This Sunday's race is the reason why I keep coming back. The course this year at Mt. Kato was nearly perfect and is one of my favorite race courses. Two sections that I particularly loved were "Quick Release" and "Ridge Run", which provided a good challenge for the expert riders.
This time I lined up at the front of the line to the right hand side. At the "gun" I got a mediocre jump and found myself being squeezed into the back third of the pack. Even though there is a lot of room on the climb, you need to be careful not to fall into some of the large holes on the sides. I picked a line and settled into a decent rhythm on the climb. After the switchbacks it flattens out and I dropped a couple of gears and passed a few riders. Around frog pond loop I held a good pace and recovered slightly before making the hard left turn taking me back across the front face. The pace was high the first lap and I started to think about conserving some energy for the remainder of the race. I knew the heat was going to be an issue so I made a conscious effort to drink as much water as possible.
On lap 2 I pushed hard on the climbs, and rode the single track sections strong, but for some reason I had all kinds of trouble in the "Maze". Part of the problem was the fact that I was trying to drink water and ride the section at the same time which didn't work well. Up "Staircase" I failed to clean the short rocky climb for the second time and walked up the gravel section after it.
As I entered the climb at the beginning of lap 4 Ray Nickols was right behind me and I new it was just a matter of time until he made the pass. As I moved over to the left side of the trail, to pick up my next bottle from Jordan, Ray was only a few meters behind me. About two thirds up the climb Ray made his pass and I kicked it a little to hold his wheel. I rode Ray's wheel for nearly half the lap, but then I backed it down because I knew I had one additional lap to finish.
I felt pretty good on my last lap, but I could tell the legs were getting a little tired; I just didn't have the snap on the climbs. I new there was an expert rider not too far in front of me, but any time I would gain a little ground he would push hard and regain the gap. I pushed hard on the flat sections and tried to ride the single track as clean as possible.
I was pleased with my results, finishing 19th out of 28 and a little over 22 minutes back from the leader. I did a much better job keeping hydrated, but I still need to take in more energy during the race. I still feel that I can ride the flat sections faster; it might hurt a little more, but it will lower my lap times.
I did it!! I finally pushed through and got a good start. It is key!! As the 5 second countdown was counting off, I was ready and I gunned it at the 1. Just starting up the hill I merged into 3rd place and there I stayed. I pushed hard all the way up the hill and around frog pond, I continued to push making sure I held onto my position. To my surprise I had the endurance and I had the skills to keep the pace just behind the 2 leaders and ahead of 1 other lady who was pushing hard to keep up with me. Periodically I looked back and knew there was only one lady close behind and the rest of the ladies were back far enough not to worry about. I remained in the 3rd position until right before the end of the 2nd lap, then the lady who had been behind passed me and kept right on going. I continued to push hard through the last lap and I finished 4 th overall out of 11 and 3rd out of 4 in my age group. I finished 2 minutes back from the lady in front of me and 6 minutes back from the overall leader. I was very pleased overall with how I did and my results. It was extremely hot and the course was technical. Now there is a bit of a break and then we are off to Red Wing.
This weekends race would be an important one for Jordan after her poor race last weekend. I was unsure how she would handle this race mentally. Would she loose her confidence or drive?
I shouldn't have been worried, because she road this race as if she had something to prove. At the start her and Michole picked perfect positions at the center of the group and were lined up with the single track climb.
At the gun Beth (LCR), Michole, and Jordan got a good initial jump.
Jordan had a perfect line and sprinted hard out of the saddle towards the base of the climb. I shouted for her the shift down and get into a rhythm and spin up the climb while seated. Jordan would have nothing of that, however, and proceeded to climb the entire front face standing. She entered "Frog Pond Loop" in third place and exited in second.
Even though she was a bit tired from the first climb, she was keeping a strong pace through the single track and negotiating the turns cleanly. The course cuts back on itself often which was nice because I could continue to follow and get good pictures. One time when she passed, she yelled out "Where's Beth"? That's Jordan, not caring about who is behind her, but wanting to know how far ahead the leader was.
I was able to catch up to her again in the "Maze" which she said was her favorite part of the course. She was moving fast and flowing well through the sweeping turns.
Towards the end of the race she started to fade a little and Michole gained a fair amount of time finishing only 2:24 back. Jordan finished 1st in her age group and 2nd overall for the women and 38/50 overall with a time of 52:29.
Kid's Race
1 comment:
Sounds like fun, Matt. Really makes me miss XC racing. None of this super hard, then wait, then super hard, then wait...just 2 hours of personal suffering. I like that. Keep pushing!
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