Waway. Clapp meet me at my house & we headed up to grab Iggy in Booton. Always better cruising up with people just makes the whole day more complete. Got there early enough to take our time getting ready & warmed up.
Lap 1
The prologue had me a bit worried but it turned out to be a non-factor. Hit the double track about 2/3 back from the front. The 1st little rocky up & the group is off & walking. Jump back on & decide I need to make a move, really lots of moves. I guess at this point I decide to just go for it. Lap 1 would be my make or break lap & second would be the try & hang on lap. I'm being super aggressive, which is not normally my thing & passing a bunch of people. Finally settle in behind Esteban who I know is always up there in the end. Hang on his wheel for a while, even pass him after Outlook. Didn't last long as he runs by me on 1 of the slimy ups & is gone. Felt good while it lasted. In sitting Bear I get a glimpse of Victor, new target. Get to about 30ft off him close to the S/F & decide to fuel up before I try & make the move.
Lap 2
Eat my gel (must bring the flask next time, just so much easier) pop a few Sportlegs & I'm off chasing him down again. Climbs & fireroads are uneventful. Come up on JimV at 1 point & crash trying to catch him, ouch #1. Back on the bike & I'm now chasing Jim again. Catch & pass him at 2 Bridges & then he passes me back on the next climb. I try to hang on which is a good thing as he pulls me to within 20 feet of Victor, bad thing is as he passes Victor, Victor try's chase Jim down, big gap again. Damn. We finally get into the ST & I pass Jim 1st as he's off on the rocky up. I'm clean on both & I close to the back of Victor's wheel. I'm riding clean & he is not so he just tells me to pass. Ok I'll take it because my legs didn't want to try a pass. Next I pass Mandell who's off the bike. I had decided at that point I was going to walk the Outlook climb as the cramping is getting worse. Get there & look back & Victor is closing. Damn I have to ride it now & I actually make it. Man did it hurt. I was so spent I crashed on the next rocky DH right in front of TomH (the bike patrol guys), ouch #2. Get back up & keep plugging away. I get to SB & the cramps are starting to get really bad. Mandell rides my wheel for a bit & finally passes. I stay with him until the last climb (MattyB's hangout) & he's gone as are my legs. I'm toast!!! Hit the end & couldn't be happier it's over. 8th out of 25. 2m off 7th & 3 off 6th. Not unhappy with that at all. All the faster guys beat me. I felt like I gave it everything I had & more. I'll keep working hard & hopefully can close the gap a little more each race.
Great seeing & hanging with everyone. I agree the whole scene was so much better with the format change. Congrats to Utah, Alex, Patty, Allison, Eric on the podiums, you guys earned it.
Sun: Waywayanda
Aside from 2 short track races in March this was going to be my first real race effort for the year. It's been a busy few weeks so I wasn't quite sure what kind of form I'd be in when the horn went off. Also, this was going to be only my 3rd XC event ever (raced KVSP the past two years on a 26" sofa pillow with less than stellar results). Oh, and I rode a mountain bike maybe 5 times max during 2010 and 2011. Nonetheless I had set high expectations for myself. Like as high as you can set them. Probably not realistic but they say to visualize success, right?
So how'd it go? Honestly all I can remember is that I got on my bike, felt like I was going to hurl for an hour, got off my bike. Instead I'll just make up a totally fictitious recap.
Warmup looks something like this: Stand around shivering in spandex for about 2 hours pushing the stroller while Allison is out racing. Brad is kind enough to poke sticks into the child's eyes while I ride a few hundred feet to warm up. Allison finishes her race, congratulate her, hand off the child and go ride a few hundred more feet.
Knowing that I want to be the first wheel or two going into the singletrack I pick a great spot in the staging area right at the back of my field. Horn goes off a minute after the 30-34 guys and were off. Weave through the pack and hit the road section in 5th and the voice inside my head says: "go to the front Eric. Pull everybody up the road and burn yourself up." So I do. Dumb.
Hit the first climb in the lead with some guy right on my wheel. Figure it's a whole train. By this point we are deep into the 30-34 field and weaving through traffic like a truck driver high on a handful of cheap amphetamines. Finally look back and it's just one red dude and me and we've but a big dent into the field. Bobble a rocky section before the bog and red dude passes me then proceeds to go back to the future--full on 88mph-in-the-delorian style time warp. He puts about 20 seconds into me in as much time. At that point I know I'm racing for 2nd unless red dude ends up getting into a fight with Biff at the prom and his mom falls for him instead of for his dad.
Middle of the race is a complete blur and I feel like just getting off and going for a hike instead. Asian dude that I know is in my field passes me on the fireroad which lights a fire in me. Shaved legs + nice calves = Roadie. Murder. He's off his bike on the next technical section but passes me again on the next climb and I think he's gone. Now I'm hurting again. At this point Lance has made his way up to me as I'm fading. We trade places for the last 5 miles. I gap him then drop my chain. He gaps me and I burn a match to catch up and so forth. Good battle.
Utah said during our Tuesday pre-ride that it's not about riding the technical stuff fast, its about being smooth. In cross my mantra is slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Somewhere during the race I decided that sloppy and erratic would be a better strategy and I proceeded to crash in spectacular fashion at least 3 times on sitting bear. One of the crashes dislodged my rear wheel from the dropouts. Another crash stopped my bike dead and somehow I was able to eject and land on my feet running downhill for about 20 yards. Like I said, smooth is fast, right?
See Lance about 10-12 seconds ahead coming up on the last hill but I've got nothing left. I figured 4th place but Asian dude cramped somewhere and we passed him without knowing. 3rd. Podium. Not quite where I wanted to be but I'll take it.
Lessons learned. 1) Technical stuff looks a lot different at race pace. 2) Technical stuff is a lot harder when you can't see straight. 3) You need to ride a mountain bike on technical stuff if you want to be able to ride it fast. I feel like I have the fitness at this point but I really need to channel the flow.
I'm flying back from Japan the evening before Jungle which should put me in top form to crush it there.
