NorCal Race 1

[Otis Lyons]

Fort Ord- NorCal #1 3/6/16

I could start this race report from when I was a sixth grader, watching my brother in his first race as a freshman for the Drake MTB team. But, the boring anticipation for the next three years would fill up the Bible, so I'll skip straight to the most exciting and nerve racking moments.
The 5 mile lap never fluctuated more than 100 feet or so in elevation, and I didn't think that a rider like me, who thrives on long climbs, would survive such a power test. And it truly was that- no technical sections, just steep digs that scream of a spring road bike "classic."
Lining up as a freshman D1, with no callups made for a mad dash to get to the front row of racers. The rows went 5 wide, and there were around 50 riders, and so my inside 4th row positioning was not too shabby.
The gun went off, and I knew if I wanted any chance I needed to be in the thick of it by the top of the first 30 second climb, because after that there are no other chances to pass for a long time.
Squeezing my way up the inside, I wound up in the top 10 by the single track, and by the top of the climb I found myself in 3rd. Big thanks to Gabe, who told me before the race that his friend from Tam would be main competition, and he was right. Besides a San Rafael kid who went out like a pack of wolves were chasing him, the Tam kid was next, so I decided this would be the wheel to follow. Logan and Kyle were right there as well. By the bottom of the first descent, we found the San Rafael kid on the floor, who had overcooked the turn. The Tam kid led me through the next section, and by the following hill I looked back and saw no one behind. I could tell he didn't expect me to pull through, so I was more than happy to let him take me past the sophomore D2 kids. We made pretty good work of them through the remainder of the first lap, and with about 1-1.5 miles to go in the lap, we crossed the road and headed up a steep fire road climb. I had pre-ridden and noted that this climb was probably the most important part of the course, where for the rest of the race there are not many places to pass. I decided to lead into the descent, and it worked out. I caught and passed two or three sophomore guys, and stuck them in between me and the Tam kid (who is named Kaveh by the way). By the bottom, I had 5 or so seconds, and so I decided I would keep it hard, and if he could bring it back I would let him go back to the front. But, Kaveh couldn't bridge the gap, and I got a 10 second advantage by the first pass of the finish line. By 2 miles to go, my dad told me he couldn't see Kaveh behind me, and when I hit the fire road again, it was a 20 to 30 second gap. I kept going hard, and got to cruise in and take victory, in the end by 1:20.
Thanks to Jim at Acme Bikes who set me up with my sweet Trek Topfuel.
That was a great weekend, and I can't wait for the next one!

[Jim Hewett]

Great start to the season!

[Danny Kelly McNaughton]

Good job man. I"m sure you were racing some fast kids. Awesome and impressive to win