In the last two weeks I have hit multiple highs for racing. It started with the Buck Hill Thursday Night Race on July 28th, continued with the MMBS #7 at Hillside on July 31st, and closed at the last Buck Hill race on August 4th.
At the Buck Hill race on the 28th, I thought I would try my hand at single speed. I had recently installed a more appropriate fork on the Zion, and wanted to pre-race at Buck before running it in the MMBS series races. I decided to race in the Recreational class because I wasn't about to suffer on the bike before a big weekend race. I also wanted to ride the beginer race with Max in case he had any issues.
I went into the race with a whole different mindset. I wasn't going to sit back for the ride. The full race recap is in the previous post.
The following Sunday I headed up to Elk River for the MMBS #7, Single Track Attack. This race is different than most with its short ups and downs versus the long climbs associated with the ski hill races. I went out for a long warm up and did some intervals to get some blood in the legs. The beginning of this race is a half mile sprint down the dirt road and into the first 'beginner' section of single track. At call ups I identified the two leaders for the 35+ age group with the idea that I would stick to the wheel of the fastest rider. At the start I was stuck in the third row, but centered in the field. At the gun, I took off sprinting and settled in the top 5 riders about half way down the road. I was all spun out with my 36/20 29er setup, with a top speed around 18 mph. I made it to the single track in about 5th place (we were racing with the younger category riders, 20 and under, and the 34 and under SS riders). After passing a rider, I was stuck to the wheel of Todd Trembley. I worked off his wheel as we went through the beginner section, section 3, and section 4. In going through section 3 and 4 we hit a lot of traffic from the group that went out 2 minutes before us. I didn't like sitting behind Todd, because I thought I would get gapped in traffic. In section 4, I took over pacing and dialed it back a bit. We were both redlined and needed a breather. Into section 1 on the first lap I continued to hold the lead. The top 3-4 riders in the group behind caught us, at which point I let Todd go and he gapped me. I probably lost a good 20-30 seconds on him, while I sat in and recovered in section 2.
On lap 2 I was catching more riders in section 3, but for the most part I was riding by myself. Just before section 4, I caught back up to Todd. He must have been recovering when I found him because once he saw that I was there, he took off again. This time I could not hold his wheel. The rest of the race I rode with a guy from the 35-39 group (Daniel Munoz). We passed each other a couple times, but in the end he beat me by 5 seconds (plus the 2 minutes he started behind me).
Recap of the race, I finished 2nd in the SS +35 Sport group and 22 of 110+ riders overall. I also took 3+minutes off my time last year.
The last race of the Buck season on August 4th was to be the end to a great 10 day racing stretch. I decided to go back to gears and see if I could win the Rec race. I was in good position at the start and blew a gasket sprinting to the single track in second place. All that effort was wasted as I couldn't make it around the #1 guy as we crossed the front of the hill. It was obvious that he was spent and his pace allowed the guys behind to catch up. At the top of the climb I was sitting in 4th in so much pain that the drool just dripped out of my mouth. I was able to recover in the single track without anyone passing me. Raced hard to the end and finished 7th with my chain jumping off for the sprint at the end.
This last race was my 30th since returning to racing in 2009.
