Well the last week of my “early season” has come and gone. Finals are approaching ever faster and with that hours on the bike are plummeting. But, I did try to hold onto the fitness I had for the Shamrock Crit Friday night in Downtown Albemarle, NC.
I headed up after class on Friday and after ending up on way to many two lane roads and getting lost once I got into town I ended up arriving only 45 minutes before the start of my race. I had been really looking forward to this race as the cap to my early season. I remember going to the Roanoake twilight crit last year and wanting to race so badly. There is just something about racing with the announcer screaming tearing down Main Street as the sun is setting that makes for a perfect race venue. The course was four corners with two long flat stretches and one end steeply going down and the other steeply going up. Honestly at this point I need a flat course to be able to sit on the wheels of those really strong cat 4’s and this wasn’t it.
As I lined up this was another big field with about 50 guys and several hundred dollars on the line. Definitely the biggest most competitive race I have been in all year. I ended up lining up pretty far back but was able to move up relatively easily the first time up the steep hill. I was sitting in pretty well but the field was flying and when we hit the two turns after the flat stretch and the downhill at over 30mph things were a bit sketchy. I was able to hang on just putting my head down, but gaps were opening everywhere as we averaged over 30mph for the first couple laps of the half mile course despite the steep climb. Inevitabley about half way through the race we hit the hill and as the field accelerated out of the turn onto the flat I got gapped off as the guys in front of me couldn’t hold their wheels and I didn’t have the power to jump across. I sat in and regrouped through the flat and the down hill and as we turned onto the main stretch I knew I had to catch the main field now or they would be gone for good.
So I pulled to the front and put my head down. I felt stronger in this race still than Iv felt all year and was able to crank the pace up to almost 30mph but the field seemed to dangle just out of reach. I then heard the announcer say “the field is really strung out which means the pace is really high”. As we hit the hill once again I realized I had burned a match or two and hadn’t made much of a dent on the field so as we topped the hill I pulled off to let someone else in the group of ten or so guys I was with try their hand. Unfortunately, my instinct was right and we would never see the field again.
I worked with the chase group for the rest of the race dropping some and some going up the road. I ended up taking the sprint in the group of three I came to the line with and finished about ¾ of the way down in the pack. Its really amazing how strong these cat 4/5 fields are around here with them chocked full of perpetually fast cat 4 masters and up and coming fast juniors. I honestly felt really strong and was putting in huge efforts sprinting up the hill every time averaging over 24mph most laps. It was a lot of fun though and I really hate to let this fitness fade over the next month and a half till I can get on the bike again.
So far this year I have been either racing in big cat 4/5 races and getting dropped or collegiate d fields and being one of the strongest guys in the field. Id really like to have done a cat 5 only race to get a feel for how the state champs might go this summer. Who knows but I do know im much much stronger this year than iv ever been before and so that’s the point although Im still not competitive yet in the cat 4/5 races.
Stepping back for a minute, I know you all recall me saying that this year I would be going pure road this season and stepping back from mountain biking. However, over the past week or two as the road season has been winding down Iv been missing cruising through the single track. I haven’t been on my mountain bike since the last race in October and much of the reason why is just because im tired of riding my rigid bike. I decided I wanted to get a new mountain bike and maybe...just maybe do a few mountain bike races this year despite what I said earlier. I just really love the trails more than I thought.
So Wednesday all my classes were cancelled and so I called up Strom Endurance in Sanford, NC and set up an appointment to demo a Niner Air 9 Carbon. Iv always been a 26er advocate, but Iv never been on a 29er and so I thought Id see what it was all about before making my new purchase. So I got down there and got set up and headed out to the trails at Governors Creek for the next 4 hours.
First thing I noticed was how stable and fast it felt when pedaling on the flats. It honestly felt like I was riding my road bike on the road even though I was on the dirt. I glanced down a few times to see 20mph on flat straight singletrack sections. Another place the 29 shined was in technical climbs with roots where it just seemed to roll over it while I was still putting down power whereas with the 26er I would have to throw the bike tires up and over the roots. The same goes for straight nasty downhills where you could just let the brakes go and it would just float over the gnar. Also I never really noticed the lack of acceleration most people talk about. That may be due to the particular 29er I was riding, but I was impressed.
On the other hand it did seem a bit hard to really carve through the tight turns and you had to almost come to a stop to get it through the switchbacks. At the same time however I felt it was more stable but just slow. Talking with the bike shop after though he said it was a downside but it was minimized as you got use to the tires.
In the end I think I was converted. I wheels just seemed to accentuate my strengths of climbing the tech and putting down the power so much more. It just felt so fast when I smashed the pedals. At the same time im relatively slow and tend to hit the ground a lot on the way down. With the 29er I think getting a smaller size in the bike would help me be able to flick it around a bit easier and the added stability will help me stay upright more.
After I finished my demo marshall met me for a lap on my 26er and my mind was made up. The 26 just felt so slow through the flat sections and I could feel myself having to muscle it up the climbs. I just couldn’t even hardly ride it anyone.
So with that said Im on the lookout for a niner air 9 scandium version and my mountain bike is on the Raleigh craigslist.
Its been a really fun season so far and I look forward to see what the late race season will bring.
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