If Lance tweets it, they will come...
Lance Armstrong invited 700 of his closest friends to a mountain bike party in his backyard. How could I NOT go?
Welcome to Austin, Texas. 2 months of training and one practice race under my belt. I made the pilgrimage from Virginia to Texas with my mountain biking partner Kelly. The bikes made it without any problems and we were geared up and ready for a fun weekend of riding and racing.
Austin is my kind of town. Good food, great music, fun people, and good biking. They should have pearly gates outside the airport as you enter the city. Ok, let me stop with the Austin love fest...But really, the city is dope.
The trip started with a visit to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. I've been waiting for this moment for over a year now. A bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong that sells all of my favorite stuff? Wow! It is the ultimate adult toy store. After I dropped enough money to qualify for a down payment on the place, I went for coffee. Of course the shop has it's own cafe' aptly named Juan Pelota's. As I was sipping my coffee, I noticed Taylor Phinney looking at magazines right behind me. What kind of place has Olympians/World Champions walking around so casually? Wow. A little later, Ironman Kona runner up Chris Lieto strolls in. If Lance tweets it, they will come.
On to the biking. We made the 45 minute trip out to the ranch affectionately known as Juan Pelota's Ranch. Texas slang for "one ball". The sun did not manage to come out and the rain was steady leading up to the pre-ride on Saturday. I didn't think it was gonna be that bad. I spent a couple of good days with Kelly destroying our bikes in the mud here in VA. No problem. Then we got out on the race course. I've only had a few moments where I've been scared on the bike. I wanted a diaper after the pre-ride. I was expecting a lot of climbing, so that didn't surprise me. The sharp rocks, steep drop-off's, wicked limestone climbs, and wet conditions were spectacular. Did I mention there was a section of Pave'? Not Roubaix, but cool nonetheless. Post pre-ride and I felt like I went to battle with every rock and tree stump on the course. I stopped frequently to try to take in as much of the experience as possible. I left thinking, how on earth are we gonna race this course?
Race day. I went through most of my pre-race routines. Soft music mixed with some Rage Against the Machine right before the start. This was nothing like the road races and criteriums I did this year. I had become very comfortable and confident in those races often attacking and feeling like I could win. In this race I felt like a total rookie. More like a freshman waiting to get thrown in a locker or have his books knocked out of his hands.
My strategy was going to be to go as hard as I could at the start and get to the singletrack in the first group. It worked in my last race, so I figured I would go for it. There were 42 racers in my category. Normally racers just come to the line in whatever order they want. Fast guys go to the front, beginners stay at the back. I was planning on getting close to the front. In this race, the starter had a roll call. Names were randomly called and racers lined up. This wasn't like grade school where I was always first. I think there might have only been 4 or 5 guys that were called after me. Back row and it sucked. Oh well, I get to pick riders off. Sometimes I ride better with people to chase.
The whistle went off and it was a slow messy start. Lot's of mud and a slight uphill. Eventually the race settled into a long snake of riders leading into the first singletrack section. Traffic jam. The slick uphill singletrack left riders jumping off their bikes and running. I'm not so good with the hike and bike technique. In retrospect, I should have spent more time on the treadmill and less time on my bike training.
After some frustrating moments, I settled into a good groove. I took some of the hairy limestone drop off's without blinking and felt great on the climbs. I was in a group of about 5 riders. At about mile 3, I started to notice my foot sliding in the pedal. Not good.
I got to a tough limestone step up, slipped, tried to clip out, and my foot was stuck in the pedal. Luckily I got the other foot out before I fell over. I've had trouble with shoe cleats before. I knew what was happening. The cleat was coming loose and was sticking to the pedal. I made it another mile without problem, and then as I began to catch a few slower riders there was a back up at a tough climb and I couldn't clip out. That was when I fell. And of course I fell on the worse side possible. The side that my foot was stuck in the pedal. I couldn't get up! I lost at least 5 minutes trying to get myself up. My race was over.
Charles Darwin once said "it's not the strongest of the species that survives, but the one that's most responsive to change". It was at this point in the race, that I gave up on racing, and turned to finishing/surviving. After managing to pull myself up with a tree branch, I was determined to finish. I could no longer get my foot clipped back in the pedal. The rest of the course was gonna be hard without clipping in. I managed to make my way through.
The last climb to the finish was tough. Not physically, but mentally. It was a climb I knew I could be strong on, but the race had passed me by, and I was left to struggle with one foot clipped in. I crossed the finish line totally dejected. I guess I should have been proud of finishing considering how many people didn't finish the race. (One Lance Armstrong dropping out after a flat) I literally finished with one leg. It's hard to believe I finished 34 out of 42 riders.
I really felt bad after the race. I have crazy mixed up feelings about the race in retrospect. It was one of the coolest events I have been a part of. At the same time, one of the biggest competitive disappointments. I was happy to hear Lance is thinking of doing a spring race. I must return and exact my revenge on that course.
Well now it is officially the off-season. There are a few mountain bike races in Florida in January that I might race. But for the most part it is going to be long cold rides on my road bike with some mountain biking on the weekends. I'll get some good time in the gym as well.
Looking back, I had a good season. 27 races. 2 top ten finishes. No serious injuries. Met a lot of good people along the way.
Next year is going to be......epic.
