Started off as a foggy day when PV and I left around 7:30 Sunday morning. It was not long before the fog broke and it turned out to be a perfect day for racing. Cat 1 started at 8:00am and we arrived a little bit after they were already on course. Our parking spot was perfect to watch the riders come by and start the first climb. It also gave us an advantage seeing other riders use a “go left” strategy just before the up. Both PV and I used this during our races and we were able to jump ahead of other riders.
PV had some break rub that he worked on and fixed before his start time of 10:45. We had enough time before PV’s start to partially pre-ride the course. I told PV to go ahead since I did not want to push it too hard at that point since my start time was not until 1pm. I did about half of the course and came back to watch PV.
The course was around 5 miles in length. Cat 2 would do three laps and Cat 3 does only 2. Not sure the total vert per lap, but there was definitely some climbing and a couple of short steep ones. The course had a little more technical spots over last year, but nothing too bad. When we pre-rode the course on Friday morning there were a lot more technical sections on it during our first pre-ride lap. As we were finishing up with our first lap, we saw the organizer of the race and they were making some changes to make it less technical. They were being told that it was a little too much for the Cat 2 and 3 racers. On our second lap, they had already cut out a few sections and on race day they even took out a few more.
They break folks up by age groups and write your class number on your left calf. This way when you go to pass someone, you can see if they are in the same age group as you. I noticed there were a few without the leg markings and PV said he saw the same. This was good and bad. I had someone passing me at the end who did not have a marking on his leg so I chased him down. He turned out to not be in my age group, so it did not matter. The good part was it helped push me to work harder on the course.
I think there were over 30 in PV’s class and it was very competitive. I know PV will be sending out a race recap as well, so I will let him tell you his details. From my view, PV had a good ride, but it is just in a tough category this year. He pulled off some fast lap times with his first one being the best. All the pre-riding we did really helped dial in the course and both of us felt it allowed for much better times than we would have been able to do. We will be pre-riding Fontana if anyone is interested in going with? Overall, I think PV held about a 27 minute lap average which got him a 12th place finish. In a class of 30, this is huge.
After Cat 2 went, my turn was approaching. My start time was at 1pm, but got a little delayed due to Cat 2 riders still on course. I did a quick warm up and made sure I was near the start line to get a front row position. With only two laps, I knew it was key to be up front on the first climb. I started and had some difficulty getting clipped in, so I fell a little back. I managed to clip and then got right to the front. I used the trick I learned early by watching the Cat 1 group and went left. I jumped past one rider and we were off charging the first hill. Based on the pre-ride, I knew that I could not go all out on the lower section of the climb since there was another one just after it. I did push hard enough to stay at the front. Hit the second climb and did pretty good. The course weaved through lots of tight single track for a while and then opened up to a fire road. Leveraged this area to really push it and pass a number of folks. Most of the people I was passing were not in my group, but a few were. I had no idea how I was doing, but my gut told me that I was up towards the front of the pack. I finished the first lap and prepared to do the next one. With only two laps, I did not rest at all and pounded the pavement section to get a jump start on the hill climb. I had a guy on my tail almost the whole first lap and eventually he ended up dropping only to pass me at the end. Later I heard that he dropped his chain and that is why he fell off. He was one of those riders that did not have his leg marked so I could not tell for sure if he was in my category or not, so the chase was on. I was faster on the ups, but quite a bit slower on the downs. He ended up taking me since the last part of the course is mostly down. In the end it did not matter since he was not a part of my group. I ended up with another 2nd place and again 2 minutes back from first.
We hung out and watched the pro’s do a short course (like a crit). The course was about 2 minutes in length and they had 20 minutes to complete as many laps as they could. The women were up first (PV has a few good pictures of them) and it was game on right from the start. With only two laps left, a few of the girls turned it on and started sprinting away from the pack. The men were next and it was intense. They were moving at speeds that I could not even believe without making it look like they were even working hard. There were three main groups after only a few laps with Bishop taking the race. He had won the XC race the day before as well.
Great day of racing and hanging out.
Good job, Gary!
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