CCCX #2 Race report

October 12, 2005

CCCX #2 Race report

CCCX #2
East Garrison, Fort Ord
Oct 9, 2005, 12pm
Cat A
field size 20
place 16/20
winning time 1:10:53
time back 0:07:07

Ok, so on to the story....came into the race feeling pretty good. I had a good nite's rest, but was feeling a bit uneasy at not having done my tune-up the day before. Instead I spent the day having fun and drinking 2 beers at the team picninc. Oh well, sometime a bit of fun with your friends is worth more than prep'ing for a race....you just have to be ready to accept the consequences ;-)

I did a pre-ride on the course and new it would be a fast one. There were two long, straight sections, where the wind was a factor and I could learn a bit about wheelsucking from the roadies. The rest of the course had some cool singletracks, especially the one on the back side of the course. There was actually a small dirt jump and a small tabletop, if you decided to pick the wrong line!

Rod calls out the A's and I'm not paying attention and end up in the back of the pack. Dang it, I told myself that I would line up at the front for the start and now I'm all the way at the back! We start and I'm immediately caught up in the pack. I'm a bit nervous as I don't really not how to react in the pack, all I know is that I could go harder, but I'm blocked from every fricken directions. We hit the first run-up and I run past a bunch of people trying to remount on the dirt. I hop on the bike and start peddaling. I can already tell I'm going a bit to hard, but decide to see where the high intensity will take me. Despite my effort to catch up with the rest of the pack by running past people, I'm already making my way backwards in the field. I watch as the guys I raced with last week move away from me. I can't help but blame myself for not having done my tune-up the day before and for not bringing my trainer! Oh well, the show must go on.

In the last few races, my legs didn't really warm up until about the 3o minute mark. So I grit my teeth and bear the pain. A few laps into the race, I'm not feeling any better and my heart rate has been maxed out for a while and my hamstrings start to feel as the might crap. Somehow I hope or wish that we are close to the end of the race, but a quick glance at my watch reveals that we are only 25 minutes into the race. I honestly contemplated just dropping out...that's how crappy I felt. Then I thought now way....I'm not quiting, I just gotta suck it up and not get lapped.

We approach one of the flat, straight sections and I can see a few riders in the distance. I put my head down and pedal with all my might. Unfortunately, I was a little bit to consumed with applying power to the pedals and not paying attention to the fact that a hard right, into a double barrier, was approaching. At about the last minute I look up and start slamming on the brakes, so I can make the hard right, no luck, I run right into the tape barrier and proceed to get all tangled up...it was kinda funny, so all I could do was laugh and hope nobody saw it. Doooh....Meredith and Johannes were both standing right near there to observe my mini-catastrophe and all they could do is shout words of encouragment. Afterewards the both confessed that they thought I was done at that point.

Now that little mess up really made pissed my off. I untangle my bike, run over the double barrier and bomb down the fast road section. I'm intent on getting lapped. We are probably about 38 minutes into the race now and I'm starting to wonder when my legs are gonna start working properly. It's usually around the 30 minute marker, but today they are not cooperating. I continue to push hard when I can and recover when appropriate.

Whaamm....I hit the 48 minute mark and my legs came alive. I thought, nows the time to go. I hammered every straight, flat section as hard as tried to finess my way thru all the turns and technical sections. I knew every second would count towards not geting laps and hopefully catching a few folks. Slowly, but surely I start to come up on people. I pass one guy that I don't recognize and put the pedal to the metal to open up the gap. Success. One down and a few to go.

Now I've got a little motivation to push hard. It's interesting how simple your thoughts become when you are racing...total fight or flight response. All I can think of is, pedal faster, breath, pedal, breath and you will catch some more riders. Low and behold, I find Rick Hunter and he looks as bad as I feel and indicates that he's done. Next I come up on a couple of the DFL guys that I rode with and eventually passed at the Pilarcitos race the week before. Holy crap I think, the fast race course has taken it's toll on everybody else as well. Fortunately for me, I'm an endurance mountain biker and I can sense the turn of events in my favor.

I look down at my watch and it says 1hr13 minutes.... I think no way, it must be wrong, aren't A races supposed to be only 60 minutes? No matter, I have to race until the timer runs out. I continue my quest to catch more riders. We hit the straight, flat section, the same section where I went into the tape barrier, and this time I'm determined to catch the riders about 100yards away....and not to run into the tape again ;-) I hammer and am able to close the gap. As I hit the double barrier and run to the pavement, I can see a few more racers ahead of me and I can hear Meredith, Yo and Alyse cheering. I think they are as surprised as I am that I'm moving up in the field this late in the game.

I'm a man on a mission. I actually see one of my RitcheLappierre team mates up ahead and lock-in on his wheel. As I come up on Jessie, I can tell he just about done. I say let's go dude, but he tells me to go ahead. There's only one or two laps to go and I know that I can finish strong. While I can see another rider off in the distance, I don't have it in me to chase him down, so I just decide to ride smart and maintain my position.

Whew....I approach the finish line and make an effort to sprint to the end...it was a short, but sweet little sprint.

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