Cat One or Bust

I wake up this morning to find this in my blogger feed:

Sorry joe aguero.... I don't need to "Lose Weight Today."  Why the hell has this taken over my blog feed??  I did a little investigating, cause I'm all crafty like that, and it appears TJ has neglected his blog for far to long and Mr. joe aguero snaked his address.  Hence, the flood of weight lose tips of uncertain validity.

Whelp, looks like catoneorbust.blogspot.com is coming out of the rotation.  Ahhhhh, all better.

Ok, race report time (finally)!!!

The Riverfront Classic is on my home turf I suppose, with it being at the Whitewater Center and all.  I figured if I'm gonna race it, this would be the race to break out the Glow Worm.  I had ridden the Glow Worm out at the Whitewater Center once before making the decision, and felt that I was able to clean everything on it.  But, to decide if I was going to race it I felt I should get back out there to really test if the 20 in the back would be too spiny on the vertically challenged sections.  On it's maiden voyage out there I had skipped Carpet, so when it came to Goat Hill I was fine and dandy - even enjoying it.  On my "pre-ride," pushing the pace, I hit everything that would  be included in the race... and the Carpet - Goat Hill combo produced less than stellar results - namely dry heaving 3/4 the way up.  You can read about that ride here.

Strava told me I PR'd a whole bunch of stuff on that ride, so I figured I'd be able to stay competitive (fingers crossed) on the Glow Worm.  A few days before the race someone on the local forums posted that the course was being adjusted and Figure 8 would be out and the powerline climb on the back side of Goat would be added.  I didn't know how to take this as this wasn't coming from the race promoter and I was figuring/guessing/HOPING this was just someone busting balls on the forums.  You see, I NEEDED Figure 8 to help thin the pack and allow me to pass/build a gap on the extended climb out.  That was my master plan really!!  Get up that thing fast, put in some time and then just go.  Hoping it would give me enough cushion to make it to each subsequent climb to gain more time...

I arrive at the Whitewater Center feeling tired and TomTom (who was course marshaling for the day - even though he could have killed it out there, so I guess thanks for not racing against me!!) confirmed that Figure 8 was indeed out.

CRAP.  Not even with an exclamation point.

I was deflated and my brain was scrambling.  Great, now how are things going to shake out?  I registered and headed out to see what the beginning would look like sans Figure 8.  We lost about a mile on the overall course.  We totally by-pass that extended climb I so badly wanted/needed (there was still a glimmer of hope we'd somehow still maintain that) and instead take a short climb to the fire road on top of the ridge line before descending.  The climb wasn't bad, and pretty short, so I was sure it could keep me competitive - especially with the fire road and downhill to follow.  I also checked my top speed - max at about 15/16 spinning my brains out... not going to hold anyone off in the flats, that's for sure.

I took off as fast as I could at the start and got into the first section of singletrack probably about 8th or so.  Things are slow going as people are bunching.  We break out into the open by the whitewater and spin city commences.  I'm surprised no one flies by me here so I hold as close as I can to the guys in front of me as we pop into the new section bypassing Figure 8.  I hit the climb and instantly pass the two riders in front of me.  I put in as much as I can to gain some space as I'm thinking they will retake me on the ridge.  They don't.  I hit the downhill and blast any incline I see.  I can see riders in front so I keep on keepin on.

I pass another rider and I see in front of me a familiar rider, John Dooley.  He's a regular podium contender so that is a shot of energy right there.  I'm guessing that puts me in about 4th then so I try to reel him in.  I gain ground on climbs, but quickly loose ground on anything going anywhere but up.  The last rider I passed has stuck with me - and this is where I start cursing not having that initial climb out of Figure 8 to give me space.  He asks to pass at the beginning of Carpet, and I let him... but am then stuck on his ass as we start climbing.

He wipes out as we approach the sharp switchback at the bottom of the actual carpet climb and I am able to squeeze by on the off camber trail.  I clear the carpet, passing two riders of unknown category on the climb and keep moving.  I still think I can see John up there so I push.  Dread starts to set in as I know I've been pushing too hard this early just trying to maintain my place on the flats with Goat Hill up next.  I'm not so worried about Goat itself - it's the straight lined climb up the backside on the powerlines I'm not looking forward to.

