WORS #2 - Treadfest @ Grand Geneva, WI
The rock garden while it was still dry, 1st lap. Photo by: Cale
Drive up to Komando Dans parents' lake house on Saturday afternoon with Julie and Molly. A short 5 minute drive puts Dan and I at the trail head for Kettle. It all has me wondering why I am still in Chicago. Obvious answers to that, but none the less living on a lake in the woods is tempting. This trip to Kettle is the first trail ride for the JBC pictured below, one day before it is to be raced. The trail conditions were perfect. The new connector trail off of the red loop is beautiful! The bike is a rocket. I felt strong and smooth. A quick hour or so and we are back at the lake house. On our way home we stop at the general store / bike shop on RTE 12. Dude working in the shop asks:
Are you racing tomorrow? Have you pre-ridden the course?
Yes, I am racing. No, I have not pre-ridden. Is it good?
Yes, it is super technical.
Awesome, I love technical trails!
Yeah, lots of off camber stuff.
Cool.
*then dude says*
Yeah, I am in it to win it. I am going to clean up.
I give him the fake smile and a nod. Wish him luck and Dan and I leave without buying what Dan went in to get.
Dans mom and dad provide us with a wonderful BBQ. Then a little TV before bed and we all hiy the hay. Get up and see Julie off to her sisters baby shower and get another great meal from the parents. Call Cale, who is on his way with fellow comp Team Pegasus racer, Colin. Dan and I pack up the car and leave. Pre-race registration, watching and warm up all happen at a leisurly pace.
This is my first mountain bike race this year, my second race ever. Last year I raced the last race of the WORS season as a sport class rider and placed forth. So, I upgraded this year to comp. I was hoping that the racers would show me a thing or two and knock me down a peg. I was nervous stepping up to the start line, but I was there to have fun. How I finished was not my highest priority. I would have been happy mid pack.
I learned from cyclocross racing that it is important to get in the front of the initial line up. Alot of your final placing depends on where you are off the line. So, I staged at the front of my class. And the clouds started to leak, just ever so slightly. They call up the top 10 racers of the series and then the rest of us. I roll in right between 2 of the guys already up there. Count down from 10 to 5 and then silence, until Gooooooooooooooo!
Off the line I am in 6th, atop the first hill I am at 4th, and by the time we get to the first downhill section I am in 2nd. Watching the other classes start, I knew I had to be in the front for that first downhill section, it was a really bad bottle neck and getting through there at #2 there was absolutly no slowing down. That was the only decent in the first 3/4 mile of the 5 mile loop. Riding up to the top of the ski hill was bad in one little really steep section, otherwise it seemed pretty managable. Off the top of the hill, there was this super steep drop into the single track, really fun to bomb down when it was dry. Once it got wet, it got to be a mess at the bottom and pretty hazardous. Then there was the single track. Tight and technical. A lot of off camber tech sections that were pretty aggresive. Nothing I could not handle though.
Then there was the rock garden. Oh, the sweet sweet rock garden. Colin and I both ride the same way. We are good at riding single track, but relish over the technical stuff you normally don't get to ride. We went up the hill during the sport class race to take a gander and both got really excited. It was about ten feet long and then you shot down this gully to the bottom of the hill. The picture above is me riding it on the first lap. On the 3rd lap once it got really wet, you could tell that the people who were having a rough time with it before were now not doing well at all. When I race, I want the fastest way between the start and finish, so at the top of the garden, when it was dry, I was just shooting down it. So when it was dry it was technical, but making it through the rock garden wet was the best. Coming around the turn at the top of it, I ask the people "on or off?" Their reply, "Give us a show!" So i did, I made it through without putting my foot down each time of 4 laps. it would make everyone go nuts!
The third lap was miserable. The rain made the mud so sticky. I ran probably 1/2 the single track out of necessity. Stopping at times to remove mud from my stays so the rear wheel could turn. It was slow going and frustrating. There are sections of the trail where you could see how and where everyone was sliding and you tried your best to negotiate it. So looking ahead at the start of the 4th and final lap my spirits were quite low, but there were Dan and Cale on the starting hill, cheering me on at the top of their lungs. Cale switched bottles with me, which I am so glad I did. I drank and ate all the goo from the bottle on the last lap.
