Well today was the big day for me...got up at 4:50am at the KOA, morning routine, packed up and headed for the race it's about 30 minutes away...it was FRIGGIN COLD this morning (I know I'm whimping out, back home it would be considered warm) but hey in the 40's is cold, and it was marine layered....and EXTREMELY WINDY...the wind was incredible30-50 mph gust. The warm up was pretty neat, the race started on the road course for the cars...any car buffs will know LAGUNA SECA, very cool race course...well everyone is out taking spins up the big hill climb of a course then racing back down...there were some pretty huge age groups...100+ racers in some age groups. Mine 50-54 had only 69 racers...and I finished....65th, yikes...had my first mechanical...wait'll you hear this one and the picture...anyways.
The race got started, you go for approx. 1/2 mile or so on the road course then turns off into the dirt...my pack was like "wolfs" heading out for a hunt...by the time we hit the dirt it was a long "snake" line... I even got "elbowed" and the guy didn't even look at me when I told him a thing or two...well just as you get on the dirt, ie fireroad...you go for about a 1/4 mile up then its a radical steep fireroad sprint down...speeds easily over 30mph...there are 2 little bumps, and as much as I love to get air I popped it good on the second one with my computer reading 34mph...got some awesome air...high...long...and then the gusty wind and...OH....SHIT...I'm laid out side ways...I know now what is coming, it felt like forever, then down I came laying out on my left side and slidin' in the gravel...ouch...rash like hell....and brother did it burn tonight in the shower!...well only one guy made it past me and I caught him by the bottom and then it was up for a ways. It turned into a single track and there was a slow leader in front of about 10 guys or so...we all pedaled close together till it opened up into a double track going up were myself and 2 other guys and we blasted by the bunch...then back down some fun single track into the "SAND PITS"...wow that is something else to pedal through, steep down and deep "wiggelly", steer ya where it wants to crap...made it through okay, there were a number of folks that would get bound up in it, some hurt there today too...then when we started up hill 82, very steep climb, it felt like I "sucked" my chain...I couldn't pedal...I looked down, chain still on, tried like hell to pedal, just couldn't do it...stopped tried to pedal it by hand and could barelly budge it...figured I'd start running up the hill till I found a good flat spot...in the meantime, I had the front pack of about 15 in site, me and the other two guys were charging hard....man the last 2 months of single speeding it has really paid off on the geared bike....anyways, those two guys were pulling away and some of the guys we had passed were gaining...when I stopped it turned out to be a set screw on my small sproket was backing out and hung up on the bottom bracket housing...well you can only see half the "hole" so I didn't have a wrench that could get into it...I tried squeezing it in with my leathermans...no luck..then got pissed and wedged my wrenches needle nose into the half hole and beat it with a rock...moved it enough where it was just literally a hair separation...jumped back on and started grinding up the hill in a bigger gear which seemed to keep it from gauging into the bottom bracket...by now the womens groups had caught me...spent the next 5-8 miles inching my way...caught a few of the guys...but man it was hard the set screw was dragging and really diggin a wonderfull groove, which I'm sure will cost me...but no way was I DNFing..my heart felt great, breathing good, legs okay, all in all feeling okay, just pissed off that anytime I pedaled it was like grinding up hill...I'm certain I would have done much better...oh well...I finished...was thrilled it was such a blast...good long climbs, felt my improvement...and best of all...I AM HEALTHY!!! No leg cramps either...lots of hydration ALL WEEK, with electrolytes...
