The race on Sunday had later start times then what I am used to, so I could sleep in a little bit before we had to hit the road and still got there in plenty of time. I am not sure if I was speeding that much or the traffic was that good, but we made some good time getting there and it let us take our time getting ready. I signed up and started to get ready. I then changed my back tire since I didn't take the time to do it on Saturday. I have not been on the SS since the Cherokee race where I messed up the back wheel and since I stole the fork off of it for the Niner.
I tried to true the wheel with very little luck. It still might true out, but my stand does not work real well with a 29" wheel and a fat tire. Now that the tire is off of the wheel, it actually will fit in the stand and I will try to true it again. At first I didn't want to take off the other tire since it was set up tubeless and I am out of Slime. I put another tire on the wheel set that used to be on the Misfit and made sure it was rolling. I took several laps in the back yard to see how it was rolling and put it up. It still had mud on it from the Cherokee race, but it was going to have to work.
When I heard the 6 hour race was postponed, I began to wonder how muddy the trail would be. I also wondered just how well the new back tire I had on there would work. I normally had run it for really try trails or gravel stuff. I should have swapped it out on Saturday, but the night got late quicker than I wanted. I did take the Maxxis Ikon off of the bad wheel and cleaned it up. I figured if I had time before the race, I would change it. I did just that, but after riding a warm up lap I don't think I needed to change it. Oh well, it is good to have a Maxxis on there anyway.
The trail was not too tough and after letting a little air out of the front tire, the rigid fork was not too bad either. The pre-ride was a great idea. I would have not done as well as I did without knowing a little more as to what was coming up. I am sure the locals had a big advantage since some corners were really tight and if you didn't know, you just didn't know.
We sat around waiting for it to get to race time. When the start finally happened, it was down a long grass section before dropping in to the woods. I am not one that does real well on a fast start or one that spins out well. Some how I found myself going in to the woods in second or third. I tried to hold my pace with out blowing up. I think there was a little bottle neck behind me, so I could put a little gap of a few guys. I did get passed by a couple of racers. I think the one had a bigger gear that me, so it helped him go faster in some places that I just could not.
I just hammered on the pedals as much as I could. I figured out that the most taxing section was just after the start and the back half was more flowy and I could recover more and still keep the speed up. It also helped when I had another rider somewhere behind me telling me to hammer down. So I did. It was a section that I would not have gone as hard not knowing what was around the next corner, but since he said that, I hammered down not wanting to hold anyone up. I did get passed by some of the Cat 2 guys, but I was happy with how long it took some of them to catch and pass me. We didn't start that much in front of them.
Overall I am happy with how well I rode. After all of my whining last week, I actually rode better. I did feel like I should have been able to go even faster, but no need to complain. There were a couple of sections that I was geared out on the SS that I would have been able to shift up a few gears. I just tried to keep my speed up on those sections with out spinning my brains out.
I ended up in 5th place for SS and had two guys right in front of me at the line. I was really pushing it the last half of the last lap trying to catch them. I did catch them, but ran out of time to try and make a pass. So, I really can't complain about that at all. Also, if I look at the results, it looks like I would have placed in 4th for 40-49 Cat 2. I am really happy with that. I just need to keep riding as much as I can and maybe I can find my self closer to the top 10 in age group for a DINO race. I know everyone wants to win, but I would be very happy getting in the top 15 overall and top 10 for age group. I think it is very possible, but I have to put a little more effort in than I have.
I want to congratulate Dean for winning the 40-49 Cat 2 race even after getting off course because of some tape that was missing. He was way up there on the first lap and should have dominated all of Cat 2. Way to fight back and still find the top of the podium, well so to speak since the races don't actually have podiums most of the time.
Hope to do as well at Ben Hawes next weekend. For as fast as it sounds like the trail is, I really should try to make a trip down there this week. I might even want to gear up some. See you there!
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