They took us into Goat up the fire road instead of the more straight and rocky singletrack approach so I had to make a hard right turn up and over a steep root to get into the climb, my back wheel spins out and I dab.  I pull to the side for the rider that has been following me and hop back on to pursue him.  He dismounts at the next switchback, forcing me off my bike.  As we get back on our bikes and start climbing I yell to him that I'm going to need to pass when he can, we are approaching another switchback so I figured he'd wait until after.   He doesn't, he suddenly pulls to the side to stop.  I was close to him trying to maintain my momentum and my front wheel rubs his as he swerves off to the side - sapping my energy.  I somehow maintain my balance and regain some semblance of momentum and power over the roots on the switchback.  By this time two riders had caught up to us and one jumps the inside line forcing me to pause to let him go.  I had to hold a tree to stay up and I let his team mate follow behind him.  I jump on their wheel and again need to pass as they aren't pushing as hard as I need to - but I'm stuck.

I follow them down the backside of Goat and we exit to the powerline climb where my heart drops.  "Spin as far up as you can and stand and power the rest."  I don't make it nearly as far as I know I need to sitting and that cracks my willpower.  I stand and power but decide to save my legs as I still have Toilet Bowl coming.  I hope off and hike it, jumping back on for the last quarter of the climb so I can carry something (speed... dignity) back into the trails.  I've lost the riders who passed me on the switchback, and I'm uncertain how many spots I lost on the powerline climb (wasn't sure what classes those passing were in).

The "deceptive" climb getting into the fire road before Way Station was brutal, but I forced my way through and tucked and spun to Way Station.  Did what I could to keep speed up but I didn't feel like I was catching anyone.  I hit Toilet Bowl with all I had and caught and passed two riders there (I think one was the rider who had gone down before carpet and had been yo-yoing with me) pushing through the exiting climbs.

At this point we are pretty much done.  Some descending, sharp armored climb then a short singletrack climb out to the finish.  I'm behind a rider,  who I don't believe is in my class, going into the sharp armored climb so I back off to give him space so that he can hopefully clean it so I don't run into it as I power up.  We both cleaned it and I take him instantly as we hit the open fire road.  I'm not sure if he knows how close we are to the end or not, but I put it all down.  Into the singletrack I hit the drop carrying as much speed as I can and I don't stop.  I just keep pushing to the point that I don't even feel the climb out - the Glow Worm is just eating trail up!!  I have to hit the brakes exiting as the trail winds between some close trees and there it is... the finish.  I push the cranks until I could spin no longer and I coast through the finish.  I find a place to ditch the bike and try to do a quick headcount to guess where I finished.  I see about 5 guys I know were in my class and had finished ahead of me so I'm thinking 6th in best case scenario.

I was close with my guess.  Came in 7th.  Would I have finished differently on the HiFi?  Maybe.  Maybe better, maybe worse?  Bottom line, I'm happy that I raced the Glow Worm.  In the end I was still able to push myself and have some fun out there.

Next race is Uwharrie.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to race this one (we close on our new house on the 30th of this month - holy shhh!!) but I just got the go ahead from Annie so I'm in.  Although I'd love to do the climbing with the Glow Worm - I think the HiFi will give a better advantage when it comes to opening up on the downhill sections there.

Happy

So, I jump up off the ground, shove my water bottle back in the cage, and start running up the trail to get out of the way.  I hop back on the bike and now it's catch up time... way too early.  Of course I'm in my own head now, and anytime I feel any movement in the front wheel I automatically imagine going over the handlebars.  Ain't nobody got time for that while racing the Bouldergeist!

See more on Know Your Meme

Already we are catching riders from the waves ahead of us... maybe this will help me close the gap.  At times, I think I might be catching up, but a couple times I get caught behind riders just a little longer then I would have liked.  It's hard to tell exactly where you are on the course, and in relation to those you are chasing, because of the constant switchbacks.  I catch glimpses of the singlespeed field here and there - and they started 15 minutes before me.  I finally settled in, dropped the worry, and rode.  Since I couldn't accurately gauge the gap I decided to not overextend myself and instead try to keep my pace and see if I could catch someone falling off as I picked through the field ahead.  

The one bonus of the course bending back on itself so much is that it easier to keep at least someone in sight.  There always seemed to be someone ahead (or behind) to keep you motivated and moving.   I pushed myself to keep my speed up as well as I could.  Knowing that the garmins will surely inaccurately report my mileage I'm racing on time.  Looking at last year's results I knew that if I can finish around/under 1:10ish then I'll likely be in good standing.  

