Napa Valley Dirt Classic 2016

[Michael Koppe]

  This was my first race since Downieville. After Downieville I noticed that I had a dull ache in my left testicle which I attributed to numerous crashes or near misses. When it didn't resolve I had it evaluated and found out that I had testicular cancer. I finally have something in common with Lance Armstrong! Although the surgery is more psychologically invasive than surgical, it still involves cutting abdominal muscles and a 8 week recovery period. I opted out of the optional chemo since I caught it early and there is only a 20% chance of recurrence. I have to live with a little uncertainty and have frequent CAT scans and blood work but things seem to be good so far. Hopefully this is not too much information, but I wanted to explain where I am at.

 As a goal, I really want to do well at Downieville and do the downhill course on the second day under my age in minutes(62/63). It would be a celebration of one year of health, a return to normality, and perhaps symbolically a victory over cancer. So with the help of Jim I have began to train in earnest. I am early in my base phase of training and the NVDC serves more as an opportunity to acquire race experience and practice technical skills. I still have a long ways to go in terms of fitness, but it felt good to race. I didn't look at my time till the end (2hr 15min), so I could just go at my pace. It is not like I didn't try. My Strava suffer score was still 200, but I didn't want to risk any bad crashes in these sloppy conditions and suffer an injury. As with injuries in the past, I am initially risk adverse until I rebuild the confidence. 

  In terms of the race, it was incredibly muddy! A number of times my tires completely caked up and it was like skiing downhill without edges. I tried to go fast and through puddles to get the caked mud off. Finally I just stopped and bounced the bike up and down a few times to shed the mud. After I accidentally went into a deep rut on a steep downhill, I actually used the rut to my advantage so I could go straight. I learned a rut can be your friend. The other advantage of the mud was that I avoided my lifelong nemesis-poison oak. The caked on mud protected me from poison oak and kept me from getting sun damage. Mud can be your friend too.

  In the end I finished 4th out of 5 and 13 minutes behind first in the Cat1 over 55 group. My Trek Fuel was flawless despite the conditions. The race reminded me why I need to train, not just try really hard. I enjoyed meeting my teammates afterwards and sharing in their stories and success. We have some very talented riders on our team! Thanks for the support and inspiration. Mike