7 posts tagged “santa fe”
Big Loops in Santa Fe
Not much time to type these things up anymore, but here goes;
After a sleepless July 4th / Friday night, where here in the barrio celebrations include drinking from sun up to well after sun down, and of course, a series of local fireworks 'displays' - I still felt OK - at least enough so to try and tackle the most wicked ride I've ever tried: The Santa Fe chapter in the NMES (New Mexico Endurance Series) book of events, aka Mighty Matt's legacy of torture and the "crown jewel" of the seres.
I apologize for having to start, unofficially, prior to the more formal gangs' departure. No sign ins, no sign outs - just a guy, his bike, and a stopwatch. No GPS receiver, no maps, no HR monitor, PowerTap, or SRM crankset to track progress. How refreshing, and bold, and daring! I did coordinate some feed drops with 2 other friends, so that at strategic points (the ski basin, and the base of Pacheco Canyon Rd) we'd have fuel to top off the tanks and venture on.
I know all the trails, connectors, creek crossings, and pavement stretches like the back of my hand - as the course is most everything I ride from here in town anyhow - though I'd never attempt such a monstrous ride outside some sort of semi/organized adventure. Prepped the Yeti ASR, loaded up and charged the iPod, stuffed my jersey pockets, and hit the road in near-darkness. I was as ready as I could be - despite not having any rides over 3-4 hours in the last 6 months, I've had some good shorter / harder efforts with the crack crew on Tuesday / Thursday mornings (one of these hammers set what I believe will be a benchmark that stands for a long, long time - more on that sub-story later).
I spun over to 2nd Street Brewery, the official start/finish locale, punched the start button on my stopwatch and turned east, heading towards the first challenge of the day - Atalya Mountain. 1700 feet of climbing (so they tell me) up some of the steepest, most sustained, and nasty single-track in all of Santa Fe! Oof. Then down the backside via Dale Ball Trails south to Dale Ball Trails Central to Hyde Park Road. Chandler had indeed built an impressive cairn at the key intersection - which made it impossible to miss now. This first stretch was a real eye opener! I hit the pavement in some minutes over two hours. Ouch! Slow start - but lot's more to come. Notable was a minor crash on the last part of the descent, where a branch reached out and stabbed my right shin - causing me to over-react and biff off the opposite side of the trail. Doh! No real harm done. I just HATE the freaking Mike Wirtz style trail work / construction here in 'town', as it's usually too tight, too close, too off camber, prone to tree attacks (like this one) and generally executed half-assed. I must send him a copy of the IMBA Trail Solutions Handbook....
Anyhow - onward and upward!
About 3.5 miles up the pavement, the real fun begins. Climbing Chamisa is certain to blow any residual carbon out of the engine, as the first 3/10th's of a mile go straight up. It sort of eases up and becomes more fun, and is a textbook example of how to build trails in Santa Fe. Perfect, flowing, beautiful single-track that quickly gets one away from civilization. I was going even slower then I thought I would - as my stomach seemed atypically unsettled. Bleh. Not good. I did know there would be a chemical toilet later on, up the mountain - and hoped to make it to there. Of course, it then occurred to me that I should have packed some TP! I never really have 'that' problem - so I never thought about it. At the saddle - 1/2 way in Chamisa, the intersection for Serpant taunted me, as if to say "see you in 5-6 hours, and I'll kick yer ass when you're really thrashed"! I'm sure it will, but in the meantime - bombing down the backside of Chamisa is always fun, and I felt great at the bottom.
Climbing Winsor was nice, and I started picking up the pace just slightly. By the time I got to Big T campground, I felt that if I rode the next stretch of trail smart, I'd hit Aspen Vista and kick up the pace a bit more. I stopped at the toilets - but alas, no TP - so I figured I'd check in at the next set - at the base of the ski area, in a little while. The trail that climbs up and out of the campground is another nasty piece of work. Huffin' through it, I got to the road a little more spent than I'd have liked to have been - but so it goes.
Once on Aspen Vista, I tried upping the pace - but my stomach said NO. So I rode easy middle ring the whole way, and hit Tesuque Peak, at the pin - in about 4 hours and 30 minutes. Pretty lame! Ah well.... next time. Had a snack, drank some drink, then unlocked all the suspension systems for the rippin' 2000 foot descent through the ski area. Hit the bottom and felt good then! Adrenaline will do that.
