Bump and Grind

Bump and Grind is a race held by the Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) at Oak Mountain State Park. This year marked the 17th annual edition, and due to popular demand was a 3-race omnium. There were two races on Saturday--Turn-and-Burn and Super-D. Turn-and-Burn was a 20 minutes plus one lap race that twisted and turned on a somewhat cyclocross style course. In the name of "fun" there was a couple of surprises--everybody raced together (beginner through pro, men and women) and we were lined to start up opposite the direction that we had been told it would go...then after a strange start--"go on the horn...ready, set , GO!" (but no horn?!), we were turned around 50 feet later and headed back the original direction. Result: I was now in the very back of the race with about 50 beginner/novice riders in front of me. This resulted in a crash for me and many near misses for the next 15 minutes. Needless to say, the faster riders that knew the plan lined up toward the "back" and were never seen by me again. I raced angry--to me the concept wasn't "fun" it was stupid! At the very least, they should have split the racers up by ability. As it turned out, since I was first in the "old guys" (40+ years) division, I won my division anyway. A few hours later (and many quarts of sweat in 97 degree temps) we lined up for the Super-D. It started up on a mountain ridge, and after a shallow jeep road climb plunged down a rocky, technical, trail that included aptly named "blood rock". This spot has been a place of grief for many riders for years and so was a popular spectator point. I wimped out and walked over blood rock! The course then got very fast, but still technical--some racers got flats from high speed tire impacts on sharp rocks. There was also a fair bit of climbing in the middle of the 5.5 mile course. I was passed by two racers (we went at one-minute intervals), but I could tell they were exceptionally fast. It turns out they were #1 and #3 overall. I was 7th overall and 1st in "old guys". Sunday was the main event--a 32 mile race that had it all--rocks, roots, sand, swoopy trails, twisty trails, long and short climbs, screaming fast fire road descents, paved road, and "blood rock". The 40+ expert field had some very talented racers, including Terry Duran, a local AL racer who happens to be the 50-54 National Road Race Champion. The race started very fast, and quickly there was a group of five that separated off the front. I was the tail end of this group and just hanging on. The group started to split as we approached the major climb of the race and soon were strung out on the climb. The initial leader suffered a flat--the consequence of sacrificing a light speedy tire for a heavier durable tire. That put me in third position, and I raced alone for a good 20 minutes before catching up to Terry back at the parking lot area. Terry fell in behind me for the next 15 minutes or so. This was fine for my strategy...conserve energy and at the right moment...attack! I attacked as soon as I had passed two riders from another category, giving me a good gap on Terry. I went hard until I got caught behind a large group of riders. This is a fact of life in mountain bike racing, at least at the amateur level. I made the mistake of not keeping tabs on behind me, and at the last hairpin corner before the finish straight--Terry came flying around me to take second place! Even more disheartening was that I was only 7 seconds behind first place and had no idea--and he was cramping! Well, that is the nature of mountain bike racing. It was a very hot, but fun weekend of racing and socializing--I will probably be back next year.