I got out to the local group ride on Thursday night. It was the first time I have been out in a while. I needed a long ride so riding out to meet them, doing their loop and riding home gets me in a good distance. I left a little too late to meet them for their full loop, but I did manage to get in a good 55 miles with several hard TT-type efforts on my own.
My legs were pretty tired the next day when I finally made it over to the fairly-new Percy Warner Park trails in Nashville. My parents went with me and it was also their first time riding Percy Warner. It was my first time riding XC since I crashed out during the SERC race at Ocoee in early June. I took the big Remedy to get in some time on it since it is the bike I'm taking to Utah.
The trails at Percy Warner are benched and flow-type. There were some good sections on the Wabash Cannonball that had flow and several fun features like jumps and berms, but overall I did not care too much for the trail system. These new type of benched trails are not singletrack in my opinion. Having a 10 foot wide trail with one hardpack line is not singletrack. Never once did I ever feel like a tree was close to the trail during any of the 8 miles of trail. There are some technical features on the Rocky Top, Hop Project and Humdinger trails. Rocky Top is a longer climb with tons of rocks at the summit. It is a nice technical section that made me work hard to get through. The descent down gives two options. Hop Project goes left and starts with some nasty rocks, then turns to a smooth, fast trail. Humdinger goes right and features steeper rock ledge drops and some wooden freeride features. I enjoyed some of the ladders, but many of the wooden ramp jumps did not have a landing. It was abusive for the bike and body. I didn't really care too much for this section as to me it just didn't flow right.
I only rode an hour and half and then went home. It just wasn't that interesting for me. I'm sure the Remedy was too much bike for that trail and maybe the Racer-X would be more fun, but overall I am just an old-school rider. I like true singletrack, grazing off trees, and off-camber sections. It seems that more and more trails are going to this open style. I feel like we are dumbing down our sport to get more people to try it. Everybody wants a trail that they can ride really fast on without working very hard. To be honest, I'm getting bored with mountain biking because of this shift. This ride made me question whether I even want to by a new XC race bike. I feel like the only type of mountain biking I like now is Downhill and Enduro.
My legs were really tired on Saturday, so I took it easy. Shannon and I had a nice slow ride around Pleasant View. Even after my disappointing mountain bike experience on Friday I still wanted to race the Old Hickory Classic XC at Lock 4 on Sunday. Rain was in the forecast so I didn't decide to go until the last minute on Sunday morning. It was a good decision. Very little rain had fallen in Gallatin and it didn't appear that any more was on the way.
My expectation for this race was that I would get destroyed. I have not really been competitive in mountain biking the past three or so years. I really thought the Cat. 1s would even kick my butt, especially since I have not been riding the mountain bike very much. I felt good in warm-up and knew I would have good legs for at least two laps of the three-lap race. The official decided to start all Pro and Cat. 1 riders at the same time. We had 20 riders on the start line and I wound up on the second row. I got a good jump off the line, but got caught behind slower riders in the first turn. I entered the woods way back. I believe there were only two riders behind me.
I dropped my chain just a minute or so into the race. It looked as it I had a bent tooth on my big chaingring. I tried to adjust the cable to keep the chain on the ring, but the bent tooth was too much. I was forced to use the middle ring the rest of the day. I thought I couldn't be competitive without a big ring on the fast trails here at Lock 4. It was kind of the way I expected to start. I was behind and having problems. It has been the story of my last few years.
The goal became to avoid embarrassment. I just wanted to catch somebody, anybody! I have kind of gotten accustomed to bad luck and disappointment in mountain bike races, so there was no need to get frustrated. I just settled in to my pace and did not worry about how far behind I was. It took me a few miles, but I was able to rejoin the back of the group as we got to the peninsula for the first time. It was a good time to catch up. The road section allowed me to make a few passes and see just how far behind the front I was. I was surprised to see that the leaders were only about 30 seconds ahead. That's about how much time I gave up with the chain so I really hadn't lost anything else.
Two riders passed me on the next climb before the trail went back to singletrack. They were faster than me through the small rocks that covered the climb. That was the one spot today where I saw that the 29" bikes really hurt me. I was in traffic for several miles after that, trying to slowly pick my way through the group. I never forced the issue the first lap. Guys really didn't want to let me go by, so I waited until they were tired before I shot by. With just over a mile to go in lap 1, I got clear of the big pack I was stuck in. I ended the lap with a 40:33 lap time. I had passed maybe half of the field. There was a big group of 7-8 riders about 35 seconds ahead of me. The pre-race favorite Tanner Hurst was out front 1:35 ahead. The other big rider here was Craig Evans and he was out with a busted front wheel that occurred during a crash near the end of lap 1.
