Nevada City Dirt Classic #3 of 3

[Greg Alsterlind]

My second trip to race around the Hallelujah trail. I drove up with teammates Jim, Cathy and Simon early and got a pre-ride in. Conditions were perfect for fast laps. I had decided to change my tires on the Trek Superfly to Maxxis Ikon 2.2's to help with some of the loose sections of this course. My race was loaded with strong guys but only a few of us had enough points to qualify for the State Championship. I lined up behind 1989 MTB National Champ Don Myrah who ended up winning but Dan Goldsmith was point leader and he was who I wanted to keep up with. Off the start Don quickly made his way to the front. Brian Tilford was second and Craig Manning was 3rd. Half way up the 1st Hallelujah climb Craig stopped and let me by. Don and Brian were not far ahead so I pushed to catch them. At the top we all stood up and pedalled hard toward the first section of single track through the trees. Here is where I made my first mistake and went off course. I scrambled back to my bike and tried to catch up. My first lap had me about 20 seconds back.

On the start of my second lap I caught up to Mark Buell who was not looking like himself and clearly just hanging on. As we made our way up the climb Mark let me pass and I later learned he had to pull out. At the Start of my 3rd lap I was alone in 3rd. But had to stop for a second to grab the tube I forgot to pack for emergency (thank you Simon). Craig passed me but once again I passed him on the climb. This was the last of my strength. At the top Dan passed me followed by Craig. I had hoped I would have a strong down hill and recover for my 4th lap but no. In the end I finished 5th and pretty disappointed. However, because I had a win in race # 2 my points put me just ahead of Brain Tilford for 3 Rd Place in the State series.

Due to some big timing problems USA cycling did not hand out awards (bummer!) . Acme's Jim Hewett and Mark Gibson won and are now the State champs (Congrats Fellas!) and I am happy I got to be there. Thanks to my Garmin 510 I was able to learn that I was only a minute slower than last year when I finished 2nd. I look forward to next year and having 4 strong laps!