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05-16-06, 11:44 AM
The weekend started out just like the last two weekends. Saturday morning I loaded up my truck and got on the road. The race location was 195 miles away. The drive took me a little less than 3 1/2 hours. I made it to the park around 12:30 and loafed around for a little while before I was to meet kmoses to do a pre-ride. He showed up a little before 1:00 and we did some last minute tinkering with the bikes then it was off to the trail.
We started our pre-ride and about ten minutes into it ran into the guy that was putting the race on. He was very helpful and explained the course to us. Unfortunately it didn't seem to register to either one of us though since we only pre-ride about 1/3 of the course the right way. We had a good ride and had no idea that we rode the wrong trails. Ignorance is bliss I guess. :)
After the ride I headed over to Steubenville, OH and stayed at the Super 8 motel. I checked in and headed to the room. That room had to be the worst smelling room I have ever been in. I think something actually died in there. If that wasn't bad enough the air conditioner sounded like a diesel engine. I ordered some pizza and just relaxed and surfed the internet for a couple of hours until a couple more racers joined me for the night.
We went to bed around 11:00, I fell asleep shortly after but never did get any quality sleep. Between the air conditioner and my cell phone causing the radio to make some loud static noise every hour or so I didn't have a chance. I don't sleep well anyway so I wasn't real suprised. I think I finally woke up around 5:30 and then just layed around getting a few minutes sleep here and there until we received our wake up call at 8:00 am.
We got ready, took the bikes back out to the car and headed to the race. We got there around 9:30 or so, registered and then just piddled around for a while. The race started at 11:00 so we had plenty of time. I did a short warm up and found out that the last mile or so of the course was all new to me, we didn't pre-ride it. Oh well, no time to worry about it now time for the race meeting. We headed to the meeting and they explained the format. Beginners would do 60 minutes, sport 75 minutes, expert 100 minutes. The course was a 4.7 mile loop and as long as you made it through the stop / finish before your time was up you continued on another lap.
After the meeting it was about time to line up. A bunch of us headed over to the start line and I was able to get a spot on the front row. We all sat around and bs'd for a while, some people made sure to mention how they haven't been on the bike at all since the last race, etc, etc. Finally after about ten minute wait the experts took off. A minute later the sport class took off.
The start was about 300 yards of pavement, basically an all out sprint to the single track. I made it into the singletrack in third place, I made one of my goals. After the start it was a dirt climb, not really single track but not a fire road either. This went on about half a mile. Once we got to the top of it the winner of last weeks race passed me. I stayed with him for a couple of minutes but I ended up losing his wheel and he was gone. At this point I believe I was in second or third, most likely third. The course went into singletrack and more climbing with a few fast downhills thrown in. It also had a couple of road sections that were about 1/4 mile each which was just enough let you relax a little bit but only mentally, not physically since there were a lot of passes made on the road sections.
This couse was full of short climbs and a couple of long climbs as well as a couple of hike-a-bikes. The mud made everything pretty interesting on the climbs and the descents. Tire choice was once again a factor.
I'm the second rider in this picture
Anyway, I made it through the first lap still in third place and feeling strong. I did the first lap in just a little over 25 minutes. I went back into the woods and was feeling pretty good. I was still able to attack some of the climbs and only walked about three of them. I was content with that.
I made it about half way through the second lap when I started hearing a snake hissing sound coming from the front of my bike. I knew right away that was a bad sound. I continued riding for about 1/4 mile when I finally gave up on the Stan's sealing my tire for me. I got to the top of a short climb and took a look. There was a small tree stuck in my front tire, okay maybe just a limb about 3/8" thick but still that is not good. I pulled it out and it immediately went flat. The hole was just too big for Stan's to fix for me.
I pulled off to the side of the trail and took my wheel off the bike. I'm not too good at this whole tire fixin thing since this is my first flat in a race in four years. I had a pretty good streak going there. Well I started trying to take the nut off of the tire valve but I had no luck. I had sealant build up on the threads. I finally gave up on that and ripped the valve out of the wheel. That cost me about $20 bucks. Now it was time to take the tire off, looks like I forgot to pack up a tire lever, oops! Luckily I remembered that quick release skewers make great tire levers in a pinch. The bad part is that I only had one since my rear wheel is a bolt on. At this point I have been here about five minutes and a few sport racers start passing me. Looks like I lost third place, and forth, and fifth, and sixth..... Luckily I was able to make due with just the one tire lever and I was finally able to insert a tube. Now it was time to air it up. I put my CO2 on the valve and nothing, I tried again, still nothing. At this point I was ready to throw my bike in the lake I was standing beside. I took the inflator off and realized that I was an idiot, I forgot to unscrew the presta valve. Well I finally get the tire aired up (to around 25 psi), reinstall it and take off. It ended up taking me 6:55 to fix that tire, pathetic!
I am now at the back of the train and working my butt off to pass as many people as possible. This is a points series and I need every point I can get. I have no idea what place I am in but as long as I finish in the top 10 or so it won't be a complete loss. I am actually riding as strong now or stronger than I was before the flat. Looks like the adrenaline is helping me out some.
I am able to complete the second lap well under the 75 minute cutoff. I believe I was right around an hour give or take five minutes. I continue on and have a pretty good third lap. I am getting pretty tired and my legs are hurting but I continued on. I made it through the third lap in right around 1:30. Not too bad all considering. I had no idea how I placed but I was hoping for a top ten. It wasn't until about 1 1/2 hours later that I found out I had finished fifth! Not the finish I was hoping for but all considering I am very happy with it.
