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Norba #2, Arizona |
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Written by Adam Craig, Carl Decker
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Saturday, 19 March 2005 |
(Carl Decker...) The desert is a strange and dangerous place. Stop two of the NORBA series found Adam and I in McDowel Mountain Park outside of Phoenix AZ, home to rattlesnakes, desert tortoises (tortoi?) and a lot of cactus weary bike racers for the weekend. Again the schedule would be for three days of racing; a timetrial, a short track XC, and a Cross Country. The timetrial was fast and fun, with enough 25 mph rock gardens to make the NRS dually the obvious choice for Adam and I...
My race was going well until I punctured on a ginormous anvil shaped rock 26 minutes in (about three minutes to go). This gave me a chance to take a cooldown walk and cheer for Adam, who was having a great day, posting the second fastest time of the day, even with a good firm brush with some of the local plantlife. Our favorite ex-soigneur, Elke was kind enough to remove the cholla cacutus spines from his shoulder at the finish. Our buddy Geoff Kabush was the winner on the day, keeping the early season form rolling.
(Adam...) Day two was the Short Track race, contested on a pretty long track, actually. We had a very serious mission for the short track day, keep the Team Giant "B" heat win streak alive. This task would be a difficult one for the Deckerator, as he was seen rolling around behind the entire field at the startline due to the flat tire and ensuing last place-ish finish in the TT. Carl made a valiant effort to keep the dream alive, but unfortunately a certain Canadian compatriot, Ricky Federeau was drilling it from the front, as opposed to the back, from the start.
My short track was precluded by Carl telling me, in his infinite wisdom, not to hit the ONE rock on the entire course. I had made a note of this and planned to avoid the ONE rock.... Things started off well and we gradually whittled the group down to Six, working together pretty well and keeping the tempo stiff. Kabush gave 'er with two laps to go and got a solid gap just as I slammed into the ONE rock on the course and punctured in the dust. This made response to the attack difficult at best, let alone rolling around the next two laps on a less than inflated tire.... I rolled across the line hoping the XC would be better and determined to make it that way.
The XC course was going to be a good time to race on, a flowy, rolling, 100% buff singletrack affair. This, while being fun to ride and race on, would make it pretty difficult for me to get away from anyone, or for Carl to pass the ninety guys starting in front of him... Things started off well for me, rolling off the line fourth wheel and quite comfortable. Eventually a selection was made and we had a group of six up front with no pursuit in sight. I did a bunch of work, trying to make up time in the overall GC and everyone else was pretty content to rip around in a little group. With two laps to go, Kabush made it clear that he was having a good one and put a good gap into us on the climb to T-Bone ridge, we never closed said gap and he drove it in for the solo win. I worked with the boys to keep him close and paid the price at the finish, coming in fifth out of the group of pursuers. Pretty happy with that, you can't expext to have two mysteriously good weekends in march after a nice relaxed winter! Carl spent the day working on his creativity in passing technique, working his way into the top twenty and having a casual good time in the process.
Now we're at the Kona Kids' hotel packing up bikes and getting ready to head home to Bend for a week of relaxing, then a good block of training until Sea Otter, our next big event. Maybe we'll find ourselves at some of the good time Mountain Bike races in the OBRA Oregon Series in the next couple weeks, having a good time with the local boys in the mud.
Thanks to everyone who's helping us out: Shimano, Fox Racing Shox, Easton, Lazer Helmets, Verge Clothing, Michelin, Cytomax, Innovations in Cycling, Finish Line, Smith Sport Optics, WTB Saddles.
Adam and Carl |
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