Race report: Conyers
Intl Horse Park/Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC #3)
After doing a trail running race (10.35 miles) in Tucson a
couple weekends back my legs had been quite “dead”. My (lack of) performance at the Macon Cycling
Classic criterium highlighted that. So I
concentrated on putting in a lot of pedaling time in the week coming up to the
SERC #3 race…a little counterintuitive since my legs were sore, but I figured
it was more important to have the proper “muscle memory” associated with
pedaling. My fitness was fine, and with
rest on Friday/Saturday my legs felt decent Sunday morning. The weather was chilly, with a strong breeze
picking up. Still, with abundant
sunshine I knew it would be a shorts and shortsleeve jersey kind of day. I decided to wear my Georgia Cycling team
skinsuit—I may never wear it otherwise!
No pockets on it, so I had to tape a gel to my bike for nutrition while
riding. The snug, sleek feel gave me a psychological
boost though at mtb speeds probably nothing else. Another large rider turnout for the age 40+
experts—29 guys at the start. The course
started on a giant field and went into a blustery wind and slightly uphill
before climbing a little steeper and then into the woods/singletrack. I managed to be 4th wheel going
into the woods…good position. I did my
best to stay on the wheel of #3, but the three guys ahead slowly pulled away,
mostly on the tight technical stuff. I
seemed to be gapping the folks behind as well, so I just rode within my limits
and didn’t panic. The race was 4 laps
over a pretty good variety of terrain.
The coolest part was a dark tunnel under the 4-lane road (with two
separate sections for coming/going) that led to the “granite side”. This section was, as the name implies, mostly
rock. It wasn’t truly technical stuff—no
large drops or step-ups, but still quite bumpy and physically challenging. After exiting the other tunnel and returning
to the other side of the highway, there was another exposed to the headwind
section back to the start/finish. I was
still feeling really good by the third lap, and passed the #3 guy like he was
stuck in the mud on the infamous powerline climb section of trail. He tried to hang on, but I was having none of
that. I was passing a lot of 30+ and 19+
experts by then, and really turned it on as I got my quarry, #2, in sight. I caught him as we started the granite
section on lap 4, just a couple miles from the finish. He was shocked and let me know it by blurting
out “you snuck up on me, you bugger!” (He is an Aussie I believe). I kicked in the afterburner and bounced my
way up and down the granite fun-scape as fast as I could. As I turned onto the headwind section toward
the finish and looked back…there he was!
Now I was looking at leading this guy out, into the wind, in an area
with plenty of room to pass—no good!! I
decided to go easy for a bit and then gun it about 200 meters out hoping to
drop him—I’m not a sprinter. As my luck
would have it, he decided to jump at about 200 meters himself; I don’t know why as he had a perfect position
to jump around me just before the line. He
faded after about 100 meters; I did not
fade and easily took the sprint ahead of him for 2nd place. First place was just under 30 seconds ahead
of me—he led the whole race…one more lap and I’m sure I would have caught
him. Sill, I’m happy with the result. Five mtb races so far this year, five podiums. I felt great after the race, so hopefully I
can carry this form to this upcoming weekend’s double-header: Saturday (65 mile
marathon race) and Sunday (Ft Yargo/SERC #4 cross country race).
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