NWA Mudfest 2011

As I arrived at Devil's Den State Park it had already been raining for a few hours. The rain continued to fall as I got suited up in the car to get a pre-ride of the race course before nightfall. I jumped on my Orbea Alma 29'r and after making it about 10 minutes down the trail, I flatted my 2.2 Race King and decided to fix it and turn around instead of getting lost in the woods at night. Generally I am all about getting lost in the woods at night, but not in the pouring rain, not tonight.

As I got back to the car, I decided it was a good idea to change my tires for something that would handle the amount of slippery mud and rock and roots that were going to be on the course the next day. I was slipping and sliding all over the place with my current set-up, even spinning out on uphills while seated. At the time I felt a little silly standing in the dark, getting rained on and trying to air up a UST set-up with no compressor while most other racers were huddled around a campfire eating and drinking the finest of camp brews.

After cleaning the mud off my ride, and getting a set of suitable tires on the wheels, I decided to curl up in a sleeping bag in the back of my V.W. wagon and get a good nights sleep while the trails got nice and soggy for race day.

The next morning, the gods seemed to smile upon us and grace the CAT 3, CAT 2, and single speeders with some semblance of nice weather and decent trail conditions.

Then all hell broke loose.....again.

The Cat 1 race got pushed back until 2pm due to all the rainfall, and ended up getting started in the rain anyway. The race was shortened to 3 laps instead of 4. Not that the bill at the bike shop is going to be any lower, that much mud still ruins every single moving part of a mountain bike. As I stood in a growing puddle of dirty water, under a slightly waterproof canopy, with a bunch of other cold, wet dudes, I started to calculate how much I could possibly win and how much the race was definitely going to cost me. I should have bought lottery tickets....my odds would have been better. However, I am familiar with "math" so I don't buy lottery tickets.

As the race started, I immediately took to the front. The sooner this was over, the sooner I could be warm again. It's amazing how many times I race faster because I know what going to happen afterwards.

I consider myself a pretty skilled technical rider, and I didn't want to find myself involved in any wrecks that I wasn't directly responsible for. This strategy seemed to play out pretty well for me, as there was a good bit of carnage happening.

 Zane Jeffers and I hammered out 3 full speed laps without much regard to how dangerous the trail was when moving that quickly on wet rocks and roots. Our first 5.6 mile lap was right at 24 minutes. Faster than the SS crew that got to ride the trail before it was soupy and nasty. NICE.

I was having a flawless technical day on the trail. Everything I did just seemed to turn out for the best. I rode as if the trail were bone dry and the bike moved in a very sketchy sideways manner through just about every corner. I can't tell you how many times I braced for impact and managed to pull through and keep the rubber side down. There is no better/scarier feeling than going airborne off of a ledge, landing on muddy, rocky trail and sliding through trees while holding on for dear life. All the while feeling, somehow, in control. I guess all that training in crap weather is finally starting to pay off.

I was jamming on the flats, and railing the descents, so I was putting pretty good time on the rest of the field. By the time we hit Racer's Hill each lap, I would always see Zane start creeping up on me. I knew I had to keep pushing the technical areas in order to stay ahead. I wasn't feeling my strongest, but I was riding really well, picking solid lines, and reacting to the trail as close to perfect as possible.

Know what you are doing well, and work with it. That's racing.

I finished up with a first place finish, and a load of work to do on my bike. It was a much needed finish, as the rest of this year has been more full of "lessons learned" than great races executed.

Hot and Dusty....and not in the sexy way.

Yesterday was the Three Legged Dawg XC event at Burns Park, right over in NLR. This is the only race I actually get to sleep in my own bed and sleep late. Nice.

3LD is known for being one of the hottest, roughest races in Arkansas, and this year was no exception. The Cat 1 field didn't actually get launched until around 11a.m, and I remember standing at the staging area, b.s.'ing with a few other racers and thinking " wow, its really hot, and I'm not even working yet".

I had no desire to lead this race from the get-go. Its a long XC race, dehydration always happens in 100 degree weather, and the third lap always ends up being a woozy-headed suffer-fest. I was going to avoid that this year.

