Ascent Series #4 - The Winning Combination

On Saturday we convened at Cheyenne Mountain State Park for Number 4 of the five race Ascent Cycling Series. Frankly, I was not looking forward to this particular race, but in order to defend my overall points position, my participation was necessary. As of the third race, I was sitting in second place overall, 4 points behind Nick Thelen and 2 points ahead of Travis Ekenberg. That put Travis right in my crosshairs; I didn't care about how I finished, as long as it was in front of him. That sense of requirement made this race all the less appealing to me. Luckily I am surrounded by remarkable people that gave me a ton of assistance and encouragement. I wish I could compile a list, but that would be an entire post in itself. In particular, though, I received a major amount of support from AKT Combatives, a martial arts academy that goes far beyond the parameters of self defense and karate. They have developed a fully comprehensive system of self development that breeds confidence in every facet of your life. That psychological coaching played a significant role in my preparation for this race.

Photo cred: Michael Ciaglo/The Gazette

Fortunately for me, this was more of a cross country race, consisting of four 30-minute laps, totaling up to about 21 miles. This style of racing suits me much more than the short track format of the preceding races, but I still spent the week prior grumbling and griping about the course. The track was a combination of sun-baked desert soil and tight weaving singletrack through near-impossible to maneuver rock gardens, and after my initial preride I kept finding myself saying "It's fun to ride, but it will suck to race". When I woke up Saturday morning I was still feeling apprehensive as ever about the 2 hours of suffering I was committing to. Still, I found myself at registration, receiving my now-familiar 17 number plate. I never cared much for the number 17, but after racing with it all summer, it's beginning to grow on me. The sun was beating down on us and I could tell the heat was going to be brutal. In the first wave of riders there had already been reports of overheating, DNFs and a handful of crashes (two of which allegedly involved cracked helmets). I was further unnerved when Dan Durland arrived. If you are familiar with Colorado singlespeed racing, you will probably recognize his name. He is a powerhouse, and I was rather intimidated by the thought of racing with him.
I gently reassured myself that my finishing position didn't matter and that I was only racing for the experience. This little mental shift allowed me to formulate a basic tactic of following Dan's rhythm through the course. He's an endurance racer, so I knew following his steady pace would allow me to conserve my energy and finish strong.
I took the immediate lead off the start line, with Dan quickly taking his place in front of me, as I made room for Nick Thelen to take his usual spot at the lead. The three of us boogied over Talon and Turkey Trot trails, which are mostly hard packed, sun scorched, and covered with a thin layer of decomposed granite (thats a fancy word that we use on the front range to describe our gravel). I immediately enlisted my plan of staying on Dan's wheel and began letting him pace me. For the first lap everything was going just as I had hoped, we were putting a gap between us and Travis, which is all I cared about.
Soon we were on Zook Loop, where we were confronted with the first rock garden. There is a line that allows you to avoid a significant portion of the rock pile, but the catch is that this line goes directly over a sizable boulder. Its rideable, but I opted to save my energy by dismounting and climbing right over it. Luckily so did Dan, and we practiced our cyclocross skills as we ran to the next clean section of trail. As we neared the end of the first lap, my tactic was serving me well, Dan was riding at a comfortable rate, though I could tell he was starting to slow. I assumed he was just getting into his rhythm, but he soon motioned me around him as we began the second lap. I tried convincing him to get on my wheel and work with me on the ensuing climb but he declined, and suddenly I was riding on my own. I immediately switched gears mentally and began monitoring my efforts very closely as I entered the uphill section of the course, climbing about 500 vertical feet over two miles. That gives you an average grade of about 4.4% which doesn't sound daunting, until you consider the spikes of 10% grade peppered throughout the ascent.
As I commenced the third lap I was delighted at how fast the first hour of riding had passed by. I was feeling incredibly strong and, to my amazement, I was actually having fun. I savored that feeling, knowing that it would quickly dissipate as I entered Cougars Shadow- a section of very tight singletrack, twisting between trees and navigating over difficult rock gardens. The real difficulty of this section, though, is maneuvering through these technical portions while battling fatigue and attempting to recover from the 15 minute climb you just crested. I was catching occasional glimpses of Nick ahead of me, so I knew he was within my reach, but I remained calm and stayed in control. Over the final two laps that patience payed off. I was elated as I finished my third helping of the course, rolling down the wide open descent that took us over the start/finish line and onto the fourth lap.
I looked down at my wristband and remember the AKT student creed, Take Ground. I meditated on that as I began to climb our last uphill and bridge the gap to Nick. I was soon right behind him, and I sat patiently as he tried to create a gap and force me to chase him. We yoyoed like this a number of times until we hit the climb and I got right behind him. I used this as an opportunity to rest my legs, but I could feel his rhythm slowing as we engaged in some light conversation. I mentioned to him that I was strictly trying to finish ahead of Travis; and as though I had conjured him up with my words, Mr. Ekenberg came climbing around the switchback behind us, and Nick quickly moved aside to let us settle our score. Careful to not make the same mistakes I  had made in my last battle with Travis, I calmly got on his wheel and followed him up the remainder of the climb. Tactical plans were rolling around in my head, attempting to formulate a scheme for passing and attacking, but, knowing that I would take greater risks and higher speeds over the back side of the course, he cordially offered me an opportunity to pass. I expressed my gratitude and pushed forward, steadily putting a gap between us. Riding the final two miles of the course at a decidedly cautious pace, I wanted to move just smoothly and swiftly enough to maintain the distance I had put between myself and my mark. I rode across the line more satisfied than I have been all season.
This race was, for me, a perfect example of determination, premeditation, flexibility, and patience, the combination of which proved to be very powerful. I employed the principle of Work Smarter Not Harder, and it paid off superbly, not just with a first place finish and 5 more series points, but with the valuable experience I was racing for.

Photo cred: Tim Bergsten/pikespeaksports.us

I want to express significant gratitude to AKT Combatives Academy for their incredible support.
And of course, thanks to Ascent Cycling and Sand Creek Sports for organizing this event.