I was honestly feeling a little nervous about this race; I had spent the preceding several days on airplanes and overeating at sea level, nobody was quite certain what our course was going to be, and I was intimidated by my gearing choice. To put it simply, I was stuck in my head. At the start line I was feeling mentally absent - I knew I didn't have the competitive fire in my belly. Still, I stayed focused and decided to stick to my guns; I had a loose plan of letting the bulls charge and just keeping the wheel of the leaders til I settled into a groove. Fortunately, Nick Thelen and Kip Biese left the line with a comfortable sprint pace, I settled back behind Nick's wheel and let them carry me up the first ascent. We crested the first climb and stayed pretty close together, mashing down the road section. Travis Ekenberg made his way up with us and pushed me into 4th position and it was at this point that I knew I didn't have the desire needed to be a real competitor that night. I made a decision to just relax and enjoy myself. We all hit the singletrack like a freight train, one right after the other. It felt good to be able to just sit back and keep pace with some other singlespeeders, instead of trying to maintain a position off the front of the pack. I could feel Kip and Nick pulling away from me on the slight descent of Grandview Trail. Travis graciously allowed me to pass, and I kicked up the pace a bit to close the gap and keep the boys in my field of vision.
At the start of our second lap I was really beginning to enjoy myself and the leaders were kind to me as everybody kept a cautious pace up the first climb. At the road section I could see Kip motoring away with his huge gear (this was his first SS race of the year and he was pushing a gnarly 32x17). I was still in comfortable distance with Mr. Thelen as we made our way down the final descent of the lap. I got stuck behind some Cat1 riders on the next set of climbs, and that definitely slowed me down a bit, but I had no intentions of attempting a pass at risk of blowing myself up.
I knew on my third lap I had made a significant gap on the ten chasing riders, so I began to settle into a comfortable rhythm to defend my third place position. I could feel a huge smile cracking on my face, simply at the joy of being out for a ride on my bike. It was a welcome departure from the mindset I was in at the first Ascent race. Even after falling out of my pedal in a rock garden at the top of the initial climb, my morale was high. I was surfing the trail and riding my own race.
Fatigue was setting in on my final lap and I was thankful for taking it easy earlier on. At this point the course was bare. I saw no other racers for the entire 3 miles, the spectators that were previously at every turn had disappeared, and I was out there riding by myself. The trail reflected the race I had been riding. Solitary, tranquil and obliged. Just myself and my bike.
I was grateful for this rare opportunity to enjoy Palmer Park without having to worry about any other trail users or opposing traffic. Thoroughly captivated by trail vibes, I cruised over the finish line in a relaxed fashion, coinciding with my disposition. My Wednesday cruise was good enough for a 3rd place finish, and 3 series points, as well as a gratifying commute home, staring at the sun going down behind the front range. Totally grateful and and content, that's how every hump day should conclude.
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| Photo Cred: Tim Bergsten/pikespeaksports.us |
Good look to everybody that showed up to race and to observe. And a special shout out to all the homies that came out with one gear!
And, as always, Thanks to Ascent Cycling and Sand Creek Sports for giving us something to do on Wednesdays!
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