As soon as we dove into the single-track, I knew that being 4th or 5th in line was a bad idea. I am still blowing dust boogers, and I think I have a rare case of brown-lung. The new trails were incredibly dusty with lots of rocks strewn about for good measure.

A few guys were really pounding away at the beginning of the race, and I didn't want anything to do with it, but I was kinda stuck in the middle of the pack. I raced on faith today(no computer), so I don't know any details:HR, speed, distance, that type stuff. Roughly 6-8 miles in, I lost my front tire on a loose section, and slid out.Nothing bad. Zane Jeffers with Bell & Co. proceeded to pass me at this point. (Congrats on an awesome race) This didn't help my mojo much, but it did allow me to start racing at my own pace for the day.

I rode by myself pretty much all day. I rode conservatively and well paced. I was in third place, and I was hoping to catch the guys in front on the third lap. Somewhere near the end of the second lap, I caught the guy that beat me at Hobb's 2 week's ago when I had a gnarly crash. Nice, the plan is working. Now to just keep plugging along and make up ground on Zane. The heat was starting to take a toll on me, and I decided to just keep pacing. I still had a long day in the saddle coming up Monday.

Well, my plan never came to fruition. I rode well, and I'm happy with my performance at the race, but I never quite caught back up to Zane. About a mile from the end of the course, another racer started closing in on me. The last mile or so of the course is the roughest of the rough areas at Burns, and I was getting bounced and bobbled around on my hard-tail quite badly by this point in the day. He started getting closer, able to pedal through the rocky sections on a full-sus 29'er, but once it smoothed out, I floored it all the way to the finish and held on to second place.

Time for BBQ and Beers.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the socks..... my legs were a bit sore from a hard week of training, so I donned some Swiftwick 12" compression socks and rocked out. They really help keep your calves from shaking and getting sore when you have to stand on descents and techy areas.

Hobb's XC Race Report

Oww.

Not in the way that races are supposed to hurt either. This one really, really, hurt.

That night was an interesting one. Sarah and I tried a double hammock for the first time. Hmmm. Not sure how that is supposed to work. We would have gotten a better go at it, but it started to drizzle and the three of us that rode up together all huddled back in my Passat wagon for a good nights......sleep?

Woke up ready to ride some awesome trails that I hadn't seen in a roughly a year.

The race started off in the usual  Arkansas Cat 1 fashion. Kinda fast tempo start, hit the single-track, and the group is immediately split apart. I was riding with a fast dude racing for BMC-Walmart for a little while. He was working the hills a bit harder than I was, but I was making the ground back up on some faster sections of trail. It was a pretty non-exciting race with me just yo-yo'ing any where from 10 feet to 10 seconds behind him. I was just waiting for him to peter out a little bit so I could pass him. I figured it was going to be around the 1h30min - 1h45min point. He was wearing a speed-suit, so I figured he was a short distance racer.

Then the race got realllly interesting. I was on lap two descending a long fast section of single-track at roughly 20mph when I accidentally caught my left Ergon bar-end on a small tree. Before I even knew what happened, I was lying on my back, bike on top of me, unable to move, and oh yeah, screaming. I laid on the ground for around 2-3 minutes before even starting to drag myself off the race course. I got to my knees, waited a couple minutes, and then started to stand. Wow, that hurts! Front-flip to back with rocks and roots for a landing zone. I chat with the ever-friendly Bob Ocken of Ocken Photography for a short bit and then get back on my bike to finish the race.

Once on my bike, the pain really wasn't so bad. I mean, it hurt really bad, but it was bearable. Pushing hard with the right leg however, not bearable. I rode conservatively, but still in a hurry. I thought that I had been passed by Drew Medlock of Competitive Cyclist, so I was trying to chase him back down and at least have a shot at 2nd place. When the race was over, it turns out that I did get 2nd place! Yay, now I can put that money towards replacing the helmet that I broke in the crash.

At least the Hobb's course was a great trail, and the atmosphere was great. I'll be back next year sans bar-ends for sure.

That is a baseball sized hematoma folks.