An Epic Weekend part 1

This past weekend was an epic one, and one that will never be forgotten. Saturday was Winter Park Race #5, the Crankworx Cross Country. They tied this race into the Crankworx events, so it seemed there were more participants. Somehow, when everyone else seemed to hate this course, I found it to be my most favorite race to date. Maybe it was because before the race I wasn’t feeling it, wasn’t really in the mood to race, my wrist was really hurting, so my thought was just to ride and have fun, this will probably end up being the other race I drop. So when they sent the very large group of Sport women off, I didn’t push, just pedaled at an easy pace. It didn’t take long to get passed by most of the girls, and I really didn’t care. Somehow, I had caught a lot of them before we turned onto Sunken Bridges, and even more on the steep climb. It was weird; I didn’t feel like I was pushing at all, just riding. Once we got to the road we turned right, and headed down a rolling dirt road for a ways, grateful that they made the Sport women turn with the beginners instead of climbing the nasty hill all of the others had to ride. Soon we turned onto Zoom and then Chainsaw, a super fun and fast single track descent. I caught a lot of girls on this, as well as a lot of guys from Clydesdale and Sport. I felt really good on this descent, too, picking good lines, and keeping my head in it. When Chainsaw ended on the road, I headed up to where Elk Meadow trail starts. It wasn’t a steep hill, but I passed quite a few more guys and girls who looked like they were standing still.

I knew there was the nasty climb up D2 and WTB, so I tried to save my legs on Elk Meadow, which wasn’t too hard. Soon enough D2 came, which was a long dirt road. I was able to climb in my middle ring and 3^rd or 4^th cog the whole way, which for me was pretty good. I passed quite a few more racers on this section, and I started to wonder if I was going to blow up at some point. I felt great, felt I still had good energy, and I wasn’t trying to push, I was just riding, so I kept the pace I was at. When D2 turned into a single track I stayed in a lower gear, just to spin and let my legs recover since I knew the tough part was coming. There was a group of racers that caught up to me at this point, but not anyone too far ahead. I knew I was in a difficult spot with the technical climb coming. If I wasn’t able to clear some sections, I would have a pileup behind me, and cause me to lose my calmness I had going on, but if I let them pass, I would have to worry about them not clearing something, causing the same result. I decided my best bet was to stay ahead and do my best to clear it. Good call. The person right behind me was not in a good gear when we hit the first root, so she stopped, causing others to move strategically around her. I was able to clean all of it, and by the time I got to the top, I could see no one behind me. There was still more to come. When WTB started I was pretty much alone except one guy ahead of me. I knew I had to focus and take it easy if I wanted to clear this section, so I stayed on his tail, but didn’t pass. He lost his balance on one section, and just happened to fall to the side I was on. I had to put my foot down for a second to move around him, but I was able to quickly get going again. Soon I saw a group of people ahead walking there bikes up. I caught up to them right at the top and passed a few of them. I was pretty happy with myself and knew at that point I could actually be in this race. The trail descended down D4 to Vasquez road, where I dropped quite a few more racers. (note: not all of these racers were Sport women. Actually most seemed to be Sport men) The route turned left to where we had to cross the river. I knew it was still running high from my pre-ride earlier in the week, and didn’t want to risk anything by attempting to ride it. So when I got up to it, I jumped off my bike, and carried it over my head to the other side. I thought it was a much better strategy. There was another climb up Tunnel Hill Road, where I passed another group of guys/girls standing still. A beginner guy caught up to me at this point, racing past to get to Chickadee first. He was the first person to pass me all race (except for the start). That didn’t last long, though, he flatted half way down so I passed him again. Once down the descent it started to climb again up Little Vasquez. I was surprised at how I was feeling, I knew this was the last big climb, and I was still feeling great. Once it dumped out to the dirt road, I passed a few more people, and got passed by one or two. At one point I was spinning along when I heard a squeaky toy. Oh no! Who is that?!? I thought, knowing it was either Marni, Matt, Mel or Scott. I turned and saw Matt with a huge grin on his face. We chatted for a while, he was looking really good on his new bike and all. It didn’t take long for him to gain ground on me. I guess I should have cherished the Firecracker a little more than I did. He is forever going to kick my ass now.

At the top of the road we turned down Arapahoe, which was fun single track for a while. One more person passed me there, and I passed a few more. Eventually there was only me and another guy winding through the woods. No sign of anyone else either in front of behind us. He kept a good pace, so I stayed with him, until the last little climb on Long Trail. He pretty much stopped at the top, saying I was pushing him to hard to stay in front of me, and he was about to die, so he let me pass. Sorry dude. I wound through the trees on Long Trail, no one else in sight. I shot down to the Boulevard, which I have come to love, with the wooded jumps and tight switchbacks at the end. I was able to enjoy it with no one else around. I finished in just over 2 hours. Good enough for 2^nd place. I felt great when I was done, and for once finished a race where I felt like I belonged. I am starting to get it!

Matt, of course, got 2^nd in his group, 10 minutes faster than me. Sandbagger. He will have to race Sport next time. Brett ended up flatting twice just a couple miles from the finish and was unable to repair it. He DNF’d. Marni did great, coming in 4^th again. She had a lot on her mind, she was picking up Chris right after the race, and her heart was more already with him than the race. She did awesome considering, it is scary to think of what time she would have gotten if she were more into it! Erik did really well too, even though he had to finish the last few miles on a very flat tire! He still kept people off his tail and finished with a good time. Scott crashed by wrapping himself or his bike around a tree, so he was hurting when he finished. Melissa did awesome, pulling in 4^th again. It is amazing how she can do it with not much training. Shawn did really well in his category, although I don’t think he wanted to admit it. I talked to him after the race and he pretty much said he blew up out there and didn’t do well. It wasn’t until later that I found out he was actually racing Pro…

Although no one else seemed to have enjoyed it as much as me, I was very happy with this race. Definitely my favorite so far. Especially the incredible lighting storm that started right when I finished that brought a downpour of rain. In a weird way when it started to pour, I wished I was still out riding… Luckily for those that were still out there, the rain didn’t hit them as bad.   Good times…