When we hit the gauntlet I felt a surge of energy.
(at about 40 seconds you get a view of a section of the gauntlet)

This is where I can capitalize on others mistakes.  I enter the "pre-gauntlet" (yes, there was a sign identifying it) and I see a rider ahead fumbling a bit.  I catch up to her and am looking ahead to see if there is a safe place to pass... there isn't.  I follow her as we enter.  She's keeping her pace and we are both staying on our wheels so I can't complain.  On the first switchback to the left she dismounts in the trail, forcing me off the bike.  I run up by her and hop back on the bike and attack the rocks.  I'm loving every second of it!!  I'm not annihilating the trail, but I'm clearing it.  I roll up to the last hard switchback and decide to jump off and run it.  I wasn't sure of the line and felt I didn't have the speed to just bust through.  I was a little disappointed on the decided dismount, but I was really happy with my riding through the majority of the gauntlet - a shout out to the Boneyard in really making me work on rock garden riding.

After the gauntlet was the first, and really only, respite.  A nice long, smooth, downhill run that gave me a chance to get a drink of water.  I hit a couple of hard strokes and coasted as I drank.  Quickly I rethought that strategy as this was an opportunity for speed.  So I jammed the bottle back down, shifted and hammered.  I used that pristine straight away for all she had and jumped back into the singletrack.

As I was catching more Cat 2 females I noticed a rider gaining on me.  He had been back there, but typically I had maintained a rider between us.  Finally there was no one between us.  I didn't recognize his jersey from the start line so I imagined he was the 40+ leader.  On a climbing switchback I yelled down to him to let me know if/when he wanted to pass.  He was content to follow.

I dabbed on a switchback allowing him to close in.  Clearing the next switchback I gave it to him, riding to the right I told him to take it.  He did, and thanked me.  I jumped on his wheel... briefly.  He took off, and suddenly I wondered why I hadn't called back to confirm he was the 40+ leader... what if he was in my class??  I was pretty sure he wasn't, but it was too late, he was pulling ahead and what I had left in me to try to grab back on didn't seem to be enough.  I pushed the thought out of my head and kept riding.

I was finally in no man's land.  I could no longer see him in front, and no one seemed to be behind.  Soon I enter one hell of a jump line.  It scared me at first because I wondered if I was off course... but no, below me I see the rider who got away and it looks like this the way to get to where he is.  Nothing I can do now, so I just ride.  I can't say I went balls to the wall on it - something about getting massive amounts of air during a race doesn't sit well with me... so I pump it to keep tires in the dirt as much as possible.

As I clear the jump line I can once again see riders on the switchbacks - but now I was more focused on those that were behind.  I didn't feel I would be able to catch anyone from my class at this point, but I wanted to make sure I didn't give up ground either.  I looked down at the garmins and it was around 56 minutes at this point.

Ok, best case scenario I have 10-15 minutes left... that is, if I've been riding well enough.  I think I have?  F it.  There isn't anything I can do now if I haven't, so I decided to ride it like I only have 10-15 minutes left.  That meant no letting off.  No leaving anything on the trail.  No coasting.  I see a female rider ahead, now I have the bait.  I use her as motivation and work my way up to her.  I'm behind her as we climb, and we just seem to keep on climbing.  We MUST be near the end by now.  She spins out on a short up and we dismount, she tells me to go ahead, and I do with a "thanks."  She jumps on my wheel and now it is up to me to set the pace.  We enter the dragon's tail and now I KNOW that we are close to the end as one of the racers at the start mentioned we finished out on the dragon's tail.  It is a fun little back and forth bermed downhill section.  Although I'm loving that gravity is once again my friend, I am dreading the climb back up to the finish.  I can finally see the start line through the woods and express my joy to a spectator - who can do nothing more than laugh.  

As I exit the woods Sean is there with my camera yelling "pro line."  If he hadn't been there I would have had a choice, but he was set up towards the "non-pro line" on the right so I was naturally going left - through the root drop.

Now I'm out in the grass looking at the last climb.  I don't see anyone ahead and do a quick gut check - just as I thought, nothing left in the tank to really bust it up the hill.  So I get my cadence up and work to just not loose speed on the hill.  I make it up to the top and cross the line, completely done.  Shortly there after the last rider I passed comes across and thanks me for pulling her through to the end.  I returned with thanking her for pushing me to finish hard!

