The Race

It turns out that the race at Blue Marsh was a USACycling race. That means you need a license to ride. Who knew it would be worth points?!?!? Had I known I may have left my gears on to race in my age group but being the end of the season it doesn't really matter anyway. Qualifiers are over. Nationals is over too so at this point, points don't really mean anything (unless you want to upgrade to Pro, me, not really).

It was a beautiful day just to be outside. Mid-70's, a slight breeze, and sunny. Wow! It was nice just being there, let alone doing what I love to do. I showed up early, about 9:45, for a 12:30 start. I wanted to see how they laid the course out and when I pre-rode the course I was a little shocked. They ran us backwards from the normal race loop. This actually makes the course easier in my humble opinion. When I got back I watched the Sport riders finishing up. They we truckin' pretty good. The winner came in at something like an hour 10 on the 14 mile course. Not bad. I looked around to see if any more Expert/Pro riders showed up. I noticed a few, my arch nemesis Erick Marklund of Bike Line, the Alieso twins, one Ryan Dewald, and the super fast Harlan Price. This guy won everything at Marysville back in July and he rides the 100 mile NUE races like they are walks in the park. Brother!

I started out ok. I'd say I was about mid-pack just trying to hold on as the start was a negative false flat of 1-2%. Not the greatest for a single speed. Harlan, Erick, Ryan, and the twins took off. I spun. Once we hit the singletrack I started reeling in a few riders here and there. The first climb was about 3 miles in. I was still behind some guys and I couldn't turn my cranks slow enough as they were spinning up the climb. I started walking. Another single speeder caught me and passed me as we walked together. I asked him what gear he was running. He said "a 32x15". On a 29'er! Holy Cow! That's 62 gear inches to my 55. I thought I was running a tall gear! I let him go since he was obviously moving faster. I spun just trying to keep him in sight which I did. About half way on the second lap we hit a climb. He got off and walked so I attacked him. I put a huge gap on him and just keep pushing until when I looked back he was out of sight. I know from personal experience that keeping the rabbit in front of you is huge psychologically. I was hoping he was human and I broke him. I never saw him again. On the third lap I caught up to Erick. We talked a little. He was hurting. I offered him some Honey Stinger and water (in the name of good sportsmanship). Then I rode away from him. I put a nice gap on him and held it to the finish. I ended up 6th or 7th overall (not bad seeing as there were at least 4 Pro's) and 1st in the single speed class. Finally.