God's Country

One more racing season is in the books. Saturday's marathon race at Ski Denton and the surrounding state forest in Coudersport, PA was where I ended my season. Fortunately, I was able to make the 5 hour drive from Ship on Friday and spend the night with my friend, Mike Joyce and his family. The morning of the race, we went to go pre-register, then went to one of the more technical downhills to inspect some lines. Even though we made it back to the starting area with plenty of time to get ready for the race, I was starting to get a little nervous when we were coming back from our hike with an hour to go before the start. While warming up, I noticed that the turnout wasn't very large, only around 50 riders. I attributed this to the combination of the race being at the end of the season (burned out racers), driving distance (about 4+ hours for most), and uncertainty about the race itself (1st time the race was held). Anyway, some of the usual fast guys were there; teammates Rob Lichtenwalner and Tim Dougherty as well as VisitPA's Ray Adams. At first, I thought maybe this can be an easy going group ride and then we could race for the last mile or so. This was not true. From the start, Ray set a tough pace. Three miles into the first lap everyone, except for those mentioned above, had disappeared from sight, and Tim and Rob were starting to trail a little bit. Up ahead, on the second climb of the course, was an ultra steep, double track climb. I mean it... it's a climb where your nose is over the front end just to keep the tire on the ground. I didn't think Ray's big 29" wheels would feel that great on this slope, so I attacked and put some space in between us that would only grow as the race went on. The singletrack, which was hand built by Mike, was rippin. It's not Michaux like rocky, but the rocks that are there, along with sharp and swooping turns ensure that your handling skills must be fine tuned. On the first lap, I was tearing it up down the trail which I hiked an hour earlier, but took a turn too wide, and had to take the walk of shame off of a drop. Besides this moment, I felt amazing, considering it was the last race of the year. 95% of the time I was in the big ring, and not really feeling that tired. In the end, I had a solo finish across the line, with Rob in tow, 12 minutes back followed by Ray in 3rd (maybe another 10 minutes back). So that's it for the season. I am really looking forward to the fun group rides in the fall, hiking, snowshoeing, camping, and the occasional party.

MMMM.... Homemade wine!

Good luck to Rob at Moab (Worlds #2) next week. Give em hell!