Napa Valley Dirt Classic

[Jim Hewett]

As the Dirt Classic approached, I got a feeling that it would be pretty competitive.  There are usually a few guys going fast this early in the season, but this year looked like a deeper field.  Young new guys like Will Curtis, Tony Smith, Will Patterson, and John Bennet are recent Norcal League graduates who are excited to get their racing careers going.  Of course you have the usual hardmen like Smallman, Timmel, Weir and Moeschler, and the recently returned Michael Hosey.  Clint Claasen is a recent Pro upgrade that has turned in some solid results in the last year.  That's just ten of the most competitive from recent NorCal races, leaving out very capable racers like Roger Bartels and Rob Anderson and the odd National level pro like Kris Sneddon.  This is the kind of field we need at local races and I was super excited to mix it up!

Imagine my frustration when I felt the tinge of a sore throat a few days before the race.  I had avoided the nasty cold going around for weeks, but my luck had run out.  The day before the race was spent in bed, feeling very weak.  I planned to attend the race to support my team and hang out, but I didn't have much hope for racing.

When the alarm sounded at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, I rolled over and realized I didn't feel so ill anymore.  Yes!

The weather was a little cool but warming quickly as we rolled onto the PUC campus in Angwin.  Though I have been racing a lot for the last two months, this is one of the first big local races and a chance for racers to get one in before Sea Otter next week.  Lots of people were coming, including 6 of us on Team Summit Bicycles.  I rode out and back on the start of the course, feeling out my legs.  They felt surprisingly good, at least compared to the day before.  I rode a bit with Smallman and we discussed strategy and the competition.

At the start line, things seemed pretty relaxed.  We recognized former winners Mark Weir and Aren Timmel.  Nobody could remember if Jason Moeschler had won before, though he probably had in his many years of racing it.  I know I never have, coming in second and third, and it feels like unfinished business.

When the gun went off, we all sprinted up the paved climb to the trail.  I got onto the dirt in second or third, with Smallman in first.  As we approached the runup, Bennett came around me hot and heavy, obviously anxious to get to the front as soon as possible and race at his own pace.  After the runup, we settled into a group of eight and stretched out on the fireroads around the lake.  The pace was not ridiculous, but I fell to the back of the group and then fell off a little.  I needed to be in the middle of this group, but instead I was losing ground to the leaders around each corner.  I was trying very hard, though my heartrate was about 10 beats lower than it should have been.  Will Curtis dropped out of the group and I passed him with what looked like a tire problem.  Tough break for him.  The leading group of seven kept on rolling.  I closed a bit of the gap on the climb to the observatory, only to lose it as they crested the hill.  Soon I was riding by myself with a couple guys in sight up ahead.  I must admit it was nice to have no traffic through the whoop-de-doos, but I was not able to punch it up the climbs that happen before the singletrack.  I looked back to catch a glimpse of a chase group that looked like the WTB boys and a couple Whole Athletes just before I began to see that I was closing the gap to Hosey.  By the singletrack I had caught him and we rode through most of it together.  I felt we were not moving very quickly, but the chase group did not catch us.

Hosey and I tried to keep it up and eventually caught a Giant racer and Smallman on Anguish Hill.  They stayed ahead and within sight until we reached the bottom of the valley and started the climbs back out.  I moved ahead of Hosey and then ahead of the Giant rider, but I couldn't quite catch Smallman.  I did not feel like I was exhausted or pushing that hard, I just couldn't go any harder.  Smallman kept on the gas, and by the time we reached the airport he had opened the gap to 30 seconds or more.  I rode into the finish loop around the track by myself, coming in 6th place overall and 3 minutes behind the leader.  Smallman had come in 5th with about 45 seconds on me.  The Giant rider and Hosey came in shortly thereafter.  Not quite the thrilling finish in the rain from last year, when we sprinted on the track for first through third, but all in all not a bad day.

As I write this, I am once again knocked down by the cold that threatened to keep me from racing yesterday.  I count myself lucky that I felt as good as I did and was able to turn in a decent performance.  Judging by the competition, it may get harder and harder from here on out to get my first place at the Napa Valley Dirt Classic.  But that will just make it so much the sweeter!