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Deer Valley Nationals |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Kirk Turner
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Monday, 25 June 2007 |
Deer Valley Nationals
NORBA NMBS
6/15/2007 - 6/17/2007
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Some days you have “it” and some days you don’t….
That pretty much sums up my weekend. The initial reason for my trip to Utah was not in fact to race; it was to attend a mandatory orientation at the University of Utah, where I will be attending in the fall.
But after coming off solid Elite results at the first three Canadian National Series in Quebec 50th 40th and 38th , it was easy enough to extend my stay a few days to make the next major race on my schedule Deer Valley Utah. I had a relatively successful race there last year as a junior, but this would be my first NORBA National as a Pro.
I had a full schedule: Friday night-Super D, Saturday-XC, and Sunday-Short track. The weekend went like this.
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Friday: The super-D course was quite rough, but pretty fun with about a total of 10ft of uphill in the whole course. We’ll just say my measly 3.5in of travel was less than optimum. In comparison, Amiel Cavalier the eventual winner rode a light 6.75in travel DH rig. I felt ok in practice but I pushed it too hard come race time and a flat was the result, followed by a crash due to the flat. Walking across the finish won’t put you high on the results board where seconds are a precious commodity.
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Saturday: Round 2. The same old XC course as always; 8.5 miles of very fast dry single track with a few noteworthy climbs. A literal back row start left me dodging crashes and eating dust, however I felt reasonable even with the altitude—7,700ft. But then 3.5 miles in, a familiar “hisssssssss” announced that my luck from the previous day had continued to follow me. Great, lol. So I changed the flat with some difficulty—while the rest of the field continued unabated—donned my tube shoulder straps of honor and set out in pursuit of my long gone companions. And I was still chasing when I was pulled at the end of the next lap due to the 80% rule that was in effect. Deer Valley two: Kirk zero.
Sunday: Round 3. Short track. Well you might be able to see by now where this is going…however, I didn’t flat this time! But it was another back row start, dodging crashes, breathing dust, and a somewhat premature departure from the race. Deer Valley three: Kirk zero
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So needless to say my weekend was not quite what I would have liked or envisioned, at all. The week wasn’t a waste though. I made some new friends, met a girl, and I got to race in a beautiful place with wonderful people; and those things are never a waste of time. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches, so I’ll chalk it up as a learning experience and move on. I look forward to my return to Utah in the fall and the start of the Rocky Mountain Conference Collegiate series. But now it is time for me to get refocused and geared up for the U-23 National Championships at Mount Snow in July.
Thanks for reading, and see you at the races!
Kirk |
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