The Montgomery Bell winter series would make up my competitive winter schedule this year. It will be three events again this year, one each the first week of January, February and March. The March race comes the weekend before the GSC Series kicks off in Macon, GA, so I really wanted to use the series to get me ready for the race season. I want to come out fast this year instead of building over the course of the season and having to make up points at the end of the year. Edens changed up the course this year, extending it to 17.5 miles instead of the 13 we raced last year. I was happy to see the change as it would better prepare me for an XC race, but I will miss the shortness of last year’s course as you could really go all-out the entire race. I was wanting to see how close to one hour I could get my time now that I am on the Epic. I raced all three rounds on my old Titus Racer-X last year and there is no doubt the Epic is much faster.
The course was not only longer, but more difficult. It travels in the opposite direction for most of the loop as compared to last year. We now ride nearly every trail in the park. It is the longest possible loop you can make there without overlapping trails. There actually is one brief overlap at one creek crossing where the race course at about 0.5 miles and 12 miles meet. The only trail I hate missing is the Back Blue, which is my favorite trail in the park, one where I can usually gain some time like I did last year at the Montgomery Bell XC race in the summer.
The loop starts off mostly descending, then you hit some climbing after the first creek crossing. Then comes more climbing up the short, but tough Heartbreak Hill and all the rollers on the Yellow Trail that takes you to the area known as the North Slope, a place we have never raced before in any of the various Montgomery Bell events. We then climbed Charlotte’s Ridge, Goat Path and the Gnome Climb in the same direction as last year. I was excited about that as those three climbs were a section where I was fast last year. Then we hit the Green Trail in the middle of the loop. It has a lot of big dips, some of which I thought would be tough in this direction, which is backwards from the way most people ride it. Next up is a very difficult climb up The Moguls, which was clearly built for descending and not climbing. It is very steep with roots and rocks everywhere. It is also one of the longest climbs on the course. It is followed quickly by the technical dip and climb know as Tommy’s Revenge and then more climbing on the Downhill Trail, which is a one-way trail that we will ride backwards. It has several tough climbing sections on it paralleling Hwy 70. You then take in some of the less-ridden loops on the Blue Trail, like Snake Bottom, Peanut and Possum Trot. Some of those trails I have only been through once or twice and that was more than five years ago. You backtrack across the creek crossing and then take the twisty up-and-down trail of Haynie Branch to the east side of the trail system for the final few trails of White Pine, Storm Track and Rabbit Run, each of which features a little climbing, plenty of tight turns and a lot of pine needles. The Perimeter trail then takes you back toward the parking lot for the finish. It was going to be a hard loop for sure, especially on mostly leaf-covered trails on a cold day. Some of the trails were clean of leaves after the promoters of a trail run event blew off some of the trails, so those spots had the potential to be really fast or really muddy depending on the weather.
I heard about the course change about two weeks before the race, but did not actually see a map to know the exact trails until about three days before the race. The weather for the first week of January was not cooperating with a pre-ride so I went in on nothing but old memories of most of the trails. I knew where I was going, but didn’t know any of the characteristics of each trail and definitely had not ridden the majority of the course in the direction we were going. We got a few rounds of snow leading into the race, which actually hung around for more than a day. The roads were cleared up by race day, but snow was on the ground. We were treated to a white course with an easy drive to get there. Dina and I rode our backyard trail on Saturday to get in some snow time before the race. A few highlights of our ride from my handlebar came are posted below, along with some pictures.
Video: Snow ride at home
Snow swirls on a frozen pond along our trail
White singletrack. Shallow, but still white!
It was a really cold day on race day, with temps never even reaching 30. It was 23 degrees on the start line. The race is a time trial, so it is individual with riders starting at 30-second intervals. Last year, I had to start farther back than I wanted at each race as they seed riders based on expected finish time as seen by the promoter and officials. I kept getting pushed back last year despite being fastest at the first race of the series. This time, I didn’t really want to go first as I wanted a carrot out ahead, but they placed me first out of the Open starters, with only a few Singlespeeds out there for me to chase. That let all the other Open class riders chase me. I was pretty excited to be racing in the snow. Not only is it cool because everything looks completely different and we don't get to race in these conditions often, but it also makes it more difficult, so typically a stronger and more skilled rider will do even better than normal. I realized once we got to the race that I forgot my helmet. Luckily, some guy parked near us heard me say I had forgotten it and offered me an enduro helmet before I even started searching around for someone with a spare. Thanks guy!
I started fast, but I could tell I was too slow in the first section. I had good legs, but I was a bit tentative on the snow. I don’t know why, but I was being a bit too careful. I passed a few Singlespeeds in the first two sections, one of which was Caleb Skinner who smashed some of his fingers in a crash on the first bridge just a few seconds into his race. I got a little mad at myself and started to push it harder and focus more on skills. I was pushing the descent before Heartbreak Hill when I reached the second creek crossing on course. I took the more aggressive line of the two options. The creek appeared to be flowing so I chose that aggressive line thinking it would be fine since there was no ice. Just before I hit the creek I thought that this wasn’t a good idea as the wet rocks looked slick without ice.
