Yikes, reading my post from Friday, I sound a bit nervous about the Nittany weekend. Too many unknowns, and I'm terrible with just having to wait. Will my janked-up bike make it? What about my legs? Have I completely forgotten how to get over barriers? Plus, knowing that I'd most likely get a front row call up means that I had my best opportunity yet for a good MAC finish, and I don't get front row call-ups too often.
Saturday I couldn't eat much in the morning, and went into the race without eating a whole lot. Waiting at the start was torture, but finally the light turned green, and I clicked into race mode. I got a good clip-in and start, and was riding somewhere in the top 6-7, so far so good. The front row start is so much easier, just a criminal advantage. No traffic, clean lines, and smooth racing.
Somewhere in the first few turns I heard a pile up behind, but didn't look back until later. Sure enough, there was a very large gap, indicating that some crash held up a bunch of people. At one point, it looked like 4th place was losing ground to the leaders, so I went around him and focused on slowly trying to catch them.
The back woods section with the roots was my nemesis, I could move up on the back part of the course, but immediately lost ground again trying to navigate the roots. I don't remember when, but while trying to gently hop over one set of roots, I smashed down my front wheel right into the next set. There was a bad sounding crack, and quickly my front tubular started going soft. Crap. I rode the flat around to the pits, losing a couple spots, and was ready to pack it in when I noticed the SRAM neutral wheels. OK, lets try this again. Now I had a lot of ground to make up. Ended up 27th, just 2 spots out of the points. There is always the next day....
Sunday went much better, same front row start, although this time we had a long, straight, slightly down hill section to a fast right hand sweeper. The pace was really high, and even just a few minutes into the race I noticed that the entire field was way strung out into a long line. Starting from the back must have been a huge disadvantage.
The course was really fast, I decided to run slightly higher pressure today, 31 in the front, 34.5 psi in the back. I would have liked to be a few ticks lower, but I didn't want to risk another pinch flat. Thanks to Roland for loaning me his front wheel. The Tracer tires worked great, super fast with good grip, although I bet file treads would have been IDEAL for day.
I realized after a lap that the top 3 were riding away, and I wasn't going to be able to stay with them, so I focused on riding smoothly and efficiently. I got by a few spots when they washed out in the dirt, and I could see Jerry Troiano from Rutgers only a few seconds ahead. By the time we saw 2 laps to go, I had a good lead on whoever was behind me, and decided to try and take some risks to catch him. It was working, with 1 to go, I was within a few seconds, but got pushed it too far on the turn at the top of the hill before the finish, washed out, and dropped my chain. By the time I was going again, Hunter had almost caught me, and was riding a few second behind me now. Jerry was gone. I rode smooth, backed off into the headwind to see if Hunter would take the lead, but he backed off even more. Ok, I'm fine with a sprint, lets wait for the finish. Coming down the hill I clicked the chain down my cassette and sprinted to beat him to the line.
I'm definitely happy with my best MAC finish yet, and having no mechanicals. Although the flat on Saturday was disappointing, I left with more confidence that I could ride with the front of the MAC B field, a good result, and a good start to the season.
Saturday I couldn't eat much in the morning, and went into the race without eating a whole lot. Waiting at the start was torture, but finally the light turned green, and I clicked into race mode. I got a good clip-in and start, and was riding somewhere in the top 6-7, so far so good. The front row start is so much easier, just a criminal advantage. No traffic, clean lines, and smooth racing.
Somewhere in the first few turns I heard a pile up behind, but didn't look back until later. Sure enough, there was a very large gap, indicating that some crash held up a bunch of people. At one point, it looked like 4th place was losing ground to the leaders, so I went around him and focused on slowly trying to catch them.
The back woods section with the roots was my nemesis, I could move up on the back part of the course, but immediately lost ground again trying to navigate the roots. I don't remember when, but while trying to gently hop over one set of roots, I smashed down my front wheel right into the next set. There was a bad sounding crack, and quickly my front tubular started going soft. Crap. I rode the flat around to the pits, losing a couple spots, and was ready to pack it in when I noticed the SRAM neutral wheels. OK, lets try this again. Now I had a lot of ground to make up. Ended up 27th, just 2 spots out of the points. There is always the next day....
Sunday went much better, same front row start, although this time we had a long, straight, slightly down hill section to a fast right hand sweeper. The pace was really high, and even just a few minutes into the race I noticed that the entire field was way strung out into a long line. Starting from the back must have been a huge disadvantage.
The course was really fast, I decided to run slightly higher pressure today, 31 in the front, 34.5 psi in the back. I would have liked to be a few ticks lower, but I didn't want to risk another pinch flat. Thanks to Roland for loaning me his front wheel. The Tracer tires worked great, super fast with good grip, although I bet file treads would have been IDEAL for day.
I realized after a lap that the top 3 were riding away, and I wasn't going to be able to stay with them, so I focused on riding smoothly and efficiently. I got by a few spots when they washed out in the dirt, and I could see Jerry Troiano from Rutgers only a few seconds ahead. By the time we saw 2 laps to go, I had a good lead on whoever was behind me, and decided to try and take some risks to catch him. It was working, with 1 to go, I was within a few seconds, but got pushed it too far on the turn at the top of the hill before the finish, washed out, and dropped my chain. By the time I was going again, Hunter had almost caught me, and was riding a few second behind me now. Jerry was gone. I rode smooth, backed off into the headwind to see if Hunter would take the lead, but he backed off even more. Ok, I'm fine with a sprint, lets wait for the finish. Coming down the hill I clicked the chain down my cassette and sprinted to beat him to the line.
I'm definitely happy with my best MAC finish yet, and having no mechanicals. Although the flat on Saturday was disappointing, I left with more confidence that I could ride with the front of the MAC B field, a good result, and a good start to the season.
Bad luck on for you on Sat but a solid finish on Sunday. I'm looking forward racing from the front at Charm to see how criminal it is. See you on the grid. -Eric
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