Cathedral Pine 6 HR
Back in July
@pooriggy mentioned doing this one to me after Kittatinny Bulldog Rump race in the parking lot. Iggy signed us up for this race a month or two ago, sounded like a fun one to try and a good one to wrap up the 2018 season with. We were doing a 2 man relay race. I haven’t done a relay race since highschool. We sorta did a relay race in the BS 50, but we could run that one at the same time so it wasn’t a relay. On the car ride there Iggy filled me on on the course, the layout, how long he has been doing this one and the strategy that we would alternate laps. Also emphasized the importance getting to the front at start.
This race was interesting, in some ways I wasn’t even in race mode until I was at the start line. I also had my 2nd most epic crash of 2018 at this race not even 3 minutes till after start. I made a few rookie mistakes, but over the course of the day was able to regroup and finish strong. Good one to wrap up 2018 season with.
Lap 1 - The clusterf*ck
Around 260+ riders lined up at the start, apparently this year they decided to start everyone with a pace truck. The truck started off pretty quick (15+ mph) on an uphill. So even with pace truck it was a sprint start. I powered on along the left-hand side of the cycling herd to get up front close to behind pace truck. I needed to slot myself into a good position, goal was to be top 10 going into single track. The access road flattened out, the truck made a left turn off course so we could all enter a right-hand turn to another long straight. Up ahead I saw a nice clear path on the outside where I could lay down some power and get myself up with that front group.
Before I continue, I need you Imagine for a second, you’re doing a track stand on your bike. While doing this track stand, you don’t know is that someone has a rope tied to your front tire! Suddenly that person yank the rope and bike right out from under you! Result is getting layed out!
When you take a spill on a mountain bike there is a dismount, and then there is a crash. On a dismount, you generally see it coming, know its going to happen. It’s fairly acrobatic, entertaining for spectators, "roll with it." I have a few dismounts per year.
A crash though, a crash you don’t see it coming and just freaking eat it.
After truck turned, I saw that outside left clear road ahead, put down some power and my front tire must’ve hit some leaves and released traction. A release similar to hitting an ice patch, wet wood bridge, or finding a diagonal wet tree root hiding under leaves. That rope of front wheel analogy, ate it SO hard! Thankfully my right knee, elbow, shoulder and forearm cushioned the 19 mph impact on the asphalt. Slid a few feet on my hip and forearm. I was thankful for cold weather at this race, thermal pants and shirt contributed to reducing how much skin was torn up by asphalt. Slid to a stop, jumped to remount observing front wheel is pointing left and bars are pointing right. Jump back off my bike, wedge the front wheel in my legs and yank my handle bars straight. Out of my peripheral visions the pack is blowing by. I hop on and go full bore, possibly working my way up 60 spots till I enter the single track and have to settle for position.
I’m pretty frustrated, feeling like I messed up big time and let Iggy down and let myself down. The whole plan was to get up front, it was so important. I never bothered to consider the scenario that it may not happen and what to do if it does? All I knew it you don’t want to be mid pack. You’re stuck in this situation and it can hurt our results.
Hill 1 –
Okay I see that I can pass people here, but this will involve going toff trail. So I take the alternate hill climb line. Instantly I feel the dirt is quite a bit softer than trail, tire is spinning, I give it more gas to not come to a stop, I pick off 2 or 3 riders. Progress, then front wheel encounters downed saplings at a 45 degree angle hiding under leaves and front tire washes out. I hit ground and roll backwards down the hill I climbed. Up +3 positions now becomes down -5 positions. Hop on, regroup.
Hill 2 – I try same strategy, make up 2 positions. It worked!
More stuck in single track traffic.
Hill 3 – I try same strategy, make up 3 positions. Unfortunately, rider ahead of me also had some idea but suffers same fate at me on Hill #1, crashes in front of me knocking me off bike as I tried to pass him. +3 positions drops to +0 positions, I burned one or two candles on that climb with legs.
