Back at this weekend at NC state for my second mtb weekend of the year. I came into the first weekend with a bit to much intensity and my legs didn’t feel top notch so this weekend I backed it way off for almost the entire week to see how that would work. I knew going in thought that this was not going to be my weekend as the race was at Harris Lake which is the flattest rootiest trail in the area.
Saturday morning came and there was about 20 guys on the line for the first cross country race. The race had been delayed about an hour and I had almost given up on the race when they called us to the line which resulted in a rear starting spot. It definitely felt like mtb season this weekend with cold rainy weather bearing down on Raleigh. The race started down a gravel road where a sprinted around as many as I could but still went in the woods way to far down to contend for a solid finishing spot. I held my spot for a while slipping and sliding on the wet roots until finally I hit the ground hard twice in a row on an exceptionally rooty section and lost the second group on the trail for good. I settled in with two other racers at that point just trying not to make any big mistakes. There was really no opportunity for me to put any power down as I was just battling the roots the entire race on a flat course. Any time a slight climb would come I would easily pull a big gap on the guys with me but they would close back in on the roots. At one point I had pulled a big gap and was riding alone but then I got lost. I decided to just wait on the guys behind me as I knew I was faster I just didn’t know how to get to the finish line. Once they caught back up I rode the rest of the race with them and easily outsprinted them in the 100 yards of field before the line.
Honestly at the end of the race I wasn’t tired at all. My legs felt really strong the entire race on any elevation gain that did come but I just could handle the wet roots as well as the rest of the field. I finished middle way, not what I was hoping for but about what I expected.
The evening brought the short track which I was actually looking forward to. The course was dead flat but there was no excessive root problem so I felt like I should be able to do a bit better than the morning XC. Im not sure how it happened this time but once again I got lined up in the back but this time I was unable to make very many passes before we hit the singletrack. Inevitably with being to far back I got behind that guy who splits the field. I got a bit impatient as I saw the field getting away and attempted a risky pass. The guy gave no room at all and I ended up wrecking both of us backing up the rest of the field behind us. I got back up quickly and fell in behind marshall the rest of the lap. I pulled on around him once we hit the grass field up to the finish line and started my attempt to catch the field. I pushed it hard the entire lap but only managed to leave the field behind me behind but never got within sight of the main field. The next lap though I went by a guy who was just getting back on his bike presumably from a wreck or bike issue. He provided the incentive for me to push hard the remainder of the race. The last 4 laps he sat about 30 yards behind be on the trail and I kept pushing to keep him back there. This is one of the biggest changes from this year to last year for me. Last year if there was a guy behind be I just counted on him passing me and I just hoped no one else would catch up. This year I don’t count on a guy getting by me till he does and Im going to make that as hard on him as possible. On the last semi incline before we left the singletrack and hit the field the guy closed down the gap and was somehow glued to my wheel as we turned onto the field. Side by side I looked over at him and said “you ready?” and then I proceeded to smash the pedals and sprint for the spot win which I won by a pretty good margin.
The short track was a lot of fun, although I wasn’t up in the front where I had hoped I enjoy those little individual battles with someone else out on the trail.
Sunday we were set to race the same XC course as the day before but backward. I honestly didn’t want to go. I really need some elevation gain to make my way up in a field and I really need as little roots as possible to hold that position on the downhill. Yeah this weekend provided exactly the opposite. No excuses though right? It seemed my fellow western North Carolinians shared my distaste for the trail as App state decided to call it a weekend after Saturday so we only had about 12 guys in the second XC race. This was promising for me though as I knew I would at least score some points. I finally got a front row starting spot and went into the woods in a more acceptable 4th place. This time around at least the roots were dry and I seemed to be a bit more in control following the front group of 7 and gapping off the rest of the field. I got passed early on by a VT rider and I was content to try and hold my top 5 spot for the rest of the race as the top four pulled away and me and the guy I outsprinted in short track the day before rode in no mans land together. Then it happened. I heard something that sounded like a stick in my spokes and I tried to shake it out but nothing. I tried to glance down but could see what was making the horrible noise. Eventually after the problem persisted I knew I had to stop as a broken spokes or derailleur hanger wasn’t going to help me finish well. I pulled off letting the 6th place man go on but I couldn’t find anything in my wheel so I went on with the noise persisting. Finally a minute later the sound ceased but the 7th place man had caught be in the debacle. It was the guy I had rode the Xc race with yesterday so I knew I could pull away from him no problem. I noticed though my rear brake didn’t feel quite right. I hate to admit it but I have two only partially working v brakes and now all of a sudden I was getting no stopping power from the second one. I pushed on and passed the guy I had let go earlier standing on the side of the trail with a dirty jersey. Back to fifth place. Finally though I knew I had to stop to see what was going on with my rear brake after I almost slammed a tree after not being able to slow down. I got of and let the guy from yesterday go on as I was confident I could catch him. Then I saw it. Somehow my rear brake pad had fell off and now I only had one pad in the back. Im not sure how this even happens but I concluded that must have been what I had heard in my spokes early on. From that point forward I just limped it home sprinting the uphills and trying not to kill myself on the downhills. About a mile from the finish the guy who I had passed earlier that had crashed finally caught me but I put in a couple good efforts on the inclines to keep my spot. As we hit the end of the short track from the day before I put in my final effort to drop him but couldn’t. So once again I knew I was going to have to sprint for the line. I was pretty confident in my ability to outsprint the guy so I slowed it down just a bit before emerging out of the singletrack just to let my legs recover that little bit and keep him guessing as to when I was going to hit the gas. Finally just as the trail widened the slightest bit I started my sprint early. I must have caught him a bit off guard as he thought I would wait till we emerged out of the trail completely and this gave me a big enough gap to win the sprint for the second day in a row.
Not my best race weekend but It was fun as always racing and hanging out and just escaping from law school for a little while.
See yall at app state…
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