240 – Podium Girls

Tonight was the final round of the MVMBA Fast Laps series, but for my niece Hannah, it was a first. She’s had a lot of firsts this season, from running track, to racing in a triathlon, and now racing her mountain bike. As much progress as I’ve made this year, she’s made heaps more, and is only going to get loads better for the next several years. Watching her take on new challenges is a bit like watching a nuclear explosion from a distance.

I’ve taken her mountain biking a couple times before, and she’s done well each time. On the Sunday afternoon after the six hour, my buddy Tom and I took Hannah and his daughter Grace, along with my neighbor kid Gage to John Bryan for a little practice for them, and some recovery for us. Both the girls had decided they wanted to race on Wednesday, so we figured at least one lap of the race course will be a good idea before they tried it “for real.”

Come Wednesday, the girls were ready, and so was I. This was my last shot to turn in a really good time, and judging from the times from the previous two weeks, I was in with a shout at the podium, if I cranked out a real scorcher.

The trails could not have been more perfect. The weather had finally stayed dry enough, long enough that all the mud patches were gone. Better still, Mark and the trail crew had put in some serious repair work on a badly rutted section of Frankenlight just before the six hour, and the hundreds of laps turned in at that race had worn the fresh dirt in nicely.

I was all-in for this race. It was to be a 100% effort or a crash, and nothing in between. I double checked the bike stem to stern, lowered my tire pressures as low as I dared (26/28 psi) for extra grip, and warmed up lightly but thoroughly. At the last moment, a storm cloud rolled over the park, threatening to scuttle the whole affair and dimming the already sketchy light under the canopy in the woods. I switched to clear lenses on my glasses to account for the light, and scolded the storm to go elsewhere. It listened, and we stayed dry.

Despite having just raced the six hour on Saturday, I was surprisingly loose and fresh. My hamstrings were a little tight from yoga, but nothing too awful. I rolled up to the line feeling confident, and hit the opening sprint with easy speed, enjoying the sensation of racing without a pack again.

Did I mention that the trails were in awesome shape? This was JB the way it was meant to be ridden; fast, flowy and with almost endless grip. I carved through Abracadabra with glee, carrying so much more corner speed than I was used to that it was almost dangerous. I hit one jump substantially faster than normal, and nearly locked up both brakes trying to make the right turn that comes just after. The trails were fast.

The rest of the lap was a blur. I hammered what needed to be hammered, flowed what needed to be flowed, and carried speed in parts of the trail that normally slow me down a lot. I came up behind my friend Julie and another female rider just as we reached the tight section of Great Scott that I call The Thicket, but instead of slowly picking my way through, we bombed through it like I never knew you could. As the trail opened up into Frankenlight after that, I passed the girls and dropped the hammer again, looking down at one point to see 24 mph on the speedo!

After the day-long sufferfest on Saturday, it felt like this lap was over so, so quickly. I busted out the last couple climbs out of the saddle, stomping on the pedals with everything I had, burning legs and gasping lungs be damned. After the last few jumps, I punched out of the woods and across the line, satisfied even before I caught my breath that I had put in my fastest lap ever. I was right, as I had crossed the line in 45:00.6, nearly two minutes faster than the week before, and a full four minutes faster than the same course last year! It wasn’t quite enough for the podium though, as I was a mere 32 seconds slower than third place, and only 2:20 off the sport class winner. Even better than my improvement on my own time was that I had pulled back 1:46 from the class winner both last week and tonight, which is a surer sign of progress.

Before I could even begin to be bummed at missing my own podium though, I saw that our girls had made theirs! Hannah and Grace raced and giggled their way to a 1-2 finish, crossing the line together, but a minute apart on the clock. They both had a blast, and neither can wait to do it again. Now that’s what I call a successful race!