Dirt Taters

     July 2018 continued on with more racing in the Hoosier State. Race #4 of the DINO Series was up in northern Indiana at Potato Creek State Park. I was really looking forward to this round as it was a great course for me in 2017. I felt strong the week before at the SERC race in Helen, GA and knew I could put in a good race here.

     We drove up on Friday since it is about an eight-hour drive for us. This round is extra nice for us despite the long drive. Shannon's parents live about 40 minutes from Potato Creek so we get to stay with them for two nights. Dina and I wanted to catch a dirt track race on Saturday night, so we got up early in order to pre-ride the course before the XTERRA off-road triathlon race that takes place that morning. We got in a quick lap together, then I went out for a second lap just before the XTERRA athletes hit the lake for the swimming portion of their race. Dina got a few pictures of their swim once the race got underway.

Swimmers in the lake for the XTERRA DINO Northern Indiana at Potato Creek State Park.

     The XC course was the same as last year so I knew it well after getting in a total of six laps on the course last year and doing two laps in my pre-ride this time. It was Dina's first time on the trail. I'm not really sure she enjoyed it so much, but I love this place. The faster you go the more fun it is with plenty of fast corners and flowing singletrack with some power stretches in between. I love ripping the flow sections and feel the power sections are a good challenge for me. It's a super fun combo to race on.

     After our pre-ride, we went back to the house, got showers and relaxed before heading down to Plymouth, IN to watch some racing at Plymouth Speedway. This place is nice! It's a big track with high speeds, big attendance on and off the track, and great stadium seating. We mainly went to see sprint cars, something that can be hard to find in our area. Indiana, however, is known as a sprint car racing hotbed.

     The early races were on a smaller inner track featuring smaller cars, including some little sprint cars. They had some wild crashes in these races. Then the races moved to the big oval. All the races were exciting with a lot more speed than I have ever seen on a dirt track. The sprint car turnout was low with only a few cars there, but it was a great race from them. I hope to get to another track soon to see a full field of sprints.

Afternoon racing at Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth, IN.

Minis on the small track.

Nice sunset from the grandstands.

One of the main events on the small track.

Video: Footage from our night at Plymouth Speedway

     We got home a bit late, but thankfully DINO races start later than most races and we were fairly close, so we got to sleep more than usual. It was another beautiful race day with temps starting out in the upper-70s and plentiful sunshine. We had eight riders on the start line in Elite for four laps on the 8-mile course.

The start line of the Elite group at Potato Creek.

     I had a great start again, getting across the first grass stretch and onto the pavement in front. Nobody really wanted to go hard on the road, so I took up the top spot, wanting to hit the singletrack first. The turn marker to exit the road had been moved in the time between my warm-up and our start. Instead of going around the outside of a stake and banners that were hammered in the the grass on the right side of the road, we were sent to the inside. None of us realized it had been changed as we approached. We were full-steam rolling toward the banners. I had to get on the brakes hard once I saw things looked different. For a second I didn't know where to go. Once I realized the turn would be earlier I couldn't turn as people were already to my right. I would have crashed us all if I had cut down for the turn. Instead, I opted to stay upright and go all the way to the banners. It cost me my holeshot, but what do you do? Just like last weekend in Helen a sudden change at the start really cost me. I ended up entering the woods in 6th.

Tomasz Golas leads the Elite group into the woods.

Me back in 6th on the start after the incident turning off the road.

     The pace was high the first lap and I really didn't feel good. I started to lose the wheel of the five riders ahead of me about 1/3 of the way through the first lap as Tomasz Golas was putting the hammer down in the lead. The two riders behind me were all over me, but neither wanted by. Slowly the leaders pulled away from us, opening up about a 20-second gap on us by the end of the lap.

Rock garden on the first lap.

photo by MoFlo Photography

Dina on the rocks lap 1

photo by MoFlo Photography

Chasing near the end of lap 1

     The top four were still together starting lap 2, with one rider dangling off the back, then me leading a group of three. About a mile into lap 2 I started to get into rhythm and feel better. I had finally settled in. I quickly pulled away from the two riders with me and went across to 5th. I went straight by him and crossed the gap to the leaders. I joined them just over halfway through lap 2. Right as I got onto the end of the line, there was a a crash between Tomasz and Chris Bowman. I don't know what happened, but they tangled bars somehow and piled up across the trail. Rick Mezo was either in front of the crash or got through it quickly and was now in the clear. Another rider also got around the crash. I was held up, but ended up in front of both downed riders.

