Monday, April 26, 2010

Sick, Tired, and Super D Action

This week knocked me on my back. I was sick, didn't get to ride, had looming deadlines but that was all erased by some sweet, sweet, oh so sweet Oregon singletrack.

So my first race of the year came at a difficult time. A family member on my wife's side passed away, I picked up a bug at work (working healthcare has it's wonderful benefits), no riding so the body could rest and attempt to race on Saturday coming up, and lots of design project deadlines.

4AM Saturday morning came quickly and my friend Bear and I headed North deeper into the heart of Jefferson State. After registering we set off to try and pre-ride part of the course. Next thing I knew we were heading up on the shuttle and I still didn't know over half the race course. At the top we had some time so I rode the upper section which included this wicked steep climb that lasted about 3 minutes. My legs felt like old beef jerky as I continued to ride in hopes of having them wake up a little.

My Sola and trusty 80mm of travel up front were scheduled to start first for the hardtail division. I headed down the hill brakes a squealing! As the climb of doom approached it felt like I was barely moving. About half way up I swear I saw my grandma walk past me. Finally hit the downhill section and was a little tentative on the upper section when I almost blew a corner and hit a tree. Not knowing the course made it challenging but it was some ripping singletrack. Soon after I made it to the section I was able to pre-ride before the race. I felt a little more comfortable and attempted to let it flow but was feeling the effects of being sick and off the bike all week. Blew another tight switchback  and had to get back on course. After a couple of close calls the finish line came.

After all the hardtail racers finished I found out that I had won by 16 seconds. Coolest thing I heard during my run was someone saying "Whoa, he's on a hardtail." It was a fun race and at least I know what to expect next year if we head back there.....but for now I've got some training to do.

Thanks to Echelon Events for putting on a great race and to Seven Cycles for my ripping singletrack machine!

Hitting the last creek crossing

Deep in the heart of Jefferson

Our local 14er


Nice to see the lake pretty much full since it was down 140 feet before winter

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