Me about to end the lap
photo by Tammy Richardson
I felt like I could not get into a rhythm on lap 2. I felt slower, but I still caught riders. The chase group ahead of me split up and I was able to pick off two riders before the peninsula. I chased Dustin Burkeen for at least half of the lap, passing him with about a mile to go in lap 2. Burkeen has beaten me the past few years so catching him really boosted my confidence. I knew I was riding well, but still was not sure that I could catch anyone else. I may have felt slow on lap 2, but I clocked a 39:47 which was my fastest lap of the day. I kept hearing this tinging sound in my rear wheel at the end of the lap. It sounded like a broken spoke, but I never looked down. I was afraid to see a wobbly wheel. I just kept pushing on.
Tanner only put two seconds on me that lap, but I did not know that. As far as I could tell he was long gone. I was 1:37 behind him, which I would have thought was way too much to close down even if I had known the gap. I was 40 seconds behind David Carpenter in 2nd and could see 3rd through 6th as we started the final lap. I kept the pace up and actually felt great the final lap. My legs were starting to get some slight burn, but I could push right through it with ease. I seemed to be gaining the most time in the turns and momentum sections. I focused on hitting my lines and carrying as much speed as possible out of every turn. The ting-ting of the spoke was always there, but I continued to press on and never looked down at it.
Starting lap 2
photo be Jeffrey davis
Photo by Tammy Richardson
I picked off one rider by the peninsula and got a time check of 25 seconds to 2nd place now. At this point, I was not sure who was in 2nd. I did not know how many were still ahead of me. All I knew was that Tanner was out front. I passed two more riders on the road, then hammered the jeep road climb to ensure nobody passed me before we entered the singletrack again. I got another time check of just 15 seconds to 2nd. I knew now that I could get 2nd if I kept pushing.
I caught a glimpse of a rider in blue ahead that sort of looked like Tanner halfway through the lap. No way was my thought. He was long gone. It must be a lapper. Next thing I know, I can see Carpenter and he is passing the blue rider. I was shocked to see that it was Tanner when I got to him. He was blown up. His face was red and he was struggling over the climb. I passed him and then set sail for Carpenter. I had a chance to win this thing!
Carpenter fought me hard, but once I got to his wheel I could see he was tired. He was slumped over, not pedaling in every section and making a lot of mistakes on the roots and in the turns. I decided it would be best to hit him immediately. I attacked the next climb and then kept the speed up in the following rhythm section where I knew I was faster. The gap was a few bike lengths, then a few seconds. A minute later I was out of sight. I hammered the final few miles, still not sure if I was leading or not. I saw spectators with half a mile to go and asked how many were still ahead. I was so relieved to hear that I was the leader! I was finally going to win a race! You couldn't wipe the smile off my face in the final section. I was so excited to finally get a win. I have worked so hard the past few months with nothing to show for it. The shocked look on everyone's face when I came out of the woods made it that much better. They were all expecting Tanner and instead it was the rider they consider a has-been. It could not have been sweeter. I have had plenty of spectator enemies in the Lock 4 area over my career and coming back to the top here was as good as it gets.
Finally a picture of a victory salute!
photo by Tammy Richardson
photo byTammy Richardson
My last lap time was 40:00, still faster than my first lap, which is hard to do. I finished the 27-mile race in 2:00:20. The wheel held up and was still pretty straight considering it did have a broken spoke for almost half of the race. The promoter came over to me once I crossed the line and said, "No offense, but is Tanner hurt badly?" I couldn't help but laugh. They thought there was no way I could have won unless he was injured! Then at the podium presentation they announced me as the rider "coming out from retirement." Again, I love how everyone thinks you don't race anymore just because they don't see you racing locally. I didn't realize 46 races this year was considered "retirement." I made more money in this race than I have made in the past three years combined. It was so nice to finally get some return on the huge investment Shannon and I have made in my racing the past few years. I wish she could have been there to see me win. She is my biggest supporter after all. The win also vaulted me up to 2nd place in the TBRA Tennessee Mountain Bike Series. I missed the win by just three points! That's really sad, because I only did two races this season.
Post-race
photo by Kiersta Tucker
Talking with Craig Evans after the race
photo by Kiersta Tucker
I want to thank everyone that cheered me on. I did not know there were that many people that even knew who I was! It was so much fun to hear people cheering and to be involved in a last-lap battle for the win. I guess 26" bikes aren't completely dead. I won and the other 26" bike in our group got 3rd overall. This race made me remember why I love mountain biking, but then again, this is an old-school trail. I hope to carry this momentum and keep progressing. Hopefully, this is just a sign of things to come next year. It just goes to show you that you should never give up, no matter what happens in the race. It's not over until you cross that finish line.
Pro podium. Finally on the top step!
photo by Kiersta Tucker
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