Chequamegon 2008

Everyone I talk to about this race has a different goal. For most people it's to do better than last year or set a PR out on the course. Maybe it's to survive the road leadout unscathed or get through Rosies in the lead group. And every year there seems to be a growing number of people who have a legitimate goal of winning the thing. This year there were probably a good 20 people or so with a realistic chance of standing on the tallest log. I have the added pressure of having won the race a couple times, and the curse of actually winning means the only successful race would have to be a repeat victory. But no pressure. Usually, I get up to Cable early on Friday and ride the course, hangout and whatnot. This year I went up during rush hour, ate dinner at Perkins and didn't arrive until almost 9 pm. It was calming though, without the normal nervous comments about the course or tire selection or the favorite mountain biker inquiry as to the ideal PSI (20 this year for me!).

The start was worse than normal. I was fortunately ahead of the crash that took down Hareland, Scotty KJ and a few others. The four wheelers didn't seem to have any reasoning to their leadout this year. Instead of controlling the pace slowly, they went too fast up to the turn on 77 and then not fast enough once we hit it. They kept a steady 33 mph, which was just fast enough that the guys near the front could draft. Then they figured out we were all really close and they kicked it up to 45. Only Cole House on his cross bike could keep up and he was gone. I settled in around 4th wheel and was feeling good.

Not much happened for the next 20 miles. Tilford flatted, he was riding well, it always sucks to flat, and even more so when you are in the lead group. Cole, Matter and Myself had a few small digs to test the waters, but it was too easy to follow wheels.

I got a bottle from my Dad at OO. I was leading the group at that point and was still feeling confident and in control of the race. Every time I've been in the lead group at OO I've made the podium except for one time when I got a flat, so I liked my chances. Bender attacked and the group didn't react immediately. Right before Martels pothole, Jeff Hall and Cole went after him, I brought up the chase. We reeled in Bender but Jeff kept the hammer down. I was behind him and didn't accelerate to get on his wheel. In hindsight, this was my first mistake of the race. I underestimated Jeff since he hadn't been racing all year, but he was strong on Saturday. Once we got out onto the open road I sat up and let someone else pull. Jeff was right there, but no one was working to bring him back. Still I felt like it wasn't going to be a problem. Jonathan Page hadn't done much yet and I figured he might be antsy enough to start to work. He did try to organize a chase at one point but I just looked at him. At this point I was starting to feel a little strained. TJ started chasing hard. He was getting antsy which I thought would work in my favor. At one point he even asked if we were racing for second. That's actually a nice roadie trick to make you second guess your tactics, not bad for an mtber TJ! Page took a short pull or two on some climbs but then would sit up at the top when he didn't get a gap. We hit firetower with a group of ten or so. Jeff was out of sight and I figured at this point he'd win. I was happy for him, after taking the year off racing to spend with his family, coming back to win a race he hadn't won since 1995 would be a huge coup. I was third wheel at the bottom of the climb and TJ was gunning it. I was on the rivet and backed off, my second and biggest mistake of the race. I got gapped over the top but still didn't panic, figuring I'd catch them on the descent. It never happened. I joined up with Bender and we rolled in together. It was cool to ride with him since he was really excited to be having his best Chequamegon to date. We caught an unfortunate B.Matter who was standing there with a busted bike one mile from the line. I managed 7th, which was good and mediocre at the same time.

The word ahead was that Page attacked the group on the last section of Birkie Trail. He bridged up to Hall solo and sat on him until beating him to the line. Good tactics won again. I personally don't think Page was much better than TJ, Matter, or Hall that day but he did ride the smartest race.

It rained the rest of the day which was a bummer since I didn't get to go hang out with everyone like usual, but we did find some pizza. I decided to skip the Cable Crit for the first time ever, kind of a bummer but nice to get home and chill before work one Monday.

Pursuit vs. Timmer

I spent yesterday evening at the Velodrome. I like to be a jack of all trades type of racer, so it was exciting for me to get my feet wet on a new discipline. Granted, I've got a long ways to go before I could ever call myself a 'trackie', and I'm not really sure I want to be participating in the mass start races up there. I got there early enough to get out on the boards and see what it felt like. I was nervous about hitting my feet on the corners but after I got up to speed it didn't seem to be a problem. At first the whole thing made me dizzy. Then, it started to feel like it was all downhill. The hard kind of downhill, where you have to keep pedaling hard, but still fast. I got in about 20 laps and then there got to be too many people out there for my tastes and I sat in the grass. It was interesting to see the races, they are short but exciting, it's kind of funny to see people attack when they can't shift and have to pedal really fast. But obviously that's part of it. I had my TT bike with gears, which is all I have. I figured it would be an advantage at the start for sure. Timmer and I got our chance to go and line up on opposite sides of the track. I started as hard as I could, even though Casper told me not to. In about 4 laps Timmer was in my sights but I wasn't closing any more. When I saw 6 to go I'd about blown myself up. I was weaving all over the place at first but I settled in and held my line as the laps ticked down. With 2 to go I started feeling better again and drove it home, closing just a bit more on Timmer, but I never had a chance of catching him. It was great to have such a strong rider as a rabbit and it definitely helped me. I clocked a 3:31 which was better than I expected for my first attempt. I saw at Masters Nationals the winning time in the 30-35 3k was 3:41 or something so I'm curious to try a few more. Next time I'm going to need to ride a fixed gear and see how that feels. Thanks for the opportunity everyone, it was a fun night of racing.

Maplelag MTB Racing Action

Quick Recap of Maplelag -

TT - Sub 10 minute time + win = $$Bonus I saw Brendon Moore come in with a 9:51 right before I left. Kept a close eye on the timer and came in with a 9:41! Score.

STXC - TJ had me marked pretty good. I was confident in a sprint finish. On the last lap I attacked at the hill and rode a clean lap to hold on to another win.

XC - Feeling good. I got the best holeshot in a long time. Not even Hollywood got me. TJ tried to come around me before the first singletrack but I shut him down with the sweet inside line move. It was on! I proceeded to ride outside myself for half a lap. Then I blew sky high and shut it down for a while. I rode a conservative pace on lap 2 and was not too far back. On the last lap I nailed a tree with my hip and totally shut down for the rest of the race. Held on for 5th and 4th in the overall. I was pleased with my effort and fitness coming out of the weekend.

Maplelag is the best mountain bike weekend in Minnesota. Thank Jay, Jake and the rest for a great weekend.

Up next - I make my Velodrome debut tomorrow. Pursuit vs. Timmer. Why I thought this was a good idea? I don't know.