I picked Derek and Ed up from the finish line and drove back to the start. When we arrived I saw some big names there getting ready to warm up. I was pretty nervous already because this would be my first Pro race and I would be riding a new bike I picked up the night before. You don’t have to tell me, I know riding new equipment for a race is breaking the 1st cardinal rule. I was offered the opportunity to race an ‘09 Specialized S-Works Epic and couldn’t resist. It was a beautiful bike. So, I rode around the parking lot a few times and then hit the trail for a couple of miles to see if there were any surprises I should know about right off the start. The toughest section I found was a sand pit just over a mile in. When I saw the 25-mile sign I decided it was time to head back. I got back to the truck where Derek was standing and took off some of the heavier clothing I had on for warming up. It was a couple minutes after that when we were called to the starting gate. We had 5 minutes until the start and my heart was racing already. I was standing in a pack of 56 riders. I heard the word “go” and we were off on a full out sprint for a sharp left hand turn. I managed to take the inside line and hold it. The first few miles were absolute chaos. My heart rate was pegged, guys were cutting others off to try and get a good position in line. I had someone=2 0try to get ahead of me, but he ended up taking his own front tire out on another rider’s rear wheel. This caused me to lock up the breaks, but I was able to get around in time on the left. As the race went on I found myself in a group of about 5 chasing the larger lead group, which at the time I had no idea there was a group of 3 off of the front of that group. I finally managed to join the main group and was doing my best to hang on to the rear tire of one of the Bell’s guys. I was unable to stay there though and a few miles after Williamsburg Road I was slowly falling off the back. I made a few hard efforts trying to get back on, but with no such luck. I felt like I was on my own personal time trial. I managed to catch two of the others that got spit out the back. I was riding with them until the last section of single track. I was trying to get to the single track first, but ended up second in line with no way around. We came to a short but steep downhill with a sharp left at the bottom. The rider in front crashed. He had slid just far enough off the trail for me to get around. I asked if he was all right but didn’t receive and answer. I saw him scrambling to get up when I rounded the next corner. Now I just had one guy I had to stay in front of so I was giving it everything I could when we entered the finish chute.
As I crossed the finish line I felt such relief that the rider behind me didn ’t catch me. After the race I had to take my new favorite bike back to the Specialized trailer to return it. That was the saddest moment of the day for me. After the awards and a bite to eat we decided to make an appearance at the Bell’s party. Which topped off the night with good beer and some dancing, well I think you could consider it dancing. We were very lucky that our teammate Biscuit agreed not to drink so he could drive us back to the room. Which we appreciated very much.
It was a great weekend and I can’t wait until next year to try to improve my time. I ended up 26th with a time of 1:36, which beat my goal of a 1:40, but there’s always next year.
Images from Biz! aka Biscuit, aka Mark T.
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