|
|
|
2007 Collegiate Nationals |
|
|
Written by Andrew Freye
|
|
Sunday, 28 October 2007 |
 2007 Collegiate Nationals
So if any of you have been following my write ups and or season closely you might have noticed that it has been a winless season thus far. So I was putting everything into this race since it is most likely the last one of the year. I wanted to have at least one win this year, just once chance to remember that feeling you get when you cross the line in front. On top of that winning this race would come with a beautiful red, white, and blue jersey that I am still in the search for.
 | | click to enlarge |
The night before the race, I was spending a lot of time rolling out my left calf with my Stick. I seemed to have done something to it during the pre ride and it wasn’t feeling right. Between an ice bath and some serious time with the stick my legs were feeling fresh and as good as they have ever felt.
 | | click to enlarge |
5 am rolled around way to early. Got up, had some sweet potato pancakes for breakfast with a cup of Cyrious Java Bikeman Attack Blend coffee and then sat around. The sitting around waiting part is the hardest and worst part of a race, just waiting. When it came time to jump on the bike and head out for my warm up it was still pitch black outside. The majority of my warm up was done in the dark. Around 8am I headed over to the start line to see the DI guys go off.  | | click to enlarge |
Because of the conditions the officials decided to stretch the gap between DI and DII to seven minutes instead of five. I tried to argue that this was too short, but what do I know, I am just a racer. I got called up to the second row, not too bad. I was lined up behind some punk who was holding onto the barriers and clipped in with two feet. The dude beside me and I tried to inform him that he needed to unclip one foot, but he just mumbled something. 30 seconds into the race I passed him and never saw him again.
 | | click to enlarge |
Going into the single track I was around 8th. I didn’t want to kill myself at the start like other riders. One guy from App Mountain in Boone, NC was way out front! About 15 minutes into the race I passed that guy from App Mountain and never saw him again. At this time I also started to pass DI guys. The first couple of guys I passed were cool and got right out of the way, the next several few were horrible.  | | click to enlarge |
Some DI guys would get off their bikes and stand right in the middle of the trail, leaving you no room to pass, others could care less. I caught up to a group of 4 or 5 riders near the bottom of a descent. I had moved up to 2nd place at this point and had put a big gap on 3rd place who was having a hard time in the muddy conditions. The group of DI riders would not move out of my way. I was running behind them yelling at them to move and still they would not. I tried to get back on my bike and make a stupid pass on an off camber section. My bike slipped out from me and the end result, broken front brake lever. After all of this 3rd place caught up to me.
 | | click to enlarge |
After lap one I was in 3rd place and 2nd wasn’t too far ahead of me. I was able to keep close contact with the guy in second place. Still I was having frustration passing some DI guys and even more frustration trying to ride my bike with out a front brake! Going down the really steep sections that were completely saturated in mud was impossible with out a front brake. I couldn’t slow my speed down enough to control my bike on the descents. Instead I was bouncing off trees and found myself running up the hills because the mud was so bad and down the hills because no brakes.
 | | click to enlarge |
On my third lap I took a bottle of Coke which tasted oh so good. I love Coke. No big changes in the third lap, still holding onto third place. Towards the end of the lap I heard someone cheering on another DII rider saying they were not far back from a medal spot. I am not sure if I was hearing things, or if someone really was close to me, but I finished off my Coke and went into defensive mode. I had to be careful of a few things: 1. - I didn’t want my legs to cramp up.  | | click to enlarge |
Like everyone else I was doing a ton of running, probably less than others because my Panaracer Trailrakers were kicking ass, but nonetheless I was still running a lot. 2. - the amount of mud was starting to take a toll on the drive train. I was getting some signs of chain suck and didn’t want it to get worse. And 3. - I didn’t want to bonk, I had been out for a long time and it seems like this year I have had a lot of losses due to bonks.
 | | click to enlarge |
I picked up my pace and tried to hold onto 3rd and maybe even pick up a spot or two! This is mountain biking and anything can happen. The only thing that happened on the 4th and final lap was that I stayed in the same spot and came across the line in 3rd place for a bronze medal! I also finished 18th for DI with a seven or so minute time penalty. Not sure where my time would have put me if I were to have taken off the 7 minutes.  | | click to enlarge |
All I do know is that even on the final time list they never even took off the 7 minute time penalty for the DII guys, so don’t compare the times you see online. It is also hard to judge times because the DI guys had a full lap and a half before catching up to any DII guys, where I had half a lap before catching up to the DI guys.
 | | click to enlarge |
I am a little bummed about the race because I broke parts on my bike again! However it is very satisfying to have pulled off a bronze medal at nationals with a broken bike! This month I have broken both of my Avid Speed Dial Ultimate levers, that is a lot of money. They did last me two full seasons and they only broke because of stupid crashes by the pilot.
Race notes:
The SRAM drive train performed amazingly well in the mud. Despite some minor signs of chain suck the bike kept on going forward in the worst conditions I have been in all year.
 | | click to enlarge |
I would not have been on the podium with out the help of the Panaracer Trailrakers 2.1. Those tires helped me get through sections other riders were forced to walk. I was able to ride down descents with confidence knowing those tires were going to get traction even in the thickest mud. Plus I had one less thing to worry about running the Panaracer GreenLite latex tubes. Those things are crazy light and have a less chance of flatting. They are def worth the money!
I know The Stick helped keep my legs feeling fresh. With out the help of The Stick my legs would not have been fully recovered and performed as well. That piece of plastic does some amazing things!
A
 |
|
|
|
|
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
; "click to enlarge")
Show/Hide comment form
