KENDA CUP WEST SERIES – SAGEBRUSH SAFARI 2-28-2010 -
This race was 40 miles east of San Diego out in the desert very close to the USA border to Mexico.
Today was my first Mountain bike race since 1996, I’m out west with son Gary for 2 weeks and this was in his plans so he borrowed a Mtn Bike for me and we raced today.
I was all nervous this am for some reason but once the race started I was doing OK. The first two miles were tar sorta flat slightly uphill for a mile then the road kicked to steep uphill for about another mile. I was feeling good and stuck with my group of guys for the first mile then it was a row of riders all strung out up the hill. We were mixing with some of the classes ahead of us and all bets off keeping track of my group. I felt real good for climbing (this is not normal for me) Maybe the 10+ hours sleep last night? Anyhow I moved along real good and was passing people all the way to the top then the FUN began.
Wha hooooooo the trails were hard packed sand with some mud but not as bad as expected considering all the rain sat. The trails were quite a bit down hill remember the mile climb uphill. This was some fast stuff, banked berms swinging left & right over & over you could just rail these corners real fast. I was having so much fun every once in a while you would catch up to a pile of people going way slower and have to pick a spot to pass. My Mtn bike rock skills from Ct. were very helpful as I could tell a lot of these folks are not used to flying thru rocky steep trails ( this is what we ride in Ct) and I was having a good day so more passes in these sections . The punchy climbs were short so I could keep my speed up. About this time I was running at or over my threshold and I was wondering how long I could keep this fast but real fun pace going. I was breathing so hard sometimes I was scaring myself. I worked it out with short recoveries and hard efforts and got into a good rhythm. After quite a few miles the tight trail opened up to a Crazy fast downhill dirt road with very deep eroded ruts for the rain Sat. I went a bit faster than I should have but was having a lot of fun. The road flattened out then started climbing again, OK now I’m getting tired, I heard a few miles back from some guy we had gone 8 of the 18 miles. So I ate a GU (basically a 100 calorie pack of sugar syrup like stuff). This did nothing for the next 15 min’s of climbing but I keep up the pace of the riders around me. Then came the un-ride able wall ( OR as the promoters called it the HIKE a BIKE section). This was a HUGE traffic jam with 20 maybe 30 riders all struggling up this loose sandy rocky steep climb, good thing I had the GU earlier . I get to top & this younger guy goes flying past me so I say I’m going to let this guy be my rabbit and chase him. He was fast but I worked a bit harder than I was riding and hung with him for a few miles. It really worked out as the large group on the hike a bike section was never seen again.
The trail turned to TAR again and UP up we go again (time for the 2nd GU) . This section was not as steep as the first tar climb of the day and I picked off quite a few more riders ( again cool). All of a sudden some fast riders went past me (I saw Sid Tabelary one of the Pro's fly past) and I figured the Pros were doing another lap of what we just finished. So every so often a few guys would go past me like I was standing still. At the top of the tar section a bunch of folks were handing out water and telling us it was all down hill to the finish. Cool it was more of the fun fast stuff but a lot more mud & deep ruts and I was getting tired. Some more PRO’s passed me, you hear a bike getting close and the rider yelling Pro on you left. You get the hell out of the way fast and let them pass you. A few sketchy downhills a lot of whoops & rollers then three DEEP river crossings another mile in the sage brush and it was over.
I had no Idea how I did I looked for Gary talked to a few of his friends and he rolled in. He did about 8-9 more miles than me and finished only a few min’s after I did he was flying & also had a great time.
Gary won his class Cat 1 35-39 and I also won my Cat 3 55-59 class.
GOOD DAY for a father & son outing …….
Today was my first Mountain bike race since 1996, I’m out west with son Gary for 2 weeks and this was in his plans so he borrowed a Mtn Bike for me and we raced today.
I was all nervous this am for some reason but once the race started I was doing OK. The first two miles were tar sorta flat slightly uphill for a mile then the road kicked to steep uphill for about another mile. I was feeling good and stuck with my group of guys for the first mile then it was a row of riders all strung out up the hill. We were mixing with some of the classes ahead of us and all bets off keeping track of my group. I felt real good for climbing (this is not normal for me) Maybe the 10+ hours sleep last night? Anyhow I moved along real good and was passing people all the way to the top then the FUN began.
Wha hooooooo the trails were hard packed sand with some mud but not as bad as expected considering all the rain sat. The trails were quite a bit down hill remember the mile climb uphill. This was some fast stuff, banked berms swinging left & right over & over you could just rail these corners real fast. I was having so much fun every once in a while you would catch up to a pile of people going way slower and have to pick a spot to pass. My Mtn bike rock skills from Ct. were very helpful as I could tell a lot of these folks are not used to flying thru rocky steep trails ( this is what we ride in Ct) and I was having a good day so more passes in these sections . The punchy climbs were short so I could keep my speed up. About this time I was running at or over my threshold and I was wondering how long I could keep this fast but real fun pace going. I was breathing so hard sometimes I was scaring myself. I worked it out with short recoveries and hard efforts and got into a good rhythm. After quite a few miles the tight trail opened up to a Crazy fast downhill dirt road with very deep eroded ruts for the rain Sat. I went a bit faster than I should have but was having a lot of fun. The road flattened out then started climbing again, OK now I’m getting tired, I heard a few miles back from some guy we had gone 8 of the 18 miles. So I ate a GU (basically a 100 calorie pack of sugar syrup like stuff). This did nothing for the next 15 min’s of climbing but I keep up the pace of the riders around me. Then came the un-ride able wall ( OR as the promoters called it the HIKE a BIKE section). This was a HUGE traffic jam with 20 maybe 30 riders all struggling up this loose sandy rocky steep climb, good thing I had the GU earlier . I get to top & this younger guy goes flying past me so I say I’m going to let this guy be my rabbit and chase him. He was fast but I worked a bit harder than I was riding and hung with him for a few miles. It really worked out as the large group on the hike a bike section was never seen again.
The trail turned to TAR again and UP up we go again (time for the 2nd GU) . This section was not as steep as the first tar climb of the day and I picked off quite a few more riders ( again cool). All of a sudden some fast riders went past me (I saw Sid Tabelary one of the Pro's fly past) and I figured the Pros were doing another lap of what we just finished. So every so often a few guys would go past me like I was standing still. At the top of the tar section a bunch of folks were handing out water and telling us it was all down hill to the finish. Cool it was more of the fun fast stuff but a lot more mud & deep ruts and I was getting tired. Some more PRO’s passed me, you hear a bike getting close and the rider yelling Pro on you left. You get the hell out of the way fast and let them pass you. A few sketchy downhills a lot of whoops & rollers then three DEEP river crossings another mile in the sage brush and it was over.
I had no Idea how I did I looked for Gary talked to a few of his friends and he rolled in. He did about 8-9 more miles than me and finished only a few min’s after I did he was flying & also had a great time.
Gary won his class Cat 1 35-39 and I also won my Cat 3 55-59 class.
GOOD DAY for a father & son outing …….
Gary at start .
We got two of these !
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