You don’t realize how much a change in routine can mess with you. I’m getting used to packing my gear up the night before, waking up early and rushing my breakfast and coffee, and leaving the house before anyone else is up. That’s what its like for a ~10AM start with a venue 90 minutes away.
For some reason, Bulldogs refuse to change and keep Cat 1 at 1PM. I don’t think any other race in the series has a race start at 1PM. Luckily it wasn’t hot, because usually it’s a sauna in that field. But racing mid day like that blows. Maybe that has something to do with the low attendance numbers?
Still, it’s a race and that’s what we do.
This recap is going to be short because only a few things stick out in my head. Lots of short bullets!
· I had breakfast at 8AM and didn’t eat anything else but GUs. That’s wasn’t enough.
· During Pre riding, my legs felt dead. That’s usually a good sign.
· KVSP usually brings out a lot of people that don’t do the other H2H races, and I think this was the same. I didn’t recognize half the people lined up
· At the start, I put in a good hard effort. I like to start hot and make everyone else suffer, I find satisfaction in that. It hurts me too, but I think psychologically it hurts me less because I am the one instigating it. I took the hole shot and lead most of the field.
· I got passed going into the single track but that was OK. I just didn’t want to be mid pack and get caught in the clusterfuck that I assumed would happen going up that rocky climb.
· I was second and the guy leading was riding well until he hit this one section where you drop down a rocky hill, sharp turn left, then up a punchy little climb. If you don’t know it’s coming, you will be in too high of a gear, which is what happened to him and he ended up breaking his chain.
· I was now leading and didn’t see anyone directly on my wheel.
· Going through a very fast, flowy, section, I come around a blind turn and see 2 ladies on horses in the middle of the trail. WHAT THE FUCK? I yelled at them asking what they hell they were doing. They yelled back that’s it’s a public park. Ok, I get that but still..what the fuck. Maybe I was a dick and yelled, but this was 7 minutes in the race, my HR is probably 185, I’m trying to put a gap on the field and suddenly I have to stop to let these horses get out of the way. In the heat of the moment, things get hot. I got around without having lost too much.
· Here is where the race gets boring.
· I passed the SingleSpeed leader half way through the first lap. Maybe they shouldn’t start in front of us?
· My first lap was 29 minutes according to my Garmin. That was pretty fast in my mind
· The second lap was completely uneventful. I had a Gu halfway though.
· Third lap was rough. I still had a good sized lead going into the ST, but I was hurting. I couldn’t recover after the climbs as fast as I wanted too and I was getting sloppy.
· Going around a turn my front end washed out. I caught myself with my left leg and as I did I felt a cramp. Fuuuuck…..I look down and my front tire is low. I ride it for a minute but realize it’s too low and I can’t maintain any speed. Stop to hit it with Air and I got passed. Double fuuuuck. I get back on and my right leg locks in a cramp. Triple fuuuuck. I yell in pain as the guy goes by me. I pedal though it and start chasing but my tire still feels low. I think I may be a flat as opposed to a burp. What else can go wrong?? Stop one more time and give it more air. Feel the tire and it seems about right. Maybe I just didn’t give it enough he first time.
· 10 minutes later tire is ok….. but when I get into the field there are more of these fucking horses. I stop to let them get out of the way, which to their credit they do fast but still.. As I pass by them I’m thinking how I am going to go find the next equestrian event and JRA the field.
· The last section of the course hurts. There are 3 or 4 climbs which are kind of steep and I go into my 42t and just spin up hoping my legs don’t cramp.
· When I descend the switch backs I am relieved. No sign of anyone behind me until…
· In the field I look back and see someone putting out an effort to catch. Fuck that I put my head down, lock my fork and shock, and go into TT mode. I still had enough in my legs to put out a good effort all the way to the finish. It want necessary because the guy chasing me was Dan who was the SS leader.
· I will take second place and be happy. Next year I am running a burly tire in front at this place.
· No pics…
@gtluke doesn’t love us.
