Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.KrisA
05-29-06, 09:57 AM
It’s been a rainy week in Saskatchewan, thus I was prepared for a mud fest, I would not be disappointed. Prior to heading up I knew I would want to be prepared for mud, I made sure to bring my 1.85 Hutchinson Mosquitos. I was thinking of switching out my American Classic wheels as I didn’t want to kill the braking surfaces (v brakes in the mud, ugggg), but decided I bought them to race not to keep then looking purdy. Besides, if you don’t trash your old stuff how can you justify getting new stuff? :)
The Silverwood race is on the northern edge of Saskatoon, in the river valley. The course is a mix of flat, fast trails some very tight rather technical singletrack and some steep, but not very long climbs. The regular laps are short, around 6km. However, due to the tight technical nature of the second ½ of the course they are not fast laps. Last year I did 5 laps in 2:15 minutes, finishing at the back of the Senior Expert category. This year they cut a lap from the Expert and Elite categories, as last years winning times were around 15 minutes higher than the guideline times set by UCI. Apparently the course was dry on Saturday, but got dumped on Sunday morning. It would be wet for the race.
We were doing a race day travel routine, I went with a couple of friends DB, who is in my category, and JT racing Master Expert. We loaded up at 6:15 am and made the 2.5 hour trip north east to Saskatoon. It rained the entire travel time. It was raining when we got there. It was raining as we were getting ready to race. It was raining as I struggle to put on my mud tires. It was raining as I tried in vain to get warmed up. The only way to get a bit of a warm up was by running, so running I went. Did I mention everyone was freezing in the rain with a howling wind and temps in the single digits celsius? We got word that we were starting an hour earlier than usual, great who wants to stand around in the rain? Off to the start line.
At the start line we got word from the race officials that the course was slightly shortened. Some steep single track was taken out as it would be impossible to ride and they didn’t want people getting hurt. As a coordinator of two events I can appreciate that fact. This would be a short cup race, with the miserable weather nobody was complaining.
Elite and Expert categories are called up, guess it’s go time. My shoes are covered in thick mud, might make getting into my SPDs tough. Go! We’re off, I’m clipped in wonderful. The two Elite male riders lead the way followed by JE, a fellow Senior Expert rider who beats me at every race we we’ve done together and DB who I have never beat at a cup race. We’re on the flat singletrack on the top of the valley going at a high pace. My back tire loses grip around a very mild bend I go sideways, recover, loose a position to MD who was won every Senior Expert race for the past 2 years. I slot in behind DB. We tip toe over the mud, tires floating, zero traction. Me negotiate a downhill without crashing, apparently there was carnage behind. Uphill we go, zero traction, everyone is running. I do well at the running as I used to be an avid runner and still go out running every week or two. Another flat trail, big ring time we’re flying, zero traction mud flying everywhere, thank god for glasses! Hard left, into some flat singletrack. DB has no traction and is sideways around every corner, he goes wide and I pass. We’re climbing now, it’s tough to not spin out on the slick mud. I have to get off and run. The climb levels out a bit and I’m back on my bike. I let the lead two Junior Expert riders by. JE is a ways ahead, I try to real him in. Another open downhill, very little traction, I make it down without crashing. More twisty single track. My winter biking is paying off, I can drift my bike through the mud without having to dab as other riders are struggling. I come up on the second largest climb of the course; it’s gravely so traction is not an issue. I make it up in my middle ring no problem. Into the technical single track we go. Downhills are not possible for me to ride, running we go. Uphills are impossible, more running. I come out of the singletrack with DB on my wheel. Now for the big climb of the course. I can’t remember how steep it is, we didn’t preride because of the nasty weather, thus I try to drop down to my granny. No go, huge chainsuck. I’m stopped and off to get back into the middle ring. DB goes by. I climb the at times very steep climb in my middle ring with a couple of painful moments. End of lap one.
Lap two is much like lap one, still very very slick. I stay on DBs wheel for the first ½ of the lap. I see JE up ahead! We’re gaining on him! I push DB to keep the pace up. DB is slow and cautious on the downhills, but I don’t go around. On the climb I down a gel for some fuel. Entering into the second, technical half I say to DB that we can catch JE. Before long we do. His bike, and Intense Spider is jammed up with mud, lots of drag on the back wheel. Sucks to be him, hardtails rule the mud (DB is on a FS with much more clearance than the Spider). DB is second I’m third going into lap three.