Pictures courtesy of www.iplayoutside.com
We started our pre-ride and about ten minutes into it ran into the guy that was putting the race on. He was very helpful and explained the course to us. Unfortunately it didn't seem to register to either one of us though since we only pre-ride about 1/3 of the course the right way. We had a good ride and had no idea that we rode the wrong trails. Ignorance is bliss I guess. :)
After the ride I headed over to Steubenville, OH and stayed at the Super 8 motel. I checked in and headed to the room. That room had to be the worst smelling room I have ever been in. I think something actually died in there. If that wasn't bad enough the air conditioner sounded like a diesel engine. I ordered some pizza and just relaxed and surfed the internet for a couple of hours until a couple more racers joined me for the night.
We went to bed around 11:00, I fell asleep shortly after but never did get any quality sleep. Between the air conditioner and my cell phone causing the radio to make some loud static noise every hour or so I didn't have a chance. I don't sleep well anyway so I wasn't real suprised. I think I finally woke up around 5:30 and then just layed around getting a few minutes sleep here and there until we received our wake up call at 8:00 am.
We got ready, took the bikes back out to the car and headed to the race. We got there around 9:30 or so, registered and then just piddled around for a while. The race started at 11:00 so we had plenty of time. I did a short warm up and found out that the last mile or so of the course was all new to me, we didn't pre-ride it. Oh well, no time to worry about it now time for the race meeting. We headed to the meeting and they explained the format. Beginners would do 60 minutes, sport 75 minutes, expert 100 minutes. The course was a 4.7 mile loop and as long as you made it through the stop / finish before your time was up you continued on another lap.
After the meeting it was about time to line up. A bunch of us headed over to the start line and I was able to get a spot on the front row. We all sat around and bs'd for a while, some people made sure to mention how they haven't been on the bike at all since the last race, etc, etc. Finally after about ten minute wait the experts took off. A minute later the sport class took off.
The start was about 300 yards of pavement, basically an all out sprint to the single track. I made it into the singletrack in third place, I made one of my goals. After the start it was a dirt climb, not really single track but not a fire road either. This went on about half a mile. Once we got to the top of it the winner of last weeks race passed me. I stayed with him for a couple of minutes but I ended up losing his wheel and he was gone. At this point I believe I was in second or third, most likely third. The course went into singletrack and more climbing with a few fast downhills thrown in. It also had a couple of road sections that were about 1/4 mile each which was just enough let you relax a little bit but only mentally, not physically since there were a lot of passes made on the road sections.
This couse was full of short climbs and a couple of long climbs as well as a couple of hike-a-bikes. The mud made everything pretty interesting on the climbs and the descents. Tire choice was once again a factor.
I'm the second rider in this picture
Anyway, I made it through the first lap still in third place and feeling strong. I did the first lap in just a little over 25 minutes. I went back into the woods and was feeling pretty good. I was still able to attack some of the climbs and only walked about three of them. I was content with that.
I made it about half way through the second lap when I started hearing a snake hissing sound coming from the front of my bike. I knew right away that was a bad sound. I continued riding for about 1/4 mile when I finally gave up on the Stan's sealing my tire for me. I got to the top of a short climb and took a look. There was a small tree stuck in my front tire, okay maybe just a limb about 3/8" thick but still that is not good. I pulled it out and it immediately went flat. The hole was just too big for Stan's to fix for me.
I pulled off to the side of the trail and took my wheel off the bike. I'm not too good at this whole tire fixin thing since this is my first flat in a race in four years. I had a pretty good streak going there. Well I started trying to take the nut off of the tire valve but I had no luck. I had sealant build up on the threads. I finally gave up on that and ripped the valve out of the wheel. That cost me about $20 bucks. Now it was time to take the tire off, looks like I forgot to pack up a tire lever, oops! Luckily I remembered that quick release skewers make great tire levers in a pinch. The bad part is that I only had one since my rear wheel is a bolt on. At this point I have been here about five minutes and a few sport racers start passing me. Looks like I lost third place, and forth, and fifth, and sixth..... Luckily I was able to make due with just the one tire lever and I was finally able to insert a tube. Now it was time to air it up. I put my CO2 on the valve and nothing, I tried again, still nothing. At this point I was ready to throw my bike in the lake I was standing beside. I took the inflator off and realized that I was an idiot, I forgot to unscrew the presta valve. Well I finally get the tire aired up (to around 25 psi), reinstall it and take off. It ended up taking me 6:55 to fix that tire, pathetic!
I am now at the back of the train and working my butt off to pass as many people as possible. This is a points series and I need every point I can get. I have no idea what place I am in but as long as I finish in the top 10 or so it won't be a complete loss. I am actually riding as strong now or stronger than I was before the flat. Looks like the adrenaline is helping me out some.
I am able to complete the second lap well under the 75 minute cutoff. I believe I was right around an hour give or take five minutes. I continue on and have a pretty good third lap. I am getting pretty tired and my legs are hurting but I continued on. I made it through the third lap in right around 1:30. Not too bad all considering. I had no idea how I placed but I was hoping for a top ten. It wasn't until about 1 1/2 hours later that I found out I had finished fifth! Not the finish I was hoping for but all considering I am very happy with it.
Pictures courtesy of www.iplayoutside.com