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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by L. Kovacs
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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
GrillZ Memorial
MMBA #5, NECS #9
Reid State Park, Georgetown, ME
September 16, 2007
The 2007 Grillz Memorial Race at Reid State Park was one for the record books -- at least for my record books. Though my lackluster fifth place finish occludes the glory of it, I did post my own personal best time for the course. My time of 1:39 was a vast improvement over last year's 1:47. The day could not have been any more beautiful with temperatures hovering around sixty and crystal blue skies.
Allow me to begin by saying that I love this trail. Let me also say that this was not always the case. In fact the first time I rode Reid I swore it would be my last. When I finally discovered the "power line" section whose entrance is well hidden from view, I wished I never had. Upon entering this narrow thread of trail I was enveloped in greenery that all but obscured any reasonable view of the riding surface I was trying to navigate. And then the riding got technical. Like, really technical. But repeated visits and a positive attitude allowed me, over the course of two or three years, to dial in the good lines and learn to ride some of what had seemed impossible. I now proudly consider this trail my home turf.
I pre-rode the course the Friday prior to the race and it was as dry as I had ever seen it. What a difference a day makes. It rained steadily on Saturday, and areas that had been easily passable became pretty darn slick. Add to this the 80+ riders ripping it up and that dry trail got downright greasy.
Earlier in the season I suffered a spat of pinch flats so I have been running my tires at 40 psi ever since. This is all well and good when it hasn't rained for a month, but on Sunday I couldn't figure out why I couldn't keep the rubber side down. DUH! My hard tires were sliding off every bit of slime out there. Unfortunately this didn't dawn on me until Monday morning. But the hard tires weren't all bad.
The trail at Reid is, well, kind of schizophrenic. The opening section is classic coastal Maine: pine needles, roots, ledges, and lots of twists and turns. The power line section is unrelenting off-camber rock gardens, mud pits, roots, stream crossings, and even the odd 14 inch water-main crossing. In between these sections though is an immaculate, micro-groomed, super-fast trail that requires ZERO bike handling and rides well at mach speed. I was glad to be running three chain rings on this day as I dialed in the 48-13 and mashed down on those pedals. All the reeling in of slower riders I did was thanks to my effort on these smooth sections. I am sure my over-inflated tires lent me a hand in these sections as well.
This was the most exciting ending I have had all season. I passed a guy on the last smooth section climb before entering the power line, and then caught two more guys in my age group. I wasn't finding room to pass and the guy I had passed eventually caught us. About a quarter mile from the finish is an infamous mud hole, and I blew my move. I went left behind one guy who lost it, and the guy I had beat on the climb went right and powered through. That was that. I think 3rd 4th and 5th place in Sport Veteran II were separated by less than 60 seconds.
Thanks to drinking HEED and training more intelligently, this race felt great both during and after. I spent the week previous to the race not riding, doing yoga and eating a lot of carbohydrates. I had a nary a cramp out there and my legs felt fresh. I will be back again, but next time I will have less air in my tires. I think some newer rubber may have helped too (my tires are 2 years old.). In any case, this is a classic and fun race. If you're in Maine in September (and where else would you rather be?!?!?), this is a must do. See you next year!
L Dog
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