One of the guys from my class comes up to me and congratulates me.  Huh?  "Looks like you snuck onto the podium!"  Really?  That isn't possible...  I'm happy at the thought, but it doesn't compute in my head.  My look must have given my doubt away and he says he is pretty sure, but maybe I should check.  I check the preliminary posting and I got 4th.  A little bit of a let down, only in the sense that 3rd had been dangled in front of me when I didn't think that would have been an option.  But I am happy with 4th, but more so I'm happy with my finishing time.  1:11 - right about where I wanted it to be.  I'm psyched I got 4th, but even more proud that I hit my goal.  

I finished that race just happy.  Happy to be riding, happy to be racing, happy to have been able to keep myself pedaling, happy to be riding with such great strangers - and happy that I got to race on such a great trail!!  

Looking forward to the next one!

4th and goal

Sunday was my first race of the season in the Southern Classic Series, Bouldergeist III.  This course, held at San-Lee Park, had it all.  Tight switchbacks, fast trails, a jump line, nice berms, and of course rocks.  Rocks strewn throughout the trail, big boulders to roll, and even a nice climbing rock garden.  Oh yeah, there were roots too.  And I loved every minute of it.

This was such a departure from the winter short track series (just pounding as hard as you can go over smooth trail) and really reminded me of why I love XC racing.  Sure I was sore and tired by the end of it, wondering where the trail would pop out so I could climb back up the start hill to the finish line.  But that's the glory of it, to ride your hardest on a trail that is challenging.

I must say, for having never ridden the trail before I was very proud of my performance on the technical sections.  Pre-riding probably would have helped my speed through some of the faster sections, but over all I was happy with my performance.

Before the race I did ride the intro section of the course up to "bouldergeist."  There was a tight steep switchback leading up to the big rock roller and I knew that would be a place that either I or other riders would get hung up.  Then into the fun.  The roller wasn't bad, it was making sure you were in line for the sharp left that quickly followed was the key to riding this section.  There seemed to be two lines.  The quick hard left utilizing a nice "rock berm" that was in the middle of the trail, or go wide around it. I rolled up right at it to look at the lines.  The outside was clearly chewed up with dragging wheels as riders grabbed fistfuls of breaks... didn't look like the line I wanted.  If you went too wide you'd be down in the creek.  There was a guy setting up the sponsor banners and I commented that it looked like the inside was the way to go.  He concurred.  He also gave me a little hint as to where to come off the roller to be set up perfectly for it.  It was a great hint indeed.

When race time came around I took full advantage of my "insider" knowledge and cleaned the section flawlessly.  Well, THAT section at least.  Remember, I hadn't actually ridden the rock berm and down across the creek crossing.

The approach

Headed right for "dismount"

Off and clear

Lining up to utilize the rock berm

getting it

cleared

what's that guy over there on the left of the trail doing?

Yup, as I was headed to ride the rocks built over the creek bed I made the mistake of looking at the guy standing with his bike off to the side of the trail.  What happened next?  Over the bars I went as I crossed the rocks.  Luckily I rolled free and into the trail, my bike was fine, but launched my water bottle.  I got up quickly, grabbing my bottle and stuffing it back in it's cage, and I was back and riding.  Only problem was that now the rider in front had put in a gap.  And, of course, confidence was a bit shaken for a while...

The race was long, but this post doesn't have to be... so I'll get the rest of the story and results to you tomorrow... unless, of course, you are a detective.  Then you likely already know the results.    

*Thanks go out to my teammate Sean for the pictures

I won't make any

No excuses.

Winding Trails was Sunday.  Conditions were perfect for the Cat 3 9 AM start.  A little rain in the overnight really firmed up the sandy bits making the new start pretty much perfect.  Not enough rain to create any mud on the course or to slick up the logs, roots, and bridges.  So yes, perfect.

I was in a field of 12 racers.  As we lined up I took a new approach this year and actually took a front position.  I mainly did this because I wanted a good inside position off the start up the sandy incline and was hoping I could get into some singletrack first.  As I looked around I recognized a coupe racers from one of the later races last year (Hodges Dam) and instantly knew there were some fast guys here today.

As we take off and were nearing the new start turn to the left I get squeezed and a couple guys jump in front.  The pace slows in front of me as one rider dabs on the one sketchy turn in the new start, but not enough to really disrupt anyone else so all is good.  As we cut out of the first TINY singletrack section I hammer it to gain back some spots before the singletrack.  I'm able to grab two positions.

Throughout the race I end up yo-yoing with two other riders... never really sure where that puts me in the pack.  The lead group seems to get away about 3/4 through the first lap never to be seen again.  I felt really strong on the hills, always taking a rider or making up serious ground.  I'm able to accelerate out of the singletrack, and for the most part, hold off any attacks.  But I feel sluggish in the tight, twisty singletrack, and anytime a racer gets in ahead of me they seem to pull away... and it's back to making up ground on the fire roads or climbs.

Coming into the second lap (final lap) I'm able to take one of my yo-yoing buddies putting me in 1st of our group of three.  As I'm getting up to the singletrack I hear some clicking behind me, something is wrong with the riders bike but it is unclear what.  I suggest it sounds like their derailleur is clipping their spokes and they should really check it out as that could end up being a costly repair if ignored.  He suggests everything seems to be shifting fine.  In between two singletrack sections he drops the hammer and sneaks by right before entering the next section.  I take the opportunity to examine his bike from behind and can see his derailleur is not in contact with anything... I shout to him that everything looks fine... maybe it's a spoke??  BAM!!  As I'm leaned over a little to see his derailleur I clip a tree full speed with my shoulder and forearm coming to a complete and instant stop.

I don't think about pain, I don't think about lost ground, I quickly look behind to see if anyone is there not wanting to block the trail.  No one.... so I hop back on and get to chasing.  On the singletrack climb I'm able to half the distance I've lost but I hear another rider coming from behind... our other musketeer!  Now I'm stuck between chasing and keeping in front...  This far in the race he knows me strengths and I hear him pushing to enter the singletrack in front of me.  I'm able to keep my speed up and get their first... this time.  About halfway through the lap he gains the lead into some singletrack and he takes off.  I'm pushing to keep up but can't seem to catch him...

All of a sudden I'm in no mans land and I've got nothing.  I keep thinking... ok there are a couple more places to gain time and catch up... but with each passing second those opportunities are thinning.  I need to push it in the singletrack.  I need to go faster.  I'm almost done, I can't finish with ANYTHING.  It all gets left on the course.  But without a wheel to chase I can't seem to keep things up.  I've got to crank through everything, STOP coasting!!!

I fly up the wooded climb before the road section heading toward the STEEP of the course.... hit the pavement and slam the gears down and hammer.... I don't see anyone...  climb the backside of the STEEP and I see some riders running the STEEP... none of which are the guys I'm trying to catch - so hopefully that means they haven't hit it yet and I can might be able to catch them.  Make it up 1/2-3/4 of the STEEP and jump off and run.  HAMMER down to the fire road and take off.  I can catch someone, I'll be able to reel them in on that last section of fire road before the climb to the finish....  as I hit the last patch of fire road I don't see anyone in front of me....

There will be no reeling.  Through the trees I can see the third (or now second) musketeer climbing into the finish - there is too much ground to cover for me to overtake him now.... but I put it all out there and push it through the finish.  At the finish I find the rider with the mystery click (the final musketeer - finish first in our group).  His rear tire is completely flat.  He picked up a metal wire entering the second lap.  It was bent, puncturing his tire and then clipping his frame with each rotation.  He was running tubeless, which probably let him make it through the lap with it in his tire, but it was never able to seal as the wire probably kept working the hole open and letting his sealant shoot out.  He was wearing a go pro and said he endo-ed over a log toward the end which should make for an interesting shot!  But  he also commented that his footage would be heavy with myself and the other musketeer...  I'll have to search around for it.

At the end I felt like I was middle of the pack.  And I guess in reality I was in the middle of the pack, pack.  But coming in third in my trio put me at 10th overall I found out when results were posted up.  Not where I was hoping to be in any way, shape, or form.  I really got lost whenever I found myself alone in the woods.  I wasn't able to stay on it as much as I would have liked.

But I had fun.  I was able to talk to some cool people - a couple guys from the pre-ride.  That kid who had the mechanical during the pre-ride raced.  Saw him as I was standing around at the finish.  He came up and shook my hand.  Said it was tougher than he thought to do the full 2 laps, but he did it and he had fun!  Before leaving his mother came up to say hi as well.  That was really great.

