photos by djonnymac
One of the best settings in the WCA series. I was excited to see some of my Chicago brethren make the trip for more cross racing, Scott McLaughlin, Wayne Simon and Tom Boundy from Verdigris and I also ran into a couple of guys from the Iron Horse team.
I wish we had the camera. Scenic route through trees with used trail, fast off camber downhills and some power sections thrown in. An ideal setting for me. There were 3 barriers at the end of the lap through the finish, 1 barrier by the "beach" which was a 4 foot drop trench by the swap. The rest was double track, some single track and grass and the ground was super hard except for a few corners through the pine trees at the start finish. I think we did 9 laps.
So I was looking forward to seeing what I could in favorable course conditions against some the areas best riders with 4 weeks to go to Nationals. The field was not very deep, but lining up next Tristan and Scott, it was going to be fast. My goal today was to stay with Scott. I use him as mark since we're close in age, have the same goals with age group national jerseys, and have raced in contact with each other before, though this year I am not even close. With the exceptional year he is having, I felt that if I could pace with him, I would have a really strong shot at stars and stripes in the masters race in Bend.
The race started off with Tim Pacholski from Vel Trocadero getting a great start and pulling through with about 1/2 lap. James Lalonde picked up the pace halfway through and spent the next lap pulling all of us. The pace was manageable and I was waiting for Tristan to get bored and shoot off the front. Tim also tends to do that as well.
The next lap, I decided to pull through and I went off the front pretty hard since I wanted to open the race so I would have a clean shot through the rideable log sections. I was afraid with a pack in follow, someone would make a mistake and I would get caught up. After I cleaned that section, Scott and Tristan went right ahead of me and I sat on with James behind me.
The next section of course was super fast downhill followed by left hand turn and then we had 1 barrier before riding near the swamp that sat about 4 feet lower than the ground that required a run and remount back on the course. I slipped on the exit and fell, and James went into me and I felt like an ass. I brought us both back up to Scott and Tristan.
Lap 3, right when we come through the start, Tristan opens it up and puts an easy 40 feet ahead of us. It was really impressive. James passed me and went on Scott's wheel with me behind him, but I was riding the corners slower and I was starting to feel the lactic acid in my legs.
Next lap, James gets a gap on Scott, just enough for him to get ahead. I am probably sitting about 10 seconds behind Scott. He started to open a gap on me and I had no response.
With 5 laps to go, it pretty much stayed that way. I saw Tristan and James lapping through down by the swamp trading pulls and I was trying to chase Scott like he was the metal man on a Computrainer ride. Through the race, I can see him ahead and I would get close through the open sections then through the logs but I was bombing the downhill so much faster than I was. After hitting the 3 barriers in front of the course, he had alot of power through the start finish section.
With 2 laps to go, I went as hard as I could and felt like I was closing a little bit on a 20 second gap but it really put the knife in me. Last lap I had nothing left and he made sure he put me away with a much faster lap. It went Tristan, James, Scott then me for 4th and I did not get a chance to see the final race results for the other spots.
It's getting into that time of year where people are starting to peak. I could ride with James last year and most of this year, but the last few weeks it's really coming together for him. As far as Scott, he has alot of power and strong technical skills. With the way he his riding right now, I think he can win his masters national race.
I am pretty happy with how things turned out today. I was able to push the race a bit and rode my ass off trying to catch Scott. My fitness feels better than it ever has at any point I have ever raced and it's a month away from Nationals. I have to thank Brian Conant again for his guidance in coaching. Before it was riding so hard that I wanted to go tell him to F7ck himself during the workout then to getting a point where I want more and he's backing me off. On top of it, time management and flexibility with business travel has been a huge plus.
Holly took second today and was able to hold Megan off. Pretty impressive performance again. I am going to have to find a way to get her to get coached for next year and build on a break through year.
I wish we had the camera. Scenic route through trees with used trail, fast off camber downhills and some power sections thrown in. An ideal setting for me. There were 3 barriers at the end of the lap through the finish, 1 barrier by the "beach" which was a 4 foot drop trench by the swap. The rest was double track, some single track and grass and the ground was super hard except for a few corners through the pine trees at the start finish. I think we did 9 laps.
So I was looking forward to seeing what I could in favorable course conditions against some the areas best riders with 4 weeks to go to Nationals. The field was not very deep, but lining up next Tristan and Scott, it was going to be fast. My goal today was to stay with Scott. I use him as mark since we're close in age, have the same goals with age group national jerseys, and have raced in contact with each other before, though this year I am not even close. With the exceptional year he is having, I felt that if I could pace with him, I would have a really strong shot at stars and stripes in the masters race in Bend.
The race started off with Tim Pacholski from Vel Trocadero getting a great start and pulling through with about 1/2 lap. James Lalonde picked up the pace halfway through and spent the next lap pulling all of us. The pace was manageable and I was waiting for Tristan to get bored and shoot off the front. Tim also tends to do that as well.
The next lap, I decided to pull through and I went off the front pretty hard since I wanted to open the race so I would have a clean shot through the rideable log sections. I was afraid with a pack in follow, someone would make a mistake and I would get caught up. After I cleaned that section, Scott and Tristan went right ahead of me and I sat on with James behind me.
The next section of course was super fast downhill followed by left hand turn and then we had 1 barrier before riding near the swamp that sat about 4 feet lower than the ground that required a run and remount back on the course. I slipped on the exit and fell, and James went into me and I felt like an ass. I brought us both back up to Scott and Tristan.
Lap 3, right when we come through the start, Tristan opens it up and puts an easy 40 feet ahead of us. It was really impressive. James passed me and went on Scott's wheel with me behind him, but I was riding the corners slower and I was starting to feel the lactic acid in my legs.
Next lap, James gets a gap on Scott, just enough for him to get ahead. I am probably sitting about 10 seconds behind Scott. He started to open a gap on me and I had no response.
With 5 laps to go, it pretty much stayed that way. I saw Tristan and James lapping through down by the swamp trading pulls and I was trying to chase Scott like he was the metal man on a Computrainer ride. Through the race, I can see him ahead and I would get close through the open sections then through the logs but I was bombing the downhill so much faster than I was. After hitting the 3 barriers in front of the course, he had alot of power through the start finish section.
With 2 laps to go, I went as hard as I could and felt like I was closing a little bit on a 20 second gap but it really put the knife in me. Last lap I had nothing left and he made sure he put me away with a much faster lap. It went Tristan, James, Scott then me for 4th and I did not get a chance to see the final race results for the other spots.
It's getting into that time of year where people are starting to peak. I could ride with James last year and most of this year, but the last few weeks it's really coming together for him. As far as Scott, he has alot of power and strong technical skills. With the way he his riding right now, I think he can win his masters national race.
I am pretty happy with how things turned out today. I was able to push the race a bit and rode my ass off trying to catch Scott. My fitness feels better than it ever has at any point I have ever raced and it's a month away from Nationals. I have to thank Brian Conant again for his guidance in coaching. Before it was riding so hard that I wanted to go tell him to F7ck himself during the workout then to getting a point where I want more and he's backing me off. On top of it, time management and flexibility with business travel has been a huge plus.
Holly took second today and was able to hold Megan off. Pretty impressive performance again. I am going to have to find a way to get her to get coached for next year and build on a break through year.
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