The Race to the Canal has always been one of my favorite races. The course is challenging and fun. It encompasses the North-South trail at Land Between the Lakes from the Golden Pond Planetarium all the way to the North Welcome Station, then ends with the Kentucky Lake side of the Canal Loop for a total of 36 miles. To me, the North-South trail is classic mountain biking. It is point-to-point, so you are always getting something new. There are some fast, smooth areas, some heavily-eroded sections, and a variety of climbs to make you earn your fun.
In recent years, I have not had much fun here. Mountain biking has frustrated me in general. And I have performed poorly here the past few times, which doesn't help things. I have won this race several times and getting spanked after doing so well is bad for morale. I came into this year feeling fresh. I was excited for this event. Riding in Utah has reminded me of my love for mountain biking.
Chatting with Adam Queen during warm-up
After driving to the North end of LBL to register, it was back in the car to drive south to the start at Golden Pond. It was a chilly morning, the first really cool one of the year. I did a light warm-up in order to preserve my legs for later in the race. I was actually a little tired from DGD, even though it was just 9 miles long. My hips were sore too, but that was due to the morning run. That was my first run since the XTERRA USA Championship. It probably wasn't the best day to start back running, but it sure did help me eat a few more donuts!
The key to this race is to pace yourself. It's long and it's hard. We decided upon a mass start, sending off all Cat. 1s and Pros together. There was one other guy, David Hauber, that raised his hand for Pro when they called out the classes. He took off into the woods first, while I lagged back in 6th in order to settle into a good rhythm. I wanted to feel out just how tired my legs really were before I started hammering at the front.
The point-to-point course runs through the appropriately-named Land Between the Lakes along Kentucky Lake
Hauber leads into the woods
Me followed closely by Adam "Mean Joe" Queen
Kiersta Tucker back to racing after an ugly back injury
It was a subdued start, maybe the slowest start I have ever seen in a race. We were one big line of riders snaking down the opening descent. Things blew apart on the first climb when Hauber took off. I was behind the Wood-N-Wave duo of Zach Wilkins and Dustin Burkeen. Wilkins bobbled on a root and messed up the whole line. I passed Burkeen, then got hung behind another bobble by Wilkins and lost the spot back to Burkeen. The WNW pair were riding a bit crazy early on. Wilkins had a lofty goal of finishing in the 2:30 range, which would be ridiculously quick on this course. They took a few chances on the first descent to pass some riders, while I stayed calm and waited my turn. That patience bit me in the butt when the guy ahead of me missed a reroute and I followed him. We took the long, rough way day the descent. The trail took us off multiple large drops and through some very washed-out areas, while the entire line of riders went the other way down a straight, smooth piece of trail that I never saw.
We were at the back after we rejoined the course. I soon passed Wilkins who was off the trail putting his chain back on after a crash. I picked my way through traffic, eventually catching up with Adam Queen and Hauber's teammate, Tom Brockman. Both of them were hammering along in singlespeeds. My legs felt bad early on, but chasing the SS riders got me into a good rhythm. I passed Adam and dropped him on a climb with relative ease. It's never a small feat to gap Adam so I knew my legs were going to be good. Brockman got away while I was passing Adam. I slowly paced my way up to him, being careful not to waste too much energy. There are several large climbs in the first section between Golden Pond and Sugar Bay. I was thinking Hauber and Burkeen were long gone, but then I caught a glimpse of Burkeen up ahead on one of the climbs. There were some good momentum sections afterwards and I used those to bridge the gap to both Brockman and Burkeen without wasting my legs.