Caught a glimpse of Charlie and chatted with TJ before their race.  Took pictures of the Cat 2/lap 2 and Cat1/Pro lap 2 races as well.  So I'll have to get those pictures up for racers to grab if they like them.

I realized after my race I never set goals for myself this season... so I'll have to do that and get those in my head before the next race... Massasoit Lung Opener which is this Sunday.  I've just got to keep on riding.  Bottom line.  No excuses.

Random...  I've always appreciated the Niner slogan printed on the bike.

... and apparently you can get a sticker... from someone, somewhere...

But I always find my motivating statements to myself to be much more vulgar....  something along the lines of "Fuck You."  Which kinda sucks in the sense that I sometimes find myself saying it out loud - and I certainly wouldn't want another rider to think I was swearing at them... It's more along the lines of "fuck you go faster!!"....

Best.... line... ever!!

Might have to get a little motivational "Maybe Fuck Yourself" on the HiFi.

Bottom line.  Race on Sunday.  Let's go faster!!

Season 1

My first race season has come to a close...

Overall, I've learned a lot.  A lot about my fitness, my riding, and hopefully I have an idea of where I need to go from here.  I've also been fortunate to meet some really great people through this blog and through racing.  And I'm grateful for all the advice and support I've received, so a big thanks to all you out there!!

For my final race, the Landmine Classic, I had no Annie or parents rooting me on... Annie is in LA with her best friend... so I took full advantage of that fact when making sure things looked good on the HiFi on Saturday.

That's condo living!

Even in their absence, I was still able to pull a crowd!!  My buddy Matt (a coworker) came out, even though I repeatedly told him he certainly did not have to show up (I didn't want him to feel obligated to check out my race since I had just stopped by his rugby game).   I spotted him as we were lining up waiting for the Cat 1 and Cat 2 riders to go off.  He didn't stay the entire time, good call on his part, and I greatly appreciated him seeing me start.

It was great seeing some familiar faces, and as with every race, meeting some new riders.  As I pulled in to park the door of the truck next to me swings open and out comes a question "are you following me??"  Low and behold it was Charlie - I swear, I'm not a stalker!!  I also met up with my buddy Pat at the end of the race.  I missed him before everything got started as I wasn't sure if he was going to ride the 25mi race or not.  I was out warming up right until they were getting things started so I didn't have time to thoroughly check for him... didn't see him on the course, but apparently passed him at some point.

I'd have to say, overall things went great for such a big race (400+ riders).  Instant results on the big screen was pretty sweet.  I heard a couple riders missed turns out on the course, which is unfortunate.  I made a turn late - but that wasn't really due to markings, that was more so because of traffic.  I had just let a rider pass me back as another was coming up behind me calling for the pass.  I was focused on staying to the right to let the pass happen and just followed the rider in front of me and at the last second looked up to see a left turn as the rider back was coming up for the pass (on my left).  I called out the turn (which he didn't seem to be making, following the rider ahead of us, and we both took it a little off trail to make the turn without crashing.  I tried to yell back to the rider who had passed me, but I'm not sure if he heard before going too far off course.  For the most part things were marked well - although I would agree that some taping across trail splits would have been nice here and there.

So my race...  I'm happy to say I've ended my season on a positive note.  From my pre ride I estimated a finishing time of around 1 hour 20 minutes.  I felt that as long as I was able to pace myself and not take off too hot I should be able to hit this goal.  In the line up I ended up towards the back, which was unintentional.  It was hard to tell where the age group in front of us ended and where ours began... I thought I was sitting pretty good until the age in front left... I was toward the back of the pack.  At first I wasn't happy about that, but then I thought it might turn out to be good, keeping me back a little so I didn't start off too fast... I quickly learned that wasn't the case at all.  Well, id DID keep me from not going off too fast, but it was too slow.  I worked my way through the pack as we rode the straight flat start before we hit the first turn into some rooty singletrack.  This put me at a slightly faster pace than I really wanted, but I was feeling good.  I was still working my way up steadily through the field when all of a sudden a rider went down on a rooty turn.  He fell hard next to me and we got jammed up for a second.  I made sure he was ok before taking off after those that got out ahead.

After that point I caught a few more people, got passed by a couple, but pretty much held my place for the rest of the race.  I had no idea how far I had gotten up, but I felt pretty solid in my ability to hold off those behind me.  The course was beautiful - considering the rains we had earlier in the week.  Some roots were a tad slick, but overall the course was pretty dry and fast.

