| | I have lived about 99% of my life in the state of Michigan. That is fact I was made aware of yesterday at the race in Chattanooga, TN. My bike riding up there was all about sandy, smooth trails. Carrying speed on rolling terrain. Big gears on the singlespeed. Nothing wrong with that, I love MI trails. But yesterday I raced the most difficult race course that I've been on. Raccoon Mountain TVA. I had ridden here before, but at a leisurely pace, on a geared bike. Getting off to walk a few of the rock gardens. Spinning up the tough climbs. Stopping to take pictures. Enjoying the natural beauty as much as riding the bike. None of this was the case yesterday.
I took the weekend off from everything and went to Chattanooga on Sat. for the race on Sunday. I got there about 2:30. It was 95 degrees went I went out for a lap of the 13 mile race course. After only about 1 mile into the trail my heart rate was 178 beats per minute! I knew right there I was over geared. I had been told it was "Singlespeed friendly". But, being a little arrogant, I thought I would be just fine, and didn't bring any additional cogs, so 38x17 it was. I would go hard on the hills and on put time on folks on the few flat sections. I finished the lap, and after I was done my average heart rate was at race pace. I had just done the equivalent of a tough one hour+ time trial. In extreme heat Not smart.
In the process of this lap I also managed to cut a small hole in the sidewall of my tire. Not surprising. It was a super light tire, not at all suitable for this type of rocky terrain. But, I didn't have another tire. Luckily for me the Kenda/Hayes race team has there truck there and hooked me up with a tire, a pint of sealant and even let me use their air compressor. And charged less than retail. Very cool of them. Saving my weekend. I headed to the motel, chilled out and tried to recover for the race the next day.
When I lined up at the start line for my 9:30 start time it was already 88 degrees. There was a group of about 25 singlespeeders. They looked young, and they looked fast. This is one of the more popular mtb races in the SE. I was still confident, I still liked my chances. We had a neutral roll out for a quarter mile or so, then we were off. I turned over the pedals like a mad man and took one other guy with me. We had a little gap when we hit the singletrack. I let him go in first, and rode hard to stay on his wheel. I was doing ok, until we caught the pro women. Tough course for the ladies. A lot of upper and lower body strength was required.
We navigated through the first handful of women with no issues, but then we approached a big rock section with a drop off. The guy I was riding with got around a lady just before that and I was still behind her. She came to a complete stop at the drop off. She missed the route around and didn't dare go off the ledge. I got off the bike and ran around her, but I lost contact. I backed off and reminded myself that it was going to be a long, hot day in the saddle. Because of the big gear it was impossible to spin my legs comfortably to recover, but I let my heart rate drop a little when I had the chance. A few singlespeeders caught and passed me. I let them go and rode in my zone. Hoping to catch them later.
The next 90 minutes were just about me grunting and groaning up hills, recovering at the top, and wondering when I would start to catch the guys in front of me. I never did. In fact, a guy came from behind and caught ME with about 3 miles to go, he beat me to the line by 20 seconds or so. I was more than 3 minutes slower on my second lap than my first. About 3 1/2 minutes off first place. I just didn't have the legs I needed. I was able to suck it up and keep fighting. I was only 30 seconds away from 3rd place. Proper gearing could have got me there. I think if I had taken it easy on Sat. I would have been more competitive.
I rode the race like someone who wasn't from the area. Missed on my gearing. Was a little tentative on some of the singletrack sections, went too hard the day before and didn't ride the singletrack as aggressively as I would have liked. I did, however, have the perfect singlespeed bike (minus the bad gearing) for that terrain. The smooth and efficient suspension was able to help me make it though the tough stuff and scary downhills faster and safer than I otherwise would have.
It was a really great day of riding and an awesome personal challenge for a Yankee flatland.
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| | Posted 6/29/2009 11:16 AM - 22 Views - 2 eProps - 2 comments
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