Sep 16 2008
Bad Moon Rising
Pain on the Peak last Saturday. It was dry. It was hot, and shit, was it dusty.
I’d seen the pre-race stuff that Portland Velo put out and hit my usual GIS sites to get a better look. I was wondering how they’d make a course out of it. But they did. And it was hard. Real hard.
It didn’t help that I came in there, well, casual isn’t a good description. Rushed. Not focused. I’m not sure. But whatever it was, I didn’t mentally have my shit together for a 60 minute race in the A’s. And it showed. I am not good enough to just “show up” and race.
Lined up at the start next to Chris Tauscher. We joked a bit on what the over-under would be for getting lapped by Trebon. He had ±3. Previous groups were getting lap times of around 5 minutes. For a 60 min race, I was thinking 3 would be optimistic.
The A’s go off. Usually by now I’m kind of dialing in. Getting focused and ready to push it for an hour. Instead? Nothin’. I got nothin’.
Whistle goes off. We head down the chute and make a right turn…and I’m down in a cloud of dust. Whether it was a cause or effect, my rear tire rolled off about 3 inches. I jam it back on and now have to chase the group. 59 minutes to go.
By the time we get to the logs in the back of the course, I’d caught up to the rear third of the group. Mentally, I’m a bit rattled. I need to settle in and get it back. The dust of the pack kicked up enough where you were riding blind – no visibility below 2 feet above ground. Sketchy. Hit the path through the woods and up the run-up. I pass by the pit and make a split-second decision not to swap rear wheels and keep going.
I stuck with about 6-8 others for a lap or 2, slowly picking up spots. Physically, I feel good. I’m starting to get into a groove. Approaching the run-up through the woods the rear wheel slides off again, this time for good. 100 yards to the pit. Uphill. I shoulder the bike and start running/shuffling back.
The March of Death
I’m officially DFL by now.
The middle third of the race didn’t go so well. I came unraveled mentally and physically: Sloppy riding. Couple spills. Terrible dismounts and remounts. Bad shouldering form (which I’ve already been heckled on by teammates). Blisters forming on my right hand. Cottonmouth I hadn’t experienced since UConn Spring Break of ‘93. I was basically hanging on but there was no way I was giving up.
Got my shit together to rally the last few laps, getting a little mojo back. I need to finish with a little dignity here. Rode up the run-up once and came close a couple other times. Managed to hang with a couple of the A’s that passed me for half a lap or so.
Jeff Standish caught up on the last lap and we finished the race out. With that, I managed to only get passed by Bannick (riding very strong) and Jeff (ditto), which kept me within 5 minutes of the field.
Between the mechanicals, the fact that I completely forgot how to race a cross race, and a tough course, I can live with the result (18th out of 24). I don’t like it but I can live with it.
One more preseason race – Barlow – to get the kinks out and then it’s time for the Crusade season. I’ll work on my wheels probably next week when the new ones get in. I also need to go straight to the park – without passing go – to work more on skills.