My race season has officially begun.
With a start time around noon I didn't have to get up super early. I was able to get up and around in a relaxed manner before heading out. I still got to Yankee Springs before 10am. I rolled up to registration and got checked in. Watched a bit of the Elite starters and headed back to gear up.
I went and did a lap on the short course to warm up. Just rolled an easy pace. Temps were nearly touching 50 the last time I looked, and my start time was approaching. I headed over to the start gate just before noon. They called in the single speeders and then lined up the Open Clydesdale class. I was about the 8th person off in my class.
3, 2, 1 GO!
I was off and rolling. Right out of the gate I was pushing really hard. With there only being 10 seconds between riders there is a good change you will have traffic from both sides. I didn't want to get caught, so I was in chase mode off the line. There is always that balance of starting too hard and flaming out, or not starting fast enough and getting caught. I was finding that balance, but I was pushing pretty hard. The first few miles are flatter, so I wanted crush the pace.
When I passed the first maker I took a peak at my time. I was ahead of pace and feeling pretty good. A bit after that I caught my first rider. Almost got another, but he was a stronger climber and pulled away. Feeling good I pressed onward.
I passed the 2nd mile marker and had reeled in my second rider. I was feeling pretty good and was on my pace the way I had hoped. Breath. Breathe. The climbing is starting. The section leading to the guard rail is not flat, and I was starting to feel my pace. I got caught by a guy and he was flying. I knew he was one of the potentials for winning the category. I reeled in another guy and then one more as we got to the guard rail. As the next climb started I was able to sneak past him. I was still pushing hard, and the climb was pushing my heart rate higher. I knew I couldn't really back off, just had to find my pace.
I cleared the climb and reeled in another guy before making the right at the top of the hill. This is where the fun starts. I was making sure to slow my breathing as much as I could with deeper breathes. I was feeling good and feeling confident. Around mile 4 I started to see another guy in front of me. I also noticed I was looking over my shoulder a lot to see who was coming. I had mentally stop doing that. I told myself to focus on the guy in front of me and deal with anyone catching me as it happened.
I caught the next guy at the bottom of the first main climb. At the cement marker I got past him. I could hear a lot of people coming too. On the climb I am not sure how many passed me, but all I could do was keep pushing. I made the climb and pressed onward toward the pines. I love this section because its technical and flowy. I rode with another guy. He would get a small gap, but I would close him down. We broke out of the woods to start the climb past marker 7. He eventually put a gap on me and I was starting to feel my pace. This long climb was really starting to hurt, but I had to just push through. At the top I took some deep breaths and some water before starting the descent.
By far my favorite section of trail, I let it rip. I could see that same guy on the switchback and was pressing to catch him. I never did, but I did reel in another guy as we got to the last long climb. I could hear a guy yelling behind me...directing the minions. The 14 year olds were charging and he was giving orders as they were dropping him. lol. I flew through the next descent and was still feeling pretty good. My pace fell off a bit in this middle section, but I was still close to goal pace.
The next few miles were pretty quiet. A few guys here and there, and we developed a group of 3. We rode together for a bit and then I knew it was time to go. We passed marker 10 and two of us ramped up again. I gave way to the last guy a bit later and was back in chase mode.
Go, just go. Keep pushing. You're almost done. I was pushing as hard as I could. I got to marker 12 and I could feel that I was slowing a bit. Another guy caught me. I tried to hold his wheel, but I was running out of gas. The little climb up to marker 13 was reminding me that I had been off the bike for 2 weeks. This was where I could see I missed my goal time. But I was so close to the finish that I had to just push on. The last twisty singletrack was here. Flat to the finish.
I hear "when you get a chance". Ugh....there is no room to pass in here and I wasn't about to pull over. lol. So instead of yielding, I just went as hard as I could go. We broke out to the last left and the guy was just able to pass me on the line. He found me after and said "dude, awesome finish through there!".
I was done. Finishing time goal was sub 1 hour. I was at a very close 1 hour, 1 minute and 33 seconds. This was enough for a solid 11th place out of 27 in my class.
Great start to the season! Next up is the Fort Custer Stampede on Sunday!
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