Wet roots... my nemesis at the start of the season were no longer the monsters they once were...  I mean, they aren't my friends, but I feel my bike handling skills have improved by leaps and bounds throughout the season and I was able to aptly take them on turns and off camber trails with little worry.

Overall it was a day of good riding.  I finished in 10th place (out of 30).  I was happy with that.  I was kinda hoping I had cracked the top 10, but I am still happy with those results.  10th out of 30 is good enough to earn me a little something extra.  What I am much more pleased with was that my finishing time was 5 minutes faster than my target time!  I ended up finishing the 12 mile race in 1 hour 15m minutes.

So cheers to a great season.  I think I'll take a week to enjoy the season, and then it's time to start getting my ass in gear and training for next season.  I've enjoyed racing greatly, but I have a long way to go and I'm ready to get serious about this mess!

16th Annual Hodges Village Dam

After the race... and a beer
(which allowed fro some of the mud to dry up as I sat under the hatch of the pterodactyl)

Rain on a race day... rain the night before, the morning of, during, and I'm sure after.  As I arrived and headed to register the rain let up... maybe we'll get out there relatively dry??  Annie didn't attend the race due to the forecast, and I could not blame her at all.  I called my father before heading out to tell him not to come either - no use having them be miserable in the rain.

As I was getting my gear together to head out for my warm up it begins pouring.  I pause and watch the minutes tick by... will it end??  Eventually I just jumped on my bike and started out on the course.  Puddles (and I use the term lightly) are huge, spanning the sandy road to start the race.  Following my pre ride of the course on Saturday I had commented that a bit a of rain would be nice to help firm up the long sandy road which got extremely soft before heading back into the woods... but by no means did I mean for this much rain to hit.  I'm not actually sure if the rain helped or hindered on that road... as now we weren't contending with soft sand, but rather standing water.

Ok, so the race.  At the start I ponder if wearing my glasses will do anything as vision was slightly skewed from droplets on the lens.  My field started off quick and I was content in riding the back off the start knowing there were miles to go and plenty of time to pass.  As soon as we complete the first climb into the rocky doubletrack mud rendered me blind.  Not because my glasses were covered, but because mud somehow got up under my glasses (thus rendering them useless) and into my eye.  With my right eye burning and blurry I could feel the pack pulling away - catching glimpses of them as I turned corners.  The pain was too much and with wet muddy conditions I couldn't keep taking risks, I stopped.  My camelbak isn't much help as the hose won't dispense water into my eye, so I ripped off my glove and fill my cupped hand with water and attempt to rinse out my eye.  I had some success and get back to racing, for now.  I'm still not far off as I come up to a short steep climb I see riders from my class.  I push forward, but with constant rain washing mud and sweat into my eye my vision continues to deteriorate... I start thinking of calling it.  DNF... This season I didn't want a DNF or a DFL in a race, and at this point it looked like I'm destined for one of the two.  

As I exited the forest for the stretch of sandy road the rain starts to let up a little... my eye gets some relief from the barrage of pain and I'm able to get through the second half of the course without too much hesitation due to the eye.  Before hitting the start of lap 2 the rain is back so I make a deal with myself... get to the water station, flush out the eye, and then decide if I can continue or if I have to call it.  

After flushing my eye I figure I can continue so I push forward.  As I hit the short climb into the forest I see a rider ahead of me... is that someone from my class??  Can I climb back into this??  As I come upon the rider I discover it is my friend Pat from the age group below me - he's be having issues with his contacts, so I pull him along for a while before losing him in some muddy descents and corners.  I do my best to push on all roads and strive to have a better 2nd lap.  

Throughout the second lap I am forced to make two stops to again flush my eye.  The trail was looking less like a trail and more like a river as the rains continued and puddles merged from their individual entities into a constant stream at some points.  Eventually I come upon a rider in my class pushing his bike, I pause to see if I can help, but he has a torn sidewall so I push forward.

I'm bummed that my eye held me back as I felt conditions, although WET and muddy, weren't really a factor holding me back from being able to race my race.  I am happy that the wet conditions didn't cause me to overly back off or fear the wet roots as I did at Weeping Willow.  I'm not sure where I would have ended up had I not had eye issues, but it would have been a bit more fun!!  So even though results don't indicate a success, I think this race was a great experience for me as I start looking forward to next season.

