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Team Bikeman Sections: Race Report Archives | Team Rider Profiles |
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US MTB Nationals Report #2 |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Steve Morse
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Wednesday, 25 July 2007 |
USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Championships
Mount Snow, Vermont
July 17-22, 2007
Sport Men 35-39
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I've been looking forward to doing this race all year, and it's pretty much been my major training goal since February. I have only done the Mt. Snow course once before (NORBA National Series last year) so I knew pretty much what I was in for...or did I?
Instead of the bone dry, but still incredibly difficult course that I was familiar with, almost 2 days of solid rain had turned the already-trecherous mountain course into a horrendous mudbath. A good bike-handlers dream, and my worst nightmare. I found this out during a Thursday evening pre-ride with team-mate Matt. Tire choice was obviously going to be a huge factor, as I quickly discovered that the balding Maxxis Ignitors I was running weren't going to cut the mustard in the rooty, rocky, twisty, pant-pooping descents.
Thurday evening was spent back at our sweet basement Mt. Snow condo, eating "the last supper", debating tire choices, and watching some sweet brainless movies (Jackass 2) with the feet hoisted in the air. Matt graciously popped on some new rubber on my wheels while I cooked up pounds of pasta and a loaf of garlic bread. The verdict (Thanks Big Al!) was that I would run a Panaracer Rampage on the front, and a brand new Ignitor on the back. We mounted the rear tire backwards to gain maximum "paddle" in the slop. Also on hand at the condo were Chuck N. and Matt's wife Jennie.
Friday morning dawned. My 11am Sport race came at possibly the worst timeframe of the entire schedule as far as course conditions. Though Friday morning was sunny and clear, it had rained a little bit more overnight, not allowing the course to dry any. We were scheduled right after the Semi-Pros (who went off at 8am) had pretty much destroyed whatever course was still intact.
My goals for the race were pretty simple: #1 kill the climbs and then #2 survive the downhills without crashing. I knew that #1 was going to be a lot easier than #2, especially in the conditions.
I gave myself (and my elbows) the last rites as I threw on my skinsuit, aired up my shocks on the Salsa Dos Niner, and readied my bottles. I warmed up on my road bike for about a half hour, then headed down to the staging area about 15 minutes to start time.
Evidently I have a good national ranking, because they called the top-ten ranked riders to the line first. I got the 3rd call-up! Sweet! I was worried I'd have to fight for a front row spot, but I got my choice spot. It was pretty cool to have your name announced and then ride up to the starting box. Sport riders were scheduled to do 3 laps, but because of the conditions, they cut it down to 2 laps.
So the race started, I sat in conseratively up the first fire road hill though the feed zone, sitting in 5th or 6th place. Still a decent start for me. I knew I had to get in front of the main part of the group before we headed into the woods for the first muddy downhill. There was some serious carnage to come there. One of the disheartening things about this race is you already feeling blown up 3 minutes into the race because of the first climb, I don't care how good your fitness is.
OK, into the first woods section, it was time to handle my bike--not an easy thing with your HR pinned and the ground feeling like a Crisco factory exploded. I made it though all the crisscross greasy roots and mud covered rocks no problem. I could hear the unmistakable grinding and swearing of dudes piling up behind me. It reminded me that this is why you go fast at the start of a mountain bike race.
Back down the mountain to the start area again, and then it's up, up, up. Today, about 25 minutes of climbing to the top of Mt. Snow. About 1/4 - 1/2 mile was completely unridable uphill singletrack. Even if you could ride it, it would still be faster to run. My calves were on fire as I hiked my bike with 15 pounds of mud on it up the mountain. Then, when that's over and got back on my bike, I dumped onto another fireroad that we had dubbed "the Demoralizer", basically a wide-open dirt road that leaves you baking in the sun for a nice granny gear climb. When you think that's over, you go around a corner and then theres another nice grassy climb with a mud path staring you in the face.
I was climbing pretty well, I passed a few guys and made it to the top of the mountain in 3rd place. This wouldn't last, as I knew that the really good technical riders were behind me, and it was time for the really hard part...going down!
The descents were just INSANE. Bascially there was nothing you could do except point your bike in a direction and keep your weight back, and hope you didn't crash into a big rock or slide into the woods. There was just no steering of the bike to be done with the handlebars. Everything was pretty much a loosely controlled slide on the grease. This is due to the tires being packed up mud doughnuts half the time, with no traction at all. I figured I was on borrowed time and a crash would eventually come. I only flubbed one really nasty section (which I had to run the remainer of) but otherwise I DIDN'T CRASH at all. That's right not even a scratch. If you know me, you will understand how big of an accomplishment this is. I got passed by a few guys in my group, but I figured it was better to just ride my own race and not crash, rather than try and keep up with them and probably stack it.
After about 10-15 minutes of the scariest descents of my life, it was time to rinse and repeat...do it all again for the second lap. I passed through the feed zone and got a fresh bottle and lots of encouragement from the fellers. Chuck also handed me a bottle of plain water to squirt on my drivetrain. I think this helped quite a bit.
I have to stop for a second and acknowledge a few products that I think really saved the race for me. I used a generous helping of Phil's Tenacious Oil on my chain, and I don't think there is any way I could have finished the race any other way. My chain and cassette were absolutely saturated with mud, but the Phil's stuck on and kept the chain intact, and I could actually still shift into most of my gears. I highly recommend it for the harshest conditions The Panaracer Rampage tire I put on the front cleared the mud pretty fast, and the super-aggressive tread gave me extra confidence on the really nasty stuff when I needed it. I am now a huge believer now in these two products.
So after the second lap of more craziness and starting to feel completely wasted, I rolled in for 9th place in my group. Whatever, I'll take it. A top-10 at the nationals is fine by me. Not like I could have ridden any harder or done a better job handling my bike.
So now, its time for a few days of rest, and to start thinking about gearing up for Cross season!
Steve
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