Home  Team BIKEMAN GrillZ Memorial MTB Race
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GrillZ Memorial MTB Race |
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Written by Andrew Freye
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Wednesday, 03 October 2007 |
 GrillZ Memorial
MMBA #5, NECS #9
Reid State Park, Georgetown, ME
September 16, 2007
Ahhh it is that time of year again…. The time of year when the nights are getting cool, the days are getting shorter, the air is fresh and crisp, and the leaves are starting to change. It’s at this time of year when the toughest mountain bike race occurs, Grilz.
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Grillz is a true test to see who has been out training over the past months, and who has been able to improve or maintain any bike handling skills. In my opinion this is the hardest race course I do all year long. Grillz isn’t necessarily the hardest race, sure the world cups, NORBA nationals and Canadian cups are more physically demanding due to the competition, but it’s the course lay out that makes Grillz so tough.
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The race starts off by shooting the pack down a slippery rocky decent that quickly climbs right back up. You have to be 100% focused and pick the right line in order to carry your momentum up over the quick climb and over the wet coastal rocks and roots. Make one simple error and you are off your bike. The first third of the lap consists of a lot of rough woods trail. The trail isn’t single track tight, but it is filled with lots of roots and rocks that make passing a challenge.  | | click to enlarge |
After surviving the first section of trail you are welcomed to a dirt road that quickly changes into a man made walking path. You find your self flying through the woods on this crushed stone walking path, weaving around small tidal ponds and around marshes. It is in the open section that most racers redline it. After finishing the hard packed section you enter the ‘pipeline’ section. The section gets it name from a water pipe line cutting trough the woods that you have to cross. This 1 mile section of single track is some of the toughest most technical trail one ever races on. You do not want to enter this section of trail with a clear head.
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So my game plan was to hit the first section of single track hard, get beat up, ride a steady pace through the fast hard pack walking trails to recover, and then ride a steady clean place through the pipe line. The first couple of laps were allright. I was sitting in 3rd and would catch up to second place on the pipe line section of trail. Once I closed the gap the guy in front of me would have to randomly dab causing me lose momentum and stop what little rhythm I had. Once this happened he would easily put 20 seconds on me.
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On the last lap I saw O’Keafe on the side of the trail fixing a flat. Now I was in second place and first place was only 20 seconds or so in front of me. I tried to pick up the pace as much as possible, but I wasn’t closing the gap. Turns out the leader was also fighting to hold onto the win. My race plan of recovering on the open section was canned as I was now fighting for the lead. The leader was within in sight going into the pipe line. The only thing in-between us was a couple of sport riders. Did I mention you can’t pass on the pipe line section of single track? Enough said. I finished in second, not to far down from the leader.
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The Mamasita worked great. The big wheels allowed me to roll over the Maine rocks and roots with ease. The new rear end allowed me to ride in comfort as well. The SRAM drive train has been flawless like always.
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