Nevada City Dirt Classic #1

[Mark Gibson]

I headed up to this race not knowing exactly what to expect as I'd never raced it before.  The area had received a lot of rain over the prior week, so I was thinking there would be some mud, but otherwise I'd just have to figure it out on race day.  

Getting there with not quite enough time to pre-ride the course, I did a brief warm up and took my place at the start line. The racers were sent out in waves: pros, then singlespeed (never really understand why the ss go out ahead of all the Cat 1s), then Cat 1 19-39, before my wave of Cat 1 40-49.  I knew a good start was important as the singletrack began about 100 yds after the start, and I didn't want to get caught up mid-pack and let anyone get out of my sight.  I got a decent start, but two guys got out ahead of me going into the single track.  They were setting a surprisingly fast pace, and I felt like I was really hammering just to try and keep them in sight.  A quick check of my heart rate monitor confirmed that I was going way too hard, and I backed off slightly, albeit keeping them within a distance where I could see them. 

After a mile or two of what was very sweet, fun, singletrack, I caught and passed the 2nd placed rider, and set my sights on 1st place.  Sure enough it seemed like he had gone out too hard, and I started catching back up.  I put in an effort on a flat section of double track and made a pass, but then the other rider quickly re-took the lead, and I knew a had a tough race on my hands.  When the climbing started it seemed like I was a little stronger, so put in an effort, re-took the lead, and then gapped him.  On the next downhill section (a fantastic flow trail), he made up a little time on me, but I still had a small lead at the bottom.  Then the climbing began again, and so I hammered, and this time made it stick.  By the end of the 1st lap, I knew I had a good sized lead, and never saw the guys behind me again.  I set out on the 2nd lap making sure that I just put in a solid effort, not making any stupid mistakes, and not going crazy on the climbs.  I still had the SoNoMas race cramps from hell fresh in my mind and did not want to risk cramping up again.  On laps 2 and 3 I passed several of the Cat 1 racers in the 19-39 age group, and felt good the whole time, coming in to place first in my category.

After the finish I found out Jim had won 2nd place in the pros, so a good day for Acme.

This was one of the more fun xc courses I've done.  I'm looking forward to the next two races in this series.