NVDC- First XC Race of The Season

[Jim Hewett]

Sometimes it's good to change up a training routine.  Obviously, on the day to day level, as your body responds more readily to fitness gains with new stimulation, but this year, I have decided to make some changes to my annual training plan.  For many years, I have been excited to start base training, usually a few months long, in November or December, thereby coming into peak racing form for the April races.  The challenge has been building for another peak later in the season, around July/August.  I have felt flat for the Downieville Classic and other races, as well as the USAC National Championship race.  With Nationals in Mammoth Lakes again this year, I decided to forego the early season peak for more edge later in the season.

That puts me right now in the second month of base training, just before any intensity begins.  Many hours in my legs, but no real speed work.  I did not race at Lake Sonoma or SoNoMas, two races which I would have surely done if I were building to a peak, and I knew going into The Napa Valley Dirt Classic that I would not feel as strong as last year.

Nevertheless, this race is too good and too close for me to miss it.

I knew the Pro field would be a bit thin due to a few conflicting races on the calendar, but I was a bit surprised when only 3 racers lined up.  My teammate Danny Macnaughton and I are veterans of the course, while Joe Woods would be racing it for the first time.

There was rain the day before and just up until the race start, so the course was going to be a bit sloppy.  Despite the less than ideal traction, the temperature was fine and I started the race without knee or arm warmers.

I knew it would not be a desperate start with just three of us (the opposite of next weeks 100 person plus Pro class), but Danny and I immediately drove the pace and dropped Joe.  We traded pulls on the flat fireroads out to the Obsevatory, keeping it up to get a good gap over any potential pursuit.  I've known Danny for a long time and I'm glad he's racing on Team Acme Bikes this year, so I knew no matter which one of us won it would be a good day.

We rode together through the twisty singletrack.  I led most of it, but he was always just behind me, pushing the pace.  I noticed my lack of punch, as I was not able to blast away from him on some of the climbs like I have done in the past.  I did make some time on the descents, which were pretty fun in the slippery conditions.  My Maxxis Ikon tires were not the best choice, but not too bad of a compromise.

This was my first race on the new Trek Top Fuel, and one of my first times racing XC on a full suspension.  Under 22 lbs, it is not heavy, but I did notice it was a little slower climbing compared to my former 19 lbs hardtail.  Overall, I am getting the hang of it.  I found myself in the middle compression "trail" mode on the Fox shock most of the race, as it worked well with the efficient suspension to climb and descend.

I had a decent gap on Danny as we descended the rutted steep fireroads to the creek crossing that signals the start of the brutal climb out.  I lost traction and had to walk up the first slippery climb, but then was back on and pedaling.  My 32 tooth oval chainring combined with a modified XX1 10-44 cassette to give me an easy enough gear, but it took focus not to lose traction.  A third of the way up the climb, I was able to see Danny behind me.  He was not giving up and I could tell he was fitter than I've seen him at this race.  I stayed ahead and out of site as much as I could, but he was never more than 25 seconds behind me.  We passed the airport and carefully went down through the muddy turns back to the finish.  I knew there would be no sprint finish on the track, as I had about 15 seconds on him, and we both pedaled in for an Acme Bikes 1/2.

A lucky win for me at this stage of training.  Next week, onto Sea Otter for the most competitive Pro XC race that will happen this year.