Race Report - Short Track - 1-25-15 "First Race of the New Year"

Going into this race, I'm really not sure if I was more excited or nervous.  It has been a few months since the summer series wrapped up, and with a 9 month old at home my ride time has been drastically cut down.  Yet as soon as registration opened I jumped on booking the entire series.

Sunday morning the nerves calmed and I was ready.  This was my first time racing at the Short Track and all I can say is WOW.  The number of people in attendance, both racers and hecklers was pretty impressive.  I quickly made friends with some of the fellow racers and got ready.

Going into the first lap I knew I wanted to jump to the front right off the start.  I had a pretty good jump and started into the trail either in 4th or 5th place.  Into the first couple berms I realized I was a good bit faster than those directly ahead of me.  As we were all yelling in frustration for a pass, he wasn't having it.  Oh well no worries I'll pass him on the uphill out.  So I lightly pedal and coast around the course until we get to my spot to make my move.

The glorious gravel road appeared and that's when I realized where these races are lost.  The slow rider ahead of me bolted off like he just stole an S-Works Camber.   I could not catch him on the up hill.  At this time I'm sitting in what I think is 4th or 5th place and I know 1 and 2 are out of my reach.  So I buckle down only to continue the same dance lap after lap.  I go much slower through the course than I ever should, only to get schooled on the uphill lap after lap.

I hear them yelling one more lap, and I know it's game on.  Yet the uphill wins again and I can't catch the seemingly slower rider.  I cross the finish line, take a deep breath and spin out for a minute.  A few minutes later I check the boards and see I was in 5th which wasn't too bad for my first time at Short Track.

Fast forward to the current week, and I've been placing the treadmill on an incline level of 15 (maxed out) doing 3 and a half minute sprints trying to prep.  Overall it was a great experience and I cannot wait to finish off the series and hopefully conquer my demon, which is the hill.

Biltmore Estate, Thats a wrap!

It's been a long season which all started 5 months ago at the Cycle Smart Cross camp in Columbia, SC. Which, by the way, was AWESOME and I highly recommend! I learned a lot from Adam and Jacob over those 2 days but I also met a ton of passionate cross racers. These same people were the ones cheering for me (seemed to be at every corner) at the races. The cheers and relationships have fueled my season and have pushed me to go further.

During the season my goal was to race, to race as much as possible. Early in the season I decided to double up on some of the NCCX races and race the Master's and the Open 4/5's. Although this pretty much killed me the rest of day, I think it was a good move early in the season.


The run-up from the bottom

The run-up from the top

Coming into the last race of the season had a lot of mixed emotions. I was exhausted and worn out from traveling and racing every weekend. But I also knew that if I didn't go to Biltmore I'd regret it. The course was very difficult and very different from last year's flat, straight, and bumpy roadie course. Be careful what you ask for because this year had a lot of climbing, more tech, and some very fast sections. The first 1/2 of the course was climbing and technical. The second 1/2 was all power, strategy and race tactics.

Saturday I had a great start and had a few guys to race. They would drop me on the climbs and I'd claw my way back on the power sections of the course. So going into the last lap I tried to keep those guys within eyesight. I was able to pass 1 of the racers on the technical descent. Then I passed another at the start of the power section. The course doubled back on itself and could see I another racer with a pretty good gap. So, trying to stay away from the 2 racers behind me and wanting catch the guy in front, I put my head down and mashed. I was closing in on him and got within 50 feet at the barriers. From the barriers I followed him on to the pavement and got on his wheel just before we made the last turn to the up hill finish line. He went wide through the corner and I pushed the bike to the inside and hammered as I passed. I got far enough in front that he couldn't sit on my wheel and I pulled away. I finished just behind teammate Bob.



The cold front moving through



Look at that Big Blue Sky





Bob finishing strong on Saturday



Sunday the course changed to more climbing. The course changes consisted of a long uphill section of single track just after the brutal run-up, I mean walk-up! Funny, for me Sunday was a repeat of Saturday including out sprinting the same guy at the same corner. After the race the announcer gave me a free NCCX T-Shirt for my effort. Pretty cool since I've never won anything at a bike race before. I then found the guy I raced both days for the finish line and we talked a bit. Super nice guy visiting Asheville from Ohio.




Love this pic of Bob and me- We finished both days in this same position

 

After shot- we're both very tired!



Crossing the finish line on day 2- No wins but I had a very successful season

After the race we headed over to a nearby restaurant to celebrate a great Cross season- 37 races for Bob, Layla and myself. All in all I think it was a successful Cross season for the team as well as myself. It was a long season and I'm definitely looking forward to a break but I'm going to miss my cyclocross family! Already looking forward to next year.