The Fontana Dam Jam has always been one of my favorite events. It normally consists of a downhill and night short track on Saturday, followed by a difficult cross-country on Sunday. This year didn't feel quite the same after the downhill was cancelled due to lack of a shuttle. I was disappointed. I lost by 2 seconds last year and really wanted to go for the win this year.
Shannon and I got to do a little road riding at the end of the day on Thursday. It was a perfect evening with a great sunset. I was also testing out a new set of road tires from Maxxis, the Cormet. The new tires were getting broken in for the return to crit. racing soon.
Special delivery! Two new Cormet road racing tires and a pair of Flyweight tubes courtesy of my good friends at Maxxis
Shannon jamming along on my old Trek. Finally got her on a road bike. She gained a lot of speed by switching over from the mountain bike.
Looking down at my front wheel as we roll down a country backroad
Beautiful end to a great ride
Shannon and Amber both got to make the trip to North Carolina with me. Amber was still in town. She planned to stay until the wedding, which was now just over a week away. We started our Fontana trip Friday evening after work. We went the back way through Chattanooga, stopping down in Ocoee again for a night of camping at the Parksville Lake Campground. Saturday morning we had a little breakfast and then swam our favorite deep section of the Ocoee River. I just love floating the fast section and swimming down past Thunder Rock.
Snoop trying on one of my short track costume options
Tree roots next to the Ocoee River
Shannon waits at the edge, ready to bail off into the river and float down to our favorite spot
Our exit point was great for just sitting in as well as for exiting.
Me way over on the other side of the river after getting the bright idea to walk across the swift current and slippery rocks that lie just below the surface. Easier said than done.
Walking the trail back to the campground for another float down
My short track warm-up consisted of a lap on the XC course. It was a typical Fontana course, full of steep climbs and rough descents. It was great! The short track was not as well-attended as in the past, both from a racer and spectator standpoint. Ryan Woodall and I were the only ones that kept the costume tradition alive. This race has lost some of its laid-back fun feeling. Everybody seems so serious now. I always want to do well, but in the end, this race is just for fun. It's a warm-up for Sunday's XC.
Short track course from the satellite
Me ready for some short track pain
My costume of choice this year was not a full costume. I just added black wings to my Maxxis kit. My friend, Pat, gave me the wings. She said they were bat wings, but they looked more like glittery butterfly wings to me. Either way, they would do the job and not interfere with my performance like the Santa suit did last year. Ryan's costume was an old school skinsuit complete with a handlebar mustache that definately took some time to grow out. You have to love it when someone alters their appearance for a bike race.
The first races were fun to watch and the spectators really got into it. The course was the same as last year. Basically, it's just up and down a hillside. The climb comes every 30 seconds, making for a painful sufferfest. It's the longest 15 minutes of your life. There is a nice hump on the descent that is a good opportunity to get some air, and also a sharp turn at the bottom with a rock on the outside, adding a little danger and crashing opportunity to the mix. If you have seen one of our races then you know that we are perfectly capable of crashing anywhere, so you can pretty much guarantee it will happen when you give us a suitable spot.
We had 16 starters for the Pro/Open race. Race length was 15 minutes +2 laps. The start was a short sprint to a 90-degree left turn that was quickly followed by a quick right-left turn and then the dangerous turn with the rock on the outside. Most short track races will have a crash at the start and I figured this one would happen in the rock turn. My goal was to get off the line in a good spot and be ahead of any danger. My starting spot was not good. I had to line up way to the right which set me up on the outside in the first turn. I got off the line well despite my line and emerged from the first turn in 7th. From looking at who was in front of me, I thought I should be clear of any carnage. Nope! Drew Edsall went down right in front of me. I ran up onto his bike and maybe onto his body. We slid to the outside of the turn, just missing the giant rock.
Pro Men start
Both of us were in a deep hole now. We lost 10 seconds to the group in the first half lap. We were flying trying to get back on, but the group was flying too. I never regained contact. I came to within a few bike lengths of getting on, but never finished it off. Drew, on the other hand, managed to get back into the mix and wound up taking a top 5. I felt good and had the speed I needed, but I never had the chance to mix it up with anyone. I just picked off the riders that fell back and wound up taking 16th.
Pro Men on the start line
I played catch-up from the beginning
Maxxis gives you wings!
Pro riders come down the hill during Saturday night's short track race
Sunday morning, it was up for some breakfast and more bike racing. The XC was sure to be a hard one. Lots of climbing awaited. We were scheduled for 4 laps on the 7.8 miles course. That ends up being a long day when you are racing up mountains. Fontana tends to turn into a survival run in the second half of the race just because it's so hard. I was mentally preparing as much as physically preparing. I was hoping that my couple of training days in the mountains recently would give me a different perspective of the climbs. They don't seem so big when you climbed 10-mile mountains the past few weeks.
XC course
Junior Men start
Mike Taglio
Leading Juniors hit the gravel climb on Lap 1. This was the crossing point for the figure-8 course.
The gravel climb was one of the hardest sections on the course
Our start was fast and straight up a hill on the road. We had 14 starters in the Pro race and everybody seemed to want to be in the front up the hill. My goal was just to hang on until the top and then just stay with the group for the first lap and see what happened from there. I managed to hang until just before the climb crested. Then I had to let them go. My legs were not quite as good as they were the night before. The rest of the first lap went by at a torrid pace. I did manage to beat a few riders into the woods and get onto the back of the second group. I was patient for a few miles and found some openings before the end of lap 1 to move myself into the top 10.
Pro Men set to go
Victor Alber and I just after the start (photo courtesy of Drew Edsall)
Pro Men start video
Thomas Turner leading up the gravel climb on Lap 1
The first chase group comes up the steep gravel climb
Me on the climb
Me cranking my way up with Jacob Prater close behind
On lap 2, I felt better and settled into a good rhythm, but I never caught anyone. The effort started to catch up to me on lap 3 and I faded. Doing a lot of crits does not prepare you for a 2-3 hour XC. I completely died on lap 4. It turned into a fun ride as I had no legs left. I dropped to 12th by the finish. Somehow on the results I didn't get credit for finishing the last lap, but I did make it to the end. No DNF for me!
Alber and Scott Frederick
Anthony Slowinski
Me chugging along on Lap 2
Video: Alber and Frederick go through the rock garden
Video: Me going through the rock garden on Lap 3
It was a great weekend and another good workout for me as I build up for the late-season races. I was glad to have the support of Shannon and Amber. It was Amber's first time seeing a mountain bike race. They had fun walking around the venue and watching the race from the woods despite getting eaten alive by bugs. Hopefully, next year they will bring back the downhill and Shannon will be racing. Until then, I'll keep dreaming about it. Thanks for reading and look for more updates on my summer racing coming soon!
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