norba nationals @ mt snow this weekend

So, I went for a run on Wednesday afternoon. Without my bike. The real deal. Sneakers, little shorts, no jersey. It was also our third wedding anniversary and Jenn & I thought it'd be fun to run a relay race together... we filled-out our 4-person team with Andy and Roz, while Rob ran with some other folks from Crank. Somehow I ended-up doing the first leg, lined-up at the back of the pack, but found myself inexplicably moving-up through the field after the start. Running is hard. It hurts. It is slow. By the 1 mile mark i had to keep telling myself to "find a rhythm, find a rhythm," and i guess i did as i finished in a respectable time, running a little over 6:15mile pace. Everyone else ran their legs, Rob flew through his, Andy suffered the pains of a large chicken-parm sub he ate a few hours before, Jenn ran well, but was disappointed that she wasn't where she was before Jay... after the race, Jenn and I chilled-out with our peeps, enjoyed the good vibes of the scene at Lynn Woods, then headed home to get cleaned-up before going to a relatively extravagent late-night diner at Union on Washington St in the South End to continue our Anniversary evening... it was nice...

Then i woke-up on thursday. AGGHHHH!!!!! I'm walking around like a 100 year-old man. Taking stairs sideways, one at a time. Quads, calves, shins, feet - just got torn-up! I knew i'd be a little bit sore, but this is crazy... I've had really good, strong legs all week, so i'm hoping this hasn't damaged my "cycling" muscles and is limited to other portions of my muscle groups... who knows... all i know is that today is friday and i'm still hurting pretty bad. Andy and I went for a rippin' little ride yesterday - and by the end i felt great... got home, took a bath, loosened-up and felt even better, then woke-up this morning sore as hell again... here's hoping it won't effect this weekend's race as a good result would look fantastic on the race resume when i submit it this fall to some sponsors i want to "feel out." Hammer Products, Seven Cycles, Litespeed, etc, etc... see if anyone bites and is willing to help me out - as expenses have been through the roof this year - even with the pro-deals from Crank and Pedros - and Jamie's constant assistance (he'll always be the man - and my shop - that guy rocks!). I'm carrying credit card debt for the first time in 5 years - and a ton of it is cycling related... and it's not like i'm splurging - i'm just replacing what is broken - drivetrains and the like... but i did finally get the Litespeed Pisgah built-out as a race machine! Which brings me to Great Glen 24...

What a blast of a race! Andy, Daren, Brad and I kept the whole campground awake the night before, then rode like banshees the next day, battling for a third place finish in the Expert cat. We definitely won the "rock-star" award for this one! Harry Precourt's team of 18 year-old dudes rode 4 mins stronger to finish 2nd. We had about 20mins on them going into the night, but by morning they had pulled 20mins ahead. We battled-back valiantly, smiling and having a good time the whole way, but couldn't quite catch 'em... Brad and Daren also thought it approprate to climb above treeline on the Mt. Washington auto-road the night before at 2am, but that is another story for another day...

For me, a big part of the weekend was about my legs - and riding the Pisgah ti hardtail for the first time in competition since outfitting it with light, stiff, racing parts. I started the race off for us with a 1/3rd mile Le Mans start (run) w/ about 100-150 other riders under perfect conditions - low humidity, clear blue skies with whisps of cloud moving across the gnarled tops of the Presidential Range. As we came around the pond and through the transition tent, I grabbed my rocket-ship off the racks and racks of wonderous race machines and blasted-off onto the trail, someone in 10-15th place. Perfecto.

The course begins by going across Rt 16, up a steep series of switchbacks, then back down across the road into a long stretch of rolling, tight-turning fireroad. My legs felt great, the climbing was easier than i ever remember it being and i quickly began making passes. As we wound our way back down onto a long fireroad section i slowly dropped strong rider after rider. It was like my legs were possessed. Minimal lactic burn, pushing huge gears and getting over the rollers with a ton of momentum on the backside - keeping the pace high. As we moved through the first couple sections of singletrack i continued to drop the remaining few riders until i knew there were only 1 or 2 fellows in front. I scanned every turn for their backs... at mile 4 i heard someone gaining on me. He was far enough back that i would only hear him occasionally - like at the bottom of a climb as i rounded the top, but it was also clear that he was slowly reeling me in. Staring at my back and pulling himself up. Who is this guy?!

By mile 6 he was within 100 feet and i still hadn't seen the backs of the 2 guys I'd been chasing. I was now officially not the chaser, but a rabbit with it's hair on fire. There was no way this guy, whoever he is, was going to pass me before the finish - 2 miles to go... With a little more than 1mile to go we slammed into the last piece of technical singletrack, which climbs up, up, up onto the ridge, before plunging down through the trees and into the open sunlight in front of the spectators - who gather more to see who is going to crash, then who is going to escape the descent in one piece. The guy behind me negotiates the singletrack more efficiently than i and is on my tail by the descent - but it doesn't rattle me and i hammer out of the trees, him in pursuit, through the crowd, i hear Andy yell "pisgah," so i yell PISSGGAAAHHHH" at the top of my lungs, we're back in the trees, dodging through a long series of tight turns, he's almost rubbing my rear tire, then we're out onto the open, tight-turned, big air skills course, 1/3rd of a mile to the finish, we can see the tent on the other side of the pond and field, he swings around me, i grab his wheel and say to him "10 laps to go, it's up to you." We race to the finish, me on his wheel, taking a break, letting him drag me through the open field to the finish - neither of us sprint - too many laps to go for that...

After we hand-off our timing chips to our partners, i see that it is none other than Skip Brown, Professional rider for Seven Cycles. He asks, "Who are you?" We're grinning like idiots - it was a fun ride... I play like i don't know who he is and i ask him the same question. We chit-chat. I feel like a million bucks- i just rode a lap with Skip Brown. My legs have made a break-through. Finally. I'm finally getting to where i never thought i could be... the rest of the race was a blast. Riding with Andy, Brad and Daren is fantastic - their attitudes are superb - all day and all night. I ripped lap after lap - consistent fast times - and in the morning got my chance to chase down Harry's team again and again - ripping lap times i never would have thought myself capable of. It was just a breakthrough... now the question is, are my sore legs up to the task this weekend at NORBA Nationals??? Did the run ruin me? or is it other muscles that are sore - and won't effect my riding... i hope not - and i hope to explode this sunday morning the way i did almost two weeks ago at Great Glen - it would be a fantastic experience - and a sign that GG24 was't a fluke, but the real deal.