Minuteman Road Club

Todd P and I jammed out to NY for SSAP this weekend. Got to the trail about 2PM on Saturday, and did a lap. Mostly flat with 3 sections that would be walked by everyone except the strongest riders, regardless of what gear they chose. I had raced here in 2010 with a 34x16 in the mud, and was generally satisfied with it. So with dry conditions, I opted for a harder 36x16. Pre-riding didn't change my mind, so I stuck with it. However, after pre-riding, I noticed that my chain was too tight, so I loosened it up a bit. Had a nice dinner and many beers.

Today, they called to the line at 8:45 for a 9AM start. Luckily I was there. At 8:50, he said 2 minutes. At 8:51 he said go. I was fumbling around trying to get Strava started, but had to start peddling instead. (No Strava...so my race/ride doesn't even count!) 2 miles of dusty dirt road, and I'm mid pack sucking dust. Left onto the singletrack and I'm sitting in uncomfortably, bouncing along and turning my big gear. Within 5 minutes, my chain bounces off. Crap. I knew I shouldn't have adjusted it! No tools, either. So I put it back on, get passed by 5-6 guys and debate about stopping at the finish line for support. (There was a 4 mile "prologue" that passed through the finish line before officially starting the first lap.) I decided against stopping, and continued on. Within 5 more minutes, I drop the chain again, and again another 5-6 guys go by. I put it on and start thinking of options.

At the start, they mentioned "neutral support" would be out on course. A few minutes later, I come upon 2 guys sitting on their tailgate drinking beer (at 9:15 AM?!) and cheering. So I stop and ask for a 6mm allen wrench. He digs around in his truck for a few (while a dozen or more guys pass by) and pulls out a set of English allen sockets and says "Maybe one of these is close enough." WTF good is neutral beer drinking support if they don't have tools!? I ride a few hundred meters and come across a guy changing a flat. I borrow a tool from him and tighten my chain. When I'm done, there's absolutely no one coming up the trail. I'm DFL, not including a few flats and mechanicals behind me. Time to re-adjust my expectations.

I settled into a comfortably hard pace and eventually caught and passed a dozen or so riders. I had a great time riding though, and given my current level of fitness, I don't think that I would have finished much better than 47th at 2:20, even without the mechanical. I got passed by 3 sport riders, but the sport (NY)winner only finished 4 minutes better than me. The race for 47th got a little interesting in the last half lap, but I managed to dig deep and hold off the charge. Kegs of beer and plentiful sunshine after the race made the post-race drive home a bit painful. A very good time though.

Doug,
Glad you found the silver lining despite some frustrating experiences. Todd, how'd you make out?

This was a good time on some fun trails. It's nice to ride MTB on things that are fast and flowy, compared to our twisty, rocky, technical terrain I normally ride up here (unless riding Willowdale).

Got there on Saturday and spun a 90 minute lap on the course. By spin, I mean "near race pace" to keep up with Doug. So, I guess I opened up my legs.

I felt like a rockstar on the course slaloming through trees at a velocity I wouldn't have gotten away with up here. (See the speeder section through the redwoods of Return of the Jedi to have proper visual reference.) The course difficulty was about the same as heading out to Colorado and skiing on 6 inches of buff, hero snow...

My race was good. I rolled up on Chip Baker on the second lap, but started cramping. Though, I'm learning how to race now, so I didn't mention to him that I was actually cramping because I just wanted to sit on his wheel. We rode half of the second lap together while I managed the cramps pretty well for about 25 minutes. He made a bobble or two and then I led for awhile, slowing up the pace a bit for my legs to recover. Then we hit the last long stretch of fireroad with about 15 minutes to go, and I couldn't keep up, with my spinning like the Road Runner. The night before, I had debated a lot of putting a harder gear on my bike, but laziness won out on that argument as there was beer to drink. Anyway, Chip pulled away and disappeared like a closing shot in a western movie with the horse riding off into the sunset. And I couldn't gain any time in the last single-track section to the finish line.

I finished 27th out of 89 or so, and a respectable 9 minutes after Doug on a course that took just under 2.5 hours.

Felt good to get my first bike race in of the season.