Great Start... So, So, Finish

Yesterday was the the fourth race of the Winter Park series. The Valley Point to Point was the longest so far at 18.8 miles of racing. The great news for me was that the start line was in Winter Park and the finish line was downhill near Frasier, which meant more descending than climbing. I liked that!

Having had some time to think about it, this wasn't the best course I've ridden for the series. I loved course #2 a.k.a The Mountain Circuit. However, race #4 was the most fun I had while racing this year.

Let me tell you a story. Imagine if you will...

Pre-Race Day
I hadn't done a lot of riding in the past two weeks. After my bonk in race number 3, I had a rough time getting motivated to get back on the bike. I took a full week off the bike and then hopped onto the bike to summit Mount Evans with my brother. Once that was ridden I got another surge of energy to ride. However, work didn't play nice and I ended up not riding again until Wednesday.

The week and a half off the bike wasn't a waste. In fact, it was very helpful. During that time I focused on my diet. I asked people on my team and people I trust about diets that they have had success with before a big effort or race. I told them of my bonk during the previous race and I got one reaction that stuck with me a bit.

While I was at the Boulder Short Track I spoke with a Teammate about his diet. When I told him I bonked, he started to laugh and said, "It was only an hour and a half..." He wasn't being mean, or a jerk, but he made a good point. My body shouldn't bonk in a race that is only an hour and a half unless I really screwed up my nutrition. After that discussion, I started to think about my diet a bit more.

Friday
Evening
Pre-Race Dinner time! That means BBQ chicken. I'd been on good behavior the last couple days by not drinking any soda and tonight I opted not to have any beer either. I ate a healthy meal that included a green salad, corn on the cob, and BBQ chicken. It was delicious!

Saturday
Morning - At Home
I went to bed a bit earlier than usual last night, which made it all the easier to wake up and start the morning. I walked downstairs and started up the coffee. While the coffee brewed, I flipped on the TV, and starting to hydrate myself by drinking two full glasses of water. I eat a couple hard boiled eggs and fix myself a bagel with peanut butter for the road.

I hop into the car with my bagel and a cup of coffee and start the long drive to WP

Saturday
Morning - At Winter Park - Pre Race
I show up at the parking area about 40 minutes before my start time. I, of course, park next to a guy that is showing off his car's audio system by playing it very loud. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded that much, but the music he was playing was like a techno dance mix that just looped through the same beats over and over and over and over..... MAKE IT STOP!!!!!

I finish getting ready as quickly as I can so I can avoid getting that horrible beat/song stuck in my head.

As I start to warm-up my legs feel like lead. I take this as a good sign. When I was in high school I ran cross country. Every race that I did really well in started with my legs feeling like lead weights.

After a bit of a warm-up my legs still feel heavy, but I make a mental checklist of things I have going for me. I ate well, slept great, the sky is overcast, the race is on time, and I was able to sneak in a warm-up before my race.

The only question in my head is if I should push the pace from the beginning or sit on a wheel and let the other set the pace.

I line up to start my race...

Saturday Morning
Morning - At Winter Park - Race
The race begins I decide to let the other rides set the pace. My legs are still feeling heavy and I don't want to push any harder than I have to.

I'm the last in a group of four riders that climb the first ascent to the single track. A bit of a gap forms between me and the others, but I know that the dirt road is about to end and the single track begin. The single track brings with it a long descent. I'm not a very good climber, but I like to think that I do have some skills on the descent. The fast guy, Nigel, and I leap towards the single track and start the descent in spots one and two.

The two of us tear down the descent and Nigel even starts to gap me a bit as I get caught in some narrow spots behind riders in previous heats. I won't let him get out of sight because at this point my legs are no longer weighted and I feel damn good! When we are about to come out of the descent and start another climb, Nigel pulls to the side of the trail and waves me on. He had a flat tire, which put me in the lead!

I continue hammering away, passing people in previous heats as fast as I can when I come to what I thought was the river crossing. It wasn't! In fact, it was about a 30 foot, waist deep puddle. I high gear into the puddle and get stopped in my tracks. Waist deep in muddy water, I try not to think about what is growing in there as it would have made me stop in the river crossing - actually 100 yards ahead - and bath myself.

I try to push my way through the river crossing without dismounting, but I fail and I have to pull my bike through the water. As I get back on the bike, I notice the chain has fallen off. I quickly get off and yank the chain in place. I jump on again only to have the chain fall off a second time. This time it isn't so easy to put it back on and I waste about 1 minute messing with the chain.

A few obscenities, a couple riders in my heat passing me, and a minute later, I'm back on my bike riding as fast as I can to make up the time. I manage to catch up with one of the riders that passed me and I thought I was in luck because we are about to start another descent. However, my gloves are wet from the water, which makes my grip on the handle bar very slick. I hold back because I don't want to have an accident due to loosing my grip. I watch him ride away on the descent.

During the next several miles, my gloves dry, and I try like hell catch up. I'm slowly able to catch the lead group. Once I catch them on a dirt road descent I ride past them as quickly as I can. This is where it starts to get really fun. The final portion of the race is rolling terrain. Some of the terrain is uphill, which they do very well and some of it is downhill, which I do very well. So the battle starts. So many times in mountain bike racing you will start the race and then you will time trial as you try to keep your position. Not today. For several miles we play cat and mouse. Each of us taking turns as the mouse. I love it! That is racing!

As we reach the last couple miles, the roots and rocks on the trail really start to take their toll on me and I'm no longer able to play mouse. In fact, I'm no longer able to play the cat either, and I slowly watch the lead 3 riders pedal away from me. In the next two miles the three riders are able to put a minute on my time.

I finished the race and found it necessary to congratulate the other riders. They did a great race and really enjoyed it! I found the leaders and said my congratulations. I then bumped into several other riders from my heat and we struck up a great conversation, which I truly enjoyed. The day really encompass the spirit of racing.

Sunday
Evening - Post Race
Yesterday was a great day of racing, which I really enjoyed. I'm proud of myself for working on a better diet pre-race. I'm also happy to have challenge the other racers up to the point that I couldn't challenge them any longer. Truth be told, I felt great, well within my limits the entire ride. I didn't come in 4th because I bonked. I came in 4th because there were three guys that were faster than me. That makes me feel good and makes the race totally worth it.