Found drop point #1, loaded up with pack (a rarity for me) and hit the next section; Rio en Medio to Aspen Ranch to Boreggo to Rancho Viejo. I was more conservative than usual on the nasty parts of the descents - fearing for my well being - and my sidewalls! The recent rains have absolutely hammered a lot of the trails - which looked more like drainage ravines than single-track now. Amazing how things can change in a few short weeks. The little climb out of Rio en Medio was a mud bog of cow poop and greasy trail. Mmmmmmm..... Once above the irrigation ditch that peels off WAY up here, it got nice. REAL nice! Coming down into Aspen Ranch, and out/up Boreggo was great. Things started clicking, and the stomach settled down some. Blazing through the cool dark woods on these remote and primitive trails is pure joy. Hit the creek crossings and steep climbs they signaled with a big old smile on my face. Climbing the last, hard ridable climb of the day - after Nambe River - I even felt good. The last long, meandering descent into the Capulin Drainage was fantastic - and I really felt good, picking the right lines, hopping over some of the trees that were down, and generally railing the faster parts - sidewalls be damned!
Coming down through the meadow was joy - and as close to Wilderness us two-wheeled freaks are allowed. The trail was great, the temps were perfect, and it finally occurred to me that wow! How come no one has caught me yet?
I had to foot it across the next two creek crossings, and once I was about a 1/4 mile up trail 179 (seriously nasty hike-a-bike) I heard squealing Marta's in the distance. Ah well - hopefully it was my good buddy Chandler! He was due anytime now, and was naturally right on time. Once getting through the hike-a-bike portion, I cranked away up and over the first of two ridges that meant we were headed back to Rio en Medio - and on the flowy fun trails I heard a pop / wshhhhwshhhwshhhhhhhh from the rear..... that signaled tire destruction. I aired her up, rode on, but no-go. A small tear in the sidewall required a tube - but no boot, thankfully - and it was when I was about 1/2 way through the repair that a spry Chandler rounded a corner and said "hey"! Checking to make sure I was good to go, he was ready to move on - and I urged him so, as he was on fire - on the way to an 8ish hour time! Go man, go.
Got back to riding, and took it a tad bit easier.
By the time I rejoined Rio en Medio, I was feeling ready for the next, and last - leg. Rolled out through the 'town' of en Medio, over to Pacheco Canyon Road - and up about 1.5 miles to our refueling / drop zone #2. Saw Chandler as he was about to leave, dumped my pack, ate some Fritos, chugged a 16 oz. Starbucks Vanilla Frappucino and some water, restocked my bottles from the ice chest, and hit the climb after a 6 minute pit stop and one, big, burp.
I hit the climb at a good tempo, but holy smokes! It was HOT out. It was right around 1230PM and while there seemed to be clouds everywhere - there were none to cover these exposed dirt road portions. Ooof. I do fine in the dark. I do fine in the cold. Hell - I do fine in the dark cold! But this kind of heat sucks the life right out of me, right-quick. I drank a lot, and raced from shady spot to shady spot. After a few miles, the altitude and shade finally started cooling things off. On moderate climbing sections, I was pushing hard! It just started feeling good, finally. On steeper looser sections - it was easier to sit, spin, and focus - and push a biggish gear for being 8+ hours in. What a joy it was to see that brown Forest Service sign signaling the apex of this last long climb.
I absolutely tore-ass descending Winsor. Dodging cow poop and slowing for hikers - I hit the Chamisa climb in fair shape, and ground my way up to the saddle. That intersection sure looked different, and I have never dreaded a fun trail like Serpent like I did now. While there are no sustained climbs, there are some steep, rough punchy spots - and some treacherous descents. I made it through OK - but would note that this trail seems to have been annihilated by the recent rains, as it was now severely rutted compared to two weeks prior. Needs work asap.
The kicker was hitting Little Tesuque and knowing we had to climb up the pavement at Nuns Corner, on Hyde Park Road. Thankfully the clouds were gathering and offering some relief - and doing OK, I stood up and mashed the climb up and over the top. Feeling as good as I could - in that 'near end of the ride groove', I blew right by the Dale Ball turn off! Doh. I was almost to Gonzales Road when I relaized it, and mad as heck - stomped back up the hill to do this last bit. Blazing the bmx track like portion of Dale Ball Central was worth it - and I felt great down at Cerro Gordo.
