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Pan American Championships |
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Written by Adam Craig
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
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Surprise, it’s racing season again. Good thing I ended up in shape in time. I think our newest Giant Team member, Kelli Emmett might be too, as she kept up just fine on our local mountain bike test piece at Smith Rock, she even rode a section of Paul Thomasberg’s creation that the Deckerator walked… Carl is definitely in prime Rally Car driving shape, and after his biggest off the (extremely active) couch training block ever last week, with a bunch of 5 hour rides he got tricked into going on with Timmy and I, seems like his bike form will be just fine (after his saddle area heals up…)
Although a bunch of random interesting stuff has happened this winter, I should probably start by telling y’all about the super sweet South American kickoff, since you allegedly read these things to find out what’s happening at bike races… Or do you? At any rate, it’s a story worth telling for two distinct reasons. First of all, the Patagonian Lakes Region, which comprises the Chilean/Argentenian border, is absolutely stunning. The scenery in all directions is dominated by mountains and water, not much else, but what more could you really ask for? Animals maybe, as there didn’t seem to be any, except for some huge scary looking scavenger hawks… Second of all, the racecourse was bona-fide SINGLETRACK for the entirety of the 6 kilometer lap. Not only was it singletrack, it was pure dirt bike singletrack. This meant that each and every corner was perfectly bermed black dirt, every straight had something to pump or jump and it was all sprinkled with ROOTS, that’s right, roots, from trees! Wow. Best Pan Ams course ever, and a nice change from the usual impossibly steep doubletrack. I rode way too many laps in the two days before just because it was so entertaining. Fortunately, an ice bath that would have been cold enough for even Kelli to approve of (and Carl to scoff at…) erases all evils and returns the legs to a semblance of freshness.
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I can’t believe how well the whole race played out. Usually Pan Ams involve a bunch of weird stuff happening, crazy fast starts where all the Gringos get smoked, cows running out in the course, lap traffic trying to take you out, people spraying you with very suspect smelling water, etc. From the gun it was pretty much Norteamericano Mafia dominating the front, which was good, because the start loop descended the local motocross track, doubles and all… We filed into the woods with the familiar profile of Geoff Kabush leading things out at a reasonable clip. A couple South Americans barged through with unbridled enthusiasm, as always, and one Columbian actually let most of the first lap before reality set in. Fortunately, the reality that set in for me was that the last two months of working with my new coach, Bart Bowen, doing some actual structured, planned, intelligent training (for the most part) has resulted in reasonable form. Weird. A lead group of the five usual suspects, Kabush, Seamus McGrath, Todd Wells, Jeremy H-K and I settled into riding reasonably fast and having a good time railing around. Unfortunately, a theme developed for the Americans that would play right into the hands of the wily Canucks. The first of us to blow a gear change at the base of one of the many steep walls was yours truly, whoops. I was having such a good time whacking berms that I forgot basic shifting technique. A careful minute of repairs later I was back in the action and reeling the group in. 3k later JHK suffered the same fate, leaving Todd alone at the front and me to ride with the Canadians. Turned out that they have more early-season snap in their legs, as the last lap accelerations were too much for my current capacity… I figured Todd would hold them off either way. Too bad he didn’t learn from our chain dropping, as he did it in a mud bog with 1k to go and, despite his best efforts to block the line during repairs, those cowards from the great white north didn’t wait for him. The nerve… Kabush won, Seamo Second, T Wells third, me fourth, JHK fifth. At least we got a bunch of UCI points and started the season off on a reasonably strong note. Hopefully that theme, and fitness, will continue to build throughout the season.
Notable was Georgia Gould’s win in the women’s race, she’s been coming along nicely the last couple years and seemed as surprised as anyone with her two minute margin of victory over everyone’s favorite, Mary Mcconnelaug. Willow Koerber and Heather Irminger rounded out the US domination of the women’s race, taking the top four. Sam Schultz and Sam Jurekovik were second and third to Max Plaxton of Candad in the U23 race. It’s good to see everyone riding well.
Post race I organized the first (annual?) Barry Wicks “WE RIDE TO ARGENTINA!!” memorial ride. Since we were already in Argentina, we decided it would be more logical, but in the same spirit, to ride to Chile. Unfortunately, instead of starting at 9am with enough Fanta and Empanadas to last an entire day, we started at 6pm with a couple Honey Stinger bars and rapidly approaching storm clouds. We knew this wouldn’t have stopped Barry though, so we pushed on, making it to the first border checkpoint 30k down the road without any army personnel turning us around… In a steady wind driven rain we took a photo, flipped it and headed back to town to find some empanadas, mission accomplished.
Thanks for reading, a “Winter Whatnot” and 2007 schedule are coming your way once I get home from this epic (35 hours there and 32 home…) trip and Carl returns from the World Rally Championship round he just went to check out in Leon, Mexico so we can decide what stories merit telling.
Thanks to everyone making it happen this year for us-
Giant Bicycles
Shimano Components and Shoes
Fox Racing Shox
Race Face Components
Michelin Tires
Smith Sport Optics
Thule Rack Systems, thuleroadtrip.com
WTB Saddles (and 69’er front wheels…)
Dedicatedathlete.com nutrition
Honey Stinger Gels and Bars
Verge Clothing
Dakine Travel Accessories and Gloves
A special thanks to the folks at USA Cycling, Matt Cramer, Ken Whelpdale and Irina Capatina, for setting up this trip and helping us help ourselves help them with future International success. |
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