Last weekend I did the Cable Classic in Cable, WI and RASTA Rally in Rhinelander, WI. I was coming off a rest week from my base 2 block and was using each race as a tune up to get back into the swing of things and also for the WORS Race which will be in Rhinelander this weekend. Normally I have a great support crew that travels with me including my wife for photography and everything support, my parents for race support, and my brother to complete a loud cheering section. This weekend the stars aligned perfectly where each of them was not able to come. To fill the void I choose to bring along Copper. Although a great companion he’s tough to get bottle hand ups from and doesn’t give me much feedback about my race.
Cable Classic
I felt like I was lining up at the UPCross Championships in November. The weather was everything but nice. It was raining/drizzling, winds at 25 mph, and just a few degrees above freezing. With the rain the night before I knew it was going to leave the trail in a slick mess as these trails do not shed water very well. The race started a bit harder this year with a few guys pushing the pace. The first hill didn’t do much to split as everyone put a hard effort to match the already tough lead out. We were led onto a two track for a short ½ mile before the single track started. I put out an effort to get to the front and into to the single track first. Now that I was in the single track first I had time to analyze the trail conditions and my legs at my pace. I played it safe for the first part not wanting to make a mistake in the slick mud. Exiting the first single track we had a handful of guys and I led them all the way to the first road section. This is where the usual split happens and it wasn’t different this year. Kylander-Johnson quickly came around and pushed the pace on the road followed by a blazing speed by Chad Sova. The speeds created quite the gap between the chase groups early in the race.
The roads were our first taste of the water on the course. The next 5 or so miles were muddy, slick, soggy and wet. The puddles were hub deep. Everyone seemed to take a small turn in the wet parts but now most of the pace setting was being done by the Trek Co-Op guys Moore, Johnson, and McFadden. The pace slowly but surely created a 4 man group with Sova following closely. Not wanting to miss anything off the front I moved to 2nd wheel. The pace through the repeated climbs in the middle of the course allowed 3 of us to start making a gap. We started rolling quite fast on the two track when all of sudden breaks were locked up. It was soon realized we all missed the 90 degree turn into single track and last year’s wrong turn was haunting me once again. We quickly noticed and did a U turn but I had very little time to shift from the large two track gear I was in to a small single track climbing gear. As soon as I started climbing I knew I either had to get off and run or do the unthinkable under pressure little ring drop. I choose the little ring drop in desperation and my little ring decided to eat my chain instead of move my bike. I was off the bike quickly pulling the chain out from between the bottom bracket and the little ring. Moore passed me and then 5 or seconds later McFadden passed me (With encouragement. Thanks Todd). As Sova approached he encouraged me (Thanks Chad) to stay calm and I jumped back on my bike. Now 15-20 seconds down I had to chase the leaders through the most winding single track of the day. For the next 2-3 miles I always had them in my sights but could never bring it back in. Thinking back I played it a bit too conservatively thinking it would come back sooner than later. I was now approaching the finishing two track and they were out of sight. Out of sight is a dangerous thing in racing and it settled me deeper into 4th. The last 2 miles of the Classic is on a straight as an arrow snowmobile trail. You can see all the way to the finish. As I took my look toward the finish I noticed 2 red jerseys about a minute ahead so I put my head down for a last effort bridge. With every minute I noticed the gap was slowly coming back together. My clock showed I had brought it down to 10 seconds but the effort was quickly slowed when the finish line appeared. I rolled in 15 seconds or so behind the guys and finished 4th.
I was happy with my race and did everything right except for the one shift. That’s how MTBing goes though and I’m learning to deal with all that comes with racing. As you will see by the picture I was happy to get off the bike. I’m not so much tired right here it was more a look of disgust from the poor conditions we just rode in or 2 hours.
RASTA Rally
The RASTA start was very similar to the Classic. It is a fast two track with a little hill, that doesn’t break much up, straight into single track. I played the same card as the day before to get in the single track first. This time though I found I was the one pushing the pace on the front and no one felt the need to come around. It worked out alright though because no one contested me getting into the single track first.
Exiting the first single track the group was quickly down to 4 riders. Just before the first technical stuff Ben Koenig jumped to the front and hammered the trail. I stuck his wheel knowing that this would likely be the move that split and it did. Ben and I were off the front and gapping the chasers very quickly. It was quite uneventful for the next 20-40 minutes as I chased him around the single track. I think we were both having fun as the RASTA trails set up perfectly with the rain and the trails were tacky and fast. As fast as you can get for the roughest stuff we will ride in the series. I pulled around on a small climb and started my pace. As we approached the last single track section I noticed a small gap forming between Ben and I. I thought he had a mechanical or flatted because he was riding to well for me to ride away from him. Come to find out he was taking a feed as he fought his hunger for a full hearty meal. Not worrying about it at the time though I took advantage and tried to up the pace. I came through the first lap with a 15 second gap and there were sections where I was out of sight. I continued to stay consistent off the front but a 1/3 way into the 2nd lap I noticed him closing. I continued to stay steady hoping he had to work a bit harder to bridge. By ½ way we were back together. I was up front and I knew we had a sizable gap on the chase group so I decided to bring the pace back in order to save all I had for the finish. I knew I was not going to ride away from Ben as he is a very strong rider and was looking good. But thinking back I might have had a better chance at that than facing his Cavendish like sprint near the finish. We chatted for the last 20 minutes both knowing what was coming, a sprint finish. Still in the lead we came into the two track. I upped the pace a bit so that the sprint wasn’t so abrupt and with about 500m to go he went. He came past me like a Corvette past a Chevy Aveo. I did everything to match it but quickly realized that it was not going to happen. I rolled in 2nd and very happy about it. I rode a great race and led a lot of it and was beat by a great sprinter.
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