Suprisingly, the 4th lap was relativly dry. It had stopped raining and the sun popped out. There were only a couple sections that were muddy and the sticky mud was not such a problem. I was solely focusing on staying upright and not making any mistakes. In one section where I was running someone in my age group caught me. So, I gave it all I had left. He rode past me where I had to get off, and then he had to get off and I passed him. Never looking back and pushing as hard as I could foward, I got though the last sections of single track with him off my tail.
Finishing felt great. Julie had shown up and was cheering me on at the finish. I knew I was running 2nd or 3rd. Completely exhausted I ended up being pretty weak and shivering at the finish. Normal end of race stuff, change cloths, wash bike and self, stand on podium! Julie asked later what I am going to do to race better next time. The answer is I am not really sure. I need to drink more water in the first couple laps. I could use a little better base at speed. I felt tired in the second lap, but felt pretty good considering, during the last lap. I need to focus on not getting anxious on the fast sections and falling. I need to stay on the bike.
Side note: Marko LaLalone, racing Elite, had to do 5 laps where I had to do 4. He passed me on my last lap, on a single speed to finish a race 5 miles longer than me in a faster time! Yes, he rides 40 hours a week more than I do, but you dont realize really how fast someone is until that happens.
Then there was the rock garden. Oh, the sweet sweet rock garden. Colin and I both ride the same way. We are good at riding single track, but relish over the technical stuff you normally don't get to ride. We went up the hill during the sport class race to take a gander and both got really excited. It was about ten feet long and then you shot down this gully to the bottom of the hill. The picture above is me riding it on the first lap. On the 3rd lap once it got really wet, you could tell that the people who were having a rough time with it before were now not doing well at all. When I race, I want the fastest way between the start and finish, so at the top of the garden, when it was dry, I was just shooting down it. So when it was dry it was technical, but making it through the rock garden wet was the best. Coming around the turn at the top of it, I ask the people "on or off?" Their reply, "Give us a show!" So i did, I made it through without putting my foot down each time of 4 laps. it would make everyone go nuts!
The third lap was miserable. The rain made the mud so sticky. I ran probably 1/2 the single track out of necessity. Stopping at times to remove mud from my stays so the rear wheel could turn. It was slow going and frustrating. There are sections of the trail where you could see how and where everyone was sliding and you tried your best to negotiate it. So looking ahead at the start of the 4th and final lap my spirits were quite low, but there were Dan and Cale on the starting hill, cheering me on at the top of their lungs. Cale switched bottles with me, which I am so glad I did. I drank and ate all the goo from the bottle on the last lap.
Suprisingly, the 4th lap was relativly dry. It had stopped raining and the sun popped out. There were only a couple sections that were muddy and the sticky mud was not such a problem. I was solely focusing on staying upright and not making any mistakes. In one section where I was running someone in my age group caught me. So, I gave it all I had left. He rode past me where I had to get off, and then he had to get off and I passed him. Never looking back and pushing as hard as I could foward, I got though the last sections of single track with him off my tail.
Finishing felt great. Julie had shown up and was cheering me on at the finish. I knew I was running 2nd or 3rd. Completely exhausted I ended up being pretty weak and shivering at the finish. Normal end of race stuff, change cloths, wash bike and self, stand on podium! Julie asked later what I am going to do to race better next time. The answer is I am not really sure. I need to drink more water in the first couple laps. I could use a little better base at speed. I felt tired in the second lap, but felt pretty good considering, during the last lap. I need to focus on not getting anxious on the fast sections and falling. I need to stay on the bike.
Side note: Marko LaLalone, racing Elite, had to do 5 laps where I had to do 4. He passed me on my last lap, on a single speed to finish a race 5 miles longer than me in a faster time! Yes, he rides 40 hours a week more than I do, but you dont realize really how fast someone is until that happens.
BenPopper
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