Raced in the 21st annual Rage in the Sage yesterday at
Hartman Rocks. It's the local NORBA stop and was once a big
event in the Mountain States Cup series that drew up to 1000
racers. These days it's a pretty small grass roots affair
with a hundred or so riders. Not being a part of any major
points series and lack of fresh ideas seems to have taken a
heavy toll on the event. This year there was an attempt to
breathe some new life into the event by adding a longer
"Marathon" XC race, doing mass starts, moving the date up a
couple of weeks to avoid conflicts with other regional
races, and running the course backwards from what it's
always been. The marathon caught my eye when I first heard
about it. It was going to add in a bunch of "way out"
singletrack that would make it pretty fun and interesting.
Unfortunately the event director didn't apply for a BLM
permit far enough in advance to get a new course approved so
the marathon wound up just being two laps of the 24 Mile,
3000 Ft course. I hate doing multiple laps of the same thing
so I decided I'd just do the single lap, but I'd ride the SS
to make it different this year. The marathon started first,
at 9:00. As soon as they crossed he start, Brian Smith
(local Pro/crazy guy who rides for Trek) just started
accelerating away from the pack. Pretty impressive to see
this guy just powering away from a mostly fast, elite racer
pack like they were standing still. Then the rest of us
lined up and waited for our start. Playing over the PA is
some of the cheesiest 80's overproduced "jazz fusion" (what
they called smooth jazz before the term existed). That's
just not right. We need something to energize us, not make
me feel like I'm in a spa. So I yelled "Play some metal!"
and gave the metal salute to the guy on the podium and
received a confused look in return. I looked around and they
were all riding geared bikes. Was I the only SS in this
race? All the hardcore SSers I know were doing the marathon
(OK, since I don't want to race these guys), but I figured
some others would show up for the single lap. Once we
started, we all charge up Kill Hill and I spot the telltale
labored standing cadence of another SS rider rising above
the seated geared riders between us. Good. At least we'll
have someone to race. He had started a little ahead of me
and was now maybe 150 Yards ahead. We peeled on to the first
singletrack with several riders between us and I see him
glance back and notice me. I think "This will be fun!" as I
try to reel him in a bit. I'm not a big racer, but I've
found the slow picking away at someone's lead always works
better for me than charging out at the start. I loose track
of the guy I'm trying to catch when some riders ahead of me
can't make a move and stall, forming a cluster that saps my
momentum forcing me to dismount as well. I pass several
riders here by just running by them as they walked and then
quickly mount up and keep on going. We drop down Josho's and
I spot my competition again. I keep on trying to accelerate
through every turn and milk every bit of momentum I can
find. We loose sight of each other in some trees and then I
see him again, walking. He sees me and jumps on his bike and
charges up the next hill. I feel like such a predator! After
spinning some road and keeping about an equal distance
between us we hit more singletrack. I pass a pair of riders
who were starting to loose their steam and have clear trail
ahead to try and make up some time. I hit a rhythm here,
timing some doubles well, airing the choppy, rocky parts and
railing the dirt. Then, I totally mis-timed one and came
down hard on my rear wheel on a very pointy rock. I
instantly thought about a pinch flat, but then congratulated
myself for the decision to run on the firm side when I
didn't hear any air escaping. But as I was having this
thought it was interrupted by the sound of air very quickly
leaving my tube. I'm cursing, but still pumped and ready to
make a quick change. Some people I know ride by in a with
the peleton and ask if I have everything. I say I do and
they all continue on. I get the wheel off, pop the bead and
pull the tube in no time. Then I grabbed the cartridge and
my fill valve and start to assemble it. I'm trying to pop
the cartridge but I keep on screwing in the valve and
there's no pop. I unscrew, blow in, shake, look at, and
eventually curse my fill valve and cartridge. The valve I
have and this particular cartridge are not compatible. [censored]!
I pictured my pump as I saw my son walking away with it that
morning. I though "Oh, well, I'll just travel light and use
a cartridge if I flat". So now there are not many riders
coming through and my friend are all long gone. After a few
attempts, I get a woman to lend me her pump. She figured I'd
see her later on the trail and I could just return it. I get
tire pumped up and head out again, 25 Minutes after getting
that flat. So back on the trail I ride as fast as I'm
capable. I'm at the very back of the field and have a long
way to go to be anywhere near where I was before. I'm
passing people where I can and pretty quickly see the woman
who lent me her pump. I returned it and thanked her for the
50th time and continued on. I rode on the edge, twice
thinking I was about to crash, but somehow pulling it out. I
wondered if the other SS guy might have also had a
mechanical maybe it would be a good race for us again. But
unfortunately for me I never saw him again until after the
race. I finished with a time of about 2:25, thanking the
gods I wasn't just halfway done at that point. When the
results were posted I see the other guy was right at 2:00.
So it would have been close if I hadn't flatted, but that's
how it goes. I saw the guy and introduced myself. He also
lives here and we laughed about spotting each other and how
he got nervous when he saw mw riding while he was walking.
Not long after I was done, the first rider, Brian Smith was
approaching the finish unchallenged. He had finished his
first lap with a six minute lead and then put about another
six on the next rider during the second. He finished in just
over 3 hours. Pretty incredible. He was talking and smiling
at the end too, and posed for a photo with one of the
developmentally disabled people he helps at his other job. A
while later the second and third riders came through. Second
was and another Brian and third was this year's Fruita FFTF
SS champion John Brown. So second and third overall were on
singlespeeds - amazing. In the end, for me the good news is
I was second. The bad news is I was last. I did get some
prizes (grips, lube, and a Surly t-shirt), so that's pretty
cool. It was fun, but also frustrating. I learned to make
sure my equipment is all tested before a race, and to watch
those landings. I have hope for a better race, in many ways
in the future. Hopefully this event can pull out of it's
slump, and I can have a good race with someone. I think I
could have beaten that guy. Maybe we'll meet again out there
at another local race and find out.
Matt