Sea Otter Classic |
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| DATE: Mar. 23, 1997 | WHERE: Laguna Seca, Monterey | ||||||
| DISTANCE: 18.6m Mtn Bike | TIME: ?min | ||||||
| PLACE: 8th | TEAMMATES: Carl, Shawn, J.D. | ||||||
Wow! My first mtn bike race. Checking out the extreme parts of the course the day before, we got to talking about different crash terms like "STACKING", "BAILING", "WASH OUTS", and "INDOS". I should of known this was a bad way to get prepped for my first race. Quickly I learned you must show up early to the start or end up barricaded behind 200 other racers and their bikes. I can see my roommate on the front line. Go! Not a good start but quickly go anaerobic to move up as much as possible before the course narrows down to 1 bike width. My body's ready to explode, I remind myself "Gotta make the sacrifice, must get to the trail or be stuck behind everyone" On the 1-bike-wide trail there's 6 riders abreast! Dust everywhere, trees and spectators are a blur, trail is covered with washboard, shocks working like crazy. The first climb, I'm finally passing people. Every climb is exciting, constantly moving up, breathing hard, picking the lines I discovered in yesterday's practice ride. Zooming along the top, hot now, arm-warmers off. The first, of many, tricky descents. I guess I was a little excited and thinking too far ahead. At the bottom corner, knowing exactly what not to do, I use the front brakes anyway. Suddenly, I demonstrate crash type 1: "STACKING". I slam into the ground and tumble, catching a glimpse of another rider careening into the hay bails because of me. I feel bad for him and pretty embarrassed, too, as other riders scorn my rookie predicament. I fix my seat, jump on, notice only 1 wound on my knee, and hurry to make up lost time. I'm actually glad I got my crash out of the way (because you know it's gonna happen) Now we're zig zagging through some beautiful but treacherous single track. This is so exciting because every few turns I'm celebrating the fact I didn't crash. But I speak too soon. Crash Type 2: "BAILING". Through dark trees, on a side hill, soft dirt, bike has a mind of its own and I don't want to go there. So I bail off to the side. Ugh. Now, almost to a paved section, 1 sandy corner left and (Crash Type #3) I "WASH OUT". I'm stuck in my pedals like an overturned turtle as other guys just ride over my bike wheels. More embarrassment. But I feel no pain and just wonder if everyone's going through the same stuff.
Back into the trails. Now the Wall. Suddenly I see racers, top to bottom, pushing/carrying their bikes. I grab mine and run up the hill, reminding myself that I supposedly like run-bike-running. It works at getting me ahead of another group. I keep trying to pass but many times just end up going off the trail and getting stuck. Really breathing hard now, 6mi to go, surprisingly, I pass my roommate, Carl, just to execute crash type 4, the "INDO", into a patch of jutting rocks. Upside down, I see Carl go by shouting advice "Get up, and keep going!". Somehow I make it through the mangled trail and hit the 4mi fire-road climb back to Laguna Seca. I pass Carl again, put my head down, and psych up. I've been waiting for this stretch, everyone told me this is where you do it. No technical, just a heart-pounding hammer-fest for 15min. Finally the top! I've really moved up now! All I have to do is keep from crashing. One extreme section left... right in front of the crowds. I see my friends waving to me, I hear the people's cheers and gasps as riders tumble out of control into the fencing. Some of them fly over the top, knocking down spectators and bending wheels. Somehow, they always keep going.
There it is, the 2 drop-offs, the narrow corner, the anticipating faces. I keep repeating "Stay back, back, back, ...". Somehow, I catch a perfect line and make it through! 2mi left I feel like I'm home free. I tuck and whiz around the legendary Grand Prix race course and hit the finish in 1:28:43 and thanking God that I'm still alive. Amazingly I got 9th place in my sport division. This mountain bike racing is really fun and exciting and I can't wait to do it again, but, as I tend to the cuts and bruises, I realize I've got to stop crashing or I won't heal in time for the next race. So that's the goal, to keep "the sunny-side up" and let the dictionary demonstrate the crash types. -Troy |
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