I arrived at the venue just before 07:00 and immediately tried to get the spot we had last year for our pit, but was promptly denied. This meant I had to park my van and hoof all of the equipment to the designated area. Luckily, Erik and Darik Thunstrom, Jason Cruz and David Gill arrived to give me a hand. I pre-road the course and discovered it to be the clock wise version which we have ran in previous years, but with a few minor teaks. Jason was racing in the C class, which was the first race of the day so I hung out to give him bottle feeds. When the C class hit the grass to go through the swirl on their way to the finish/pit area on the first lap, I watched in amazement as several riders slipped and fell on the damp grass. One rider took the 90 degree left turn that led to the finish/ pits straightaway to fast and just before he was about to t-bone the A frame holding the warm up sign, he corrected real hard and missed the sign, but ended up in a heap on the ground just passed it. He was then t-boned by another rider! As the C race progressed there was less crashing and sliding out, but I heard later that a bunch of the C riders complained the course was too technical. Jeez boys, Grunt up! What are you going to do if rains and or if it gets muddy?
45+ A
After a nice long warm up I hit the grid. The first lap was a real blur, but there was a big crash in front of me and one behind me. Unfortunately Erik was collect in one of these. After the first lap things settled down. I had former teammate and old friend Tom Sullivan breathing down my neck so I soft pedal for a couple of second and let Tom in front of me while I sucked his wheel and recovered a bit. A lap later after Tom and I had swapped places several times I got a gap on him and extended it. I was feeling very good at this point and thought I was rid of Tom for good. I was on the long downhill single track on the backside of the course when I noticed a rider approaching me from behind at a very rapid pace. The guy looked younger than me, but I knew it wasn't the leaders of the 35 A's race coming to lap me as it was too early for that. I pointed to my right and moved to the left to let him buy. He took a wide line into the little right hand turn and forced me into one of the sticks holding the tape which caused me to flip over the bars! I suffered no damage nor did my bike, but I did let this rider know what I thought of his move and from a distant he apologized.
Now I was back to where I started, Tom was breathing down my neck again! For the next couple laps we would open small gaps on each other only to have them closed back down. The bell ran for the last lap and about half the way through I got a tiny gap on Tom, maybe 2 or 3 seconds. I knew I had to beat Tom to the entry of the grass section at the beginning of the swirl because it would be impossible to pass there or through the 90 degree turn onto the very short straightaway the led to the finish line. At the bottom of the big run up Tom was right on my butt and suddenly there was a rider right on Tom's butt. Where this guy came from or who he was I didn't have a clue. I gave it everything I had and beat the both of them to the swirl. The unknown rider had passed Tom and was breathing down my neck. I hit the 90 degree turn at full pace and then sprinted with everything that I had left to the finish line and barely beat the unknown rider who as it turns out was in our class. What an incredible finish for 21 st spot!
Costume Race
Melanie brought a Tigger tiger suit for me to wear for the costume race. After taking one look at the suit I wanted nothing to do with it! Being that it was a warm day boarding lining on hot, the suit looked like a sure ticket to heat stroke! Melanie had a plan though; she bribed me into the suit with a promise of a six pack. I suited up and immediately started to sweat. I did a couple of practice mounts and discovered that the crotch of the suit was very low and I would have to jump very high to clear the crotch on my saddle. I also discovered that I needed to have my tail pinned up so it didn't get sucked into the rear wheel.
I went to the start line and grabbed a spot near the front. This race is the coolest because you are allowed to cheat!! The whistle sounded and I was holeshoted by a cheerleader (Stella), some guy wearing full body armor on a downhill bike and David Gill on a pink girl's stingray. David was amazingly quick on the little bike! As David and Stella took the left turn into gap between the classrooms, the downhiller and I took a right and cut underneath the tape and cut a substantial portion of the course out. This was a brilliant move! I was ahead of the downhiller as we approached the big log that would force me to dismount, but not the downhiller with 8 plus inches of travel, I hooked him and started to drive him off line to the left. He suddenly realized what I was doing and verbally expressed his displeasure, so let him off the hook. Just as I anticipated he hopped the log no sweat, but I was able to repass him on the run up afterwards as pushing a 40 pound bike up hill is not fast nor fun!
When I reached the steep decent to the lower section instead of turning left and dropping in, I hurled the tape with bike, remounted and rode next to the football field and then ducked back under the tape at the top of the run up chopping a big section of the course off. I was feeling very cheeky when I heard an all too familiar voice. "I'm right behind you Mike" It was Stella! I don't know where she came from, but suddenly my mission was clear, I had to beat her to the finish line! We both lit the burners and were off. I just managed to beat to the line and for the next lap we diced, cut the course and cheated and had a good old time! As I came towards the finish line for the beginning of the third lap I was done and completely over heated. I couldn't get the Tigger suit off fast enough. For the next 15 minutes while cooling off I watched the rest of the lunatics file by and laughed myself silly!
Tigger costume was a big hit with everybody, but especially the kids. I even won $20 and a six pack in the costume race. That including the six pack that Melanie bribed me with was a pretty good haul for a little case of heat stroke!