At the start of lap three the rain has ended and the course begins to get stickier, but still very slick in sections. Following DB downhill I decide to make my move as soon as possible as I know I have more grip and am faster on the technical stuff. Into the singletrack we go, me still on his wheel. DB slides wide around a corner, I’m tight on the inside and get through. Time to hammer. I head into the climb and jump off my bike to run the steep section. Back on for the milder part, I’m hammering hard, time for another gel. I work hard to pull away though out the lap. At the end of the lap I’ve dropped DB. I look down the hill and see JT. While he isn’t in my category, he is my racing buddy and doing the same number of laps. I don’t want him to catch me.
Lap four is uneventful. The mud is getting very sticky and my rim brakes are making some nasty noises. My tires are performing flawlessly, lots of grip, not much mud packing, and they shed the thick mud fast on any downhills. My drivetrain is also working well, I’ve given up on the granny and don’t need it, I should just take it off I think. On the back my 8 speed setup is impervious to the mud! I push hard to stay in front of JT. My two year old son’s voice is in my head, “Bike raaacccing! Fassster Fassster daddy.” OK buddy, this ones for you. I head up the last long climb, make a braindead mistake and ride into runoff ditch. Stupid. Get back on and keep going. I cruise over the line in 1:23, a short race. JT finishes a minute back. Here comes DB, he’s been caught by another rider in our category. Sprint finish coming up. DB moves left to put the squeeze on, the other rider goes low and put the shoulder out, lots of bumping. At the line it’s DB by ½ a wheel!
I feel great, I think I was second. Sure enough when the results come in I’m second in our category, my best finish ever! First time every beating DB! I’m pumped, THIS is what it’s all about I’ve accomplished one of my goals for the year. I’m now sitting in second in the points after two races, barely ahead of DB and JE. It will be very hard to keep this position; I’ll have to train hard.
Now for the damage: American Classic MTB 350 wheels are hurting, some very big gouges on the braking surfaces complete with the big burrs where the alm was deposited. Bearings in the wheels sound rough. Cables, needless to say they’re in desperate need of attention. Crank arms are scratched to hell, from both muddy shoes rubbing and some rock contact. Chain, after the mud bath and the rain on the way home it (HG-73) is a rusty mess. Into the garbage it goes, it was time for change anyways. Bottle cage cracked in half, not sure when that happened. It was worth every penny!
Next race is in two weeks in Prince Albert. Race course is in pine forest, so it’s rooty and rough. I was third there last year, hoping to improve this year.
The Silverwood race is on the northern edge of Saskatoon, in the river valley. The course is a mix of flat, fast trails some very tight rather technical singletrack and some steep, but not very long climbs. The regular laps are short, around 6km. However, due to the tight technical nature of the second ½ of the course they are not fast laps. Last year I did 5 laps in 2:15 minutes, finishing at the back of the Senior Expert category. This year they cut a lap from the Expert and Elite categories, as last years winning times were around 15 minutes higher than the guideline times set by UCI. Apparently the course was dry on Saturday, but got dumped on Sunday morning. It would be wet for the race.
We were doing a race day travel routine, I went with a couple of friends DB, who is in my category, and JT racing Master Expert. We loaded up at 6:15 am and made the 2.5 hour trip north east to Saskatoon. It rained the entire travel time. It was raining when we got there. It was raining as we were getting ready to race. It was raining as I struggle to put on my mud tires. It was raining as I tried in vain to get warmed up. The only way to get a bit of a warm up was by running, so running I went. Did I mention everyone was freezing in the rain with a howling wind and temps in the single digits celsius? We got word that we were starting an hour earlier than usual, great who wants to stand around in the rain? Off to the start line.
At the start line we got word from the race officials that the course was slightly shortened. Some steep single track was taken out as it would be impossible to ride and they didn’t want people getting hurt. As a coordinator of two events I can appreciate that fact. This would be a short cup race, with the miserable weather nobody was complaining.
