I ran the Super D Race held by the Friends of Capitol Forest, this past weekend. FOCF is a great group of people who work very hard for trail advocacy and do tons of maintenance down on the Capitol Forest, outside of Olympia, WA. I was very impressed by the level of organization and preparation which went a long way to making this a very fun event. All the proceeds from the race go back into projects on the Forest, which is another great reason to participate. Speaking of participating, I almost didn't.
Mike Adamson, my main riding partner, has made it a goal to race in 2008. He's a great rider and I know he will do well. The part I was not sure about was his idea of me racing with him. I am a pretty good athlete, and a fairly decent rider; I just did not know how I stacked up. As I mentioned, I mainly ride with Mike; I should say I mainly ride behind Mike. So, I wasn't sure if I as behind, or in front of, the curve skill and speed-wise. He had sent me several e-mails about this race he was signed up for, and I should get in. I procrastinated until he called me one day and said, "You're pretty much not going to do that race, are you?" I hemmed and hawed and really couldn't think of why not. So, the badgering paid off and I entered. Mike and I made plans to pre-ride the course the week before.
The course was shortened, from 6 miles to 4.25 due to the snow levels, and we got several laps in before mechanical issues shut us both down. I was bummed because I hadn't had a clean run either time. I decided to take a day off, during the week, and we headed down there with Eric Yotz. That turned out to be a nasty mud-fest, but we turned some good times. I had low of the day with 17:45. Two days to rest, and then the moment of truth.
Anastacia and I packed up the dogs and headed down bright and early, on Sunday morning. I was a little nervous, but kept going through the plan Mike and I had discussed as the best way to attack the course. We had ridden it in the wet, and figured that had given us some good information on where to make time and where to be a little conservative.
Signed in, geared up, and warming up on the bike, we waited for the word from the organizers. They laid out how things would go, and then posted the flights of riders. Mike was in the first group, since he was riding in the Expert Class. I was in the second flight, riding Sport Class. It turned in to a big waiting game, as we all ended up at the start standing around watching riders go out on one minute intervals. But, it was either stand around up there, or stand around down at the bottom. There were burn barrels at both locations so, if you got cold you could always warm up. We hung out, stayed loose, and chatted with different people. Finally, Mike was off. I still had about 90 minutes until my start time.
The crowd of riders slowly thinned, and my start time approached. I had spoken with the rider who was starting ahead of me; he had run the race last year. Because the rider between us was a "no-show", I would start two minutes behind him. My goal was to pass him, if I could. Finally, I was in the start tent. I reviewed the plan in my head, visualized the first turn, and controlled my breathing. "5-4-3-2-1-GO!" I cranked down on my right pedal and took off. I hit my braking point and shifted up for the climb which was just around the first turn. At the end of this short climb is where I first saw, and felt, the sticky, peanut butter texture of the clay on the trail. We had not seen it in this consistency during out last two visits. It made for very interesting riding, to be sure: both front and rear wheels drifting, at times, lack of traction while pedaling, and an energy-sucking stickiness which threatened to stop you cold if you lost too much speed. The remainder of the upper section went about as I planned. I crossed the road and got into the lower section, which is predominately clay and very narrow. This was my favorite, and fastest, section.
I was riding very smooth up to this point, and rode as fast as I could while maintaining good control of my bike. Just before breaking out of the trees to cross an old road, I saw the guy ahead of me. I asked if I could pass; he said, "okay," and I buzzed by on his right and lined up into the first table. So far, there had been a lot of pedaling, and it was that way for the remainder of the course. The last portion of the trail was slick and gummy; some of the worst. I broke out, crossed the last bridge, and dismounted to run up the last hill. On top, I remounted, spun around the mud, and entered the last bit.
I pushed as hard as I could, but I didn't want to make any mistakes. I had been riding very smoothly, up until this point, and felt that I was putting together a pretty good time. I shifted up and down as my legs, and the terrain, allowed and then pedaled for all I had to the finish. It was a good, smooth run, and about all I could hope for given the conditions. I found Anastacia, got some water and food, and caught my breath. I checked my time, and I saw that I was in First; one other rider was close to me, just six seconds down. I knew that that would stand, if only someone didn't post a faster time. The way the course was deteriorating, it did not look like that was going to be possible. One never knows, though.
Mike had already headed up, but Anastacia said he had gotten in a good run. She also introduced me to Dave Meredith, of One Ghost Industries (One Ghost), a new bike startup putting down roots in Portland. Mike and Dave had met during Mike's search for race sponsorship, and Dave had finally made the move from New Mexico to Portland. Talking to Dave for 5 minutes is all it takes to see that this man has a dream that he is working hard to make into a reality.
After about 20 minutes, they announced that the truck was loading up for the second run and I got on it. The wait was shorter, this time, and I also took liberty to walk up the hill from the drop-off point, instead of riding. I had no idea what else I could do to improve on my first run, I just planned on laying it out there and trying to make as few mistakes as possible. I made one mistake on the upper section, which cause me some time, and I just didn't have it in the legs like I had on the first run. I pushed as hard as I could but ended up catching the guy ahead of me in the tight corners. We made a plan, real quick, and I passed him on the outside, and was on my way with an encouraging word from Andy. I struggled to maintain a jog on the final climb. When I remounted my bike, I realized that I had accidentally bumped my shifter and put my chain in a gear too low for me to push off; I had to dismount, get some running momentum, and hop back on, quickly downshifting. That cost me time. I burned through the final bit as quickly as I could and finished just 18 seconds behind my first time.
After that, it was time to get cleaned up and get something to eat. I tried to confirm my time, but didn't get the chance. I was pretty confident I was still in First. Mike was in a run for Third, in the Expert Class, depending on how his second run stacked up against his rival. All clean, and warm, I got something to eat, found Anastacia and waited for the results to be announced. And it went like this...
Mike Adamson, 3rd Place, Expert Men 36+, 17:22
Gregory Wall, 1st Place, Sport Men 36+, 17:39
Thanks to Anastacia, being 7 months pregnant, for getting up at 5:30a.m. on a Sunday and coming out to support me and watch me race. Also, I would not even be riding if it wasn't for my friendship with Mike, who sold me my first mountain bike, and hounded me to enter this race and discover how much fun mountain bike racing is. Lastly, I also have to mention Eric Yotz, of the 8th Street Posse, who gave me a set of lock-on grips which helped immensely on race day; I owe you one, Eric.
Cheers.
