After last Tuesday I decided to bail on going to Madison for the USGP CX race despite it easily being my favorite CX race. I didn't feel ready to spend the time and money on a race discipline that wasn't going well for me yet. The mountain bike was holding my attention at the moment so it seemed natural to go to the last MNMBS series race. The first and last time I rode the Jail Trail was in 2008 at my first MNSCS race. I entered the Sport race, and since I was a staunch SS proponent at the time I entered the SS State Championship, thinking a top 10 would be no problem. I think I got 15th or 16th, not realizing that a lot of Experts and such were racing SS that day only. I was definitely hooked on the Series races right away; the participation is great and mountain bikers are laid back people, making for a good atmosphere and fun riding.
Today I would be racing Comp on my Top Fuel. Total about-face from what I was riding 3 years ago. The Jail Trail is a perfect course for a 26" full suspension bike. It's very tight, twisty, requires constant acceleration and deceleration, and the low-hanging trees mean you are frequently ducking through corners and leaning hard. It's rooty and has some challenging rock gardens. It's a great trail! 3 years ago I don't remember liking it as much, but the Top Fuel loves a course like that. Point and shoot.
After watching Brendan Moore destroy the SS race on his converted Top Fuel with something like 42x16 gearing (!) and seeing teammates Jeff and Ian post solid 6th and 7th places, it was time to line up. Participation was down from the other races. No idea why; the weather and course conditions were perfect. With some CX mentality ingrained in me already, I made a big push to get to the front of my wave on the long prologue. I remember from 3 years ago that traffic jams were a big problem, so I worked hard to get into the single track in good position, which I did.
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| Photo by Jay Richards, Courtesy of Skinnyski |
As soon as we got into the single track it was like coming home. Throwing the bike around the trees, rocks and roots is becoming second nature and just feels right. I concentrated on riding smooth and light but also keeping steady power on the pedals. I felt great. I was regularly catching riders (our wave started last) and never conceded a position that I didn't eventually get back. The rocks seemed to be ruining the race for a few people; I saw numerous dropped chains, flats and heard of some nasty face-plants.
It was a short race; 2 laps and a finishing time of 1:15 for me. I won the 25-29 age group (only 5 riders today) and had my best overall result of the MNMBS season. I had a rough go at my first Comp race but have been progressing all year. That's something I'm proud of, because I haven't really reached a plateau yet. Year-to-year I've been seeing improvements and hope to keep that going.
So it was great to be racing the MTB again and getting some confidence back. Sometimes I need a bad race to motivate me and remind me that one bad race doesn't mean anything. Unfortunately the MTB season is nearly over now; just one Hillside night race left. That will probably be a good thing as I will finally have to accept it and get into CX 100 percent. I am looking forward to it more now that I've proven to myself that I'm racing well.
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