This past weekend, I returned to Ravenna OH for the Xterra O.N.E. With the race director giving me the #1 bib as returning champ from last year, the pressure was on for me to repeat.
The mountain bike course here is the highlight of the event. With narrow, rooty and rocky singletrack for 90% of the course, it rewards mountain bike skills over sheer cycling fitness. This is a tough course. I crashed on the preride the day before the race in a rock garden and landed on my road rash from 2 weeks ago. Then the morning of the race while I am warming up 30 minutes before the race, I flat when I hit a rock at a weird angle, lose control and crash into a tree shoulder first.
It seems I'm not the only one who has been having bad luck crashing lately. It seems like everyone has been crashing lately as if it is the new cool thing to do. Kind of strange.
Before the race I see Bruce Pisarek floating in the water and he announces I am the returning champ. I think that drew the attention of the swimmers to me like sharks and they marked me for the swim. That was good because my shoulder is still sore and I haven't swam in weeks so that probably just slowed them down as they stayed with me. Anyhow I come out of the water at the front of the pack with about 7 others within 8 seconds of me. It is very rare where I come so close to the #1 swim split.
I get to the singletrack in first place and notice the air in my tires is low. While it may have been a good pressure for riding around in the hotel parking lot, it is not a good pressure to ride at high speeds over roots and rocks. I can feel my back tire bottoming out on the rim and rolling over under hard cornering pressure. I decide I will not stop and refill with a CO2 and instead resign myself to riding more conservatively in the technical sections and riding hard on the hills and open sections.
I let Bruce, mountain bike extraordinaire, pass me and I try to keep him in sight so I can have a chance at reeling him in on the run. I get through the bike both crash free and flat free and feel warmed up and ready to run.
I felt great and caught Bruce about half way through the run. The run felt effortless and I am sure I could have gone much faster if I wanted. I guess toning down my effort on the bike translated into more energy available for the run.
I came across the line about 3 minutes faster than last year and repeat champ of the Xterra O.N.E. This victory was significant to me for many reasons. First, this locks up the Xterra point series for me so I am the Midwest champ for the sixth year in a row. Second, this is the first time I ever had a perfect score in the point series and as a result I am tied for first in the National ranking among my age group peers. That's quite an honor because there are a whole lot of superstars on that list. Third, this guarantees an invitation to the Xterra USA Championship, which I look forward to competing at in 2 months. Fourth, all my goals for the season have been met and it is only July. Now I need to formulate new ambitions for the USA and World Championships and see what I'm made of.
I'd like to offer congratulations to Derrick who had a breakthrough race today. He came in midpack on the swim and then proceeded to move up through the field with the 6th best bike split on the day and the 2nd best run. He finished right behind me in fourth place, his best Xterra finish ever.
The mountain bike course here is the highlight of the event. With narrow, rooty and rocky singletrack for 90% of the course, it rewards mountain bike skills over sheer cycling fitness. This is a tough course. I crashed on the preride the day before the race in a rock garden and landed on my road rash from 2 weeks ago. Then the morning of the race while I am warming up 30 minutes before the race, I flat when I hit a rock at a weird angle, lose control and crash into a tree shoulder first.
It seems I'm not the only one who has been having bad luck crashing lately. It seems like everyone has been crashing lately as if it is the new cool thing to do. Kind of strange.
Before the race I see Bruce Pisarek floating in the water and he announces I am the returning champ. I think that drew the attention of the swimmers to me like sharks and they marked me for the swim. That was good because my shoulder is still sore and I haven't swam in weeks so that probably just slowed them down as they stayed with me. Anyhow I come out of the water at the front of the pack with about 7 others within 8 seconds of me. It is very rare where I come so close to the #1 swim split.
I get to the singletrack in first place and notice the air in my tires is low. While it may have been a good pressure for riding around in the hotel parking lot, it is not a good pressure to ride at high speeds over roots and rocks. I can feel my back tire bottoming out on the rim and rolling over under hard cornering pressure. I decide I will not stop and refill with a CO2 and instead resign myself to riding more conservatively in the technical sections and riding hard on the hills and open sections.
I let Bruce, mountain bike extraordinaire, pass me and I try to keep him in sight so I can have a chance at reeling him in on the run. I get through the bike both crash free and flat free and feel warmed up and ready to run.
I felt great and caught Bruce about half way through the run. The run felt effortless and I am sure I could have gone much faster if I wanted. I guess toning down my effort on the bike translated into more energy available for the run.
I came across the line about 3 minutes faster than last year and repeat champ of the Xterra O.N.E. This victory was significant to me for many reasons. First, this locks up the Xterra point series for me so I am the Midwest champ for the sixth year in a row. Second, this is the first time I ever had a perfect score in the point series and as a result I am tied for first in the National ranking among my age group peers. That's quite an honor because there are a whole lot of superstars on that list. Third, this guarantees an invitation to the Xterra USA Championship, which I look forward to competing at in 2 months. Fourth, all my goals for the season have been met and it is only July. Now I need to formulate new ambitions for the USA and World Championships and see what I'm made of.
I'd like to offer congratulations to Derrick who had a breakthrough race today. He came in midpack on the swim and then proceeded to move up through the field with the 6th best bike split on the day and the 2nd best run. He finished right behind me in fourth place, his best Xterra finish ever.
1 comment:
congrats! what a 'start' to your season! USA and World Champs will just be icing on the cake.
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