Sort shell-shocked, I meandered via a very circuitous route through town back to Second Street. Ice cold coke, and a big old cheeseburger were calling! Rolling in just as it started spitting a little rain, I punched the 'stop' button 9 hours and 37 minutes later. Ooof. I had hoped to stay under 9 hours, but was stoked to have survived it anyhow. Even as Chandler 'faded' at the end, he was obviously on fire, as he clocked an official unofficial record of 8 hours and 15 minutes.
Sick.
Fast.
Someone needs to try and beat it. I suspect the first one that will top it, will in fact be Chandler himself - aiming for the sub 8 hour mark. I chowed down, had some cokes and a beer - but after an hour had to hit the road and get home. I was sorry to not have "seen" anyone - but new I must have kept a decent pace then anyhow. Got hailed on so that by the time I was home my bike and my sorry self were all rinsed off and refreshed. Had the chance to run some errands a short bit later and packed up Victor, my little dude, and we went to retrieve the stuff at the drop area. While I was on Pacheco Canyon Road this LAST time, in the car - I saw some fellow endurance nuts heading up the last climb, at around 4PM. Freakin' hard-core bad-ass! Ow. I offered up all the supplies we had left - and the ice cold cokes went FAST. Sounded like there had been some weather - but everyone was in good spirits. The mysterious water spigot back at en Medio / Chupadero Community Center proved easy to find (inside joke for some). It was a lot nicer with some cloud cover out on the climb- and I urged everyone on, including Tim and Mark - two serious bad-asses doing the whole she-bang on single speeds. Nuts.
I think I'll stick with shorter/harder workouts, as this endurance / all day in the saddle stuff is brutal - and takes me weeks to recover from with my low hours no-training training plan. For an apex to a sporadic season, there could not have been a better ride! If I 'do' another one, I'll start with the gang. For some pictures, see Rich's thread over at mtbr.com HERE. I could barely see straight, and thus did not take any shots at all.
glen
The pre-dawn pain express is in full effect again, and today was a break-through day in that I survived the whole dang ride - and encouraged a few extra miles by bombing into Tesuque and climbing out Bishops Lodge Rd. The guys were thrashed - which partially explains my survival, as does the fat I almost feel OK again. Still fat. Still slow. Still way under my good old target FTP - but I will take what I can get!
That's it.
Back again on Thursday though, of course. Hills!
Since my mud-mania ride a few eeks ago, I've retreated entirely to the roads. Got my Redline Conquest Team CX Bike set-up with the PowerTap and road tires. That way, I can see real-time, how much I suck! And then, I can download and study just how much I indeed, suck. The hammer crew of four - Chandler (the Captain), Dave (Silly Strong), Tim (aka Dr. Tim), and of course - me (Big G). The plan was to get in 4 hours of 'work'. When I say work, in the context of these guys - it means WORK! 1 minute FTP + 10% pulls for 4 hours. No shit. The reason this is hard for me now-a-days, is that all three of these guys can ride circles around me what with my lower fitness and higher weight, but dammit! I try. We need to carefully plot whos where in the rotation, as the worst thing that can happen is Dave pulls through after I've done my 1 minute. Why? Because sitting in with him on the front, I'm usually 30-50 watts OVER my intended wattage for when I'm pulling! Yow.
Chandler is just as strong - but a little nicer out there, so I try and get on his wheel as I can survive there sometimes...
I have been insisting that after the 2.5 hour mark - when I start coming unglued, that they should adjust the rotation to a 3-man one, and let me drop off. The last 2 weekends they've been too-kind and waited for me, or let me just sit on and suck wheel while they all fight the wind, cold, and fatigue.
