PEAK SEASON #1
The Race
Singlespeed:
I had a pretty clean start. After the finish line, leaving the pavement on the first little up hill, I bogged down a bit and was passed by several people including Stella. I still had an overlap on Stella going into the next left hand turn, but I knew what was coming and back off just in time as Stella chopped the apex into the corner. Stella would rather eat her first born than concede a corner to me! I passed her back when she bobbled the little log crossing. As we exited the muddy path on the perimeter of grass field I was forced to dismount for the tiny little up onto the grass and Stella passed me for good.
There were three tiny up hill sections on the course that were giving me problems because I was running the biggest possible gear combination that I on my have on my singlespeed; being that the rest of the course was so flat. The one after the S/F line was doable because I could carry a lot of momentum up from the pavement, but I would still have to grind over the top. The other two, up onto the grass and up from the service road, I couldn’t ride consistently during practice and decided to dismount and run during the race. I figured riding the two sections and then bogging down and being forced to dismount and run was slower than just dismounting and running both.
For the next two laps Stella slowly pulled away from me while my teammate Erik Thunstrom slowly reeled me in. After remounting from running up from the service road, Erik caught me. I didn’t think to ill of this as I thought we could work together and try and bring Stella back. Erik went immediately to the front to take a pull and on the way by he gave me grief for not riding the hill up from the service road! We hit the double barriers before the finish line side by side when I heard a Ka-Whack-Thud and I knew immediately that Erik had tripped and crashed over the barriers. I asked the spectators after the barrier if he was all right and they replied in the affirmative.
I rode the almost the whole next lap alone while Erik slowly reeled me in again. By the time we reached the service road he was right behind me. I dismounted and ran up the little hill, remounted and look back over my shoulder to watch Erik ride it. He bogged out at the top and was force to dismount and run it! Erik eventually passed me on the grassy section and I clamped onto his rear wheel and held on for dear life for the next lap.
My body was giving me the signal that I was about to blow. I figured I would throw one last move at Erik before he dropped me. Just before the drop in to the service road I sprinted past Erik. I figured I would be in better shape if I hit the little hill first. Eric, once again gave me grief for dismounting and running. 30 seconds later I blew sky high and Erik rode away from me. I rode the next couple of laps solo and enjoyed the course and the day. With most of the course being so wide open, I could see I was in no danger of being caught from behind. I even got to smile and say “hi” to David Crum, who was a spectator at the little hill after the service road whom I haven’t seen in a while.
I had a pretty clean start. After the finish line, leaving the pavement on the first little up hill, I bogged down a bit and was passed by several people including Stella. I still had an overlap on Stella going into the next left hand turn, but I knew what was coming and back off just in time as Stella chopped the apex into the corner. Stella would rather eat her first born than concede a corner to me! I passed her back when she bobbled the little log crossing. As we exited the muddy path on the perimeter of grass field I was forced to dismount for the tiny little up onto the grass and Stella passed me for good.
There were three tiny up hill sections on the course that were giving me problems because I was running the biggest possible gear combination that I on my have on my singlespeed; being that the rest of the course was so flat. The one after the S/F line was doable because I could carry a lot of momentum up from the pavement, but I would still have to grind over the top. The other two, up onto the grass and up from the service road, I couldn’t ride consistently during practice and decided to dismount and run during the race. I figured riding the two sections and then bogging down and being forced to dismount and run was slower than just dismounting and running both.
For the next two laps Stella slowly pulled away from me while my teammate Erik Thunstrom slowly reeled me in. After remounting from running up from the service road, Erik caught me. I didn’t think to ill of this as I thought we could work together and try and bring Stella back. Erik went immediately to the front to take a pull and on the way by he gave me grief for not riding the hill up from the service road! We hit the double barriers before the finish line side by side when I heard a Ka-Whack-Thud and I knew immediately that Erik had tripped and crashed over the barriers. I asked the spectators after the barrier if he was all right and they replied in the affirmative.
I rode the almost the whole next lap alone while Erik slowly reeled me in again. By the time we reached the service road he was right behind me. I dismounted and ran up the little hill, remounted and look back over my shoulder to watch Erik ride it. He bogged out at the top and was force to dismount and run it! Erik eventually passed me on the grassy section and I clamped onto his rear wheel and held on for dear life for the next lap.
My body was giving me the signal that I was about to blow. I figured I would throw one last move at Erik before he dropped me. Just before the drop in to the service road I sprinted past Erik. I figured I would be in better shape if I hit the little hill first. Eric, once again gave me grief for dismounting and running. 30 seconds later I blew sky high and Erik rode away from me. I rode the next couple of laps solo and enjoyed the course and the day. With most of the course being so wide open, I could see I was in no danger of being caught from behind. I even got to smile and say “hi” to David Crum, who was a spectator at the little hill after the service road whom I haven’t seen in a while.
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