I Needed A New Saddle Anyway: DINO North Vernon XC and STXC Race Reports

More racing over the July 4 weekend, this time with DINO at Muscatatuck County Park in North Vernon. A traditionally friendly course for me, since my in laws live 5 minutes away and I ride if relatively often, this year saw pleasant temperatures, low humidity and no rain. There would be no repeat of the mud fest from last year.

As with last year, I raced in the short track state championship on Saturday and the cross country race on Sunday. For a little foreshadowing, I will say that it was a weekend of extremes….

Short Track

I won the Cat 3 race last year and was looking for a decent finish this year. The turnout for rather low, although Cat 2 had some fast riders present. The short track course is divided between grassy lanes on the front stretch leading to the finish, and a single track section on the back end, punctuated with a tight left hand turn to drop in, a hard left leading to a short power climb, and then a hard left onto gravel leading to the grassy front section.

So off we went. Two riders from Speedway Wheelmen immediately jumped into first and second. I tried to make a move for third before the hard left drop in, but a rider from Rangeline beat me to it. I stayed behind him until the left onto the grassy section and then took off in pursuit.

I was able to hook on to the Speedway leaders and fell into a repetitious cycle. I would catch them at the hard left drop in, stay with them on the single track and then fall victim to their superior acceleration on the hard left onto the grassy front section. There I would have to speed up in order to recover their wheels.

I was content to stay in third and the race was mostly uneventful save a few pieces of drama. The second place rider slid out on the left turn onto the power climb early in the race. I held back since it was a bit early to be making a move up, but he slid out again (it was a slick corner and I had slid too during warm ups) with only a few laps remaining and in retrospect I should have made a move, but I did not jump at the chance. Also, we ran into lapped traffic on the power climb and it seemed there was an immediate acceleration to get past them before the trail narrowed again. Having used this same strategy last year, I panicked and chased and because bike racing is dead serious business, I maybe had a less than nice pass on the lapped traffic, including a Cat 1 woman (who said all was fine after the race).

In the end, the three of us were all together but I couldn’t close the gap in the final grassy sprint. We finished within a three seconds of each other, with me one second behind second.

Still, it was a very fun (and fast) race and I was glad to get some hardware.

 

And, if the riveting written description above is not enough for you,  I also filmed the entire race on my new Go Pro…just need to figure out how to compress the file enough to post online. That may be another post.

Cross Country

No mud brought stellar course conditions, and all the usual suspects in the Cat 2 30-39 wave. Things got off with a bang, with a rider from Bicycle Exchange shooting out to an early lead. Things went fine from there, passed a few people, partially screwed up on the steep rooty section after a creek section which allowed a few folks (both Bryan and Brian) to get by.

Good sized Cat 2 30-39 field at the start. Photo: Beth Bragg

Passed a few people on a small climb and on a couple of muddy and slick uphill sections, before settling into chasing Brian W. up a climb on the back side of the park. Grant from the Matthews team got on my wheel and we chased Brian. I asked at one point if he wanted to pull, and he said something to the effect that he was maxed out so I stayed on front. I tried to put my clear glasses into my back pocket due to fogging issues and dropped them. So long glasses.

Spotted the Bicycle Exchange rider ahead. Brian W. had caught and passed him so he was my next target. Heading into the final mile or so I caught Bicycle Exchange and was camped out on his wheel. Lots of exposure and little passing space here, plus, with the Start/Finish area coming up, and two laps remaining, there would be plenty of time to chase Brian.

I was on Bicycle Exchange’s wheel when the world went upside down.

I found myself on the ground on the right side of the trail. The riders behind me yelled to see if I was alright and I told them I was, although a full assessment had not been made. I hauled the back end of my bike off the trail and took stock. In front of me on the ground was my saddle, in two pieces. And an excruciating pain in my right leg.

First I checked my head. It had not contacted the ground, as my shoulder and hip hit first. Thank goodness for that. Luckily, I landed in leaves and brush and the scrapes were minimal. I then tested my right leg. It hurt…a lot. But I could still move it so I didn’t think there was a break. I then looked at my bike. The saddle rails were still on the seat post and the rest of the bike seemed fine.

I knew I hit something, but wasn’t sure what until I looked at the trail. Right there was a reddish colored rock sticking out of the ground. I’ve seen this rock each time I have ridden Muscatatuck. I’m guessing I was so close to the Bicycle Exchange rider’s wheel that I had no chance to miss the rock when he dodged around it. I must have hit that and lost control. The saddle was sheared off by a tree which was right next to the trail about 3 feet beyond the rock. Somehow the whole of my body appears to have missed that…although I’m now thinking my right leg actually did hit it.

Anyway, I stood up and waved off numerous inquiries from passing riders about my condition. I stuck the destroyed seat in my pocket and clipped back in. My plan was to ride the remaining race mostly out of the saddle, and sitting on the rails occasionally. However, this was not my biggest issue. My right leg was swelling and slowly began to not work. Every turn of the crank brought terrible pain and it was a chore to turn the pedals over. I made it to the finish line, and decided to call it a day. My first DINO DNF. Sucks, especially considering I was feeling good, and was well positioned for a good result.

Looking much happier than I was actually feeling. Photo: Beth Bragg

I hung out and limped around until the end of the race to see Brian W. be overtaken and beat by Dan M., an extremely fast rider who upgraded from Cat 3 earlier this year. Those riders who had been behind me at the time of the crash said that it sounded quite terrible.

Overall, I seem to have come through pretty well. I did a short spin bike ride on Monday and since then have been on the bike. My leg was stiff, but as I sit here (Thursday) there is no pain or even aching, and movement is just fine.

It seems my luck in DINO races is running out. Brown County went well but in Logansport there were some issues (crashes, technical section problems) and now the wheels seemed to have come completely off at North Vernon (at least in terms of XC). I’m hoping to get things turned around before Versailles  in just over a week.