Elite and Expert categories are called up, guess it’s go time. My shoes are covered in thick mud, might make getting into my SPDs tough. Go! We’re off, I’m clipped in wonderful. The two Elite male riders lead the way followed by JE, a fellow Senior Expert rider who beats me at every race we we’ve done together and DB who I have never beat at a cup race. We’re on the flat singletrack on the top of the valley going at a high pace. My back tire loses grip around a very mild bend I go sideways, recover, loose a position to MD who was won every Senior Expert race for the past 2 years. I slot in behind DB. We tip toe over the mud, tires floating, zero traction. Me negotiate a downhill without crashing, apparently there was carnage behind. Uphill we go, zero traction, everyone is running. I do well at the running as I used to be an avid runner and still go out running every week or two. Another flat trail, big ring time we’re flying, zero traction mud flying everywhere, thank god for glasses! Hard left, into some flat singletrack. DB has no traction and is sideways around every corner, he goes wide and I pass. We’re climbing now, it’s tough to not spin out on the slick mud. I have to get off and run. The climb levels out a bit and I’m back on my bike. I let the lead two Junior Expert riders by. JE is a ways ahead, I try to real him in. Another open downhill, very little traction, I make it down without crashing. More twisty single track. My winter biking is paying off, I can drift my bike through the mud without having to dab as other riders are struggling. I come up on the second largest climb of the course; it’s gravely so traction is not an issue. I make it up in my middle ring no problem. Into the technical single track we go. Downhills are not possible for me to ride, running we go. Uphills are impossible, more running. I come out of the singletrack with DB on my wheel. Now for the big climb of the course. I can’t remember how steep it is, we didn’t preride because of the nasty weather, thus I try to drop down to my granny. No go, huge chainsuck. I’m stopped and off to get back into the middle ring. DB goes by. I climb the at times very steep climb in my middle ring with a couple of painful moments. End of lap one.
Lap two is much like lap one, still very very slick. I stay on DBs wheel for the first ½ of the lap. I see JE up ahead! We’re gaining on him! I push DB to keep the pace up. DB is slow and cautious on the downhills, but I don’t go around. On the climb I down a gel for some fuel. Entering into the second, technical half I say to DB that we can catch JE. Before long we do. His bike, and Intense Spider is jammed up with mud, lots of drag on the back wheel. Sucks to be him, hardtails rule the mud (DB is on a FS with much more clearance than the Spider). DB is second I’m third going into lap three.
At the start of lap three the rain has ended and the course begins to get stickier, but still very slick in sections. Following DB downhill I decide to make my move as soon as possible as I know I have more grip and am faster on the technical stuff. Into the singletrack we go, me still on his wheel. DB slides wide around a corner, I’m tight on the inside and get through. Time to hammer. I head into the climb and jump off my bike to run the steep section. Back on for the milder part, I’m hammering hard, time for another gel. I work hard to pull away though out the lap. At the end of the lap I’ve dropped DB. I look down the hill and see JT. While he isn’t in my category, he is my racing buddy and doing the same number of laps. I don’t want him to catch me.
Lap four is uneventful. The mud is getting very sticky and my rim brakes are making some nasty noises. My tires are performing flawlessly, lots of grip, not much mud packing, and they shed the thick mud fast on any downhills. My drivetrain is also working well, I’ve given up on the granny and don’t need it, I should just take it off I think. On the back my 8 speed setup is impervious to the mud! I push hard to stay in front of JT. My two year old son’s voice is in my head, “Bike raaacccing! Fassster Fassster daddy.” OK buddy, this ones for you. I head up the last long climb, make a braindead mistake and ride into runoff ditch. Stupid. Get back on and keep going. I cruise over the line in 1:23, a short race. JT finishes a minute back. Here comes DB, he’s been caught by another rider in our category. Sprint finish coming up. DB moves left to put the squeeze on, the other rider goes low and put the shoulder out, lots of bumping. At the line it’s DB by ½ a wheel!
I feel great, I think I was second. Sure enough when the results come in I’m second in our category, my best finish ever! First time every beating DB! I’m pumped, THIS is what it’s all about I’ve accomplished one of my goals for the year. I’m now sitting in second in the points after two races, barely ahead of DB and JE. It will be very hard to keep this position; I’ll have to train hard.
Now for the damage: American Classic MTB 350 wheels are hurting, some very big gouges on the braking surfaces complete with the big burrs where the alm was deposited. Bearings in the wheels sound rough. Cables, needless to say they’re in desperate need of attention. Crank arms are scratched to hell, from both muddy shoes rubbing and some rock contact. Chain, after the mud bath and the rain on the way home it (HG-73) is a rusty mess. Into the garbage it goes, it was time for change anyways. Bottle cage cracked in half, not sure when that happened. It was worth every penny!
Next race is in two weeks in Prince Albert. Race course is in pine forest, so it’s rooty and rough. I was third there last year, hoping to improve this year.