The hills took some energy out of the legs I could feel it. You have to be careful on these flat courses, they can be deceptive. Also I had to be mindful of that even if you’re mid pack, good chance most of the people are new racers and are all going that first lap hard. Also nobody wants you to pass.
I was caught in a bicycle train and feeling like I can hit these trails and higher speeds and run the corners harder. I stoppe following riders in front and took my own lines, which helps - but then I realize how slow I am going. At these speeds it all feels off to me. All the leaves on trail masking the off camber corners, roots and mud the lay underneath. Tires hit these and cause instant loss of grip. This combined with a few crashes already doesn’t do much for confidence.
I was able to make some passes, since people don’t really want to let you by, you sorta have to make a pass. I passed this one guy semi close and I could tell he was hell bent on passing me back. 15 minutes later I get super sideways over sniper root/muf and give him that opening and he takes it. I could see his helmet lift off his head with that smile. “I got that motherfucker from MTBNJ!!!”
Now I entered the acceptance stage, the frustration (aka ego) calms down and reality settles in. This is where you’re at for this lap. Deal with it. Maybe you can pass a few people if the opportunity opens up, but ride your ride and save your legs. We have 7 laps to go and I have 3 more to make it right. I settle into a holding pattern and just ride. Time to get acclimated to the trails and figure out where I am going. I notice back 1/3 of course and incredibly slick. I finished off lap 1 and Iggy goes out hard.
I finished off lap 1 and recollected myself. Hit lap time button on garmin, saw a (~51:35), shit. I put us way off pace. I check my phone and saw Iggy shot me a text check if I was okay after crash. I text him back with my updates on how lap 1 went.
Relay racing is weird. You’re racing with a team mate, but a not a team mate you can have a sit down and chat about how the lap or race went after running it. We’re alternating shifts out there with are break room chat. Text messages with updates are like work emails on a weekend. They’re out there when you’re not and can’t respond right away. You can’t talk to each other after a run and update on trail conditions or how lap went. It’s a head nod, I’m out and of course while, he goes out and hammers it.
Lap 2
This one was better, I get to stage 10 min before Iggy’s eta and pedal around a bit to warm my legs back up. I do some track stands and wheelies. I wanted to feel balanced on the bike, due to slick conditions there will be times where you have a two-wheel slide and have to have your weight centered and to be relaxed, the grip will come back, but on those nervous transitions, you have to be neutral and not put in any inputs when tires are temporarily letting go.
I see Iggy cross finish timing and he sends me off. It was nice because I entered the course and had the trails to myself for attempt #2. At this time we’re and hour and a half into this thing and the 260+ riders are well diluted in the 9 mile long course. First time of the day I settled into a pace and now could make mental notes to figure out the corners, hills, and flow of the 9 mile course. Three minutes into my out lap, I tried to take a B line around some tree roots on a punchy little climb. Front tire managed to find soft off camber dirt hiding under the leaves and instantly comes to a stop! This of course sent me into a quick superman over the bars. Ooops! Remount bike and on my way, chill out Brian! 4 crashes is enough for one day. Just stay on the trail, the leaves are hiding things you shouldn't ride over.
Keep that head up and eyes ahead, plan one or two corners ahead. The flow was coming back, focusing on the turns and terrain. I was happy to see that compared to lap 1, the leaves where being pushed out of the corners and I could see bare dirt! With more clarity it became easier to see the contours of the single track, spot off camber sections, wet dirt, dry grippy dirt and see those sniper roots that charge a heavy penalty to usable traction.
Lap 2 was making itself out to be significantly better. Concerning traffic, any riders there were encountered usually saw me and let me by or I could call out rider up and they would give me space to squeeze through.
The course was also beginning to dry out and I could hold more speed in the corners. Back 1/3 was still slick but not as bad as lap 1. I ran this lap pretty clean, a few bobbles on some slick turns. Strong finish, hit my lap timer and see a low (47:06) time. Okay doing better!
