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Norba #1, Texas |
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Written by Adam Craig
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Saturday, 05 March 2005 |
Well, Carl and I came down here hoping to have a good time, get in some racing and check out Texas. We've been hanging out in Bend for the last month or so, training, skiing, kayaking, making plans for the season and generally having a relaxed, enjoyable winter. With this in mind, we came to Texas with minimal expectations, both of us would have been pretty stoked with a top 10 in one of the stages or overall, it being the first weekend in March and all..
First stage of the three day race was the time trial on friday afternoon. Super fun high speed singletrack course seemed like a good place to turn the pedals with conviction for the first time this year. Carl fired it off first and had a solid ride coming in around 18th after 11:00 of effort. I was one of the last to roll off the line, did my effort and had a good time. Crossing the finish line the announcer said my time would put me on the podium for sure, and it did, 3rd on the day. Geoff Kabush was the winner, starting the season off right
Day number two was the short track. Sweet course with a BIG climb and descent... We decided to unveil our trick new XTC Comp Hardtails for the climbing and it was the call for sure! I started in my usual style, a bit slow... As the twenty minutes plus three laps wound down I worked my way up through the lead group and set off in pursuit of the leaders, Trent Lowe and Geoff Kabush. They kept a careful eye on me, mechanic's shirt, baggies and all, and made sure I never made contact. Maybe next time! I ended up third after holding off a charging Barry Wicks. Kabush took it again for day two. The Deckerator was stuck in traffic and stayed there, not at all surprised to be suffering in an early March STXC..
Saturday afternoon saw us riding home in the rain wondering what the already challenging XC course would turn into with some (a couple inches) of water. We mounted up the new Michelin XCR A/T and figured we'd test out it's mudding capabilities. Turns out they're quite capable! Sunday's XC was a true test of skill and tenacity, three eight mile loops would definately sort things out. Surprisingly, the racing at the front stayed pretty tight. I ended up starting well and settled in with the lead group in the first singletrack. Wicks, Kabush, Horgan-Kobelski, Lowe, Taberlay and I were feeling things out and trying to stay upright. Eventually Kabush and I ended up using our Full Suspension rigs to put a good gap on the poor Fisher boys and their hardtails in the rough and nasty. While all this was gradually playing out, Carl was working his way steadily through the field, he would end up just short of catching Liam Killeen and ! JHK, sixth on the day and pretty stoked. As the race wound down I fell off the pace a bit and was riding third with Trent, I got around him and rode cleanly for the last half lap, somehow catching Kabush just before the last descent. I got around him and charged it, riding smoothly somehow and got a really big gap immediately, (turns out Geoff cracked and was almost hypothermic at the finish, harsh) So I kept it fast and steady for the last mile of golf cart path and fairway traversing to seal up my first NORBA win, or major Mountain Bike win of any type. With my gap on Kabush and Lowe at the finish, I also took the overall Stage Race win by thirteen seconds, not much, but enough.
Carl, Tom and I are pretty surprised with the way this weekend turned out, given our early season preparation and expectations. It's always amazing when things come together unexpectedly. We'd like to say thanks to all of the new sponsors who are supporting the program this year. The bikes got built in the nick of time and all the new stuff works amazingly well. Getting used to new rigs in epic conditions seemed like it might be challenging, but in fact everything was perfect.
Thanks for all your support, hopefully this is a sign of things to come!
Adam & Carl |
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