This past Sunday, the route plan was a good one: Las Campanas, Prison Loop partial, La Bajada down to Cochiti, then east to the Galisteo Dam. THEN turnaround and climb right back up La Bajada and into town via the Prison Loop route and 599 and Las Campanas. Pain guaranteed! I did fine to the dam, came off on the 10-12 minute climb back up La Bajada, then was struggling on my pulls. For the 3rd time, I said "go, I'm cooked", but they kept adjusting for me. When we turned off the I-25 frontage road heading across Bonanza Creek Rd., I popped and rode solo for a while. Once again, the fellas were waiting at the turn onto Rte. 14, and insisted I should not try and pull, but sit in and hang on. This was very fortunate, as the cross/head wind was strong. And it seemed to be getting colder. Eh. As we approached the next turn - onto the 599 frontage rd., we made a quick pit stop, where I inhaled a Starbucks Vanilla Frappacino and a PayDay . Tim clucked at my 'feed', but I know my stomach, and have some good experience with endurance riding. As we rolled on our way, Tim and I quickly decided we'd skip the Las Campanas loop on this last leg, and head right for home. As Dave and Chandler turned off, it was like Tim and I were being paced by some little old ladies with walkers! I felt OK at easy tempo, but Tim was cramping like mad. Finally, I got to help him, and pulled an easy pace back up to Buckman Rd.
130k door-to-door, right at 4 hours. Just over 3K kj - so it was in fact a hell of a workout.
Note to self: Sushi is an excellent recovery food!
Hell of a ride to start the year...
With the intent of getting 3 hours of 'work' in, Chandler and I started out with a 12-14 person group and tried to explain our intentions. Mike C. showed up ready to endure too - on his shiny new CX bike - as I mentioned the plan that morning, and he was interested. We were on CX bikes as we planned a good bit of dirt! Plan was to head out of town via Old Santa Fe Trail and Old Las Vegas HWY, head south to Galisteo, the turn right headed west towards rte. 14, head south on 14 to Los Cerrillos and turn right, continuing west on a long stretch of dirt road. This would bring us up to the top of La Bajada for the march back toward Santa Fe - almost all up hill, and into a forecast headwind. Ideally, the route would take us through La Cienega and out onto a county road that leads to Airport Rd. / 599 By-Pass. Option to hit the Forest Service Rd. 24 out at Caja del Rio. either way, we'd be back in town on familiar territory by Las Campanas.
To survive we had to stick to a plan and a pace. It was FRIGID at the start, but joyfully lacking any wind. The whole group headed out, and was together until somewhere along Old Las Vegas HWY. Though Mike was clearly ready and willing to turn the screws, being the ever-friendly diplomat he stuck wit the bigger group as Chandler and I slowly opened up a gap despite riding quite conservatively. As we got into Galisteo and headed up that stretch of dirt road - about 5 miles of it - things started feeling good and warm (one would hope! Bibs, wind-front tights, AND knickers on top of it all!). The fast sections of washboard hurt though, and quickly started taking a toll on my palms and wrists. Chandler was clearly feeling better - and given that he can ride circles around me, must have really toned it down to not drop me. Once we cleared the dirt, we settled into a nice tempo down to Los Cerrillos.
Then the real work began!
The stretch of dirt road out of Cerrillos is called Waldo Canyon Road - and loosely parallels the BNSF right of way. The big climb was short - but brutally steep for a CX bike - and went up through the aptly named 'Devils Throne'. Once over the throne, we were way out in rolling, stunningly beautiful NM landscape. A bit later we crossed the area being re-graded to bring the Rail Runner up to Santa Fe - sort of a surreal, huge scale earth-moving effort in the middle of nowhere. After clawing our way up to the top / end of this stretch, the wind was a real presence, more so after we turned north headed back to town.
The frontage rd. portion here - perhaps 3-4 miles, was a good time to spin, eat, drink, and focus. As we turned towards La Cienega, dropping down into the lovely little 'valley' - it was clear we were running on lower fuel and energy levels. The wicked grunt up the dirt road 58A - which bypasses most of 'town' - took all I had to keep the cranks turning. At the top, I knew it was time to ride smart to survive the rest. This essentially meant letting Chandler do most of the work! Thankfully he was willing and able. I kept telling him to go ahead as needed, and not to wait - but he was gracious in slowing his pace to one I could match.
As we started up the last stretch - on the 599 / By-Pass frontage road, all I could do was sit on and stare at his rear hub, trying to focus all energy on not dropping off. We skipped the Caja portion - as we were both cooked. In the last stretch I was able to take a pull - sad as it was, until we hit Camino La Tierra - which marled the end for us. He went left, I went right - and we both suffered the last few miles to our respective houses!
