few members of the 19-29 wave, specifically
a single speeder, who had stopped to let us pass on a tight turn. A combination
of the rider standing on the turn, and too much speed nearly caused me to crash
on the turn, and I had to push off a few roots with my foot to avoid biting it.
Just like, Brian W. had a gap.
However, the gap was not
insurmountable and I launched, while maybe not a furious chase, at least a
steady one, and I made slow gains, especially on the climbs. We hit the climb
on the short side of Aynes, and I hit the gas. A few other early wave riders
were passed, I closed the gap on Brian W., and I opened more of a gap on some
chasers.
Green Valley was next, and I made
a concerted effort to push it on the decent. The time spent practicing descents
on the Southwestway flow trails paid off, as I put more daylight between myself
and the chasers. Not so much luck with Brian W. He gained more and more time
and by the time we entered the second lap, I only had occasional glances of
him.
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| Photo: Beth Bragg |
At the same time, it seemed like
the chasers were getting closer. To be honest, my attentions turned towards
keep them off my wheel and maintaining my position, and not so much catching up
to first place.
When I hit the valley after North
Tower, I knocked back my gel. I could tell I was slower on Aynes and again
could spot my chasers, easily within 7 or 8 seconds. I pushed the Green Valley
descent, and then the gel took effect. I got a second wind, and surged on the
climbs and again pushed on the descents.
I seemed to gain time on the chasers, and on one of the last fast
descents on Green Valley I spotted Brian W. ahead. His rear tire was flat and
he was on the side of the trail.
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| Looking far too happy for the task at hand. Photo: William Snyder |
So…what to do. Maybe I have
stopped and passed along my spare tube and CO2. However, at the same time, the
chasers (turns out it was Blue and a guy from Matthews) were still hot on my
heels. If I stop, I lose my lead and either they pass me or I have to fight
them off from close quarters for the remainder of the race.
I rode past. Mechanicals and flat tires are a
part of racing, and while I hate to have a higher finish when one occurs to an
opponent, especially just a fast rider who had a solid lead on me, the totality
of the circumstances demanded that I continue on in order to preserve my finish
from the chasers.
I transitioned onto the North
Tower connector and saw no one behind me. Nevertheless I pushed hard on the
descent to the parking lot and took first in my age group, despite barreling
through a pile of straw left over from when the field was mowed. Seriously,
that thing was a good two feet tall and I’m still finding straw in various
nooks and crannies of the bike. Probably should watch where I'm riding next time.
Anyway, not a bad way to start
the DINO season, and I felt like it was a hell of a race. Yes, absent a
mechanical I might have gotten second, but like I said, that is racing. My
fitness was good and I felt like I raced well. Also, at the end of the race I
found that the nozzle for my CO2 had fallen off of my under seat pack. (I was
using an Awesome Strap….which is awesome, but the nozzle must have shaken
itself loose. Lesson learned) Bottom line, I wouldn’t have even been able to
help myself in the event of a flat, let alone another rider.
The strangest thing from the
race? Well, I ran across another early wave rider on a single speed (not the
same one on the turn). I have plenty of respect for single speeders, and know
that in many circumstances a single speeder can be faster than a geared rider.
This guy was riding well, but was a bit too slow in sections. I asked to get
around him, and he said sure. I thanked him, and he said something to the
effect of “no problem.” But, as I rode away he yelled something along the lines
of, “But if I catch you I will beat your ass in the tech sections!”
Huh?
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