My Dad was waiting at the next climb with a time check to Hauber. I figured he was long gone because we weren't really going hard at this point.We were about 10 miles into the race now. I was surprised to hear he was just 20 seconds ahead. Sure enough, I could see him up the next climb. Brockman rode off up this climb because it was steep and he didn't have much of a choice being on a singlespeed. It was either sprint or walk for him. I paced myself and told Burkeen to keep his cool. It was still too far out to be going that hard. We caught Brockman again and then I got a gap on the next descent. I began to push a little harder on the descents and on the flats. My legs were feeling great and I was comfortable on my hardtail again. The trail was in great condition. It was dry and fast with few leaves on it. This may have been the best I have ever seen the North-South Trail look. And I was having a lot of fun riding it! There is such a variety of obstacles to negotiate that it always keeps you on your toes and rewards you when you can pick good lines at high speeds. The Utah trip definitely made me more comfortable with jumping, whether that would be to clear a pile of roots or to change my line to the other side of a washed out ravine.
About to chunk my water bottle for the feed at Sugar Bay
It's immediately uphill after the Sugar Bay road crossing
Burkeen and Brockman together at Sugar
I had closed to within 10 seconds of Hauber by Sugar Bay with 23 miles to go. Burkeen and Brockman were together about 10 seconds further back. There are four big climbs immediately following Sugar Bay. I closed to a few bike lengths behind Hauber before sliding out in a turn at the bottom of the second hill. That caused me to drop my chain. I lost Hauber and was caught by the two chasers before I got back up to speed. Then we began yo-yoing. I lost sight of Hauber, but went back-and-forth with Burkeen and Brockman. They would catch me going up the hills, then I would pull away on the descents and faster sections. I was fine with that sort of yo-yo. I was holding back up the climbs. We still had a long way to go.
Tim Baker and Adam at Sugar Bay
Burkeen eventually got clear of Brockman, somewhere around Duncan Bay with 18 miles left. Burkeen then bridged to me and didn't let go this time. We rode together for several miles. My legs began to fade a few climbs later. I was still holding back, but suddenly my legs were gone. I pushed hard to cross the gap to Hauber, who was now up 45 seconds. Burkeen and I reached Birmingham Ferry for another time check. The gap to Hauber was now out to 1:25. I knew at that point that I was not going to win today. My legs were almost gone and the gap was growing. I began to work more for Burkeen, hoping at least a WNW rider could get the overall win. I pulled him up the next few hills and pushed hard on the fire roads while he drafted. I gave one last effort on the big ring up a climb to the Pisgah Bay road crossing at 12 miles to go. I was destroyed at the top and let Burkeen around, hoping he would have the legs left to finish catching Hauber.
Double Dustin at Birmingham Ferry
I had to put it into survival mode at that point. My legs were screaming on the flats and useless on the climbs. I had already dropped a minute to Burkeen by Hilman Ferry with 10 miles to go. There are four tough climbs in the 5-mile stretch between Hilman Ferry and the North Welcome Station. They were brutal for me. I was surprised to reach the Canal Loop still holding on to 3rd overall.
Burkeen at Hilmand Ferry
I was toast by the time we reached Hilman Ferry
Hauber had a good ride and finished strong, holding on for the overall win. Burkeen got second. Brockman caught me with about 3 miles to go and went straight by. I had nothing left in the tank to get on his wheel. My legs actually stopped burning the last 2 miles and I finished the race strong, coming in to take 4th overall. I was expecting Wilkins to catch up, but he had flatted while trying to chase back on after his crash. I ended up finishing in under 3 hours which was one of my goals. My time was just enough to make it too at 2:59:21.
Me coming out of the woods to head up the paved road to the finish
I didn't hang around long after the race. I thought I was 2nd out of 2 and they never pay Pros anyway, so we went to lunch. Now I see the results posted and it turns out I was the only Pro. Apparently, Hauber was in the Cat. 1 30-39 class. So I won the race by default. I'm still confused as to why he raised his hand as Pro on the start line if he was in the 30-39 class. I wouldn't have been paid even by winning since I was the only one in my class, so I didn't lose anything by heading to eat with the family.
I am happy with the race. I had so much fun riding my bike on that trail! It really was a good time and I couldn't care less about where I finished. It was a good way to get motivation up and get back to training. I want to thank Shannon for feeding me and driving my car down every gravel road on the north side of LBL, and also my parents for keeping Shannon from getting lost and giving me time checks throughout the day. I'm already excited to race here next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment