MNSCS #3 Dirt Spanker Classic

This year continues to be a struggle, but I can sense my fitness starting to turn for the better. Things have been very busy this spring with the move and combined with the cold spring the training is a little behind. Either way the season is long enough and there is still time to finish strong.

I really like the course at Mt. Du Lac and it fits my riding style very well. I can climb well and ride the technical sections efficiently. My plan was to get a decent jump off the start and settle into a rhythm on the long first climb. I lined up in the second row directly behind Chris Fisher with the Moore brothers, O brothers and Paul Hanson on either side of Chris. In the typical pre start chat between riders many of the discussions were about tire choice and the threat of rain. Barry Tungseth, who was lined up on my left, made the comment that if it did rain it would be short lived and pass quickly.

At the start, the leaders quickly jumped to the lead and by the first steep section had a 8-10 bike lead. I held my position in the middle of the pack until the second steep section before the turn where I started to fade towards the back of the pack. The legs were burning and I had to slow a little to not completely "blow up". On the shallow climb after the turn I allowed a few more riders by, but regained a few positions on the final steep section before the top. The first section of single track I was riding behind a group of 6-8 riders but they slowly pulled away because I was still recovering from the initial climb. I was able to recover slightly and started to regain a respectable pace in the single track and could see the large group in front of me. Things were flowing nicely and I was settling into a decent pace and I could see nobody behind me. Then the rain started to fall, easy at first and we probably all thought it would be very short lived. The rain, however, was not short lived, but rather started to fall harder and the trail started to fall apart quickly. The open sections were starting to get greasy and by the time I hit the back side climb I spun out and had to run up the steep sections. As I started the second lap the rain continued to come down even harder. It was getting difficult to maintain traction on the punchy uphills.

As I approached the third down and up section I heard Eric Guse yell as he was picking himself off the side of the trail. "The downhill section was as slick as glare ice." I tapped my front break to line up for the downhill and skated straight toward the trees on the right. I went OTB instantly and landed with the bike on top of me. Eric and I struggled to push our bikes up the greasy hill and once back on the flat I couldn't get clipped into my right pedal. I stomped hard a couple of times thinking it was simply mud clogging the pedals. A closer look, however, revealed that the cleat was still attached to the pedal and had ripped out of the bottom of the sole. I was thinking how far I needed to ride to get back to the start/finish line and dreading the last climb with only one foot clipped in.

As I have stated before, I hate to DNF and I really love the Dirt Spanker course. I made the decision to make the best of it and finish the race. The rain slowed then stopped and for the remainder of lap 2 the trail started to improve. Not being clipped in was difficult on the technical sections because it was hard to keep the foot on the pedal.

Lap 3 went well and I was able to catch back up to the trailing experts and pass a couple before the start of lap 4. On the final lap the rain made another appearance and by the end of the lap the downhills were almost unrideable again. It was halfway through the final lap that Troy caught up with me. He had been closing the gap for a while and there was nothing I could do to pull away. I had to jump off on one of the steep climbs and he was able to motor on by.

It was good that I finished, but I was a little bummed at the dumb luck I seem to have.

I look forward to next weekends race at Mt. Kato.