Pando RIP
Man, what a race! Too bad this was the last one at Pando, a great XC race course. It will be missed. Also, I feel for the sport and beginner riders who were unfortunate to get the late arriving downpour and braved through those conditions. I'm sure some had good fun. The weather was great for us though, although humid enough that I though I went swimming in my team kit.
To begin, the race started as one mad mass start with the elites and all expert classes going off in a single wave. Luckily, the choke point at the start didn't pose too much of a problem as it could have created total mayhem. Things quickly strung out on the opening climb as expected. I was second man up to the top of the hill and got the lead position at the bottom of the half pipe. That lead was extremely short lived as we had a long flat section and quite a few eager amped bodies ready to get around and push the pace. At the end of the 1st lap (of 7), I was sitting in 4th or 5th in a chase group trying to close a strong 20sec gap maintained by John Meyers of Bells Beer. I was cross-eyed at this point, thinking how nice it is to breath air, hoping my head wouldn't burst, and on the verge of popping hard. I was giving it my all just to not let the elastic snap. We regained contact on lap 5 at which point I was feeling much better and snuck to the front and got pretty nervous. At this point, there were 4 of us with no one able to make any ground on the others which meant our pace was pretty good. By the midway point of the 6th lap, John and I managed to break away from the group and started working to put some time on the other chasers. This effort hurt, lots. We went into the final lap right on each other's wheels. It was going to come down to the end. Anticipating this, I put a small attack just before the final single track section and managed to open a small gap coming out onto the ski hill. At this point, wide eyed, I dug hard with everything and felt my legs turn to jelly about 50 feet from the line, although it looked like the line was a half mile away from my vantage. Somehow I turned the pedals over a few more time, able to keep my gap, and crossed the line ahead of everyone. Whew! My first thought was how I didn't want to puke as I crumpled over my handlebars. It's funny how much harder you can dig in when you are out at the front end of the race.
Hopefully I can keep this form going to Boyne and wrap up the season until umm, I guess Iceman or something. - Pete.
To begin, the race started as one mad mass start with the elites and all expert classes going off in a single wave. Luckily, the choke point at the start didn't pose too much of a problem as it could have created total mayhem. Things quickly strung out on the opening climb as expected. I was second man up to the top of the hill and got the lead position at the bottom of the half pipe. That lead was extremely short lived as we had a long flat section and quite a few eager amped bodies ready to get around and push the pace. At the end of the 1st lap (of 7), I was sitting in 4th or 5th in a chase group trying to close a strong 20sec gap maintained by John Meyers of Bells Beer. I was cross-eyed at this point, thinking how nice it is to breath air, hoping my head wouldn't burst, and on the verge of popping hard. I was giving it my all just to not let the elastic snap. We regained contact on lap 5 at which point I was feeling much better and snuck to the front and got pretty nervous. At this point, there were 4 of us with no one able to make any ground on the others which meant our pace was pretty good. By the midway point of the 6th lap, John and I managed to break away from the group and started working to put some time on the other chasers. This effort hurt, lots. We went into the final lap right on each other's wheels. It was going to come down to the end. Anticipating this, I put a small attack just before the final single track section and managed to open a small gap coming out onto the ski hill. At this point, wide eyed, I dug hard with everything and felt my legs turn to jelly about 50 feet from the line, although it looked like the line was a half mile away from my vantage. Somehow I turned the pedals over a few more time, able to keep my gap, and crossed the line ahead of everyone. Whew! My first thought was how I didn't want to puke as I crumpled over my handlebars. It's funny how much harder you can dig in when you are out at the front end of the race.
Hopefully I can keep this form going to Boyne and wrap up the season until umm, I guess Iceman or something. - Pete.
posted by Anonymous at 9:18 AM
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