Castlewood Race Report

For anyone who is interested in reading a race report from this past weekend, read on. It's long.

I've noticed there are a lot of blogs out there where racers from various disciplines put down their thoughts for their family, friends, and themselves to read. I'm not even close to being a "racer" nor do I have a blog, but I understand why they record race reports. It's an intense experience at times so your mind plays it back over and over, trying to pull out more details, trying to figure out how to improve each little aspect. So, I'll give it a try. It also helps to remember and document the experience.

I had planned on doing the mountain bike race at Castlewood State Park for a while and had focused my exercise a bit on bike race fitness. I didn't lift any weights during the week leading up to the race so I wouldn't be fatigued. I was somewhat mentally and physically prepared. Then, the rain started. It rained for almost two days prior to the race. I started rethinking my participation for a few reasons. One, I'm not big into the idea of me and my bike getting completely covered in sandy mud. That's a maintenance nightmare. Two, I was nervous about wrecking hard on the slippery course. Three, I don't think it's fair for a small group of trail users to go out and damage the trail for everyone else. So, I watched the weather and the trail reports and the conclusion from the race director was that it will be damp, but no damage will be done because the trail was very dry beforehand and had shed/absorbed most of the rain. One excuse down. Two still left. Friday night came around and I had pretty much thrown in the towel. I skipped the pre-race workout, so Jess and I went to El Maguey for fajitas (first time, they're amazing), then to Fritz's for a cool cookie concrete (not even close to the first time, always amazing). Then we went home and watched a movie. After the movie, I thought maybe I would go race, so before we went to bed I laid out some clothes and set the alarm for 5:30 to give myself enough time to eat, pack up, and get in a warm up before the 9AM start. At 5:30 I turned off the alarm and told Jessica, "negative" and we went back to sleep. At 6:30 I woke up again to bright, blue skies. I laid there for a few minutes debating and finally decided to get up and get out there. Jess had plans all morning so I had to do something. I ate, showered, packed, and hit the road.

Got to Castlewood at 7:50. Found a parking spot next to the big black bus. There weren't a whole lot of folks around yet, I figured many had decided to skip the race due to the conditions. I was registered and ready to roll by 8:15 so Matt and I went out to get in a warm up. We rode around for a bit, hit some climbs, and checked out the trail. It was damp, but not soft. Didn't even make a tire print. There were some large puddles and the roots and rocks were all a bit slick. More and more vehicles were piling in and by the time we came back to the parking lot it was crowded and there were bikes buzzing around everywhere. Everyone was just riding around the parking lot and up and down the road, waiting for the first guys to head in to the gate. I knew it would be very important to get towards the front at the start, as the field was very large and it would take a while for everything to string out. I rode by the gate and no one was there yet so I went up the road a bit and noticed everyone was heading toward the gate so I quickly turned around and headed that way, hoping I didn't miss my chance. By the time I got set I was in the middle of the third row, each row about 10 riders wide. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but no big deal. There was a little instruction, a roll call, and then the horn.

The start chute was packed and it was almost difficult just to keep free of rubbing tires and shoulders. 200 yards across a grass field straight to the longest, steepest, climb in the park, Lone Wolf. I got to the climb about mid pack and started up. There were riders all over the place, moving like a slinky, each time one at the front slowed, it waved down the whole pack. I tried to just maintain and keep my place and not exhaust myself right off the bat. That was definitely a mistake. I should've passed the guys that were holding me up. As I neared the top of the climb, Keeven came screaming by, we exchanged some quick words of encouragement, and he was gone. His class started a minute behind ours and he had already passed almost my entire class. Freak. A few more from his class eventually came by, they only have one gear so they have to climb fast. We have the option to go slow. We dumped in to the singletrack descent and I was able to make up a few spots there but it was tight and passing was extremely difficult. We crossed the road to head up the Love climb and I got bogged down again. Love is a long fast climb, but it didn't go down that way. I was behind 5 or 6 riders and we were all stuck behind a couple slow climbers. It's very difficult to pass anyone when you're in a line tire to tire. Love is narrow and not conducive to passing either. I was completely relaxed and ready to really go but we were stuck, for the whole climb. I knew the leaders were off the front and putting more and more distance on us. At the top we dumped on to some doubletrack and I was able to get past the slower riders. Then on to Roller Coaster, and down Grotpeter. I picked up a few positions there and finished up the first lap. One Lap.

Back to the Lone Wolf climb. I was by myself and just tried to get up without running out of steam. Crested the climb and was feeling really good. Caught a couple of guys coming down Lone Wolf and then up Love. Stuck again and didn't get to pick my own pace. Got out from behind that and got a glimpse of the leader as I entered Roller Coaster. He had a few minutes lead. Rode Roller Coaster quickly and started down Grotpeter. Bombing down Grotpeter and my front tire starts hissing and shooting Stan's sealant all over the place. Damn. I pulled off the trail and got the tire to seal back up, but it's really low, so I hit it with CO2 and got the pressure back up. There goes a few riders. Got rolling and it immediately started spitting again. Pull over. There goes a few more riders. Got it to seal, more CO2, rolling again. Started hissing, pulled over again, took off the wheel, got out the tube, ready to change it this time. There goes a few more riders. It sealed again so I left the pressure low and put it back on and started riding. It held. I got down to the start finish, changed my water bottle, and was off. Two Laps.

I figured I may as well try to catch as many guys as I can and enjoy myself. Third lap I passed a few of the guys that had just passed me and again I was feeling pretty good. I was cruising down Grotpeter and came up on the wheel of another rider. Looking for a spot to pass, I drifted to the right a bit, at just the wrong time. There was a tree that I had to go around and I didn't make it. We were going about 20 and my left forearm hit the tree dead on and it spun my bars around and launched me off the trail to the right. There's a steep side slope there so it took a moment to land, and when I did I was flat on my back, head pointing downhill. I slid down the hill on my back for what seemed like 5 seconds. I remember looking up the hill at the trail as I was sliding thinking I wish I would stop sliding so I could get back on the trail. I finally stopped, bounced up, and ran back up the hill to my bike. Watched a few riders blast by. Got my handlebars spun around and made it back to the trail. Passed one guy on the way to the finish and that was it. Finish.

Everyone was hanging out around the finish line still buzzing from the experience. I talked to a few guys who I had traded spots with and we congratulated one another. Everyone had giant smiles on their faces and were congratulating one another. The Team Seagal guys and the local Pabst rep were giving out free 24 ounce cans of PBR. It was a great atmosphere. The guy who I was attempting to pass when I crashed came up to me to make sure that I was OK. Keeven was there at the finish line (he had already finished of course and had just finished watching Last of the Mohicans) so we rode around a little bit to cool down. We made our way back to the vehicles, I stretched for a bit and ate and drank, and was on my way.

The whole drive back I was really excited and kept thinking about all of the different things that happened. 12th out of 40 in my class. Keeven took first again in his class. 136 total racers. I had a great time.

RESULTS