Not Last but Last to Finish @ Massasoit for CAT2 Singlespeed

Man was I slow.  I know what I have to do, I need to get more trail miles under my belt, get lighter, and get faster!

2011 Massasoit Lung ... Buster

My 23d day for the 30 Days of Biking challenge was another mountain biking race.  While I can't take credit for the title of this post, that goes to MaggieMeats, a Boston mountain bike racer that I found by using #NEMBA hash tag on Twitter.  However, breathing wasn't my problem rather I think it is combination of things that led to a pitiful performance on a course that kicked ass on last year.

My pre-lap was great, cleaned all the climbs except for the last three but I knew going into this race that I would never make those climbs and I was pretty water logged by the end of the lap.  Back at the car, I changed out of my we gear and into dry gear while having lunch.  I was really thankful that I met Hal Green Windsor to pick up my NEMBA Racing Kit and the NEMBA Tent that was key to my happiness at this soggy event.

The tent made it palpable to make some last minute changes on the bike, like tighten my chain because it dropped on the pre-lab, that has never happened before.  I also increased my tire pressure to 30 lbs and I think that was my first mistake because the I didn't have as much foot print for climbing.

I should have changed my socks, too, because they were wet going into the race and only got wetter, to the point where it felt like my shoes weighed a ton and my feet were constantly swimming.  I started the race with warmer gloves and a riding jacket that I should have ditched before the race started because the mesh pocked in the back got tangled with my jersey as I was trying to change gloves.  The gloves that I started out with quickly got sodden and while I brought along a second pair, switching them out was a pain and I should have just tossed them.

Second lap was a little better but my feet were bugging me.  I did find a second wind midway through the course when I started having fun hopping the roots on one downhill section but then I started riding a little more conservatively because one landing got a little sketchy and I really didn't want a repeat of last weekend's crash.  The other problem I was having was no brakes.  I think a combination of all the water and mud was reeking havoc on them and I had to jump off a few time and adjust.  

On the last down hill, it was complete grease and I was riding the brakes and just sliding down the the hill when my front wheel spun on me and and I dumped it but jumped off without any injury.  The final run to the finish line I started spinning like a gerbil in a habit-trail only to have my chain drop, again!

Photo Credit:  Fabian Esponda

Wow, what a ride.  I finished and boy was I finished.  I knew I wasn't the last guy on the course.  There was another guy with brake problems, too, that I passed somewhere at the end of the first lap that finally came in while I was going to check the results.  Turns out my team mate, Fabian, somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in someone's back yard and after back tracking managed to get 11th, while I took 13th.  I think my problem is that I don't have enough of a base on this bike.  Riding the Gussy isn't going to do it for me, I think I need to do more rides after work at Huntington.  Just need to find a good course with a good mix of single and dual track to the tune of 7 to 10 miles.

Fabian and I stopped off in Mansfield for Chinese food and then drove home.  The three hour ride in the car too long and I don't think I will hitting a venue over two hours distant in the future, although, I won't rule out the Bikes for Bovine Race up in NH which is just the other side of Brattleboro, VT.  That's supposed to be a fun course, kind of like Domnarski Farm with a huge climb and then huge descent.  I never really had time to take any pictures myself, or should I say, I was kind of fed up once the race was over.  Getting home, my daughter suggested a snap a few because the mist and the light from the spot gave the bike an eerie appearance sitting atop my car.

Root 66 @ Massasoit Lung Opener

I got up to Massasoit State Park in East Taunton, Mass, around 10:30 AM to ensure that I had plenty of time to pre-ride the course and it was extremely worthwhile. After registering and getting my Bib I headed out onto the course. The first part through mature pine forests was fun because it was cool and no breeze. Parts of the trail were soft in some places and there was one really long bridge. Eventually the course came out of the forest and it became sandy as you got closer to the ponds. The terrain was wonderful and my gearing selection was good because it enabled me to make most of the climbs.

Doing this pre-lap let me learn the ins and outs of the course. There was a sand pit before a little climb that I hit in the middle, that was a mistake, which took the wind out of my sails, almost forcing me walk the incline. There was another sandy climb that curved around to the right that if you were going fast and tried cut on the inside the sand would stop you cold. And there was one section that was extremely rooty, more so than others, that if tried to take it high it was worse than hitting down low.

Three quarters of the way through the Pros & CAT 1s came barreling through and man were they fast. Towards the end of the course there is a hike-a-bike that was killer. Once you got past that climb you descended some more to one last fall line hike-a-bike, a final kick in the teeth, and then there was a nice downhill and then you were out on the road to the starting point. On that last climb I ran into John Groller who was taking pictures of the carnage on the last hike-a-bike who took the two shots below.

After the pre-lap it was back to the car for a little bike maintenance, PBJs (Rs are for afterwards) and 32oz of Powerade to pre-hydrate for the race. I have finally given up on my carbon fiber seat post. I think I am too heavy for the restraining bolt that holds the seat in place because it keeps moving back on me. My bike was making an awful noise which I noticed earlier this week and I finally deduced that it was the bottom bracket. I learned later that I need an Isis crank puller, something not included in my bag of tricks, in order to get the crank off so I had to live with it.

I was surprised at the amount of port-a-johns, only 4, they had here because at 15 minutes before race time I needed one and the two by the finish line had lines in front of them. I raced up to the two outer ones and they were free. The CAT2 SS Open class started after the 40 to 49 year old group but included with us were the junior men. There were 10 racers and in the line we were all taking about our gearing. One guy came to the party at 32:14t and he must have been an animal because I never caught him. Most people seemed be geared for 32:20t like me or 32:18t. I think 32:19t would have been perfect.

At the whistle I hung towards the back but found myself with one person behind me at the first turn into the woods, I had looked at the field and thought that out of everyone there, there was guy that I could probably best. It was a really different feeling racing because the adrenalin was coursing through me and I was actually trying to keep up with those in front of me and all I was thinking was keep up, keep up. Right before the first rooty climb, one of the racers dropped due to a loose seat clamp and that put me into 8th place by the first 2 miles into the course. That was a first, people behind me and I could see people in front of me.

Into another section of climbs, which I cleaned one and walked another and I was starting to catch the guy in front of me. The guy with the seat clamp issue, on a Fetish Fixation - hey I had one of those but this was the gun metal blue one, much older than mine - was dogging my six as well. This went on for the rest of this lap and into the next. On the second lap, I lost sight of the guy in front of me and the guy behind I caught glimpses of when I would finish a climb he would be just starting. Three quarters into the second lap I started to catch the guy in front of me and finally passed him right before the second hike-a-bike. He had cramps.

When I got onto the straight away I sprinted towards the finish line. It was like spin class and I was riding that bike like I stole it! I even passed a geared rider coming into the finish line. My final time was 1 hour 39 minutes and I took seventh place. That PBR (not J) after the race was the best thing to wash down all that dust. My first lap had an average speed of 9.5 mph but I slowed down on the second lap to 8.6 mph. Pre-hydrating and carb'ing up before the ride really helps and I did hammer gels 3/4s of the way through each lap which really helped, too.

This was a great race and the first time I ever bested someone, the guy on the Fetish. Unfortunately, I won't be racing until June again so I have the whole month of may to get ready for the race in Ware, MA. Still, this is my 3rd Race for NEMBA Racing (Fbook link), one more to go! However, unlike most people who went home after the race, I stayed in Massachusetts because on Sunday I was attending the New England Mountain Bike Association's quarterly Board of Director's meeting, which I am now a member of. Of course, that meant more riding!