Recap #5

Well, race #5 of the year is in the books.  I’d like to say I went out and kicked ass but sadly I didn’t.  I did manage to finish 1st expert in my age group but that is of little consolation when about eight others finished ahead of you.  I have to admit it was good to get my first win of the year though.

As usual, I got a horrible start despite having a good position at the line.  I really need to learn how to start because it really sucks to have 12 people beat you off of the line (many coming from behind you).  I don’t know what it is about me but I’ve never been a good starter.  It was important to get a good start yesterday too because about a mile into the course was some freshly cut single track that was super soft and tight and passing was not an option so I found myself bottlenecked unable to ride at all while the leaders scampered off into the distance.  Kudos for them for getting their asses off of the line faster.

Finally out of the singletrack, I picked up one or two place until the climb started.  Sugarloaf has one of the tougher climbs in the series and yesterday it kicked my ass.  Not only was I not passing many on the climb (as I usually do), I was actually getting passed by a few.  To be honest, one was good ole Skip Brown so I don’t feel too bad about that but a few others who wouldn’t have usually passed me did.  I’ll chalk it up to a no-go leg day.  Thankfully, when I reached the top of the main climb and started to rocket down the rough descents and ripping through the technical singletrack, I found that dos and I were one and I was able to really make up time.  It was one of those days where you could just let the bike go where it wanted, making slight weight and direction changes but mostly just going with it.  It was a blast.  

Unfortunately I had two more of those climbs to do in order to enjoy the descent again.  Oh well.  Over the course of the next two laps (3 total) I picked off a few more guys and finished strong, totally spent and the legs on the verge of cramping, but strong.

Series points haven’t been posted all year but I’m fairly confident that this “win” puts me solidly in first place.  The only question is whether Boobar shows up for the next few races or not.  If he does I might be in trouble but I welcome the challenge.  Bring it on!