I was racing the Cat 2 Open race which originally had a start time of noon, but was changed to 9 am the day before the race. At this point I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it since I had to rearrange my family plans for the day. I had planned on going out to pre-ride the course, but there were too many kids birthday parties in the way and I ran out of time. With my participation in question I abandoned my usual pre-race dinner routine and ate too much Mexican food washed down by some good IPAs.
Later that evening I was able to get the family situation straightened out thanks to the help of my wife, some friends, and my in-laws. With the race now on in the morning I focused on trying to get to bed early since I rarely get enough sleep.
I made it out of the house around 8 and arrived at Poor Farm Park about 20 minutes later. Once I got there I found out that the race start had been moved back to 10am. I was a little annoyed since I could have gotten a bit more sleep and probably would have eaten a more substantial breakfast. I was surprised though to get the #1 number plate. I'm not sure if I got it due to alphabetical order or my current 1st place series ranking that was attained due to consistant mediocrity and to well timed absences by some stronger racers. Either way I figured that if I'm going to rock the #1 plate I better try to ride like I should have it.
Since I now had over an hour to kill before the race start I decided I would pre-ride a lap and see what the course was all about. The trails started fast and flowy, but soon became a continuous up and down roller coaster with sharp turns that made you slow down to a crawl and then accelerate hard to get back up to speed over and over again. Near the end you did get rewarded by a fast flowing section again. Since climbing in not really in my skill set I was a bit worried, but determined to ride hard and try to make a break in the flats before getting to the climbs.
I got to the starting line and didn't recognize anyone that was starting with me. All of the usual suspects were missing. Could this be an opportunity to grab my elusive first race win? I was prepared to blast off the line and get the hole shot using David Reids advice of "If you want it you gotta go for it". When the starter said go I powered down on my pedal and my bike answered with an awful metallic crunch. I looked down with panic to see my chain completely twisted and jammed on the outside of my big ring as the rest of the field went sprinting away. I've had puzzling chain dropping issues all year, but on the first pedal stroke, really? I quickly tried to yank my chain out, but it really looked like it was done. Someone ran over and reminded me to stay relaxed and helped me get it unstuck and I finally got to start my race about a minute after everyone else. I immediately noticed that something was wrong because my chain skipped every time it came through the derailleur. I decided to ignore it the best I could and focus on chasing down the others. As soon as I hit the first rooty section in the woods my chain dropped again, but I was able to ride it back up onto the ring without stopping. I decided that I had to stick with the little ring only. Some quote about winning races in the corners popped into my head so I charged through the flats really pushing the corners to the highest of my abilities. Pretty soon another racer appeared in front of me. I pushed hard up a shallow gravel climb and got past him at the top. I kept up my pace and soon came across another racer in the distance. I chased him down and soon came upon the first steep climb. It came right after a fast downhill toward the stream and went right back up after a 180 degree turn. I had identified this climb as a hike-a-bike during my pre-ride so I dismounted at the bottom and ran up. At the top I found another racer who was already gassed and let me go past. At this point I reminded myself that there was still plenty of time and told myself to stay calm and steady. I kept up a steady pace and once again saw another racer through the woods which motivated me to keep pushing harder. Every time I found another one I put an imaginary target on their back and attacked. About 3/4 through the first lap I came up on a racer at the top of a climb. I rode his wheel a bit and sprinted past him on a short straight away. As I went by I asked him if he knew how many were in front of him. He said, " no one"! Had I really caught everyone? I wasn't sure if it was correct or not. I wasn't sure exactly how many were at the start. I assumed there were more and put the hammer down during the final flat section to put some distance between me and the last racer I passed. When I crossed the start finish line at the end of the first lap I looked back and saw him just leaving the woods.
I had a good gap and sprinted the best I could with my skipping chain to try and put more time in between us. When I came across the guys that were directing the beginners to the other trail section I asked them how many were in front of me. They replied, "No one" and I had to ask them if they were serious. I've never been in this position this late in a race and I didn't want to let it go. I kept picturing my chain breaking on me shortly before my first win or someone coming back to catch me since I'm famous for fading hard at the end. I adjusted my race plan to ride any flats really hard and to "recover" on the climbs by spinning up them in my easiest gear. As I started to get tired I began overbraking the turns and really got worried that I would get caught. Near the end of the lap I saw some riders in the woods somewhere behind me. I couldn't tell who it was (turned out to be some racers warming up for the noon start time) and picked up the pace even though I was pretty spent. I momentarily lost my concentration and clipped a tree with my handle bar and did a superman over the top that ended in a good slide on my forearm and hip. A little dazed I jumped back up and gave all I had left for the final mile or so to avoid the chasers that I thought were lurking right behind me.
I ended up having almost a 4 minute gap over 2nd place. I know that I wouldn't have won if some of the other racers from my group had been there, but I'll take it. The gift card will pay for a new chain. :) I'm happy to get my first win and will now train harder to make sure I do it again soon!
The rest of the team also had a good showing. Our team should continue to lead the VAMTBS series!
David Reid - 1st Cat 1 35+
Erik Bleecher - 1st Cat 2 Open
Tom Richeson - 2nd Masters
Sonya Richeson - 3rd - Women Cat 2
Nice job!! and great to see some action pics
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