The race got started, you go for approx. 1/2 mile or so on the road course then turns off into the dirt...my pack was like "wolfs" heading out for a hunt...by the time we hit the dirt it was a long "snake" line... I even got "elbowed" and the guy didn't even look at me when I told him a thing or two...well just as you get on the dirt, ie fireroad...you go for about a 1/4 mile up then its a radical steep fireroad sprint down...speeds easily over 30mph...there are 2 little bumps, and as much as I love to get air I popped it good on the second one with my computer reading 34mph...got some awesome air...high...long...and then the gusty wind and...OH....SHIT...I'm laid out side ways...I know now what is coming, it felt like forever, then down I came laying out on my left side and slidin' in the gravel...ouch...rash like hell....and brother did it burn tonight in the shower!...well only one guy made it past me and I caught him by the bottom and then it was up for a ways. It turned into a single track and there was a slow leader in front of about 10 guys or so...we all pedaled close together till it opened up into a double track going up were myself and 2 other guys and we blasted by the bunch...then back down some fun single track into the "SAND PITS"...wow that is something else to pedal through, steep down and deep "wiggelly", steer ya where it wants to crap...made it through okay, there were a number of folks that would get bound up in it, some hurt there today too...then when we started up hill 82, very steep climb, it felt like I "sucked" my chain...I couldn't pedal...I looked down, chain still on, tried like hell to pedal, just couldn't do it...stopped tried to pedal it by hand and could barelly budge it...figured I'd start running up the hill till I found a good flat spot...in the meantime, I had the front pack of about 15 in site, me and the other two guys were charging hard....man the last 2 months of single speeding it has really paid off on the geared bike....anyways, those two guys were pulling away and some of the guys we had passed were gaining...when I stopped it turned out to be a set screw on my small sproket was backing out and hung up on the bottom bracket housing...well you can only see half the "hole" so I didn't have a wrench that could get into it...I tried squeezing it in with my leathermans...no luck..then got pissed and wedged my wrenches needle nose into the half hole and beat it with a rock...moved it enough where it was just literally a hair separation...jumped back on and started grinding up the hill in a bigger gear which seemed to keep it from gauging into the bottom bracket...by now the womens groups had caught me...spent the next 5-8 miles inching my way...caught a few of the guys...but man it was hard the set screw was dragging and really diggin a wonderfull groove, which I'm sure will cost me...but no way was I DNFing..my heart felt great, breathing good, legs okay, all in all feeling okay, just pissed off that anytime I pedaled it was like grinding up hill...I'm certain I would have done much better...oh well...I finished...was thrilled it was such a blast...good long climbs, felt my improvement...and best of all...I AM HEALTHY!!! No leg cramps either...lots of hydration ALL WEEK, with electrolytes...
Unfortunately for a numer of folks today it wasn't so good...I saw a guy on the down hill at a step jump (which I'll be posting alot of cool pics on) landed wrong right in front of me and you could here his leg "snap" and then his scream...he had an awful compound fracture of his shin bone...and I heard from a photographer that a downhiller was killed today as well...hit some air a little to high and wacked his head...could be a "legend" not sure...and there were many other shoulder, colar bones, bad scraps etc...considering, I did okay then.
Now just have to get the bike into the shop pronto for a good long REAL mountain bike race this next weekend in Northern California near Shasta and the Trinity Mountains...The race is the Lemurian Shast Classic 26 miles....
Oh and it was pretty cool just as I started, I was being cheered by another MASS racer...thanks much Janice...her and Mike have their races tomorrow morning so I'm going to head over there and cheer them on....they should really kick some butt on this course.
Later all..I'll try and upload some pictures to my flickr site but I'm in a camp ground with so-so internet connection speeds....in the meantime here are a couple.
Ed
Now just have to get the bike into the shop pronto for a good long REAL mountain bike race this next weekend in Northern California near Shasta and the Trinity Mountains...The race is the Lemurian Shast Classic 26 miles....
Oh and it was pretty cool just as I started, I was being cheered by another MASS racer...thanks much Janice...her and Mike have their races tomorrow morning so I'm going to head over there and cheer them on....they should really kick some butt on this course.
Later all..I'll try and upload some pictures to my flickr site but I'm in a camp ground with so-so internet connection speeds....in the meantime here are a couple.
Ed
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