Highs And Lows At Muscatatuk DINO

I'm really far behind on this blog. Lots of racing going on and lots of rain messing up the racing. But it is time for some belated race reports. This one is from Muscatatuk DINO. Weather was again a factor which rain leading up to the race weekend. Saturday was the short track race, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite events.  A larger men’s Cat 2 field meant more competition, and from the get go, things were fast. Hitting the woods I was around 3rd or 4th, but once the first two laps were done, riders started to fall away. I settled into 2nd place chasing a younger guy (like in his early 20’s or late teens young), while I had Shawn Cooper hot on my tail.  

The first 15 minutes were spent like that. Shawn tried to make a pass on my outside around minute 10 as we came through the start/finish line, but I accelerated and held him off.   We were steadily gaining on the younger rider, with maybe a 6 or 7 second gap. Each time we came to a turn he was there. Until he wasn’t. Something happened and he hit the gas and was gone.  The race was on for 2nd. Shawn was still on my wheel, and not long after the mid point, I began to feel ill.  Guess I had gone out too fast and now the stomach was not having a very good time. I pulled aside and allowed Shawn to pass. 

Holding off Sean Cooper on the short track climb.
Photo: Ultra Event Photo

4th place wasn’t in sight, and I recovered after a few minutes. As we came out of the woods and onto the main grass straight away on the second to last lap, I attacked and accelerated past Shawn. I was first back into the woods as we started the final lap, and maintained that to the finish for 2nd place.  

A fun race and a solid result but boy was I beat. I hung around with some other Matthews riders for the Cat 1/Pro short track, and then Jim Sierra, Aaron and I decided to go on a pre-ride of the XC course.  The awards for short track were scheduled at 2 pm, about an hour and a half away, and the downhill competition still had to be run.  

The preride went well….some terribly muddy sections, and a few questionable creek and seep crossings  (I didn’t know PVC piping was a trail building material). Other than managing to swallow several large chunks of mud, and getting one stuck in my eye, the pre-ride was fun. Once we finished, I rode down to the bottom of the downhill course and watched the festivities. Afterwards, I went up to the awards ceremony and found that the short track podium had been held over an hour before, while I was pre-riding. I rechecked the schedule posted at the registration table, and sure enough, it said awards were at 2 pm. I was a bit ticked off and disappointed. I had run a good race and was looking forward to actually getting on the podium in what has been a rough year for getting into the top three. 

That evening I drove over to Terre Haute  to meet my wife and some friends at a lake house for the 4th of July. It was a long drive across the state, and while the evening was fun, it was  late night and then the drive the next morning back to North Vernon was long. 

I lined up for the XC race and as soon as the gun went off, I knew I was in trouble. My legs weren't responding and I had no power.  I was last into the woods, but hoped things would fall into place. Not long into the race is a climb which I have used to good effect in past races to gain position. This time.....nothing. I was done and bonked, and the race was only 5 minutes old.  

No way was I going to DNF after last year's debacle, so I continued to push forward, while being passed by everyone and their brother. Tech skills weren't there and I manged to crash on one of the steep creek crossings, and bashed my chain ring into a few logs as I attempted to cross them. To add insult to injury, on the last lap my chain broke on a steep uphill. Maybe it was a combination of a bad shift, or the aforementioned chain bashes, but it was broken, and the ends so warped that my quick link would not work. 

So I ran, And coasted a bit. But mostly ran for the last 2 + miles of the race. Seemed a fitting ending to a rather shitty race, but as least I did not DNF.

Running it in.
Photo: Ultra Event Photo

So what happened? Who knows....maybe it was the long drives before the race, something I ate, or because I had left everything out there during short track. Whatever it was, the XC race was a rough day all around.