Hifi not looking so bad, but sounded TERRIBLE with sandy guck rendering my brakes useless on the second lap.
Check out the camelbak, with it's mud covered bottom and whatnot

Earlier I mentioned waiting for a package... well it arrived on Saturday before I left for the pre ride.  Extra tube and tire levers nice and secure under the saddle thanks to my sweet orange Awesome Strap... Now to get a co2 cartridge to pack in there so I can take the pump off the HiFi.  I like the idea of being able to store that stuff for quick easy access (not to mention less to stuff in jersey pockets/camelbak)

Grossness all up in the tire levers

Getting my feet wet

Weeping Willow - it's in the books.  Got my feet wet with my first Cat 3/Novice (depending on the race series I suppose) race.

I pre-rode the course on Saturday (everything was nicely marked) and to my surprise the trails were AMAZING.  I could not believe how dry they were with the constant rain/drizzle we've been having.  There were some serious water crossing in the course though... but that is pretty much a constant there.  So I rode the course and discovered a section I had never ridden before - providing a step uphill off a fire road, and then another dip (through a mud pit) and short up again.  I think the pre-ride was especially key so I could better prepare for this section, and really turn it back up after these two short climbs.  Got back to the car in good time and felt psyched.  I hadn't pushed it - kept things at a good pace (it was the day before the ride) and felt I came out with a good time... so that stood to mean that in the race I might do well!!


hmmm... then comes the start time.  Noon.  I don't like that.  Too much time to play with.  For my first race I enjoyed getting up, grabbing my stuff, eating breakfast and out the door.  Register, warm-up and go!!  But with a noon time I got up, got my stuff together, had time to wash the bike, lube it up, eat some breakfast, pack some drinks and food for after, and then head out the door.  Got up to Willowdale and registered as the big boys were heading out.  2 hours before I race...

What to do... made sure everything was good to go and I grabbed my camera and headed out to post up at the end of the lap to grab some photos of the front runners as they came by.  Took photos for a bit and then headed back up to the car to get changed and get my warm up on.  Started too early and I ended up finishing my warm up with too much time before the start for my liking... but then again, I didn't want to miss my start.

It's Monday damnit!

Living in Boston I totally forgot today was Monday (and thus necessitating an entry here).  How does living in Boston in an way = forgetting that today is Monday???  Because it's Patriot's day.  Because the Boston Marathon is today.  And that, my friends, means that no one works in Boston today.  So there you have it.  No one is going to work makes it feel like it's a second Sunday here in Southie.

To add to that feeling Annie's best friend from Morgantown came in yesterday as her sister is running the marathon.  So we all went out last night to Barlow's to eat and generally be merry.  Oh yeah, and yesterday I completed my first race!!  We are heading down to Charlotte Tuesday (via Morgantown WV - so arriving in Charlotte Wednesday) so entries probably will be non-existant until next week, and then there will be a flood of updates (perhaps).

To the main attraction - Winding Trails Fat Tire Classic.
I took two pieces of advice with me going into this race.
1st - (from CB2)just wear the camelbak, don't worry about trying to switch things up and just carry a bottle.
2nd - warm-up.  Saturday I talked to my buddy Sean (from WV) regarding pre-race warmup.  Not sure why it's important that he's from WV - but he is.  So yeah, he gave me the low down on the warmup routine... which I followed and felt good going into the race.

My parents and my wife came to watch, which was really nice.  I entered in the First Timers category and as we lined up I was surprisingly not nervous, which made me... (a little) nervous.  Chatted with a couple guys as we stood waiting.  This, I determined, was one of the best parts of racing.  The people.  Seriously, everyone was just laid back and friendly.  Conversations were easy, people were helpful.  Even out on the course people were looking out for each other, we were all racing but still friendly/courteous.  LOVED IT!

Media Fridays

We'll posts videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

Here is a video from the race in 2008.  Course is a bit different this year, but you get an idea for it.

And then some inspirational music... probably along the lines of what I might be playing in my head while racing.

What I like about it (for riding purposes) is that the music is driving forward, but the vocals are calming... hopefully a nice mix that will keep me going, but more importantly, keep me calm and within my zone.

PS.  Thursday - feeling better.

Today - staff vs. student floor hockey game... keep my mind off the race.

I'm excited to see what happens - looks like maybe rain Saturday evening, but hopefully none on Sunday.

Here we go!