The race on Saturday (Bikes and Lights) was held at a nordic ski chalet a bit north of downtown Duluth. The course was short and bumpy. A lot of it was pretty boggy; tall wet grass that just killed your momentum. The barrier sections weren't bad. There was a set of double barriers followed by a 180, and a barrier on the bottom of a run-up. There were a few technical turns to deal with. One was a slippery 180 at the bottom of a hill, the other was a 90 degree turn at the bottom of a downhill with a big rock right around the corner.
I got a good feel for the course ahead of the race, riding the back section 4 or 5 times. I toed to the line about 5 minutes ahead of the race. The fields were pretty thin. I saw a couple guys I recognized, including the guy who nipped on my heels at the finish of Pork Chop, and a Cat2 road racer that I took track classes with. I was still in the Cat4 field. I put in for my upgrade a while ago and didn't hear either way.
I settled in to a line of guys going into a couple switchbacks off the start. I didn't hit it too hard since I wasn't sure how the race was going to go. I hung with a group of about 5 through the first lap. I gapped them somewhere in the second lap.
The rest of the race was boring. TT through the woods basically. The course was pretty brutal... a lot of time was spent feeling like I was going to die. Ended up finishing about 45s up on the second place guy. Richi had a good race, finishing in 8th. Randy was in 16th (?) and Matt held his own despite major rib pain from a crash he had the other day.
We hung around after the race. I downed a few hot dogs and beers. Ended up heading out a little after 10, and probably hit the sack around 11. I had a restless night of sleep.
Sunday morning came all too quick. I did not want to get up when the alarm went off at 7. Went down to the continental breakfast, made a waffle, ate half a donut, some coffee, and a Coke. Just fueled up on carbs and sugar.
The second race was at Marshall High School. The course had a lot of gravel, some pavement, a couple mucky patches, and a brutal run-up. The field was even thinner today. About 25 were in the C race. Yeah, I didn't realize I got an automatic upgrade, so I sandbagged it in the Cs for one last time. I took the hole shot, but took a super crappy line through one of the first turns, where the course went from gravel to mud. I came in too hot and too wide. Got passed by a couple guys on the inside.
Here's a good barrier sequence I found. It's probably the first or second lap, based off who is near. Photo credit to Jake Boyce, who linked to a flickr account on MCF.
Lifting the bike too high
Run run run
And 3 off the frontI ended up riding with Zach and Conrad (two guys that I've been even with in previous races). It was the 3 of us off the front for the first couple laps. Eventually Conrad and I gapped Zach on the run up. The two of us traded positions for much of the race. I was trying to shake him with a few attacks, but he'd bridge right back up. Eventually, Conrad crashed when going over some barriers. His bike went right, he went left. I split between him and his bike and got a bit of a gap. He then got a flat shortly after and was out of sight.
Wearing out the competition
Getting verbal confirmation that I was done... anything to avoid another lapRichi and Randy did awesome, coming in 5th and 6th. Matt provided water bottle and vocal support; he was not in racing shape after his crash. I felt real bad for Matt. He was hurting all weekend. After the race we hung around a while, watched the B and A races, then headed home. It was a good weekend.
I think this was the first time I've done back to back races. I felt good both days. We'll see how it goes in the 3s next weekend.
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