April 27, 2008 - Farmington Classic, Root 66 Race Series

April 27, 2008

Like always, this race brings out all the roadies, which is great asit increases attendance. Field at the start looked 40 deep in ourage group. I actually showed up right as my class was getting readyto start, since during my warm up I kept on dropping my chain. Theweek before, I had put on a nice new crankset which had really messedw/ chain line. I had worked on my front derailleur all week andcould not get it work properly. The new 2007/08 xtr cranks somehowhad a wider chainline over their older version. Adding a few mm iscertainly a nice way to fuck w/ you whole drivetrain. Shimano inthe mtb world is a piece of !@#$. On another tech note, the daybefore the race, I had discovered a nice crack in the weld junctionof my top tube and seat tube; about two inches across. Out ofdesperation I broke out a very old tube of epoxy I had lying aroundand apply it liberally to the area. Anyways, the guns goes off andthere is a crowd 10 wide fighting to go through the starting gatethat is half as wide, followed by a nice patch of deep sand. The guyin front of me slips and goes sideways. I have to brake & try tomake a 90 degree turn, which in deep sand, results of course in megoing down. I get up, pissed, and in deep sand and try tounsuccessfully pedal out. When finally get going again, I realizethat I am the only guy left at the starting gate. There is a sort ofgeneral "embarrassed for me" silence in the crowd as everyone isgone, including the guy that was 200 lbs overweight w/ indecentshorts: too small and plumbers butt! A guy I had identified at thestart as someone I had to at least beat to keep any sense of bikingself respect! The beginning of the course is a long stretch oftwisty fire road and right after it turns into singletrack I am ableto catch up to mr plumber butt and pass him. Phew, that takes somepressure off. Next in line was Mike! I can only see a few otherstragglers but no sign of him. I know I am going to have to put insome serious effort in to catch mike as this was his preferred typeof course. The course is a mixture of loose but quick fire road w/fast turns and some non technical twisty singletrack thrown in. Itis a course w/ no place to stop pedaling. Some turns on the fireroads are a little sketchy as the high speeds would bring me awfullyclose to the trees that lined the exit of the turns. About half waythrough the first lap and having passed those few stragglers, I seeMike in the distance. You cannot miss the refund now color scheme!Even through the trees, the white and orange is unmistakeable. Everytime I enter a section of singletrack, I edge up to him but then losesome ground on the fast fire roads. On a section of longersingletrack I put in an extra effort to be smooth and stay off thebrakes and am able to grab his wheel before exiting onto the fireroad again. There I stay on his wheel and as we have not gone pastthe series photographer yet, I think I am going stay there to get agreat team picture. Sadly enough, as we enter the next section ofsingletack Mike's bike miss shift and he dropped his chain. Iconsider stopping and waiting for him but this is a race and it isalso a chance for me to try to put some ground on him. Of course asI pass and leave him, through the next turn the photographer istaking his pictures. On the second lap a young one (probably lateteens) passes me full of energy and good speed. Since the course isso fast decide to suck his wheel. I can tell I am making him nervousriding so close to him, as he keeps on trying to let me pass (which Idid not have the legs to do). I keep on telling to just keep onpedaling and that I am just drafting. He is fast enough that I knewI would not be able to pull at that speed and am just looking at thisas an opportunity to make some ground. Towards the end of the lap hestarts to slow down and I tell him to switch and that I would pullfor a while. When I turn around he is keeping his distance and I trytwice to slow down for him to offer him my wheel but he just keepshis distance. I eventually decide he is not really getting it andtake off. Karma of course comes though because some guy in my classhas grabbed my wheel at the end of the second lap and is not lettinggo. He tries to pass me on the climb through the start/finish areaand my ego gets the best of me as I blow everything I have to not lethim pass (one embarrassment for the day is enough). As soon as wecrest the climb, I have nothing left and he passes me anyways. I tryto grab his wheel but am on empty. I am able to catch back up in thesingletrack sections but as soon as we hit the next climb, he standsup in a big gear and takes off. I can keep him in my sight but everytime the course points up, he increases his distance. I let him gowhen I realize he is wearing a jersey from a NH team! Bastards w/those mountains of theirs to train on! The section before the finishis a long stretch of fire road w/ a steep short climb into the finisharea. I give it all I have and start to catch up to him but just dieon that little climb which he climbs w/out too much effort. I almostdon't make it up and to finish the race w/ the same shame I startedit w/. He beats me by 5 seconds. Looking back at any races, Ialways feel like I should have given it "more" and that w/ this one,I should have been able to overcome five seconds! I ended up in 29thout of 36. I came in second two years ago…outch!!!! Btw, I amselling a 2000 Intense Tracer frame (reinforced w/ epoxy!)

Some low quality footage of the race:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3282944701744897604&hl=ena

t 57 seconds in you can see Mike coming through
at 1.23 I finally close the pack
at 9.02 I go down the hill again for the second lap and take thewrong line but manage it.
at 9.16 Mike comes through.
at 14.39 someone takes that same line and does not make it!

Here is a full video (big download) of the first half of the course(helmet cam). Video quality is really good but footage not veryinterresting. It does give a good sense of what the course is like:

http://www.mydeo.com/videosavecopy.asp?ZID=572&CID=183647

(right click and "save as target")

second half:

http://www.mydeo.com/videosavecopy.asp?ZID=644&CID=183766