Return to Ferd

DINO traditionally races at Versailles near the end of July but the night before the race, a nasty storm swept through the park and destroyed the race site and knocked down over 200 trees on the trails and park roads, including the park entrance.  The race was a no go and was cancelled.

But...there were still two races left, with the next being a return to Ferdinand State Forest. While I had raced there last year as part of the Southern 5 race series, DINO had not had a race since 2007. Last year's experience at Ferd had been good, with the numerous climbs catering well to my climbing abilities. Aaron Lifford and I went down the night before and prerode the course. It was slightly different from Southern 5 in that we tacked a new section of trail north of a gravel road which had served as part of the course last year. With a 9 mile lap, and the hills, Cat 2 was going to ride 1.5 laps, with the route short cutting along another section of trail around the middle of the second lap. 

Preride went well....it did reveal a nasty little climb right at the start following a creek crossing. This wasn't used last year, and on the preride Aaron and I hit it in a fast gear and quickly stalled out. Steep climb duly noted.....probably need the granny to get up that one. A few tricky creek crossings were investigated, but otherwise, it was the same course. The park staff had again done a good job trimming back the undergrowth from the trails. 

So, to the race. The regular Cat 2 heavy weights had shown up and I knew it would be a tough race. Things went off about as expected. I was able to ride the steep climb at the top, while others ran it. A DRT rider went into cyclocross mode and shouldered his bike and in the process of shoving his way through traffic, clocked BOI rider Sean Cooper (who was right next to me) in the head with his rear wheel. Sean was still riding at this point and the hit knocked him off his rhythm. Not cool. 

Anyway, I kept riding up the long initial climb and passed several riders,  I kept up a solid pace and widened a gap over several Open riders. Series leading rider Michael Scott was well off the front, as he has been for the entire year, Rob Shrum and the DRT rider were also up there. Those three riders had a huge gap, but there was another Open rider from Bloomington in 4th, I was in 5th place  but I had gotten glimpses of 4th place through the woods and knew he was within in reach. A podium was going to be difficult, but a top 5 overall was possible. 

I was riding well and still felt strong, I was heading down the east side of the course towards the Start/Finish and dropped down a steep rocky tech portion which led to a gravel road. As I rode down the road, I grabbed my water bottle for a drink and out of the corner of my right eye, I spotted a DINO trail marker sign. Shit, that was the turn for the course. Without thinking I applied the front brake (water bottle was in my right) and down I went. Hard. I got up and check myself. Collarbone was where it was supposed to be, no pain while breathing, head didn't  contact the ground. All seemed good same a bloody knee and arm. The bad thing was my saddle had been knocked askew. I got out my multi tool and fixed it all while watching my 6. No one passed me, and I took off down the trail where I had seen the sign. I glanced back and saw no one behind me. Good, No more than 2 minutes down, I can still make up the time.

I think this was from first lap as I don't see any blood running
down my leg from my crash near the end of the first lap. 

All of the sudden, I came across an orange arrow spray painted on the trail. It was pointing towards me. I hit the brakes and realized what had happened. The sign I had seen (which in the chaos of the crash I had not stopped to read) was actually for the short cut route. I had been riding the wrong way. Post race analysis showed that I had ridden half a mile off course. Time lost was four minutes and 15 seconds. I was in a rage at myself for making for such a dumb mistake, Aaron and I passed that same spot during preride and even commented how that that trail was where the short cut reconnects with the main course. Of course, in the heat of the moment I forgot that. I went on a tear and started to make up lost ground. I re-passed several riders, some asking where I had come from. 

Despite my hard push on the last half lap, I was unable to regain all the time, and ended up in 5th place in Cat 2 Open and 8th place overall. As noted, I had lost over 4 minutes due to my off course adventure. If not for this, I would have taken 4th in open and 4th overall. The off course ramble had allowed several age groupers to gain on me which hurt int he overall. Kind of a tough break, but that is racing, I was happy with my physical condition, and my climbing ability and the top 10 was good. Still, the what could have been was tough. 

So, that's Ferd in a nutshell.  One note. Attendance was definitely below normal, which was kind of expected since the venue is so far south.  However, there weren't very many other riders from the southern part of the state there.  Adventure Recreation & Gear was out in force as always, but very few folks from Evansville, including the EMBA and Dan's Comp teams were there.  Considering complaints in the past about DINO not catering to the southern portion of the state, I would think more people would show up. I think alot of people don't like Ferd, but in terms of climbing, there are few places to ride in the state that can offer that kind of elevation gain and I was hoping there would have been a better a turnout.