The race started and I was feeling pretty good off the gun. On that very first little stretch of single track after the pavement, a gap formed between the fast dudes up front and the rest of us. I was fourth wheel in our group and felt I had the legs bridge the gap, so I made a couple of passes once the short double track downhill started. I was still only second wheel, and I got a little carried away in the moment. I tried to make another pass on the inside of that really sketchy right-hand turn before the trail starts to climb again. I was in the weeds and I was about to lean back and make the corner when my front wheel got caught in a rut and got washed out. I was down before I knew what hit me.
I don't know what hurt worse. The actual crash or the shower when I got home. Washing out road rash (or in this case, trail rash) never feels good.
I hopped back on the pony, and fortunately Craig pointed out that I left my water and sunglasses on the trail. Yeah, I was a little dazed, not even realizing I had lost my shades. I hopped off, cleaned up the yard sale, tried to shake off the crash and got back going, but not before going from a good position to dead last.
I'm still beating myself up for making such a rookie mistake so early on in the race. I had 26 more miles to make that pass (like, for example, the double track climb right after where I crashed), and I picked about the worst possible time to try it. Instead, I spent the next 26 miles paying for it. It took a bit to clear the cobwebs, but once I did, I went out a little too hard trying to catch back on. I made a few passes, but really blew up on lap two. Motivation went down, my hip hurt from the crash, and I wished I was racing Sport again so I could call it a day.
Finally on lap three I got some energy back. It was much too little too late, but I was able to make a few passes. Although my 3rd lap time wasn't great, it was my fastest lap of the day by a minute.
Even though this is a tough course, I'm actually looking forward to next year. It's fun and challenging. I raced it two years ago as a Sport and I felt that the course got the best of me, and I felt like it got me again this year. Next year, Soldier Hollow is going down.
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6 comments:
Sounds like the hammerfest hammered Racers Cycle Service. Joel, Adam and myself went down too (i didnt go down hard) and TM had a hell of a time with his bike. And that's just one category. Missed you after the race, bummer dude.
That hurt. Although I was hoping that when you crashed it would give me an opening to try and hold on to your wheel for a while. It worked - for about 1 minute.
I saw quite a few people who looked like they had hit the dirt pretty hard. I just about went down on the singletrack descent up at the top of the course.
Why does that race always hurt so much?
Nails - yeah, somehow I missed you. You were probably in the tent reserved for the top riders so they can get their well-deserved post-race massages. Great race, once again. You are living up to your Superhero name. Quite amazing considering your time off the bike.
Adam - this course just doesn't cut you any slack. As soon as you let up, you'll lose serious time either on the climbs or descents. I almost lost it a few more times as well on that descent.
Sorry about the crash. I am sure it wasn't fun after that. Stick to the Wed night race. One lap is good.
I was cleaning dirt out of my ears for a few days after my digger and I am still pretty sore. I really tweaked some muscles in my crash. I crashed on the upper downhill section on my second lap. The rest of my race was a suffer fest. Even without a crash, the third lap on that course is a true test of endurance.
JZ - From the looks of your torn up shorts, you took a hard fall. Way to get back up and still get a good result (even if it's not quite what you're used to). I have a feeling that both you and Adam H. will be out for blood on Monday.
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