Double Bubble Weekend!!!!
Saturday - State Championship Day...
Men's Cat 4 40+ Race
Usual pre-race routine. Pack car the night before with pit wheels, tool box, race crate ( shoes, helmet, Garmin, Garmin Virb, multiple gloves, skull cap, and any spare clothes). Bike stays in the house, cause roof rack. Lay out clothes/HRM to wear in the morning. Leave on the counter with keys and wallet two water bottles, any nutrition needed, medicine.
5:45am wake up, fighting the beginning of a cold since Thursday night, but got decent sleep. Quick shower, dress, pack the rest of the car, and pick up
@Harry Hamilton at 6:15am. Arrive at Bubble at 7:00am for 8:41am race. Awesome! Been slowly drinking water the drive up, had a Stinger Waffle. yum. Walk down to the reg area, quick stop in the rest room, and grab numbers. Head back to the car, do the usual routine, drop pit wheels off and get in two full (I think) recon laps. Course is great. Sand, dirt, grass, little jump, etc. Awesome. The two laps were spent finding the firm patches of sand and dirt, and the smoother areas of the grass.
At 8:00am the Cat 5's go off, so there are loud words of encouragement thrown in the direction of
@StayHydrated @1sh0t1b33r and
@Santapez as they "race". Just kidding. Love watching everyone out there. At this point, I'm questioning my clothing choice of long everything. I decide to stick with it, but ditch the skull cap, and opt for lighter weight gloves. For the record, I've been wearing UA batting gloves all season, and they are PERFECT. A little tackier than regular gloves, and have outstanding dexterity.
Staging. The call us by name. The Cat 4's first, then the Cat 4 Senior Class. When I say they call us by name, I mean BJ calls out something similar to something that almost sounds like your name. First call up, first row, center. Harry to my left, Chris LaBudde (he on here??) to my right, then Dave Schwartz, Bob Ost, and a few others. I think there were about 20 or so of us.
Usual pre race talk from BJ & USAC official. 4's go off, we're 1 minute behind. WHISTLE!!!!!! Stomp with left foot, find pedal with right foot and MISS!!!!! FUUUUUUUKKKK. Bobble just a tiny bit, think I bumped Chris a touch, but I keep pedaling with the pedal under the arch of my foot just so I keep moving. I'm usually out front at the starts of these races, so I'm pissed.
I finally clip in after 100 yards and in 6th or 7th wheel. We go up the grass to the first tight left hander and Schwartz buzzes Chris's wheel and goes down. A few other guys dabble a little, but cause I'm back a few spots, I swing out wide right for the left turn and make it around clear. Phew! 4th wheel. Chris is out front, already with several bike lengths of a gap. We go up the grass swithchbacky climb, down it, then a little back up before the little sweeper of a turn before the gazebo. Chris is RIPPING IT! He's easily 10-15 seconds ahead already. Rider two & three are just ahead of me.
I hit the off camber right turn at the gazebo on the high side and move down the off camber as I go thru the turn. Half way thru the turn disaster strikes and I wash out. (Know what I'm talking about
@Mountain Bike Mike ??? ) Nice soft landing. Like sliding into second base on grass with a bike attached to your feet. Unclip, get up, push forward and SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN.... NOOOOOOOOO! Dropped chain. Coasting forward I try to pedal it back on. Nope. Stop, reach down, put chain back on and remount. 23 seconds have passed since traction loss, and so have 10 riders. Now 14th. Start moving again, and two more pass me. Now 16th.
I hit the gravel road and make quick work of two or three on the flat out and back section. Hit the ramp (jump) into the playground up the ramp to mini sand pit, then around to the beach. There are 3-5 guys ahead of me, and it's like D-Day. Bodies are falling for no reason. I dismount amongst the carnage and start running. I may have remounted then dismounted again due to traffic at the bottom of single track climb.
Ran up the bottom half, then remounted and rode the rest, making one pass, maybe more? I ride the rest of lap 1 clean, take a much lower line around the gazebo, and pick people off here and there. At some point on lap two after the single track climb, I take a turn a little hot and wipe out. Nothing serious, slow motion wipeout negotiating a tight turn. Come thru the S/F to see 2 to go and hear
@seanrunnette say I'm in 3rd place. What??!!
😱
Schwartz is just ahead of me. I pass him on the grass, they he passes me on the gravel out and back before the playground. I stick on his wheel like leftover food sticks to by beard. We hit the beach again, and I power past him, riding the whole thing ( only dismounted on lap 1) and up the single track. I manage to keep him behind me as we hit the bell lap and I'm in 2nd, with Schwartz in hot pursuit.
At some point he passes me again, but doesn't create any gap. I stay on him thru the barriers as we come up on a few of the Cat 4's that we've been passing here and there. We're behind these guys going into the last single track section right before the finish line.... I know where to make my move. I passed him earlier in the same spot without any traffic. Dudes ahead of us take a bad line, he does too, and I set up wide for the turn and cut it inside and around all three. Down the hill onto the gravel and sprint to the line for second. 1:40 behind NJ Cat 4 40+ State Champion Chris LaBudde.
On one hand, I'm disappointed in my start and crash/mechanical. On the other hand I'm stoked that I made it from where I was, to finish 2nd. Chris killed it and rode away from everyone in the one race that mattered most. Chapeau Chris.
View attachment 43276
There is a smile under that beard........somewhere.
) We head straight up to the grassy hill and do all that jazz, then come back around past the building to the short righthander sand pit that leads to the finish line. @seanrunnette is on the mic again and I yell at him as I go by. "Hi Sean!!!"
