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Sundance Spin |
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Written by Dave Leikam
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Friday, 06 June 2008 |
Sundance Spin
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Sundance Resort, Utah
 | | Dave on the green screen |
It’s been a while since I’ve raced a mountain bike race in the mountains. I never miss the ICUP season opener in the low desert of St. George, but my MTB schedule is kinda sketchy after that most years. After a bad experience in my first CAT4 road race in April, I’m not too excited to do that again.
The old adage of “a few bad apples…” applies to CAT4 racing in the Salt Lake area as there are a few dumbasses that are making it dangerous for the rest. You know who you are. Soooooooooo, ennyhoo, I am racing the trusty old Salsa Caballero again and it’s been pretty good this season.
The Sundance Resort sits at the foot of Mount Timpanogos just east of Provo in one of the most beautiful valleys anywhere on earth. I had never raced or even ridden there before and I have been missing out. On a typical day you have to pay to play there so the trails are lightly used and very well maintained thus making it-OK, I’m gonna say it- the best single track in Utah.
The race was well attended by MTBers at large and by the Bikeman UC contingent. In addition to myself, Troy Nye, Tim White and expat Mainah Kirk Turner were on hand to fly the team colors.
The course started up a paved road that doesn’t look too bad, but when you are trying to power up it hurts like hell. The group strung out quickly and I settled into about tenth position a few spots behind Troy. To my surprise, I kept BigT in sight for the first few miles and eventually got his wheel. He was suffering a bit as training for a marathon does not translate all that well to cycling. I let him know I was there and he encouraged me to get around him and on up the trail. Wow, that has never happened before. The only times I have been ahead of T in a MTB race is when he has flatted…..and later caught me anyway.
I felt good through the entire first lap climb and began the descent alone. I had caught a few others in my category and got passed by one. I lost touch with him as I am not a great descender and he is. Back through the S/F for lap two and another grind up the road.
As I entered the single track again, I sensed that I had a decent gap to the 40 plussers behind me so I allowed myself to recover a bit and ate and drank. This is monumental for me as I usually carry food and water only pretending that I might actually consume some of it. I was able to do the things I needed to do and maintain position going into the final long descent.
All was right with the world, the temperature was a pleasant 60 something and the sun was out, the birds were chirping, and I was riding as well as I ever have…..and then…..I found myself alone in the dark forest, unsure of where I was. It’s easy to follow the wheels to complete the circuit, but in unfamiliar territory with no one ahead of me, I was momentarily lost, only in my mind, but that was enough. A few seconds of distraction, wondering if I missed a turn, I looked down the mountain to my right and………BAM! What the hell was that and why is everything sideways? I had struck a demon root with my left pedal and before I knew I had a problem, I was down and back first into a tree. The pain was intense, but without a thought in my noggin’, I was on my feet and throwing my leg over my bike. Eventually thoughts like, “am I OK?” and “is my bike OK?” passed through my mind, but I couldn’t really hear them over the roar that was permeating the forest, a roar so loud it sounded like it was right behind me or next to me. Then I realized that it was me.
When the screaming settled down, I checked the bike out on the fly. Brakes-check, shifters-check, whatever else-yuhuh. I only had a few hundred yards to go and the race was done so I pressed on. The pain subsided and I didn’t lose any positions or much skin. I had to have hit a rock with my right side since I have a deep bruise in my ribs and the lower left side of my back took a shot too. I remember the tree that stopped me but after that it’s a blur. I limped to the finish wondering what it feels like to have a broken rib. I still don’t know, thank goodness. This is bad enough.
I finished 8th and Troy finished 11th after fixing a broken chain. Tim was 9th in expert 40+ and Kurt must have had a rough day as he finished last amongst the pros. Overall I’m very happy with how things turned out for me….decent finish, great course and nothing broken. Next week is Deer Valley, my former favorite course before I raced at Sundance.
Results at Intermountaincup.com
Thanks for reading.
Dave
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; "Dave on the green screen")
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