Landmine Mountain

[francis]

I raced the singlespeed and threw on some 2.3's because it was pretty wet and slick from the night before. I lined up with Jake who was also racing SS. Rusty was racing too and started a minute ahead of us. I started out well, but that was about it. We caught up to Rusty, but he passed me when my chain fell off. I worked up to where I could see Jake again, but was never able to catch up because my chain fell off again and again. After five or six times, I finally realized I'd be better off stopping and moving my wheel back. I did that and but realized I forgot my multitool in the car. Luckily Rusty passed me again and lent me his. I was good to go, but the race was already half over. I was moving well again when I got a freaking flat. I couldn't remove the wheel without a multitool, but Rusty saved the day again. I filled the tire with a single CO2, but it wasn't enough. I searched for my other one but that was in the car too. Ugh! I rode for a while with about 10 pounds of pressure. I got off after a while and pushed my bike the rest of the way.

As they say, "proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance," and this race certainly proved it. Hopefully I'll get everything right for the VT50. I procured some 45g Big Air cannisters and I'm going to load everything into a saddlebag before the race. I'll fill my tires with 50 pounds of pressure so I don't get any flats. Hopefully I've gotten all the mechanicals out of my system for the year. I had four flats this year. Usually I have only one or two.

It would have been fun to race with Jake if my bike worked.

[Jake]

My best race of the year. I really felt strong the whole race and kept up a good pace the whole time.

We lined up and they grouped us with a few of the other experts. When we started I was spinning as fast as I could but couldn't keep up. Some of the other guys had geared down for the race and the whole time I was cursing the fact that I didn't. I was running a 32:18 which on a hilly course is great, but the Landmind has just one small climb. I should have been running 32:16 and that would have given me the speed I needed on the flats and small road sections.

Pretty uneventful race, I knew the course well and always had an idea of where I was and how far I had to go. In the last mile I was cruising along and a guy flew past me on a single speed. I had no idea where he came from and I tried to keep up but he was gone. He finished about 15 seconds in front of me. In the end I finished in 5th, but only 4 minutes out of first, which is why I say it was a good race. I've been struggling to get back into shape after almost 2 years of not racing and this was the first race where I felt like I was in good race condition. Of course it was the last MTB race of the year so I'll just have to keep riding until the spring. Next up my first road race, the Jamestown Classic on Columbus Day.