6HCP definitely met my expectations of being a good time. The venue, the course and the promoters were wicked and the event was run smoothly. Even the parking set up was brilliant. Our cars were parked along the perimeter course. This way every one could set up their own car-side pit area. Oh, and electronic scoring! Awesome!
As to be expected with 250 people going off at once, the first few miles were a complete cluster-fuck and a half. During the first mile there were 3 consecutive hills (practically the only hills on the entire course). Riders were getting hung up left and right. You can hear all the late shifting and crunching deraliurs. Some how I ended up amongst the group that had never learned to mountain bike. One guy fell on me, knocking me over. His pedal got stuck in my spokes and our bikes got tangled. I wasn't going to be dick about it though. When I pre rode the corse I did foresee this scenario happening.
The herd was moving way too slow in the beginning . There wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to pass so I held my position for a mile or two until it began breaking up. When the opportunity presented itself I began passing groups of people, like 5 or 6 riders at a time. Every so often I would jump on the back of a train and eventually pass when I felt the pace wasn't quick enough. It wasn't until the end of the first lap that I finally got through most of the riff-raff. Next year I'm starting closer to the front.
By Lap 2, I really got into a good groove. I mean, such a good groove that it was hypnotizing. It was as if my body was on autopilot, my mind was in a trance and wicked-nasty funk beats were playing in the background. Speed, finesse, rhythm, control, flow...it was perfect. I felt great and thought "I could do this all day".
Lap 3: I started experiencing lower back pain. Sucked it up, kept moving.
After grabbing feed from my pit area I saw pooriggy (Chris) ride by. I scarfed down a Bar and GU then sped over to him. We rode together and chatted for most of the 5th lap. I began having an issue with my front brake cable rubbing against my tire so I had to eventually break off and fix it. My F bombs could be heard loud and clear throughout the forrest I'm sure.
Lap 6: I was a lone wolf. Just about every one I encountered was someone I had to take out.
Lap 7: Foco caught up with me on his 8th lap. Wow! We're in the same cat (SS Open). Roger sure does have a sense of humor.He came up from behind he yelled "Hey Capers, what lap are you on? Me: " Lap 7" Roger: "Oh good, that means I don't have to chase you!" I definitely LOL'd at that one. I let him by and tried to hold on but that only lasted a few minutes and dudeman was gone.
Last few miles I redlined it, Took out another guy in my class and put the pedal to the medal all the way till to the end.
Ended up finishing 10th in the open class which I think is great considaring some of the folks I was lined up against. Kept my nutrition dialed, didn't pop, Felt strong all day and for the most part stayed pretty consistent. I was happy with my performance in the end.
I'll be back next year for sure. A super fun race to end MTB season.
Laps: 7 Pace: 11.2mph Total Time: 6:21:30.1
Lap 1 56:01.9 11.8mph 56:01.9
Lap 2 50:43.9 11.8mph 1:46:45.9
Lap 3 52:25.0 11.4mph 2:39:10.9
Lap 4 54:23.1 11.0mph 3:33:34.1
Lap 5 54:59.1 10.9mph 4:28:33.2
Lap 6 57:50.6 10.4mph 5:26:23.9
