Summer Series Race Report: North Meck

Got up to the course in Huntersville on Wednesday, got all set up and did a lap around the course:  it was FAST, I’ve raced the course before and it has always been fast, but it was especially fast this time because it had rained just enough to make the trail tacky and give you a lot of grip (but not muddy or slick).  I had left the tire set-up from the weekend on which was great for the conditions.  Got a warm-up lap in and then warmed-up a little more before the race started.

Lined up for the start of the race:  had a terrible start, a combination being in one gear too hard, missing clipping in, and having a very large pick-up truck kind of sticking out into my line.  So unfortunately I went into the woods in about 8^th place.   The trail is mostly singletrack so I knew I wouldn’t able to pass anyone until I got to the big climb about 5 minutes into the lap, as a result I just sat where I was and tried to relax and be smooth.  When I got to the hill I hit it as hard as I could and passed some of the guys in front of me, but some of the guys had pulled out in front of me (or so I thought).  I kept pushing really hard (I knew I could go really hard since the race would only be about 1:15 long).

About 4 minutes into the second lap we started catching up to slower riders from other classes.  This began the next 45 minutes of almost constant:  rider coming, rider up, on your left (or right), as we passed riders from other classes.  Sometimes they were still in a line since they were near the beginning of their race, which made it difficult since the trail was singletrack and passing was challenging.  At one point I came up behind a train of five riders and after calling out my pass tried to pass them, but realized after I had started that I didn’t have the room to make the pass:  so I slowed up hit a root wrong and went down.

At this point I still thought I was in about 5^th place but I wasn’t sure, I later learned (after the race) that I was in second place, about 15 seconds behind the leader.  I was coming up to a rider during my last lap and called out “rider up”  as soon as I did, I realized it was Luke Sagur who was in my race and by calling that out I was coming up to him.  As soon as I did this he started pushing harder and widened the gap between us.  Shortly after that with about 5 minutes to go I overcooked a turn and went down:  in doing so Chris Wieczorek was able to slide by me.  As I came up to the finish Rick Pyle was on my wheel, fortunately I was able to take the inside line on the turns coming into the finish and hold him off.  So it turned out that I was 3^rd (by about 30 seconds) without even knowing it, which I was super excited about given that I had a terrible start and went down twice.

After the race I was able to do a short run about 2 miles which was real long, but I felt good to be able to run after pushing so hard on the bike, this bodes really well for my Xterra’s races.  Felt much better about my fitness than I did following Stumpjump, that being said I think I can up the intensity of my training some.

Next up:  Huntersville Triathlon Sunday and Summer Series race at Renaissance Park Wednesday

Results then click on results, then click on North Meck Park