My first mountain bike race, I think 4-5 years ago was a TMBRA sprint race. I made the jump straight to a 6 hour endurance race without doing another sprint MTB race. I needed some more races in my schedule this spring so I signed up for this race because it fit in my schedule, without knowing how big a deal the Mellow Johnny's Classic Race was. Then I read on the forums how people were excited to see the pros, and this was a UCI race, etc. I was excited to watch some of the pro women's race after I finished.
I was very nervous about this race. This was only a 7.6 mile race for the Cat3. I knew with a sprint race you have to get up front or you will be stuck behind people that may be in very good shape but may have to dismount in technical areas. At my weight, I can't afford to loose momentum…I don't know if it's as a result of that, or just honing my skills by watching the really skilled guys in Austin and practicing on my own but I've improved a lot in the technical area the last 4-5 years. I am at a disadvantage on the climbs but I can gain some of that back on the flats and on any technical obstacles.
Technical skills confidence notwithstanding, I was very nervous about those other guys both more skilled and in better shape than me. I did not want to be "that guy" that sprints to the front only to hold people back 1 mile in. I wasn't sure what to do so I asked my coach Shaun. After his response, there was no doubt about what I had to do at the start. The nervousness from having to worry about that went completely away. I was now only nervous about blowing up early, but not that much because it was a known possibility.
I woke up at 3:30am very congested and with a headache. 5hrs sleep after 3 bad nights of sleep that week was not optimal but I've done it before. Some Advil for the headache and breakfast and off we went with some English Breakfast tea. After a shorter warm-up than planned, I felt perfect. I made a couple of tweaks to shock pressure and stem and I went to line up for the start.
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| At the start. That's me in the background. In the foreground with his back to the camera is the guy I was racing for 9th. To the right in the white & green is the guy that got 9th from us. |
I got a bit lucky in that they had pre-staging with a roll-call and I was in the first 15 or so. I got to watch the start of the previous group and it was an easy climb on jeep road which leaves room for people to string out. They released us in waves which was a good thing. My age group had 45 starters. All of Cat3 was probably more than 120. Come the start I punched it hard and passed a few people. I was already redlining by the point we hit the singletrack so I settled in behind some guys at a good pace. I figured I was roughly top 10, maybe top 12. I also figured these guys would not get stuck on some of the technical sections. I felt pretty confident of riding the whole course without dabbing. Pre-riding the course was a HUGE advantage on this trail. I knew where people would get stuck, so I would hang back and watch their lines to avoid any stoppages while keeping my momentum up (essential because of my weight) and I passed several people this way. I think maybe I only passed 3-4 people in my age group but later I figured I must have been passing people in the 30-39 group (also apparently race officials pull people off the trail if they are not within 80% of the leaders' pace).
The climbs were rough but they felt much shorter than on the pre-ride. The biggest problem for me were the technical features that had big requirements in power. Those cost me big but I knew this was not like an endurance race where I could walk it and save my legs--I had to go hard. I had set my HR alarm at 185bpm...it went off a lot. The first 3-4 miles (my distance reading was off all weekend for some reason) are hard but there is more flowy stuff in the middle. I could go fast without having to peak too much which allowed my legs to recover. The legs and heart were still at maximum though…in this case, recovery was 180-181bpm. There is a strava climb somewhere in the middle. It's brutal but the amazing thing is when you're already redlined and not trying to save anything, you get through it quickly. It's a weird thing…it's not like I was going to allow my HR to get down to 170bpm after that. It was a new experience for me.
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| One of the climbs in the last 1km of the race. This is Rebecca Henderson from Australia in her first lap of four on her way to winning the race. |
Somewhere after the halfway point I passed one guy I had been chasing (but not catching.) He'd broken his chain on probably the 2nd worst climb of the race. I felt bad for him.
At some point I knew I was close to the finish. Then I saw the 3km mark. I was not close to anyone that I could see. WIth 2km I caught up with 2 guys. I was eating up ground between us any time there was a short climb or technical obstacle. They would punch it on the flat and the longer climbs and distance themselves. I figured I'll hang behind them and sprint them out at the finish. One of the cooler features 0.5km from the finish (where huge crowds gathered to cheer and take pictures) has us going along a creek bed for about 100 yards before climbing out on a rocky steep ramp. I saw several people were stuck there and I hoped I could find a gap to pass without slowing down and I did (it was cool to hear someone cheer me on by my number when I cleared it!) and passed a few folks more (likely more 30-39 groupers). Those areas are where it pays off to ride City Park or some of the Green Belt. There are lots of areas at those two parks where I still have to try multiple times or just plain walk it but it's all part of making myself a better rider and it pays off on race day.
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| The hairpin before the last little rock step where those two guys in front got stuck. Blue and black is the guy I'm racing. That's me all in blue behind him. |
Back to the finish...at the last little step that follows a hairpin turn on some loose dirt, the guy in the two ahead of me got stuck, they both stopped to un-clip and push the bikes and blocked the way. I saw an opening on the right but there were lots of people there and a tree/bush stump. I almost made it up but I was in the wrong gear. I gained ground but they got going before me so I couldn't pass. If I had to do that again, I would have yelled to clear…they wouldn't have to since we're racing but maybe I'd rattle them a bit. I would also punch it harder to clear on the one clear spot instead of getting stuck on the wrong gear.
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| The last step. This is during the women's pro race. Yes that is a guy in a red dress ringing half of a bike frame as a bell and the other is a guy too, with a string bikini and a handlebar moustache Shaun would approve of. |
It's easy now to say that I should have recognized I wouldn't have a sprint left in me. In any case, we're in a bunch the slower of the two guys eventually drops off and it's 9th place and me in 10th. We get to the paved road climb to the finish line, I can hear 11th closing up very fast. I could tell he was strong. I start picking up speed. By this point I couldn't stand and sprint. It was only seated. The 9th place guy also goes, he's also beat but has enough to stay in front of me, but 11th flies by both of us. So I ended up in 11th in a sprint finish. All 3 of us 1 second apart at 45:44, 45:45, 45:46. It was awesome. I collapsed at the end and sat on my butt for a while to recover. By that point I was sure I was top 10. I was a bit deflated when Holly looked up and told me the results. But I know I left it all on the trail. Pre-race was perfect. Race start was perfect. I did great during the race all things considered and I learned a bunch. I only wish I'd gotten more sleep this week, and passed the 9th place guy at some point earlier in the trail instead of saving it for the end.
I will do more of these sprint races. Huge crowds, big fun, and the pain is over quickly. It is intense though. My right quad was very painful in descents and after the race...but we hiked quite a bit to watch the pro-women so that helped loosen it up. I got some more good pictures of the women's pro race I'll post a link to later. We didn't stay until the end since I just wanted to get home, eat, and sleep (I figured I had gotten 21-22 hours total in the previous 5 nights)....well, I got a free Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, talked to the SRAM guy who helped me with some tuning, and then we had some Hat Creek Burgers.
What fun!!
