Minuteman Road Club

Signed up for the cat 3 race, since this was my first NORBA race. I didn't feel too bad about not racing in the 2's, since I lined up with Jeff Bramhall, and Shane Buker from Threshold, both of whom are faster than me in cross. The course was really wet, some of the puddles being deep enough to make me wish I had water wings. We started in heavy rain, which didn't let up the entire race, and I found myself taking the pointless holeshot by default. I then proceeded to slip out on the short climb just as we were about to hit the single track, letting 5 guys go by. I was able to pass one of them, after being stuck behind him for a bit. I was having some difficulty picking good lines for two reasons, #1)They were under water, and #2)I couldn't see through all the mud caking my eyeballs. Halfway through the first of two laps, this led me crack my crank bros pedal pretty hard on a rock, severely bending a wing, and preventing me from clipping back into it. At that point I was about 20 seconds behind the lead group, and just watched them slowly pull away, as I started my 45 min left leg isolation exercise. My inability to see, coupled with course markers that were rapidly wilting in the rain, led to two missed turns, and about a minute of lost time. Even with all the issues I had, I still managed a respectable time of 1:13, placing 5th, and averaged 9 mph. Shane and Jeff, took 2nd and 3rd respectively.

I didn't race until 2 PM. Lined up with Matt P and some other friends and cyclocross nemesi. There was an deluge of rain around noon, and couldn't figure out why I left the comforts of my couch to go ride in the rain.

Originally, I planned to race my singlespeed as this course suits it perfectly. Little climbing, some short punchy stuff, and lots of rocks and roots for my 29r tires to roll through. However, with the rains, at the last minute, I wimped out and grabbed my full suspension bike. Ironically, by the end of the race, I could only shift a couple gears, and sometimes it would take 100 meters for my shifting to kick in. Mud times.

Anyway, I love the start of MTN bike races. Everyone thinks it's a cross race, and they sprint as fast as they can. Then about 1/3 mile up the fireroad, there's a short, punchy climb into the rocky single track. Since this was my third year on this course, I hung out at the back, and watched, and judged which guys were at their limit, and then punched it past a good portion of my field and into the single track with a nice view of the lines I'd be taking.

Can't really go into too many specifics. My race wasn't dramatic at all. I rode really well, clearing a lot of stuff that I can't belive I cleared. It's amazing how much faster you go when you're not getting tossed off the bke. I hit almost every line perfectly (except the last lap when I almost hit a tree because I was seeing double). The wet rocks, the roots, nothing seemed to bother me. I believe real athletes call this "Being in the Zone". I kept it in a pretty big gear and just powered through everything. Even my lap times were really consistent at 38, 37, and 38 minutes. (Two years ago, when I was a novice, I believe I was around 50 minute lap times.)

At the end, I was only 10 minutes off the winner (which is good for me at a MTN bike race), and had put 8 minutes into the pack that finished behind me. Even better was that due to the technical nature of the course, I was able to put the hurt on some Threshold guys that just kill me on the road bike at Tuesday Night Worlds. (Winning!)

Now, the only concern is my bike is making all sorts of noised from the deep, sandy water on that course. Seriously, some of the puddles were over knee-high, filled with loose sand, and we're not talking about corn in July.

Also, should I be concerned about drinking from mud-caked water bottles while racing?

Great effort to both Abel and Taud. Interesting starts and conditions.

I wimped out (again) with the rain. Didn't want to go down and risk reinjuring my shoulder. I would have been on of those 50-55 min lapper's anyway. At least I went out and rode my hardtail MTB in the pm - baby stuff but a start.

By the way, what size tires and what PSI are you running for a course like that? Also is it different for a hardtail vs full suspension?

Doran, since I am old school at heart, I was on my 26" hardtail. There were a few sections that would have been much nicer on a full suspension bike, but it was all manageable on my bike. I'm running 2.2's at around 30psi front and 35psi back, but I wish I would have gotten around to setting them up tubeless for this course. Lower pressures would have been helpful on all the wet roots, and loose climbs.

I was on a full-suspension at about 26 psi (tubeless setup).

I would have been fine on my hard-tail 29r. However, I was thankful for the latitude in line-selection that the FSR gave me, and the margin of safety it provided when I made terrible decisions. Also, this course had little smooth stuff, so I think the FSR was probably faster than the typical course that favors hard-tails.