August 2nd was the Plattekill Mountain Challenge, stop #2 in the NYS MTB series, in Roxbury, NY. I heard a few racer friends of mine mention going to this event, so I signed up. Right up until the night before the race, when I checked to see who else was registered in my division, I was the only Cat 2 Singlespeed entrant. That sounded kinda cool, since all I had to do was show up, complete the course and I'd get a gold medal (my first ever). I was still hoping that others would register day-of so I would actually have to work for it. I was very pleased to see my friend, Sal from Darkhorse Cycles, riding back from registration. He said he saw that I was all by myself and he didn't want me to race alone. What a guy! As it would turn out, and as was evident in past races, Sal is a very worthy opponent and we regularly finish seconds apart, so this was going to be a grueling battle to see who would come out on top.
The race course was actually a ski slope with lots of singletrack linking the ski runs together. It was one of the most intense races I've ever done. The loop was 8 miles round trip and was essentially 4 miles up and 4 miles down. We were to do two laps. The lap began at the base and went straight up a ski run. While we were staging up, we could see racers pre-riding the course waaaaaaaaaaay up on the slope, traversing the ridge. I said, "We're going up there?" The riders looked so tiny! Climbing such a hill on a singlespeed is a brutal task, which maybe is why there were so few of us present that day.
Now, a lot of time has passed since the race and all the memories of the pain and suffering I endured and desire to sell all my bikes after the race have given way to only the best moments of the day. For example, on the climb up at the start of lap 2, a rain storm swept in over the course, but only on the top of the mountain. We ascended into thick clouds and what started out as a misty fog soon became torrential rain. I was soaked through, but it felt amazing! My glasses immediately became useless, so I ditched them. Unfortunately, they were very necessary on the ride down when the trails became rushing streams with actual mini rapids. I wished there were photogs present to have captured my visage as I scrunched up my face and left only enough space between my eyelids to keep the mud spray out, but still see where I was going.
Sal and I exchanged places all during the first lap. I made two wrong turns, one in the middle and one at the end of lap 1, where I lost the lead I had worked so hard for. The first wrong turn was due to a poorly marked turn and the second, well, I was just stupid. I followed a rider off course as he went to retrieve a bottle from his feeder station. Once I realized my error, I turned right around and climbed back up the hill to regain the course just in time to see Sal emerge from the woods. D'oh!
I caught him on the climb on the second lap and really began to work some strategy into my game plan. I knew that if Sal could physically see me, he would feel like he could catch me. So I did everything I could to get through a technical section at speed and then sprint long enough after to disappear around the next corner. I found out later that my plan had worked perfectly when he told me that once he lost sight of me, he just settled in and rode at his own pace. Me, on the other hand, I wanted as much distance between us as possible so I rode like the wind and hit everything as fast as I could. The downhill portion was very rocky with water rushing down it. My hands ached so badly from the vibrations and staying on the brakes, that I thought the whole time I would lose control and crash horribly. I knew that being out front means taking those risks, but also riding as smart as possible.
When I reached the finish line, the MC knew my name and my team and announced it over the PA as I crossed the line. That was pretty awesome. It was also quite intense waiting during the awards ceremony, seeing the podium and knowing that the top spot belonged to me. Even though I am proud of my achievement, I'm still hoping for an actual legitimate podium. My third place at KV was kind of a fluke, but hey, I'm not complaining! I learned also that my time would have earned me 3rd place in my age group, Cat 2 19-29 if I was racing with the geared guys, which is very cool. I felt good that day, I enjoyed the course, I was happy to do battle with my friend, and I came away with a gold medal. Best day of my life. :-)
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