Singlespeed
I'll make this short. Ride very hard for 3 laps and then on the forth, blow sky high or bonk or both and then stagger around the course trying to stay out of other racers way while not harming myself as even the easiest maneuvers became impossible. I haven't DNF in a long time, but judging by the way I felt after the race and the next day I made the correct decision. I had about as much fun as you could have at a cross race! It was low key, the organizer didn’t freak about warming up on the course and the course itself was fun and very challenging.
45+ A
After a nice long warm up I hit the grid. The first lap was a real blur, but there was a big crash in front of me and one behind me. Unfortunately Erik was collect in one of these. After the first lap things settled down. I had former teammate and old friend Tom Sullivan breathing down my neck so I soft pedal for a couple of second and let Tom in front of me while I sucked his wheel and recovered a bit. A lap later after Tom and I had swapped places several times I got a gap on him and extended it. I was feeling very good at this point and thought I was rid of Tom for good. I was on the long downhill single track on the backside of the course when I noticed a rider approaching me from behind at a very rapid pace. The guy looked younger than me, but I knew it wasn't the leaders of the 35 A's race coming to lap me as it was too early for that. I pointed to my right and moved to the left to let him buy. He took a wide line into the little right hand turn and forced me into one of the sticks holding the tape which caused me to flip over the bars! I suffered no damage nor did my bike, but I did let this rider know what I thought of his move and from a distant he apologized.
Now I was back to where I started, Tom was breathing down my neck again! For the next couple laps we would open small gaps on each other only to have them closed back down. The bell ran for the last lap and about half the way through I got a tiny gap on Tom, maybe 2 or 3 seconds. I knew I had to beat Tom to the entry of the grass section at the beginning of the swirl because it would be impossible to pass there or through the 90 degree turn onto the very short straightaway the led to the finish line. At the bottom of the big run up Tom was right on my butt and suddenly there was a rider right on Tom's butt. Where this guy came from or who he was I didn't have a clue. I gave it everything I had and beat the both of them to the swirl. The unknown rider had passed Tom and was breathing down my neck. I hit the 90 degree turn at full pace and then sprinted with everything that I had left to the finish line and barely beat the unknown rider who as it turns out was in our class. What an incredible finish for 21 st spot!
Costume Race
Melanie brought a Tigger tiger suit for me to wear for the costume race. After taking one look at the suit I wanted nothing to do with it! Being that it was a warm day boarding lining on hot, the suit looked like a sure ticket to heat stroke! Melanie had a plan though; she bribed me into the suit with a promise of a six pack. I suited up and immediately started to sweat. I did a couple of practice mounts and discovered that the crotch of the suit was very low and I would have to jump very high to clear the crotch on my saddle. I also discovered that I needed to have my tail pinned up so it didn't get sucked into the rear wheel.
I went to the start line and grabbed a spot near the front. This race is the coolest because you are allowed to cheat!! The whistle sounded and I was holeshoted by a cheerleader (Stella), some guy wearing full body armor on a downhill bike and David Gill on a pink girl's stingray. David was amazingly quick on the little bike! As David and Stella took the left turn into gap between the classrooms, the downhiller and I took a right and cut underneath the tape and cut a substantial portion of the course out. This was a brilliant move! I was ahead of the downhiller as we approached the big log that would force me to dismount, but not the downhiller with 8 plus inches of travel, I hooked him and started to drive him off line to the left. He suddenly realized what I was doing and verbally expressed his displeasure, so let him off the hook. Just as I anticipated he hopped the log no sweat, but I was able to repass him on the run up afterwards as pushing a 40 pound bike up hill is not fast nor fun!
When I reached the steep decent to the lower section instead of turning left and dropping in, I hurled the tape with bike, remounted and rode next to the football field and then ducked back under the tape at the top of the run up chopping a big section of the course off. I was feeling very cheeky when I heard an all too familiar voice. "I'm right behind you Mike" It was Stella! I don't know where she came from, but suddenly my mission was clear, I had to beat her to the finish line! We both lit the burners and were off. I just managed to beat to the line and for the next lap we diced, cut the course and cheated and had a good old time! As I came towards the finish line for the beginning of the third lap I was done and completely over heated. I couldn't get the Tigger suit off fast enough. For the next 15 minutes while cooling off I watched the rest of the lunatics file by and laughed myself silly!
Tigger costume was a big hit with everybody, but especially the kids. I even won $20 and a six pack in the costume race. That including the six pack that Melanie bribed me with was a pretty good haul for a little case of heat stroke!
Singlespeed
I'll make this short. Ride very hard for 3 laps and then on the forth, blow sky high or bonk or both and then stagger around the course trying to stay out of other racers way while not harming myself as even the easiest maneuvers became impossible. I haven't DNF in a long time, but judging by the way I felt after the race and the next day I made the correct decision. I had about as much fun as you could have at a cross race! It was low key, the organizer didn’t freak about warming up on the course and the course itself was fun and very challenging.
all photos stolen from Karen Kefauver
2 comments:
oh man I really do need to pay that guy 50$ for putting you in the dirt...
Hey Tigger, I mean Mike, good race report - and who took those great photos? I am honored to have my pictures accompany your race report - thanks for the credit.
Your fan and trying to avoid future fines with flattery,
Karen
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