2018 Summit Shorty half-time show

[Mark Ingwersen]

With three of the six ACME Shorty races behind me I'll share my half-time report. Having raced here for the past seven years or thereabouts on a course that remains mostly unchanged, any pre-race jitters are related to who shows up rather than what the course will be like. This is good because the only time I end up riding here is on race day (with rare exceptions). Does this mean that races are predictable? Yeah, definitely not. With the increasingly fast and competitive A group having only 6 miles to sort out rank, no one wastes any time with pleasantries.

Race 1: This was a HUGE showing in the A open and 35+ group! At 6:30 Jim called the start and we bolted off as usual. Full throttle across the broken tarmac and up into the dirt on that thin streak of loose dirt in the grass we went. The A open group in its youthful abandon of gentlemanly self-preservation had riders passing me not only as we rounded the first turn but even as we hit the off camber downhill that is tricky even when single file. This was a all stops pulled battle. Hey, I got a job I need to go to tomorrow fellas. In a plume of dust we skittered down the bottom half and then the sharp left up the back hill. I needed to get away from this mass of kids and jumped on the pedals hard. A furious climb and chase was on but I managed to get ahead of many riders before cresting the hill to see Phil Mooney surprisingly not on the horizon just yet. I glance at my heart rate confirmed by Mark Gibson's proximity reminded me that I was surely not keeping this pace for 5 1/2 more laps. No way. I backed off abruptly and immediately had a following again. I upped the output a little and tried to maintain. Each lap I was a little further ahead and as Jim held up the number 6 card I already knew I was okay. I had built up a solid gap to anyone trailing (so had those in front of me) and had a safe roll across the finish.

Race 2:

This'll be quick. Another ballistic start, though the group was a wee bit smaller. Just got in a good pass, trailed a fast HS rider and before I could get by him air got past my tire's sidewall. Done at 3 laps.Thanks for the pre-flat photo, Dave!

Race 3:

Typical for Shorty's mid season the turn out was comparatively low, but we still had a good sized group of kids ready to follow in the wake of Mooney's and Gibson's vapor trail. Since last week, I'd given up on Maxxis Ikons and mounted a Continental RaceKing Protection out back. There'll be no flats this time. The start was more mellow for me than the last two and I set off at a comfortable stroll at first and slowly picked up my pace. The change did me good as I reeled in some young guns. Phil and Mark remained in site but out of reach as the laps were counted off. I'd caught up to Wilson Perry after yoyoing for two laps and was plotting my attack for the last climb. The wind had picked up some by now and I wanted to draft then bolt. Wilson, it seems is a mind reader. He pre-empted my attack with his own and I fought to stick to his wheel. He didn't drop me, but I didn't gain either. The sprint had cost me a tidy sum of calories and despite no small effort a pass via the steep pitch before the rapid DH to the finish was not going to happen. I let Wilson go ahead for his second place behind Phil and I casually rolled in to second well behind Mark.

Dave Benjamin suffered a warm up incident that ended his race before it started and I wish him a speedy recovery as he supports his high school team and daughter this weekend at the NorCal finals.