rich’s race reports

I decided to run this race in a team with my 13 year old brother who has been very excited at the opportunity to race mountain bikes.  I rode the Titus RacerX and young Aric rode the shop’s Bandersnatch.  I had Aric do the first lap as it would inevitably be a congested and slower one, letting him watch other’s lines would be helpful.  He had never ridden the bike or trail.  Once he completed a clean first lap I got to work.  I knew after a few minutes that I had way too much air in the tires.  I was all over the place for my first two laps and am currently covered in scrapes and cuts.  I was still a bit sick and my lungs were just not working like I would prefer.   Those laps comprised of some time running my race pace, and a lot of time stuck behind groups of slower riders.  I snatched up a good number of spots and come back in after 2 laps to start lap 4.  I signed in and turn around to see that Aric was already gone.  I couldnt believe he was down for another lap!  I took the tires down about 10 psi each and waited for Aric’s return.  He did make it and I started on lap 5.  I was motivated to make lap six, the tires were gripping and the field had thinned nicely.  I make it with 7 minutes left for lap 6.  It was fast and I didnt get slowed much.   I was able to gobble up a lot more positions, there were a lot of bonked and broken riders out there!  Finished up and headed home.  I found out sunday that young Aric and I finished 5th in a class of 16 teams.   That boy really showed some promise and a ton of determination.  You’s da man Aric!

Im pretty late getting this report in so Ill try my best to remember.  It was my first endurance race.  I made the bad decision of laying back during the bike run-to.  I got stuck behind a mass of novice riders who were not making the climbs, forcing the rest of the line to stop mid way up hills.  I spent the first lap stuck behind groups of chatty cathys.  I would pass a group, then get stuck behind another.  This continued into the second lap, but it started to open up and I was able to run a faster pace.  My freshly-built titus racerx 29er worked flawlessly, and I was thankful for my stan’s rims and tubeless setup.  There were a lot of flat fixers out there.  I ran out of water on lap 4, I thought there would be water handouts.  Lap 5 was a semi-hallucinogenic romp through the woods, but I stayed on the bike and kept a steady pace.  Finished lap 5 and went home.  Later found out I had placed second, which I was quite pleased with.  It made me wonder what might have been if I ran at the start.

Well, It was my first race.  ever.  The anticipation had my stomach filled with butterflies the size of dumptrucks.  We got to the line.  I tried to pace my breathing with slow, deep breaths.  Then we were off.  I felt strong and as I began to get into the gears, but my chain skipped the chainring three seperate times.  This got me into the trees in 4th.  I got stuck behind a guy who overexerted himself on the start and was lackluster in the trees. My chain popped on the chainring a couple more times.  I yelled at him “come on, lets get the leaders, or let me by”!!!  As soon as we gout out of the trees on the start lap, I blasted past him for 3rd position.  By this point the leaders had a decent gap.  I got into the trees again past the start/finish and was feeling pretty bad once the uphill switchbacks were over but pushed it out the best I could..  so as it leveled out, I got my breathing back and started to feel the power come back to my legs.  I blazed along at a good click, and started to see and hear the leaders, I was bringing them in fast.  Another small switchback section came along as we neared the roadcut crossing.  I was going to try to use the road (1/2 mile ahead) to pass if I could, so I started blasting on the pedals.  I came around a tree entering another switchback and BANG! The chain was lying on the ground, dead.  I yelled loudly up at the bike gods and began the several mile hike back to the expo area.  Should’ve ran the single speed.   The irony?  I went to the shop to buy a chain tool on friday and John (LND) couldnt find one.

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