Bath, food, done.
I had a little over 4 hours ride time / ±70 miles clocked - and was glad to be out of the wind at last. I had forgotten how much life a sustained, cold, headwind can suck out of ones body. Add the mental battle it takes to not get demoralized by it, plus the shear increase in effort it demands - and presto! The toll is taken.
Not a bad start to 2008 though! I'll take it.
Snuck a wicked ride in this fine, warm, overcast morning - from downtown Santa Fe out through Tesuque to Chupadero, up Pacheco Canyon Road all the way to the Ski Basin Road - where I stuffed my jacket with this weeks edition of the Santa Fe Reporter and bombed back into town.
The punchy hills on the way to the start of the dirt road climb served as perfect capillary-bed-blood-flow-inducers, just in time for the wicked crawl up the mix of mud, snow, and hard-pack - with some loose stuff here and there - on my overgeared new CX bike. Still riding the 53/39 chain-rings up front, and a 12-25 cassette, so man! I was turning like 45 RPM's at times. Who needs the gym and those squat sets anyways? THIS is real power training!
More importantly it was absolutely beautiful, solitary, and an all-around perfect way to start the day (or continue it, as it started just before 4AM...) at 530AM. I thought for sure I'd get snowed on by the time I reached the top, but t'was not to be, as it seemed I was chasing the cloud 'ceiling' higher and higher with every turn of the cranks.
Even at the top-out point, it was mild - as has been the case this fall, alas. Last year seemed to have started slow - then hammered us with snow, but this is terrible. Worst I saw this a.m. - up at 9.5k feet or so, was an inch or two of old granular / packed powder stuff that was easy to ride through & over. Lame - though obviously I took advantage of the 'conditions' to ride way higher than is typical for December.
Having
fully caught the 'Cross bug - I had to try it again this past weekend
in Albuquerque. The venue was sure to punish as it was almost entirely
on grass - and full of steep punchy climbs with sharp turns on/in them.
While I'm in the process of deciding on and building up a
cross-specific bike, I'm stuck with the big fat tires on my XC mountain
bike race-rig. It worked pretty well a few weekends ago out at Mesa del
Sol - on a fast, dirt/sand course with some moderate technical/loose
spots. I eeked out the win in a TIGHT sprint finish that lucky day -
with another mountain bike racer!
Holy Christ I was going to learn a lesson and pay the piper THIS day; this time the course was going to work me and my sluggish self...
Great turnout for our fast and furious B Race - including nationally ranked pro racer lady, Nina Baum - and a number of her Nob Hill Velo (a main sponsor of the series) hammers. I knew we'd be in trouble as these are not only smart and fast racers - but know how to work together and race smart. Throw in Smokin' Ray and the Cruces Crew - and look-out! Good times ahead.
In the oddly low key way I'm just getting used to - we were OFF!
I took off on the very outside, right behind one of Nina's young & strong teammates. He set a blistering pace, and I hung on for dear life. 2-3 laps later things were sorting out, and we had a few folks with/near us, and a long string of racers spread out on the twisty grassy course. I kept ignoring the red alerts going off from my engine room, and kept chasing this guy - who just wouldn't slow down! Of course I knew he was the rabbit I was chasing, while his two team mates, Nina and Alex - were building into a sustainable race pace while I was cracking. Bad. In a flash, Nina came around and gapped us! Amazing how fast races evolve... A moment later, her young 'cross phenom / team mate Alex did too. Then I realized I was going to be lucky to just survive this race. Wow. Every time the course hit the flat or climbing sections of grass (oh right - that describes 98% of the course!), it felt like my legs were pushing twice as hard with half the resultant speed I was used to on dirt - and 1/10th that of the road bike on that joyous, smooth, blacktop stuff (never thought I'd say that as a devout disciple of the Church of Dirt!).
Cruising around in damage control / survival mode, I watched as the best of the rest started closing in on me - a particularly mean aspect of these tight, twisty courses. Sitting out in no-mans land, I pushed and pushed as best possible, and coming through the start/finish area saw the official waving - I started thinking "cool - 1 or 2 laps to go, I can hang on". HA! He was telling us THREE to go. Each lap was in the 7-9 minute range, but felt like a hellish hour or two. At the next gradual, torturous grassy climb, one of the chief instigators in the B's - Chris aka C Cow - came around me and absolutely dropped the hammer. On a single speed CX bike. AND stood up and crushed the climb making me feel like I was stuck in reverse! Dang. That's how you pass!