Well, there was ice and it put me on my face before I even realized I had left the bank. The ice was clear and the water was flowing underneath it so it was almost invisible. I landed really hard on my left hip and forearm. I broke the ice and slid on the rocks through the water. It not only soaked me, but also ripped my tights and shorts at my hip and knee and ripped the side out of my shoe cover. I got up and realized I was pretty sore and really, really cold. As I was checking myself out and pulling my bike out of the creek, Harrison Klapheke comes flying down the hill. I yelled, “Watch the ice!” but it was too late. He hit it and the bike shot out from under him. Somehow he was able to get off the bike and stayed on his feet. He slid across the creek on his feet in a deep squat position. It was some real ninja stuff. He made sure I was ok and then was back on the trail.
I was a bit slower to get back on my bike. There was a moment where I wondered if I could continue on being soaked on a day this cold. Then I decided I would have to ride out either way so I might as well keep moving forward and see if I could get warm again. My left hip was really sore and cut up, my shoulder was aching and my left hamstring was screaming. The seat pounded into my hamstring when I hit, so hard that it broke the side off the seat. I made sure nothing would stab me and I hopped back on only to find my pedal was also broken. Luckily, only one clip ring was broken. Eggbeaters have four sides that you can enter into the pedal, so losing one clip only took away two entry points, leaving me still with two solid options.
Busted seat
It's worse when you see it from the bottom side
This clip is done.
I lost a lot of time with the crash and then even more on the first few hills. I was frozen and really sore. I am now glad to have fallen in the water puddle at Cross the Harpeth last month because it sort of prepared me for this kind of deep cold. We didn’t get to do the Polar Plunge this year since we no longer have a pond at our new place, but this made up for it. It took me several miles of limping along before I could even catch some slower riders that had come by during the crash. I don’t think I passed anyone for about four miles, then I slowly started to pull my way back through the field. My pains gradually got better and I actually was warm by the halfway point. The two main climbs of The Moguls and Downhill Trail were really tough, but I made it up them. They are the kind of climbs where you have to give it almost 100% just to get up them. I learned that I didn’t remember any of the smaller trails near the end and I made a lot of mistakes. I crashed again in the final creek crossing, again on ice. I saw it this time and tried to get a foot down, but it was too late and I fell into another pool of water, this time on my right side. It busted my right knee and soaked my gloves. My hands were frozen when I got to the finish.
Me and my borrowed helmet during the race
Photo by Trail & Fitness Bicycles
Dina about 2/3 of the way through her race
Photo by Trail & Fitness Bicycles
I clocked a 1:54:50, which netted me 4th in the Open class and 7th overall. I was 6:53 off Casey Tiesler’s top overall time on the day. Cayce is such a beast. The dude seems to be even faster than he was 10 years ago. I changed into dry clothes once I was done, then hiked part of the loop to see riders who were still out on course. I wanted to be sure nobody had any issues like I did. Dina was out there so I made sure she was ok and heckled her a bit on the last few climbs. She is moving up to Cat. 2 this year so she needed a good beatdown like this to get her ready for longer races. Some pictures that I snapped during my hike are posted below. This was finally a day where it was cold enough outside for me to fully appreciate my Carhartt jacket! I was very impressed by the turnout of our local riders today. Those were some tough conditions and there was still a lot of riders crazy enough to not only start, but to also finish!
The main line was visible after everyone had gone through this section
Caleb Skinner
Duane Leach
Dina
Dina on Haynie Branch
Christie Brinker
Dina
Christie
Grunting it out
It wasn’t the way I wanted to start the series, but this series is not a combination of all three races, but rather your fastest time of the three counts for the series win. So, I have two more chances to redeem myself. I was pretty happy to have made it to the finish on such a cold day when I was soaked for 90% of the race. I even managed to keep my Reynaud’s in check until I lost my hands at the very end after soaking the gloves.
I had a handlebar cam on so you can see my crash. The video starts with the crash. If you look closely as I approach the creek, you can see a tire track of snow across the ice. If I had seen this, I may have slowed down enough to make it across, but I doubt it. Highlights of my race follow the crash. It is all from early in the race as my battery died pretty early with the cold. Also, after I fall, listen for Harrison to come flying in and do nearly the same thing. Unfortunately, the camera wasn't turned toward him so we could see his ninja skills.
Video: Highlights of the first part of my race, including the first crash
Still shot as I approach the creek. You can clearly see the snow track onto the ice that I didn't see at full speed
That was an expensive race for me as I’ll be needing a new seat and pedals. Shannon will be busy stitching up my riding gear as I had at least six tears that I saw. My upper hamstring was bruised for a solid week and made it hard to sit on the bike. I had to so a lot of readjusting during my trainer time in the days following the race. The injuries forced me to take a bit easier than I wanted. Why does that always seem to happen when you are really, really motivated to get out and train hard?!!
Hamstring bruise from the seat. My leg is stronger than a carbon seat.
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