2012 Mountain bike nationals

Not a good start. I kinda knew this was a race. I expected a fast start but this didn't go well at all. I was near the back of the field at the start, the field separated within the first few feet, and I got squeezed into the right side of the bridge just a few feet from the start making me dead last by the time we hit the paved bike path. I'd like to see a video of the start because from my viewpoint the fast guys took off like bullets. I assumed the field would be relatively calm until the dirt road after the bike path. Wrong.

So I don't really care for being dead last. I expected to take it somewhat easy on the bike path as part of a peloton of riders but that didn't happen because the big front pack was out of reach and the rest of the people in front of me weren't in a group. I therefore had to work so I got in a tuck and picked off 2 or 3 riders on the paved trail before the dirt.

Now the dirt road starts. As others predicted quite a few riders slowed pretty significantly so I was able to pass a few riders pretty quickly. Maybe 5-6 by the time we hit the single track.

In the last 2 miles of the single track I passed a few single speed riders whilst being passed by a few 45+ riders and 2 of my group. I felt I had a very good climb; I thought it took quite a bit less than one hour but Strava says 57 minutes. I spent the whole climb in zone 5 so I don't know what else I could have done.

I swear I started drooling as I climbed the last few feet before the trail pitches downhill. I was ready to destroy the competition and pick up at least the 2 guys that passed me. Unfortunately I immediately felt my front tire was nearly flat. Damn. Stop, fumble for the CO2 canister, fill it up, GO! Probably only lost 30 seconds, maybe 50. At least 2 guys pass; I donno if they are in my group.

It's time for some serious downhill fun. I LOVED the top section again; this was my third time riding this and felt pretty fast. I think I caught and passed three riders before I realized my tire was low again as I was catching up to the "cow guy". About that time the second climb started so I got on his wheel and did that climb a little slower than I wanted to, but I felt it would be bad form to be aggressive, pass the guy, then pull over to refill my tire. Once the top of the climb arrived I pulled over and refilled.

The rest of the downhill to the traverse was a ok but not as fast as I wanted it to go because I was nervous about my tire and started feeling it soften. I think I refilled it once more before the traverse climb, got up the climb with another rider from a different group, and started down the service road where I immediately felt the tire was really soft. I took a few high speed turns motocross-style and planned on refilling at the slower section atop the little bump coming up.

Before that little bump is a straight line that I took at about 35 mph so I could fly up the hill. Well, I ended up sliding up the road on the left side of my body (at 25 mph according to my race data) because my front tire gave up before I could refill it. That hurt. I yelled. I think I yelled for a minute or so. I was pretty pissed off and felt everyone needed to know, although there was no one in sight.

So at this point I was on the ground, shaking likely from adrenaline, with a bloody leg and REALLY pissed off about that damn Schwalbe Rocket Ron tire that just doesn't hold air no matter what I do. I layed down next to my bike and filled up the tire with whatever air I have left, still yelling, and get up. I then realized I couldn't really walk so I limped along next to my bike till the top of the bump, and jumped on. The service road descent continued for a few turns before we hit the single track. It took less than one turn on that service road to realize the tire was still soft, waaaay soft. I'm out of CO2 and there's probably a mile left. Not a happy camper.

At the start of the singletrack a race course usher pointing us to the course happens to have CO2 so I fumble with his pump, use it to fill up my tire, and now I hear the air escaping every tire rotation. Shit. I better hurry to the finish.

I didn't make it. Every turn got scarier as the tire became softer; I hit the side of the hill a few times as the tire folded and threw me around; and finally the tire bead popped and I started running next to my bike. I start asking everyone that passes me if they can drop some CO2 just so I can finish. Probably ten guys pass me without being able to help, and finally a nice guy named Aaron helped me out. He was very friendly and not in a hurry at all. He helped me get going, introduced himself, and we got finished pretty much together.

By the time I get to the rock waterfall my tire is pretty soft again and I contemplate how intelligent it is to descend that rock garden in this state. Ah fuck it. I may as well go for it.

I get down it and realize one guy from my group that had cut me off on the inside of a hairpin is within striking distance so I try to get him back at the finish. I had nothing to prove cause I had that guy totally beat had I not had all the tire trouble. I take the sweeping right turn pretty soft because he's watching me, then he looks away and I stand on it. By the time I get to the last left turn I am just feet away from him but my front tire is about to put me in the finish walls. I finish with the same time as him but he still beats me by a bike length. Was kinda fun just to scare him.

One last thought: It was well worth the experience. The nervousness of the week coming up to the event was surprisingly intense, especially the morning of. Then on the drive home I realized I had just competed at the national level. Pretty fucking cool.