Leaders starting lap 2

Me chasing in 6th

One of the Expert Women starts lap 2

Dina taking in some fluids as she begins lap 2

Lap 2 at the rock garden

photo by MoFlo Photography

Dina on lap 2

photo by MoFlo Photography

photo by MoFlo Photography

     I knew I had to go hard now to keep Mezo from getting away. I caught 2nd and moved on past him. Tomasz caught back up to me, then went down while trying to make the pass for 3rd. Two miles back I was in 6th, now suddenly I was in 2nd. By the end of lap 2, Mezo had a 10 second lead on me, with Bowman only a few seconds back behind me. I ran from Bowman most of the third lap, but he finally got to my wheel towards the end of the lap. We were still only 10 seconds back from Mezo starting the final lap. I had been able to see him in several sections for more than a lap now, but couldn't close down the gap.

Mezo leads starting the final lap

Me in second still chasing hard

Chris Bowman right on my heels.

     At the first technical feature on the loop, Chris and I came up behind a slower rider. She didn't respond to my yells and hit the rock garden right as we got to her. She was instantly stopped and about to fall to one side. I had to anticipate which side she would fall to. Most people are right-handed and tend to lean onto their left foot when getting off the bike or falling. In the split-second I had to make a decision I chose right...and she fell to the right. She got her foot down and stayed upright, but blocked the trail on the side. I had to go into the bushes to keep from running her over. That made me come to a complete stop and I had to dismount and run the section before remounting. Chris went left as he had another second to make a decision and it worked for him. He blasted through the section with ease while I fumbled around in the weeds.

     Chris had the hammer down and was out of sight before I could get going again. I gave everything I had for the next few miles trying to get him back in sight, but I couldn't do it. I only caught a glimpse of him one time. He slowly pulled away from me and I started to fade. The pace of laps 2 and 3 were pretty intense, faster even than I ran last year when I won the race convincingly at the end. Those laps had taken their toll and I had dug about as deep as I could.

Last lap through the rocks

photo by MoFlo Photography

Last time through for Dina

photo by MoFlo Photography

A rider heads to the finish.

     Mezo held on to the lead, besting Chris by 32 seconds. I ended up a further 41 seconds back. It was again a tight race as seems to be the theme at most of the DINO events, especially this year. This was by far my best performance of the year. Yeah, things weren't perfect with the start fiasco and getting taken off course at the end, but I was in the fight and I rode really well. It landed me on the podium, a place I haven't stood after too many races so far this season. I was pretty happy on the drive home. It was also a day where the Elite riders proved they are really Elite. The top six on the results sheet were Elites and our times were quite a bit faster than the Experts. It was a solid field for sure.

Me hitting the finish.

     Dina on the other hand, was feeling a bit drained. She felt sick again after the race like she did at Winona Lake back in May. She had a solid ride, ending up 6th in Expert Women. She still feels like her form is up and down, similar to how I have felt this season.

Elite podium

Video: Clips from DINO Potato Creek

     The following Wednesday it was back out to the speedway in Nashville for Race #6 of the Music City Crits Series. This time I had a working shifter on my Jamis so I was able to ride it.

Pro/1/2/3 start at MCC #6

     Things didn't turn out much different this week though. The 180 course and a stacked field worked me over. Things split up about 20 minutes into the 60-minute race and I found myself behind the splits. I went deep in trying to cross back to the second group that had formed up behind the leaders, but came up a bit short and blew up.

David Rush strings out the group.

Me sitting way too far back here in the next-to-last position in the line.

The field blowing up.

Riders scattered in small groups.

I made a big effort to get across to the next group, but came up a bit short.

Blown up

     They left me in the race and allowed me to be lapped. I jumped back on the back of the group as they came by, but as soon as the pace went up again I was off. My legs just weren't back yet after such a hard race at Potato Creek. I ended up getting pulled 38 minutes into the race and finished 18th. It wasn't a bad finish position for getting pulled. Over half the field got shelled in this race.

Johnny Brown was on hand tonight and did some damage at the front.

Me back in the group rounding the left-hand 180 turn.

Johnny on the front again chasing after a break.

Jason Tatum took a solo flyer late in the race.

     The next week, I got in a good 58-mile ride on Tuesday afternoon, mixing it up with some of the local fast guys. It hurt my legs a little and I paid the price again at Race #7 of the Music City Crits Series on Wednesday night. It was my favorite course, the kidney bean, but I just didn't have the legs to stay on when things got fast in the second half of the race. I'm really disappointed with how things have gone with crit racing this year. I absolutely hate getting dropped and pulled. I ended up popping off after 41 minutes this night and finished 23rd.

     July ended with some more dirt track racing and mountain biking that spilled over into August. More on those adventures in the next post.