M
MattB
Guest
Ooh, that first one of the season always involves some pain. And lung
nuggets. I was also a little concerned I'd still be tired from my 75
Mile road ride on Tuesday (preparation for next weekend's century). We
did laps a three Mile circuit. My class (Sport) did three and Expert did
four.
There was a good showing of pretty much all locals from both ends of the
valley as far as I could tell. Sport had to line up three deep at the
start. I considered riding my SS but when I heard about the flat
sections involved I decided to go with gears. I hung with the lead pack
for about half of the first lap and they eventually dropped me on the
final climb. For much of the second lap I was all alone, somewhere
between the lead group and everyone else. I often find myself here, not
quite fast enough to be a contender for the win, but ahead of much of
the field.
I tend to descend faster than people who climb at a similar speed so
there was some jockeying for position when the two track climb funneled
into a singletrack descent. On the first lap I got stuck in a tight
group that really slowed things down and made it dusty. Subsequent laps
spread things out a little more. One rider and I were pretty well
matched and yo-yo'd for the last two laps. He'd reel me in on the
biggest climb, and then I'd catch him on the DH, and pass him as we came
off the singletrack back at the start/finish area (which was a crowd
pleaser). That was fun.
On the final lap the same guy caught me and passed me a little earlier
than before. I knew I'd have to fight hard to keep up and tried, but he
slowly pulled away giving himself a couple hundred yards on me by the
top. I put it in the big ring as I rolled over the summit and started
gaining that back on the flat two track and singletrack DH. When I came
to a short steep climb between two DH sections, I saw him mis-shift and
then get chain suck. He got it worked out with me maybe 50 Yards behind
him. That gave me the chance to catch him on the fast DH (with big
waterbars - wee!) singletrack back to the bottom. So I was right on his
wheel as we turned from singletrack to dirt road and I took the inside
line, cranked hard and just beat him across the line.
It wasn't winning, but it was fun.
Then we went to a local pizza place for free Fat Tire beer, pizza, and a
raffle. I ended up being 8th out of maybe 20 riders, which isn't bad,
but I think I can do better. I got a water bottle, lube, a smoothie gift
certificate, and a gym gift certificate (what will I do with /that/?).
All in all a good night and everyone was really nice, encouraging, and
not too competitive. My friend Jeff won Expert which would be no easy
feat. Next week is the hill climb and I think I'm going to single speed
it. It's a hill I ride frequently on the SS and it should be interesting.
Matt
nuggets. I was also a little concerned I'd still be tired from my 75
Mile road ride on Tuesday (preparation for next weekend's century). We
did laps a three Mile circuit. My class (Sport) did three and Expert did
four.
There was a good showing of pretty much all locals from both ends of the
valley as far as I could tell. Sport had to line up three deep at the
start. I considered riding my SS but when I heard about the flat
sections involved I decided to go with gears. I hung with the lead pack
for about half of the first lap and they eventually dropped me on the
final climb. For much of the second lap I was all alone, somewhere
between the lead group and everyone else. I often find myself here, not
quite fast enough to be a contender for the win, but ahead of much of
the field.
I tend to descend faster than people who climb at a similar speed so
there was some jockeying for position when the two track climb funneled
into a singletrack descent. On the first lap I got stuck in a tight
group that really slowed things down and made it dusty. Subsequent laps
spread things out a little more. One rider and I were pretty well
matched and yo-yo'd for the last two laps. He'd reel me in on the
biggest climb, and then I'd catch him on the DH, and pass him as we came
off the singletrack back at the start/finish area (which was a crowd
pleaser). That was fun.
On the final lap the same guy caught me and passed me a little earlier
than before. I knew I'd have to fight hard to keep up and tried, but he
slowly pulled away giving himself a couple hundred yards on me by the
top. I put it in the big ring as I rolled over the summit and started
gaining that back on the flat two track and singletrack DH. When I came
to a short steep climb between two DH sections, I saw him mis-shift and
then get chain suck. He got it worked out with me maybe 50 Yards behind
him. That gave me the chance to catch him on the fast DH (with big
waterbars - wee!) singletrack back to the bottom. So I was right on his
wheel as we turned from singletrack to dirt road and I took the inside
line, cranked hard and just beat him across the line.
It wasn't winning, but it was fun.
Then we went to a local pizza place for free Fat Tire beer, pizza, and a
raffle. I ended up being 8th out of maybe 20 riders, which isn't bad,
but I think I can do better. I got a water bottle, lube, a smoothie gift
certificate, and a gym gift certificate (what will I do with /that/?).
All in all a good night and everyone was really nice, encouraging, and
not too competitive. My friend Jeff won Expert which would be no easy
feat. Next week is the hill climb and I think I'm going to single speed
it. It's a hill I ride frequently on the SS and it should be interesting.
Matt
