Home  Team BIKEMAN Winding Trails
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Winding Trails |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Dave Barr
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
Fat Tire Classic
Winding Trails
Farmington, CT
4/47/2008
Time to get it all started. The first MTB race is always interesting. I did a road crit the week before, but nothing lets you know how you’re training is going better than that first race. I’ve decided to focus more on MTB racing this year and try to race my best at the mountain bike nationals which are in Mount Snow VT for the second year. I figure why not…MTB Nats will probably not be back this close to home again for a while.
The Winding trails is a super-fast paced course and my Expert 40-49 opponents wasted no time putting down the hammer. I notice a lot of Masters roadies and cyclocross guys (even some of the “big guns”) are starting to show up at the MTB races again. These are the same guys that raced XC on rigid 26 lb hardtails with “friction shifters” and toe-clips back in the 80’s and 90’s (some say the real XC hayday) but switched to road later. Man…are they still fast! This was evidenced by the fact that a friend of mine from the Masters road and cross circuit, Mike Rowell, smoked the course; not only winning the Expert 40-49 race, but also posting the fastest time of all the experts on Sunday!
Though not able to match the furious pace at the start, I settled into a good solid pace and had several riders around me. I was pretty happy with my riding and fitness, especially for it only being my 4th MTB ride of the year. But, about 3rd lap I noticed that I was gradually losing ground on the super-fast washed-out corners (in fact on all the corners). Although the Winding Trails course is not technical, it lends the opportunity to really fly through the corners at incredible speed, and it was pretty twisty in places. So, to compensate, I increased my output on the straight sections and started reeling-in riders from the back end of the earlier age categories. Then it hit me starting the final lap….Yow!! My lower back just sprang out in pain. It seemed like my power dropped off precipitously and I could no longer drop the hammer on the fast flat sections. Like I said…there’s no way to prepare for the first race other than just doing it. So my final lap time really went up; and I lost contact with some of the guys I was battling with.
I ended the race tenth in my age group and at least got on the board with some series points. My time was right in the middle of the expert field (so not too bad for this point). But more importantly, I learned some things I need to work on: lower back strength/flexibility, cornering, and some equipment changes are also needed. My 2.1” tire was rubbing the 05’ Dos Niner frame all throughout the race, so I think I’ll try a 1.8” tire for more frame clearance. But that’s the beauty of considering the first couple of events “training races”. It takes some of the pressure off and allows you to learn what needs work. I also enjoyed meeting my local Bikeman.com teammates (I think there were 5-6 of us in the Expert/Pro race) Nice job Andrew on winning the pro race! So, I’d say all-in-all Bikeman.com was well represented at Winding Trails.
Dave
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Team Rider Profiles
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Andrew Law, Lakewood, CA
Beginner MTB,
Profile Inside
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