As expected the weather was not going to be our friend today. I woke up early enough to make sure I was able to get down to the mountain in time to register, set up, check my bike and warm up before the race. When I left the house at zero dark thirty, I knew the day was going to be wet, cold and down right miserable, with a side of “Meatballs”. (meatballs not included)

As I drove to the mountain for the x-country race the skies opened up and it really started to come down by the buckets.  It was raining so hard I had to pull over at a gas station and work on my bike under the covered pump station.  That was the only way I could figure to do anything without getting drenched.  I must have tried to talk myself out of racing in this weather most of the drive down. Unfortunately I never pay attention to that side of my psyche.  It was race day and I was gonna race no matter what.

I got down to the mountain and met a couple of my friends there who were also doing the race. It was good to see they hadn’t talked themselves out of racing either. We all got registered and placed in our categories and went back to our bikes to get set up. The weather was starting to clear and I couldn’t have been happier.  The skies started turning blue and my attitude and motivation were on the rise.  This is gonna be a good race.  We all skooted out on our own to warm up a bit while we still had a chance before the race.

As race time approached, we all made our final adjustments to our bikes and our gear. We opted for some warmer gear at first but had to shed some layers after the weather cleared a bit. It actually got a little warmer before the start, or  as our friend Steve, Expert/Elite racer and Downhiller said “As the say in the sailing world, this is a suckers hole”.

Don’t quote me on that but that sounds right. It’s a clearing in the weather before you get pounded. Unfortunately he was right.  We got pounded.

I am going to assume that the weather kept most of the racers home in bed, but there weren’t a whole lot of racers.  The start was prompt and in one minute intervals between categories, while we still had the advantage of dry clothes.  My friends took off with the Expert/Elites and I took off shortly after. That’s right, I’m still a training amateur. I will be racing Expert/Elite next season.

The course was extremely wet and very slick and the first lap was going to be a tough wake up call, but I was expecting the worst. As we took off from the starting line, we had a descent send off. The whistle blew and off we went right into a tight single track section followed by a short sandy two track and back into single track. So much for elbow room.  The battle for position into the second section of single track was awesome.  The bumping, the grinding, the pushing and the shoving, no thank you’s and no pleases. Just elbow busting, knee dragging battling.

That’s right, you guessed it. I went right down. Couldn’t have been three minutes into the race and I bit it on some real slick open roots. Now I don’t know about you but I hate falling in a race, especially at the very start.  I banged up my shin pretty good and had to let everyone pass while I adjusted. Oh yeah, I mean everyone.  I was the last one up on my group.  Needless to say, I had some catching up to do.

As I expected, the first lap was extremely grueling. I battled with the same three racers for most of the first lap.  Uphill, down a little, uphill again and then, oh yeah, uphill some more.  I don’t know if I have ever climbed so much in my life.  This course was mostly uphill. Both ways it seemed. These climbs were no joke. Muddy and long with a lot of obstacles.  Slipping and sliding as we climbed was pretty much the theme of the race.

We finally climbed to the top of the mountain, and as we crested the mountain and crossed the pass, I was starting to heat up big time. It was time to shed some more layers before I over heated and passed out (if I could only be so lucky).

I finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel and was nearing the end of the first lap.  I missed a turn nearing the end and was followed by a few other racers.  My fault. I missed the sign. We all had to turn around and trek back up what we thought was a fun downhill.  Oh well, up we go again.  The last 4 or 500 yards was a real wet and fast downhill speed ride on a real slick golf cart path. No slowing down now, I still have one more lap to go.

As I passed the starting line, I had a pretty good cheering section going, my wife and her mom were there and my buddy Will, who races single speed Expert/Elite, were down there rooting me on.  Will is a great racer and good friend of mine who has been my trainer for most of the summer, so to speak. His chain broke on his first lap and had to unfortunately call it a day.  Will is also a blogger on http://www.northerncycles.blogsopt.com/. As I passed my cheering section I shed my jacket and raced back into the single track.

No sooner than I hit the singletrack the skies opened up again and started to dump on us. This was no sprinkle either. This was an angry rain. The second lap was going to be the death of me. The climbs were slicker and of course more torn up from the racers and the mud was getting even muddier, if that’s possible.  I’m not sure if it was because I was numb, knew the track a little better or I just wanted to be done with this fiasco, but I made up some good time on my second lap.  The climbs, as hard as they were, seemed easier and more fluid.  The downhills, if there were any, seemed a lot more controlled and balanced.  I was soaked to the bone, but couldn’t stop thinking about grabbing a beer and a sandwich after the race.  As I choked down my last gel pack and sucked down my last gulp of water, I picked up the pace and started to bare down and get into this thing.

About halfway through my second lap, the Expert/Elites, who had to do three laps, finally caught up to our group and started to pass us. Wow, were they good. They powered up these climbs like they weren’t even there. They made me feel like a real wuss.  The first one passed, then a couple of minutes the second one passed and then a third. After each pass I got a surge of energy that just made me barrel down on my bike and try to catch them.  As unlikely as it seemed, it gave me something to thrive towards.  The more I chased them the faster I thought I was getting.  These guys were amazing. This is what they do.  This is how they live.  Wouldn’t that be awesome.  Talk about getting paid to do something you love.

After I was passed by the third Expert. I knew I had to be getting close to the finish. I put my head down, wiped off my glasses and just nailed it. Like I said before the last couple of hundred yards are straight downhill on a golf cart path, sort of a hero’s finish.  I took it so fast I thought I was gonna end up a hood ornament for my drive home.  As I came across the finish line to a sea of umbrellas I was impressed to see everyone still stuck around.  Each lap took about an hour for me and that seemed like a long time.  I can’t imagine it was any more fun to stick around as a spectator. I wanted to thank my wife and mother in law for sticking around and also everyone else who waited for us to finish the race before going to get the beer I have been thinking about for the last two hours.

I’m not exactly sure why we do this to ourselves, but I absolutely love it. I don’t even know where I placed and quite frankly I’m not sure if I care.  Racing mountain bikes is the most painful thing I have done in a really long time and yet it is so rewarding at the same time that I don’t think I can be without it. My next race is in two weeks and I can’t wait to start training again. Beer and food first though. Train tomorrow. Maybe next year I become a downhill racer and take the chair lifts up to the top. Nah!!

T. Stone