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Last year was my first try at the Bump and Grind mountain
bike race—I had a great time and this year I wanted to improve on my results in
the XC race. I lost a sprint for 2rd
place and was only 7 seconds out of 1st! Bump (stands for Birmingham Urban Mountain
Pedalers) and Grind (the race was first held in 1994, maybe they were going
through an Elvis revival in AL then?) is a “must do” race event in the
Southeast. The Oak Mountain trails are
among the best I’ve ridden and keep getting better. The trails are well designed and challenging both
physically and technically (but not ridiculously so), and also beautiful. There are also a lot of miles of trail, so a
31 mile race didn’t retrace any of it. The one hr time change made it easy to arrive
there by nine AM so I could register, set up camp (right next to the venue),
and preride a couple of the tougher XC course sections with my friend Bruce
Dickman, race announcer extraordinaire and ProGold travelling salesman.
The first race of the three race omnium was short track. This was basically a 25 minute criterium on a
dirt course. The course was the same as
last year, a mix of some pavement gravel, pine straw, steep rutted grassy-off
camber hillside and singletrack. Cat 2
and Cat 1 women and men (and kids) were started together. My chief immediate concern was whether Bruce
would turn us around to go the other way immediately after the start (the race
is called “turn and burn”)—he did this last year, and I had a few crashes
getting by the mass of riders that were now in front of me. So this year I started a little more
conservatively letting about ten experts in front of me…but there was no turn
this year. I ended up in a train of a
few riders behind a guy that let a gap to the front several guys. With no crashes for me, riding pretty well,
ending up about 9th overall and first in the “old guys” (over 40). Despite going as hard as I could, my average
heartrate was still no more than it is in 3 hour races…I’m more of a long-haul
racer.
After grabbing a bite to eat and taking a nap, I warmed up
for the next event, the Super D, by pedaling up the paved road to the top of
the mountain where the race would begin.
The super D was about a mile of mostly level rocky jeep road and then a rocky,
singletrack descent with a couple of technical drops and switchbacks that
finished after just 2.6 miles total where it reached the paved road. I had no expectations of a great performance,
being no downhiller/technical expert…I mainly wanted to have fun and stay
safe. I finished at probably top third
in the overall expert standings, and 3rd in the old guys. After enjoying the typical mtb gathering camaraderie,
I settled down for a simple dinner (salad from home and a big tuna sandwich)
and a peaceful evening.
I was certainly well rested the next day when I was awakened
at 7 AM by Bruce over the loudspeaker announcing the start of the second day of
racing. The Bump volunteers had some bagels, bananas, oranges and other snacks
and drinks out for racers, so I made that my simple breakfast. I favor a small carb-oriented breakfast
before races, so this was perfect. I
would have preferred an early race start since I was registered and ready to go
(and temperatures cooler), but my race was scheduled to start at about 10
AM. The 40-49 experts were lumped in
with the 35-39 and 50+ experts. I would
estimate the field at about 35-40 racers.
The start took us up the paved road about ¾ mile and then onto a
singletrack section called Jekyll and Hyde.
My plan was to lead into the singletrack if I could, even if it meant a
major effort. This was so I could power
up the swooping switchbacks on the super fun Dr Jekyll portion of the trail
before arriving at Mr. Hyde—where things got technical. I succeeded in my plan, and even had a
sizable gap on the next two riders coming into the technical part. This was great since I had no interference
getting through that section and though the two riders caught up to me they
didn’t pressure me at all. Topping out
on the climb we immediately plunged back down the same trail the Super D was on
(with an aptly named “blood rock” section).
I offered to let the two guys by, but they declined. I ended up leading them and one other guy
that caught us for the next several miles.
Since I wasn’t riding as well as I felt I should…not finding my rhythm,
I was glad when they all eventually passed me.
I had no problem staying on two guy’s wheel while one escaped up the
trail. I wasn’t sure if they were in my
40-49 category, but I was pretty sure the guy that escaped wasn’t. Toward the end of the fast but rooty, twisty,
and generally challenging trail around the big lake that sits at the base of
Oak Mountain, I passed the two guys and started passing racers from categories
that started before mine did (Pros, 19-29, 30-34 experts). I hit the long gravel/rock road climb up to
the top feeling really good, and gave it everything I had powering up it. I really felt like I was flying up the
mountain, passing guys that were just crawling along. As I approached the top I recognized the one
guy (in the 35-39 category) that had escaped earlier. This motivated me to put in a great
performance going down Jekyll and Hyde, and I passed him as well as some other
expert and sport category riders (the sport course was 5 miles shorter). The bottom part of Jekyll and Hyde was like a
roller coaster ride…a joy to race! Still
feeling great (as a endurance racer I was just getting warmed up), I went hard
the remaining few miles…plus I didn’t want to take any chances of getting
caught and missing 1st place by 7 seconds again! I crossed the line in 2 hrs 22 minutes, first
in 40-49 expert and also beating everybody in the two other categories that
started with mine. I even passed all but
two guys from the 30-34 expert category that started 4 minutes before us…a
great race for me.
Overall, I finished 3rd in the expert omnium…no
distinction made for being an “old guy” in the omnium. My standing in this will be combined with
another “triple crown” event later in the year for a mini Triple Crown
series. I didn’t even know this until I
arrived at Bump & Grind, but it gives me another goal to strive for.
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