Monday, August 11, 2008

Buck Hill


Dusty conditions means burning lungs.

Lightweight

Heavyweight
Photos courtesy of Skinnyski.com

Dry and dusty was the name of the game. The trail was either a sand pit (but nothing compared to the sand boxes of the Ore-to-Shore) or hard packed underneath with dust and loose debris on top to make things feel slippery in the corners. It was a typical start with the lead out riders fading on the first sign of a hill and the selection begins. The first switchback section got everyone breathing hard. Then a big surge up the pavement climb to get that all important spot in the single track. Brendan went first with Jeff "sasquatch legs" Hall on his wheel. I stayed behind Jay Richards because I knew he would be a good wheel to follow through the single track. Sam flew by at the last second to get third spot in the woods. At this point my lungs were burning from the dust and I could start tasting the blood plasma in my throat from breathing hard. At this point I can't remember what happened each lap, everything is pretty much a blur so I will just tell the major events. Sam was feeling ish so he dropped back to me and Jay. All of us pretty much took a pull at some point to see where the weaknesses were. I knew Jay was a Paul Hanson type who can pull off big out of the saddle surges. I'm more of a steady grinder so I just kept calm and collected and I had enough power to stay with him when he did surge or catch back up after the surge was over with. On the 4th or 5th lap Sam was leading in the single track followed by Jay then me. There was a sharp 120 degree downhill corner with a stump right in the path of the perfect line. Jay hit it and put up a yard sale in front of me. He was spry to his feet and I yelled if he was all right. I saw him chasing hard through the single track about 10 seconds behind and Sam was gapping me. Lap traffic was getting bad and I think that was more a factor of the time gaps. I caught Sam in the traverse section and we rode together from then on for the last lap and rolled in 3rd and 4th. Thats twice this year that I let him place in front of me. I was feeling pretty fresh for a sprint too. Next time he might not get so lucky ;) I enjoyed the race and felt pretty good. I can tell it wasn't such a long race just by how I felt afterwards. Recovery time is faster when the race is that short, which is good because tomorrow is the ride and glide ride and the last time we go down into Afton.

2 Comments:

Blogger Jay Richards said...

It was fun racing (again) with you guys. Nice job. I did everything I could to catch up so we could of sprinted at the finish..then I would of let up at the last second and force you to beat your brother. Ha! Great racing. Let me know how the ride is across the border.

Mon Aug 11, 08:24:00 PM  
Blogger perf coach said...

Hay Eric why don't u show the pic of U hitching the ride off my saddle?????
U had a free 5 laps .
Have to watch this guy.

Mon Oct 06, 01:15:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home