Day 1
Day 2 (look who came to the east coast)After a LOT of going back and forth, I finally decided to compete in the Sport category at MTB nationals at Mt Snow, Vermont. This is only my first year of racing mountain bikes, or even riding them for ten years, but after doing three races this year, I wanted to go to the big show. Heck, I've traveled to Kansas to race nationals, why not travel all the way to Vermont?
As we took the line we were notified that the race would be shortened to two laps, consisting of a total of 10 miles, not the advertised three laps or 15 miles. At high noon, the temps were in the low 90s so I wasn't disappointed to hear this change. At the gun I settled into third place and wanted to just hold the top couple of positions for the first lap, then see what I can do on the second lap. About two minutes into the race, I had moved up to second, then 30 seconds later took the lead. As the course wound its want around the lower mountain I was feeling pretty good. All it took was one turn to notice that the course went up the mountain. Up the ski mountain. I ground out at the front for a little bit before looking up the course and noticed that the earlier fields were going sooo slow. At this piont I decided to dismount and walk the bike up. My thinking was that this wouldn't be much slower then riding, but would allow me to conserve energy (boy, those guys were working a ton grinding away not going anywhere) and also give my back a rest before the next section. A couple of riders passed me, but everyone pretty much held their position. There were a couple of traversing sections, then we pointed the wheels downhill and let the bikes rip. Although the course had been rerouted since the last race held there a month ago, it was still very technical, more so for a novice rider.
The second lap was pretty uneventful. I had passed a number of racers, but had been passed by many too. The race organizers had written riders waves on the calf of each starter, so theoretically you could identify who you were racing against, but in the heat of a race, it's pretty tough to remember if four, five, three, or some other number of racers had passed me. I did take notice when a Salem, MA rider in my category passed me and I would have none of that. On the next climb I pushed myself and retook my place. While not a climber on the road, I've really come to embrace the climbs in mountain bike races. Near the top of the climbing, I could see a rider that I had been talking to before the race and knew that he was in my category. I tried to bring him back, but as soon as we entered the woods, I decided to go as hard as I could. If that wouldn't bring him back, then I couldn't worry about. Tossing concern of myself aside, I screamed down the hill, passing several riders, including one I literally rode over when he crashed on a slightly technical section. As unfortunate as this was for this rider, it was more fortunate for me that he crashed right next to two course marshalls, because hearing him yell "Oh my leg" anywhere else would have brought me to a stop to help. With volunteers on site, I decided to continue with my mad descending. At almost the bottom of the climb, I was snapped back to reality by the rider behind me yelling at me to get off the brakes and get going. Um, I'm flying here, can't you understand that? Oh, I'm not going that crazy fast? I'm sorry, it certainly feels like that. As I finished this conversation in my mind, we popped out of the woods and jammed to the finish line.
As soon as I was done, I immediately went to the picnic tables and took ten minutes to regain my senses. My first nationals done, in one piece with no scratches (perhaps I didn't go hard enough?) and pleased with myself. Being pleased gave way to elation when the results were posted and I finished 4th! In biking, that's a podium place, a medal and a great story to tell everyone at work!!!
Back to the road for a little bit, but certainly a new bike has found it's way into my life again.
As we took the line we were notified that the race would be shortened to two laps, consisting of a total of 10 miles, not the advertised three laps or 15 miles. At high noon, the temps were in the low 90s so I wasn't disappointed to hear this change. At the gun I settled into third place and wanted to just hold the top couple of positions for the first lap, then see what I can do on the second lap. About two minutes into the race, I had moved up to second, then 30 seconds later took the lead. As the course wound its want around the lower mountain I was feeling pretty good. All it took was one turn to notice that the course went up the mountain. Up the ski mountain. I ground out at the front for a little bit before looking up the course and noticed that the earlier fields were going sooo slow. At this piont I decided to dismount and walk the bike up. My thinking was that this wouldn't be much slower then riding, but would allow me to conserve energy (boy, those guys were working a ton grinding away not going anywhere) and also give my back a rest before the next section. A couple of riders passed me, but everyone pretty much held their position. There were a couple of traversing sections, then we pointed the wheels downhill and let the bikes rip. Although the course had been rerouted since the last race held there a month ago, it was still very technical, more so for a novice rider.
The second lap was pretty uneventful. I had passed a number of racers, but had been passed by many too. The race organizers had written riders waves on the calf of each starter, so theoretically you could identify who you were racing against, but in the heat of a race, it's pretty tough to remember if four, five, three, or some other number of racers had passed me. I did take notice when a Salem, MA rider in my category passed me and I would have none of that. On the next climb I pushed myself and retook my place. While not a climber on the road, I've really come to embrace the climbs in mountain bike races. Near the top of the climbing, I could see a rider that I had been talking to before the race and knew that he was in my category. I tried to bring him back, but as soon as we entered the woods, I decided to go as hard as I could. If that wouldn't bring him back, then I couldn't worry about. Tossing concern of myself aside, I screamed down the hill, passing several riders, including one I literally rode over when he crashed on a slightly technical section. As unfortunate as this was for this rider, it was more fortunate for me that he crashed right next to two course marshalls, because hearing him yell "Oh my leg" anywhere else would have brought me to a stop to help. With volunteers on site, I decided to continue with my mad descending. At almost the bottom of the climb, I was snapped back to reality by the rider behind me yelling at me to get off the brakes and get going. Um, I'm flying here, can't you understand that? Oh, I'm not going that crazy fast? I'm sorry, it certainly feels like that. As I finished this conversation in my mind, we popped out of the woods and jammed to the finish line.
As soon as I was done, I immediately went to the picnic tables and took ten minutes to regain my senses. My first nationals done, in one piece with no scratches (perhaps I didn't go hard enough?) and pleased with myself. Being pleased gave way to elation when the results were posted and I finished 4th! In biking, that's a podium place, a medal and a great story to tell everyone at work!!!
Back to the road for a little bit, but certainly a new bike has found it's way into my life again.
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