Tribble Mill 6 hr MTB race, 18 Feb 2012

My first race of 2012 was the first race in the Chainbuster Endurance MTB Series. I raced the solo 6-hr expert category. I felt relaxed and confident coming into the race--my Specialized Stumpjumper 29er was working very well, and I had good fitness and form. Speaking of fitness and form, my fall and winter training was oriented more toward running...specifically trail running. While there was no doubt that 40+ miles of running a week was not conducive to great legs for cycling, it seems to have given me good fitness and a nice break from miles of droning training rides. And, its good for the bones! I returned to nearly all cycling mid January, which was enough time for my knees and calves to re-acclimate.

I misunderstood the direction for the start, so when I got to the line, I was a couple rows back--being a mass start there were riders lined up about 15 across. The course quickly went down a grassy hill, through a little mud and around a turn onto a narrow gravel/dirt track. From there it went up twisty singletrack, across some technical drops and up more technical stuff. What this meant is that as far back as I was, it would be awhile before I could race my pace. A big gap formed when a Big Dude slowed to a crawl on the climb with about 10 riders between him and me. Why Big Dude thought it smart to line up on the front and go at VO2 max only to blow up 5 minutes into a 6 hr race, I don't know....inexperience or ego maybe. Once he finally pulled over and let the train go by, I quickly passed the other riders except Shey Lindner, who is a Fast Dude. Shey tried to pop me off on technical stuff and grunt climbs, but I was having none of it! We pulled through the start/finish on the first lap together and I led out on lap 2. I felt great, so I punched it pretty hard on the switchback climbs and got a gap on Shey. Soon I saw a familiar rider ahead. It was Jafer Beizer, Cat 1 winner of the 2011 GA state Criterium Championships, and gold and bronze medalist at the 2011 US Mountain Bike Nationals. So, it felt pretty good to catch him. It felt even better to drop him after awhile. Chatting before that with him revealed that he was on a 2-man team with Shey's son, Jansen. Jansen is one of those kids who is rapidly out riding his dad, and most other riders. So, it didn't surprise me that when I heard a rider coming up behind me on lap 3 that it was young Jansen. It was a motivation to ride aggressively, and I kept him at bay until very close to the finish of the lap, riding in just behind him. Lap 4, Jafer took another turn. I dropped him on the first swichback climb. Lap 5, Jansen's turn. He caught me almost at the line, and as I rode past their pit Jafer got on my wheel and vowed out loud that I wouldn't drop him on lap 6--game on! Two things that I don't like about timed endurance races--constantly having to pass slower riders (often in a train chatting away and obviously not "racing") and the repetitive laps. This was different (well, still lots of riders to pass)--Jafer and Jansen were my "competitors", even though they were not really since they were a 2-man team. Well, I did drop Jafer, and on lap 7 I was really motivated! Not just because I was leading the solo race, but because I knew Jansen would be gunning to catch me. I held him off, though just barely. Now on lap 8, Jafer didn't say anything, but I knew he would give it everything he had...this was to be our last lap to finish within the 6 hr limit (as many laps as possible in under 6 hrs). I didn't even bring a water bottle, as I knew I wouldn't even take the time to drink and I wanted to be as light as possible. I went very hard all the way to the woods so that Jafer wouldn't be on my wheel getting a free draft. He was only about 15 seconds back as we started up the switchbacks, but it was holding at 15. I seemed to gap him more on the technical stuff (which surprised me, but oh I do love the way the Stumpjumper 29er handles!) and he'd make up ground on the climbs. About mid course there was another fairly stout climb, but not technical. I knew that if I could get out of sight there and take chances through the technical descent from there, I'd probably have him. I dug very deep and clicked up a gear where I might otherwise click down a gear. Luckily my legs didn't cramp, and crosseyed from effort I gapped him. From there it was dodging trees and a final punch to the finish.

I finished 1st in 6 hr solo expert, beating David Sagat, the guy who beat me pretty handily at this race in 2011 (and the two others we raced against each other) by over 7 minutes. Just as rewarding was "beating" a very capable 2-man team (they won their race). At some (very few) races, everything comes together right. I did have one small wipeout (could have been much worse) and some close calls (par the course in mtb racing), but it was one hell of a race for me. Hopefully I can keep it up--I know Shey, David, Jansen and Jafer will be on the hunt for me at the next race! [Results] and [Results 2]