CCCX #1

[Jim Hewett]

First official race of the year.

I travelled to Fort Ord Sunday, February 13, for the CCCX season opener.  The weather was perfect - dry and cool.

These early season races are good training, and I use them as part of my weekly intensity workouts in the build period.  I was coming into this one with a little fatigue in my legs, but ready to begin my season of mountain bicycle racing!

There weren't many familiar faces at the starting line.  I did recognize Brian Duke, one of the fast Norcal kids.

I figured I would follow the usual CCCX plan:  stay in the front group for a couple of laps at a decent pace and feel out the competition.  The start wasn't too fast, at least compared to Pro level national races, but I didn't push the pace.  Some positions shifted as a few guys made overly aggressive passes, but nobody was going to ride away on this flat course this early.  I guess there were about 6 guys in our group as we approached the longest of 2 climbs on each lap.  I turned it up a little and moved to the front.  Once we reached the flat section after the climb, I slowed to see who had matched the acceleration and it looked like Brian Duke and a racer from Steven's Bicycle Racing weren't too far back.  Brian caught up to me and was eager to be the first into the wind, so I let him by and got on his wheel.  We rode at a moderate pace for the rest of the lap, with the Steven's racer not too far behind.  Brian led on the other climb of the course and it seemed obvious that he was not eager to push things yet.  Shortly after this climb, on a stutter bump section before a sharp turn, my chain derailed as I back pedalled to position my feet.  So much for the "security" of a 1x10 drivetrain!  The trick with a properly setup XC chainguide like the MRP 1X is that when the chain does manage to derail from a backpedal, you have to dismantle the guide to get it back on.  Of course, I unsuccessfully tried to force it back on the "quick" way for a minute and then broke out the tool to do it the right way.  I lost over two minutes and about 6 or 7 places as other racers passed by.

Back on the bike, I actually had to start racing!  I caught the first group on the long climb and passed all but a couple on the steep section.  I rode across the top with Cesar Chavez, the first place singlespeeder, and a young racer.  I moved around those two and crossed the start/finish line in third.  I was going pretty hard, riding into the wind, but I assumed the two riders ahead of me were still seperated and racing in the same conditions.

I tried to turn it up, especially on the sections where the group pace had been slow, but also enjoyed the flow of the bermed turns and the beautiful day.  I was disheartened to enter the last climb and not see at least the second place racer ahead.

I finished third, about 20 seconds behind second place and over two minutes behind Brian in first.