Next up, with 1 or 2 laps to go, was my buddy Rich - newly minted cross addict - and his chaser. They'd been trading punches the whole race, and were grinding each other to a pulp. They came by, and once again I tried to hang on - but alas, my personal 'lights-out' bell lap was 15 minutes ago! Off they went and continued to push to the end, well ahead of me. Thankfully, on the quiet back-end of the course - there was a lone cheerleader; fellow FooMTB fool, Paige - who was unwavering in her ability to egg us on, and make me smile as I clawed my way up and over the run-up and the hurdles. On the front side, by the PA system and the finish line was Doug, aka Dug-da-goat, who was also relentless in his good natured cheering and coaching - and has showed Rich and I the best post-race breakfast burrito spot in Albuquerque.
At this point, it felt like I may not even make it around once more - though I'd rather crawl to the finish than give up just yet - and wait! One more straggler / chaser is reeling me in! Eh. I decide to do my best to hold him off, and we mark the finish at the last turn and then he was within a few bike lengths in no time, but just a bit late as we crossed the line in 8th and 9th places.
Holy crap that hurt. No joke. Granted, I'm at the end of a nasty cold that took me out the past week, and am way out of shape, and all those other excuses - but THIS day marked a clear need for a dedicated grass-conquering cross bike. Yow. The power I was pushing should have netted far more speed!
Next up? The end of the series and the state champs! A 1 - 2 punch the first weekend in December. MAYBE we'll even have some cooler weather and precipitation (gasp!) for one of these slug-fests. Whatever the weather - the NMCross folks sure know how to have fun, and I can't thank 'em all enough. If I can, and have the CX bike built - I'll even try the Saturday Night MONSTER CROSS in Tijeras under the lights.
NMCX Series #4 - Wildflower Park, Albuquerque, NM
I'm not a racer, I'm just racin'....
My buddy Rich motivated me with not only his excellent race report from NMCX Race #1 a few weeks ago, but from his enthusiasm for the discipline as well. This is part of the roots of mountain biking, right? The real hardcore dudes rode regular old steel road bikes off-road in decades past - through some of the worst sort of conditions imaginable. And drank beer. And loved it! And did it some more.
I had the further bonus of getting hold of a sweet loaner Specialized CX Bike from a good buddy and fellow hammer; a beautiful, hand-made in the USA S-Works from a few years ago, but with a new drive-train of high-end Campy stuff, race-ready Easton Wheels, Carbon WCS bars, and more. In a word: FAST!!!
Now, I haven't raced in a good long while, and certainly not ridden at the intensity THIS sort of effort would require in more than a year - but what the hey, eh? The course was a meandering, 'technical' sort of labyrinth laid out all over Wildflower Park, near the Balloon Fiesta venue north of Albuquerque 'proper'. It featured a big sand pit, more curves than last months copy of Hustler, a few hurdle-type 'cross obstacle contraptions, and a fast, relatively long and hard stretch up a concrete diversion channel. Key points were (a) dropping into said channel, and (b) exiting out the same - adjacent to the start/finish area, which was also the prime spectating area, of course. You crash - everyone sees it! Which was easy since we were directed to exit up the bank to a hard right turn - so no airing out no-footed can-cans... as that would launch you way off course!
Anyhow, I signed up for the 'B' Race - a mix of fast juniors, fast older guys, and a lot of other FAST and skinny types. Duration was aprx. 45 minutes, equalling 7-8 laps, TBD when the race was underway. They staged the start at the bottom / far-end of the aforementioned diversion channel with the idea it'd be a good field-spreader-outer.
It all looked ridiculous, silly, fast, and fun for sure. Weird thing happened this morning - I actually had race-day jitters for the first time in a LONG time! Cool. I had/have no expectations, but still was nervous and fretted over what to eat when, and how much. And remember to chew really well. And Hydrate. And so on... Nuts, huh?
