O2S

 

North shore style 


nice day in Duluth 

Friday Morning we headed up to Duluth to ride the Spirit Mt course before racing it next week.The handling skills are a bit rusty since I haven't ridden any technical singletrack in a while.We had a good 1.5hr ride there and the trails were dry.Lots of fun on those trails.After that it was the long 5+hr long haul to Ishpeming where we stayed at the Triangle Motel.After checking in we headed into Marquette to feed on carbohydrates and pick up our # plates.After eating we decided to ride the last 6 miles or so to get a feel for the finish.This year the sand was insane.Everything was super dry and dusty.The sand there is the real fine stuff like dunes kind of hard to power through after 40+ miles of racing through it.Anyway we hooked up with Jay Richards and he left his vehicle there and carpooled back to the hotel.
The hardest part of a race for me is the last 5 min before the start and the first 1/2 hr when the legs are screaming, trying to stay in contact with the rest of the field.The pavement rollout wasn't bad.I just stayed near the front and in the draft and enjoyed watching the big dogs up front play their game of "who's going to lead",swerving back and forth across the road.But once we hit dirt... game on.Within the first mile I just missed a crash next to me as some guys went OTB in a tire rut.One guy hit the ground and his bike went airborne,when it came back down another guy ran it over.I was hoping Sam wasn't in it because he was behind me somewhere,then a few seconds latter he comes roaring past me.I was in the hurt locker big time as the big dudes mashed the massive gears.Its especially hard when your fighting big sand pits then have to surge right away at the end of it to keep up.I was telling Sam that's what separates the pros from the rest of us.When they can say "Yeh,I was going crosseyed hanging on to his wheel...then I made a huge effort and attacked putting a gap on whoever" I don't know how they can put in such a long and intense effort when they are already going 100%. I was trying so hard to catch Sams group because they were so close at times.Me nor anyone else in my group could muster enough power to close it up.About 1/2 way through the race is where Sams group broke away for good.My group was at the bottom of the big hike a bike section when Sams was just about to the top.His group put in a big surge and we never saw them again.The group I was with never really stuck together either untill this point either because of the diversity of the terrain everyone was all over the place.Once we got to the faster roads and trails, things started to get more organized.The only guy I knew in the group was Charlie Farrow.He's one tough old guy let me tell you.He was a hammer machine at times and helped alot.I really enjoyed the stair stepper climb on the pavement.Me,Charlie,and another dude were setting pace and it kind of opened up the legs a bit.After that I had my peak in the race and set a wicked pace for the rocky downhill.I think our group dwindled down a bit at the end through the sandy logging road,we were down to 4-6 guys.I once again was in the hurt locker .At 8 miles to go I was on the verge of turning it down a notch or two.Mind over matter I guess as I pushed through and bridged back up to everyone.On the final flat and only 1 mile to go Charlie and another dude broke away leaving me with someone else.My hamstrings were cramping up and I knew I didn't have much for a sprint.I should have waited untill the last second to go around.I tried to attack too early and he stuck on my wheel and beat me to the finish.The good thing is I improved my place over last year and took 22nd.Sam was 2-3 min ahead and took 15th.Not bad for a little climber.The drama for the day was seeing the Eppens and Jay Richards on the side of the trail with flats and Doug didn't look too happy near the end.Don't know if he cracked or what.
If I had that little bit extra at the end like last year, I coulda taken up around 17th or so,but hey it was alot harder than last year with all the dust and sand traps everywhere.Its wierd that you can put yourself through all that pain and suffering and then in the end say "That was fun,I can't wait to do it again".