The Montgomery Bell weekend featured a TT on Saturday and the state championship XC on Sunday. I decided to forgo the TT this year as I wanted to save everything for the XC. That turned out to be a good plan. During my pre-ride lap of the XC course I broke spokes in my rear wheel. I didn't hit anything, they just broke. Other than being three miles from the car and having a good hike out, it wasn't a big deal as I had more spokes in the car. Turns out the spare spokes didn't fit. My Roval wheels have different length spokes on the drive vs. non-drive side, which I didn't realize before this happened. I only had spokes to fit the shorter side so they were too short to reach on the other side. Nobody at the race had a spoke long enough to fit so I would have missed the TT anyway. I had to wait for Dina to do her ride, then she gave me her rear wheel and I finished my pre-ride. I felt really good out on the course and was excited for Sunday.
Saw this giant mushroom along the course during the pre-ride. Way taller than my 24 oz. bottle. Biggest mushroom I have ever seen!
After the pre-ride, I called down to MOAB to see if they had spokes and they didn't have any long enough either. No shop in town had spokes long enough to fit so I was out of luck for getting my wheel fixed for the race. For the second time this year, I would have to borrow a wheel to make the race. Thankfully, Dina again raced at a different time than me so I was able to use her rear wheel.
It was a big Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 field for a Tennessee race. I guess the state championship designation attracted some major attention across the southeast. We had 13 starters. The race course at Montgomery Bell is entirely singletrack other than the start stretch and the end of each lap. That makes the start very important. I made sure to line up early so I was on the front row. It began with a 50 yard dash in the grass to a 180-degree left turn before another 75 yards in the grass to a road crossing and then into the singletrack. The grass was very wet from a heavy dew. It was already a warm morning with clear skies. We started early, but there was no doubt it was going to be hot by the end of our race.
I was very focused on the start and got a good jump, getting to the first turn in front. I got through the wet first turn safely and then wanted to drift back and not lead into the woods, but nobody would pass me. I slowed it way down, but it seemed everyone was content to sit on my wheel right from the start today. Once into the woods, I could tell my legs were not great. Two minutes into the race I knew it was going to be a tough day, but I was holding out hope that it would still be enough to contend for the win. You don't have to ride your perfect best, just better than everyone else on that given day. I settled into a tempo pace a little slower than I had hoped to go on the first lap of three.
Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 start
photo by Kim Klapheke
Got the jump I was hoping for
photo by Kim Klapheke
Leading toward the woods
photo by Kim Klapheke
Everyone stayed on my wheel and we still had a big group going into the first set of hills. The hills split things up a little. I held back as far as leg output, but I was pushing it on the descents and any little momentum section I could find. We still had a big group when we came to the first main obstacle, Tommy's Revenge, which comes about halfway through the lap. Tommy's is a creek crossing followed by a steep climb with a tight switchback, then a steep descent into a long, steep climb that you need a lot of momentum going into to make it over the roots and rocks at the top. I cleaned it along with Harrison Klapheke. the others bobbled and we had a nice gap without even really trying too hard. The gap let me continue to ride my tempo pace on the following climbs. The toughest part of the loop starts with Tommy's and then climbs the longer Charlotte's Ridge, Gnome Climb and finally Heartbreak Hill before a gradual ascension to end the lap. I still wasn't feeling great, but nobody was catching us. Two riders were chasing, but we held them back for several miles before one dropped the other and bridged across. Jerry Dufour joined Harrison and myself at the front just as we ended lap 1. Harrison crashed on a creek crossing near the end of the lap, but I couldn't do much to take advantage of the gap he gave me as my legs just weren't able to really kick up the pace on the following climb.
Ending lap 1
photo by Kim Klapheke
Dufour took the lead as we came through the Feed Zone and I was happy to let him do it. His tempo starting lap 2 wasn't any faster and it actually let me get into a rhythm and I started to feel much better. It was feeling like one of those days where the legs start to come around after an hour. About three miles into the eight-mile loop, I dropped my chain going into a climb. It was only the second time I have ever dropped my chain on this bike and it couldn't have been in a worse place. I had trouble getting it back onto the front chainring and gave up about 20 seconds. They sped up too which made the chase even harder. I may have been comfortable riding off Dufour's wheel, but going up to that next level of effort made my legs feel terrible again. I bobbled on Tommy's and had to dismount, letting the gap go up to a minute as we started the major climbs, which is exactly what I couldn't let happen on a day when my legs were lacking. The climb up Charlotte's Ridge broke me. I had decent output for about 30 seconds. Any climb longer than that and I had to back off. I fell back to 1:50 behind by the end of lap 2 and had just 45 seconds on fourth place at this point so I couldn't afford to back off.
I felt so drained starting the third lap. I gave everything I had to chase after the dropped chain, but there wasn't much in the tank today. I was having another race-day off-day, but all was not lost yet. I wanted to at least salvage a podium. I pushed hard in the momentum areas where I knew I was faster than most people and it helped me build the gap over fourth. I actually closed down the gap to the leaders at one point, but the hills kept me from getting too close. I was bleeding time every time the trail turned up. I timed Harrison at 1:45 at one point with about three miles to go, but that was as close as I could get. My legs came apart on Heartbreak the final time and I basically just got out of the woods from there to finish third. I was 3:49 off the winner Dufour and 2:52 behind Harrison at the finish. Even with the slow ending I increased my gap over fourth to 1:43 that final lap.
Finishing my race
photo by Kim Klapheke
Talking with Harrison after the race
photo by Kim Klapheke
Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 podium
photo by Kim Klapheke
Dufour is from Alabama, so I was the second Tennessee rider to give me the silver medal in the state championship. I was very disappointed with how I felt and rode today. I have felt so great in recent weeks and it sucks to not be able to put it together on the biggest day. The dropped chain didn't help, but I don't think it affected the placings on the day. I did not have the legs to battle those front two today and honestly I feel very fortunate to have held on for third when I felt that off. I know I am in good shape though as my first lap time was the fastest lap I have ever ridden at Montgomery Bell, which is saying something because the trail is rougher and slower than it was when I set my best times here several years ago and I was holding back the whole first lap today. Thanks Dina for letting me borrow the wheel. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have even been out there today. Even if I was struggling most of the race, I am grateful to have been out there.
Tennessee State Championship podium
photo by Kim Klapheke
Dina decided not to race, but my Dad did race and ended up winning the Cat. 3 40+ race. He got the early lead, then was caught with about two miles to go. He felt the other rider was stronger, but the guy ended up crashing and damaging his derailleur, leaving him stuck near the top of his cassette for the final mile. He couldn't sprint in that gear and Dad easily took the win when they hit the finish in the field. I had a good time running around the woods watching the Junior and Cat. 3 races, which took place on a shorter course. There is some video posted below after the photos.
Junior on course
Cat. 3
Video: Montgomery Bell State Championship Race
That does it for the meat of my race schedule. Next on the agenda was our yearly vacation west for camping, riding and visiting family. We took off toward Utah a few days after Montgomery Bell to visit the family and did some more exploring in Wyoming along the way. More on that in the next post. Thanks for reading!
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