It's been 5 weeks since the moment of boom and I, um, raced Fair Hill this weekend. In a super diminished field (the crosstastic NY party known as Staten Cross stole many of the MAC ladies, and November got to the rest) I'd somehow held on to a front-row callup and took off at a controlled pace, just fast enough to stay out of traffic. Not long after that, Linda passed most of us in sweet style on some turn or another. I can't describe it but I bet Linda remembers which one: after spending so much time around the species known as bikerus mountainiae this year I'm convinced they all wear secret bionic contact lenses that help them identify the best lines (and other goodies in the woods) through singletrack. Anyway, they were off, never to be seen again.
photo by dennisbike
I was riding in the middle of a group with 3rd-8th (or so) just before the off-camber sections along the white fence when the girl in front slipped on a switchback, tripped up the one behind her, and I jumped off the bike and ran around them. On the Fair Hill course, with no single epic feature but tons of chicanery (oh the chicanes!) I managed to go just barely smooth and fast enough to begin lap 2 at the front of that group. At this point my body said, HEY SHORT TRACK, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU RODE HARD FOR 40 MINUTES and 3 or 300 ladies blew by me on the long uphill drag. I almost caught some near the end of the next lap, got tangled up along with a masters' woman by a kid who substituted straight for right and almost guillotined us with course tape, and after that just focused on riding as smoothly as I could to save my ass from a hard-charging Heather Heinrich. Rolled in 7th.
Roses:
- Good job, ankle! Only a little bit achey breaky today. (Although you owe one to lace-up ankle brace)
- The ever-awesome mechanics at Bicycle Therapy. ("I think something's wrong with the bottom bracket..." "Well, you did some cross races. In a cement mixer. But we'll repack it so you can race this weekend, and then order a new one for next week.")
- Pre-riding with the Loam Ranger
- Having fun swooping through the chicanery
- Seeing Linda disappear as she stomped off to 2nd
- Fatmarc's beard, the visual
Thorns:
- Lungs don't remember this "racing" thing
- Oh, right, my beloved Nascar bike has mega toe overlap
- Nathalie on sick leave
- Hearing Linda cheering for me on the side of the course. Boo and hiss. The hiss would be from the slit in her tire that flatted her out with 1.5 laps to go.
- Fatmarc's beard, assuming Monkey's point of view
I'll let the fellows tell their own stories, but here's a preview: Dan Action getting his action on in the masters race, Gerry blowing us kisses while holding a top 10 position in the elites, Mike Mast winning crowd favorite for nose-wheelie style points, the Dutch Oven's flash-start TOTALLY WORKING this time, and... 867-5309.
