Change-Up

[Paul Montgomery]

After missing out on the Skyline XC race this year, due to a “healing” thigh hematoma, I was looking forward to participating in the restart of the Annadel XC race in Santa Rosa.  Due to weather the race had been rescheduled from Sunday the 5^th to the 25^th, and would fit perfectly with my training ramp up for XC Nationals in mid-July.  The night before race day, I went online for location information and noticed the start date was listed as Saturday the 25^th…WTF.  Could it be that I had completely spaced on the race date.  Yeap, not only had I biffed a local race opportunity, but I had missed a key training milestone.  Needing to get a race effort under my belt, the only realistic opportunity would be the series final CCCX race, luckily on Sunday the 26^th.  So, instead of a quick drive north, we’ll head 130 miles south to Monterey.

The trip to Monterey goes quickly; arriving at Fort Ord we follow the directions to the race site, without seeing any other people.  Now I’m worried, had I missed the race date again?  Driving on we see a rickety gate pushed open with a propped up CCCX sign, phew…  Thankfully, the organizers that put on the race are well prepared, friendly and experienced.  Registration works smoothly with no hick-ups.

Being the last race of the 2011 CCCX Series, the numbers were down with mostly the overall contenders present to finish with maximum points.  The course is 5 laps of a 5-6 mile loop…short punchy climbs, sand over hardpack and tight fast single track.  My full suspension rig was definitely over kill, but a race shake down was needed to see if the miss shifting issues from previous races had been resolved.

With a short warm-up, and no pre-ride, it was time to get to the starting line.  Following a paved road sprint, we hit the single track.  At this point, I’m about 5 wheels back.  After some yo-yoing, a small gap opens to a fast trio off the front. Realizing the front three were going a few clicks faster than I could match, I began to focus on the riders around me.  Swapping the lead with my compatriots without going too far into the red seemed like the right idea. At some point early in the second lap, the rider I had been pacing with pulled off and killed the gas…huh?  Right on queue the shadow rider in our group pops out and attacks.  Holy Mackerel…I don’t believe they were teammates but it looked like a great lead out move.  Unable to go with the attack, I get back on the gas with three laps to go…  From that point the race went without incident and I was able to catch and pass a few riders from the wave in front of me, which kept my intensity up.  In the end, I finished 4^th in my age group, upright and no mechanicals.

All-in-all a good experience, for short notice racing and probably a better training race than the grinder at Annadel would have been…We’ll find out in about three weeks.  Thanks to Michele.

[shiloh]

way to go keeping your head up and not get discouraged by a little brain fart. I admire your determination to race.