Pile self, wife and little dude into car, pick up Rich, head south from Santa Fe. The park the race was held at was downright LUSH, and the weather was perfect. Clear, mild, light breeze. Get bikes ready, get self ready, register ($15!!! A real bargain) and start riding around. Right away we realize that the grass is dang hard and slow feeling. Rich was worried the mtbike tires he was rolling on were going to really be an issue - especially on the longer portions of the course on the grass or in that diversion channel stretch... BUT he had tried this mayhem once before - so I felt he'd be fine, 'seasoned pro' that he is.
After practicing a few sprint/dismount/run/remounts - I felt as ready as could be. How weird! A bike race you get off of your bike on purpose for. Go figure. We stage up, roll-call and rules are read, and I still don't really have a sense the race is about to start - then it does!!!
I was in the front 1/3rd of the field while standing around a second ago, but immediately am in a bunch, near the back to the left - and see Rich absolutely punch it and fly up the right outside 'line' to a great spot near the front. Damn! I quickly assess the situation, and determine that in fact the race has started. I immediately worry about Rich's warning(s) of traffic/choke points he has experienced at the first sign of anything technical/off-camber/loose/up
Rich in Blue Foo gear and a wicked game face:
I'll post another pic or two when I fix the glitch at my server...)
Stay pretty conservative the first lap, where I try and ride the sand trap(s) and fail. Run through the rest, try and pedal smooth and recover from this running and jumping nonsense. I realize immediately that the efforts after remounting need to be smooth and moderate, as it hurts! After a minute or two of tempo paced recovery spinning, legs start to feel OK again. As we start the 2nd lap, I ride the corners and other obstacles much more efficiently, and start ramping up the pace on the longer straighter stretches. Sitting in 5th - 6th wheel, I nail a smooth ride in and out of the 2 sand traps this time, zig and zag through a number of grassy chicanes, and then as we drop into the channel again, I get on #5 guys wheel - but he immediately eases up, as it's his teammate leading now, and is pulling ahead! Well, shoot. I remember what do with these situations... Feign a slight bit of distress, keep an eye ahead, come around and HAMMER it! I pass the fellas in positions #5, #4, and #3 here and floor it - opening a gap but not quite up to #1. As we zip up and out of the channel, he's close though, and I catch on in the park area's grassy loopy twisty sections, and take it easy trying to catch my breath. We're about 15-20 seconds up on #3, so we cruise a bit seeing how the rest of the field would respond. I say to him that if we had 1-2 more racers with us, we'd have a working group. I get a muttered response - which is what I wanted to hear! He's pushing hard, and I'm feeling good now.
Me in blue FOO kit - running...?
I go by and "pull" a little, but go pretty easy to give him a little recovery, as well as hope he figures I'm some old fart about to crack, but grabbing a 'moment of glory' out front. A moment later he comes back around. I study his lines. I try and do better. I'm getting the hairpin corners down now, and start setting up for the sand traps. Get through those, twist, turn, swoop about and head for the diversion channel. So far maybe 15 minutes has elapsed, but it's gone like a flash and the pumps are primed, ready, and good to GO. With no plan, I decide I'd like to pass him once we're in he channel, and on the way down the embankment, clip one of those little wire survey flags, and PRESTO! Drive-train destruction.
I figure "OK! No biggie! Clear it out of rear derailleur, get chain back on..." which would work if the 'G' pulley hadn't been sheared off and was jamming the rear wheel up against the chainstay!
Doh.
I was surprised how spread out the field was - as they ALL eventually went by in the next few minutes... Rich still holding a great position at the front end of the group. As for me - I hiked it out along the top of the embankment, staying out of the way. I had no idea you could have a whole spare bike in the 'tech pit'!!! Not just wheels and tubes and tools, but a whole dang bike! Neat-o. I did not have a 'spare' anyhow, but was offered one a few times! That is the sort of vibe that was apparent at this crazy race. If that's not racing camaraderie - what is? Even better was to see all the juniors out - and those dudes were rockin' it too, especially with the support of a local club and the free entry incentive the promoter offers.
Turns out my skinny little leader pal won the race, but the guy who had been 3rd wheel until my implosion caught up and held on for 2nd place - in a very funny, almost slow-motion grassy uphill sprint. That winner dude looked like he had too much gas left in the tank, and likely would have cracked me with his smart and consistent racing. Next time, buddy! See you this Sunday - unless you upgrade to the A's...
Shoot - does that sound as though I (still) like to race?
