So last night was the second round of the TBF wed night races. Only three days since my solo 24hr race in Oregon I was feeling good but I hadn't tried to ride since the race so I assumed as the race got up to speed I'd be barely hanging on if at all. Tonight was a night of damage control and whatever became of it was ok with me because frankly I considered skipping the race and taking a nap instead.
I arrived early enough to get in two warmup laps on the same course as last week but now in reverse. So now all those tricky rock garden descents where nearly impossible climbs but the real issue was the sand in the corners. I'm not sure exactly why but in this counter clockwise direction the sand mid corner just didn't seem as well placed and made holding good corner speed a real challenge. After my two laps I memorized the two best lines in both rock garden climbs so I'd have more then one option when the guy in front of me screwed up the preferred line or a came upon lapped riders. I also memorized all the sandiest turns that required a late apex to capitalize on the cleaner line on the very inside of the corner exits. I was feeling ok so far but I was far from race pace so only time would tell. As I rolled back to the starting line I was thinking damn of all the times for them to setup a challenging(cornering skills wise) course where I had my biggest advantage I would have to be recovering from a 24hr race where I rode for 216 miles in just under 21 hrs.
I rolled up to the starting line and found a spot on the front row then to my surprise I heard Ron Shevock's voice behind me and back on his Single Speed Mtb after his CX bike endo of last week when he did a superman over some rocks. Ron is one of my most regular fellow SS competitors and fierce one at that with him beating me in almost every race we've face off in. When you lose to a multi geared rider you can shrug it off as you had the handicap of having only one gear but losing to another SS racer is a true loss no matter how you look at it so it was on tonight. After some mild banter from Ron about whether or not I'd be able to stay awake during the race it was time get started.
The start was fast down the same long strait as last week and I filed into second place and spun out my single gear as fast as I could to stay in the draft. But that wasn't fast enough as two other riders came flying past me, Ron was one of them as he choose a cog one tooth smaller then me giving him just that little extra top speed. I think I was third or forth as we hit the first single track section but as we came to the first rock garden Ron choose the same outside line I wanted and I got to close to his rear tire and I had to dab. That one mistake dropped me to fifth and off the pack by 30 yards. Fuck that was it I thought, there's no way I'll close that gap since I was already going 100% just to get to this point. I just put my head down and gave a good solid effort and focused on maximizing corner speed and minimizing any use of brakes. To my surprise the group of four were coming back to me and surprisingly quick. I could really see the difference in my corner speed vs the groups so that gave me confidence I could relax in this section and let skill carry me through. I started to eye up Antonio Miranda in front of me for a pass as he seemed to be struggling in the sandy corners more then the others and I didn't want to chance loosing touch with the group if he made a mistake. Sure enough it wasn't long before he setup for an early apex in one of the sandy turns I knew benefitted from a late apex. He got in hot and started surfing wide in the sand as I dove under him on the inside for the pass. I made sure to accelerate hard enough to clear his front wheel so I didn't screw him up any more then he already was but my extra speed and corrected line caused me to blow the next corner a bit and my left foot came unclipped. I quickly got clipped back in and apologized to Antonio for making that later mistake and quickly caught back up.
We were fast approaching the half way point of this first of four laps and next up was the rock that Ron endo'd on last week. Ron and I joked a bit as he easily cleared the obstacle which reminded me why I travel 2 hrs for this short race, these guys are just to much fun to hang out with even at race pace. Next up was the biggest rock garden climb and as expected everyone took the far left line but then Justin Paulson who was in second place messed up and popped out of his pedals and started running up the rocks. I dove for my alternate line to the right and avoided Ron who was also now trying to transition to running after nearly rear ending Justin and stalling out. I cleaned the climb but Justin chopped off my nose at the top so I was now in third with our still same rider out front unscathed by all the chaos that has been playing out right behind him. On the following DH I was really feeling held up in the corners so a dove for a pass and made it stick putting me in second place. We finish our exciting first lap and started a second in with no more exchanges of position.
Now on the second lap as we headed toward that same first rock garden where a dabbed and nearly lost touch with the group on the first lap, I again took the outside line as the leader choose the tighten inside line. I cleared it with ease this time but the leader stalled out so it was now me leading the group. My first thought was "Fuck I don't want to be in front" I was already going 95% and was still worried the lingering fatigue of the 24hr race would soon catch up to me. Normally I would have attacked and tried to break away at the front but I knew the pack of four riders would close on me with easy at the end of the lap when it flattened out if not sooner. I decided to just dial it back just a hair and save some energy for the last lap. Then the unexpected happened, the group couldn't close the small 40' gap I had gained and through the sandy corners and I was actually pulling away. I thought it was to good to be true and if I wasn't dodging trees left and right I would have pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. By the time I clearing the big rock climb the chase group was nowhere in sight(at least 50yards) so I made sure to really haul ass on the long DH and then I would see how much of a gap I had when the course flattened out. My lead was substantial and more importantly the four riders behind me seem to have been spread apart just a little so they didn't seem to be working together to catch back up. This was when I first thought "I may actually be able to hold these guys off".
Now on my third lap I picked up my effort to where it was on the first lap and tried to keep anyone from catching me. The rest of the lap was uneventful if you don't count the extreme breathing and near cardiac arrest over the rock climbs, or at least it was till the fast flat section at the end of the lap. While maintaining a good solid 20ish mph down the strait away in clipped something solid in the ground with my front wheel which spun my bars free of my relaxed grip and sent me into a full 360 spin/slide across the thankfully softish dirt and sand. After finally coming to a stop after what felt like a full minute of sliding, I jumped and and remounted the bike checking for damage after I was already rolling again. My right knee was completely covered in rash but hardly worth crying over and the bike was still solid so I took a peek behind me and still didn't see anyone so I kept pushing.
The Forth lap was more of the same but with more lapped traffic. I made sure to give a loud heads up from a good distance back and almost every simply pulled over and stopped or made plenty of room for me to sneak by. There was one guy in the last 1/2 mile that spotted me just before I caught him and must have thought I was in his class because he really picked it up and gave it his all to keep me from passing him. Even though it was clear no one was going to catch me I made sure to give it my all to the finish line because that's just how I like to finish my races, breathing heavy and seeing double. It was a good solid min or so before in Justin in second and Ron in third came across the line with the other soon to follow. It was then that Ron pointed out that we had a Single Speed podium sweep as Justin was also on a SS which for some reason I hadn't even noticed during the race.
This win was my First 1st place overall in any XC Mtb race I've ever done so I'm feeling pretty stoked right now. I now have two days off before the Next round of CCCX XC down in Fort Ord where I'll be going head to head against a whole other group of fast racers.
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