Mud? What mud?
It was a nasty, wet day in South Hill, Va. Although there was no rain this morning, it had been raining pretty steadily in the days leading up to today, and predictably, the place was a muddy mess. Fortunately. I’d prepped for these specific conditions so at least I wouldn’t be in a tremendous disadvantage going in.
The start was an approx 100 yard downhill run with a wicked pinch at the end followed immediately bu a sharp 90-degree right-hander, another 60 or so yards up a hill and then through a short 180 into the woods.
As I’m preparing for the start, another rider in my class comes up to me, and after a minute or so of typical pre-race small talk says “oh, if you’re in front of me and I yell, move over, ok? I don’t play this “get a wheel up on him stuff”. Alright…I wasn’t particularly interested in arguing with anyone at the line so simply said ‘yeah, OK’. What I should have said, and what I was actually thinking, was “you want the position, you can earn it and take it, motherfucker”.
As an aside, this (the VCHSS) is a friendly series. We’re almost all amateurs, and most of us have families to go home to after the race and jobs to go back to on Monday. The level of camaraderie is high. However, I share to a certain degree the sentiments of Bob Hannah, who said something to the effect of “I’m not here to make friends. I want to beat these guys into tomorrow, and if you’re friends, it just makes it harder to do what you need to do to win.”
Anyway, 20 riders on the line. The flag went up and it was on. Oh wait, my bike wont start. One kick….two kicks…..three kicks. Finally, mercifully the bike fires and I’m off and into the woods in about 19th.
The woods? A freakin’ mess. Ugly. Even if this were a dry day, these trails are beat to hell and back. I know, because I helped cut some of them a few years ago and they have seen their share of races since.
Almost immediately, guys were dropping. The slick wet clay in these early sections had guys sliding and spinning all over the place. Remember when I said I’d prepped? I was hooking up and passing people at a ridiculous rate. By the time we came out of the first woods section – maybe a mile or so after the start – I was in tenth (according to a friend who was counting S-class bikes at that particular section of track) and moving up.
After a short run on some grass and then the motocross track, we dropped back into the woods. The nastiness back here is almost indescribable. Slick, soupy in spots, rutted, rooty, and bikes were getting collected all over the place. Picking the right lines through these areas, particularly when someone else was already stuck, was crucial.
The first real trouble came in a section where the marked trail seemed to simply vanish beyond a pile of crashed and stuck bikes. Myself and another couple of guys found a way around and continued on. Shortly thereafter, on a slick section that ran along a creek, I somehow managed to slide directly front-wheel-first into a tree and went down. I was fine but the gas cap somehow popped off my bike and spilled a shitload of fuel on the ground and all over me before I was able to get the bike picked back up and the cap back on. Got the bike re-fired and set off after those that had gotten by, and said a little prayer that there was still enough fuel left in the tank to get me to the finish.
The next bit of trouble came shortly after this. There was a short, soupy mud bog followed by a short but very steep and heavily rooted uphill. I made it through the mud OK but lost traction on the roots about halfway up this hill, had to bail off the bike and push it the rest of the way. This was a h-u-g-e waste of energy, so I hoped to be able to find a better line the next time around (note: I didn’t).
I had no idea where I was running at this point and it didn’t really matter, just had to keep on pushing. But, much to my surprise, I came through scoring on that first lap 3rd in class (!)
The second lap was more of the same, only this time when I got stuck on that same heavily rooted uphill (it would get me all three laps), stuck right next to me was 48s, Larry Butler. He got up and going before me, and at that point I figured any shot at moving up just evaporated. Butler is fast. However, I don’t know how or where I passed him back but I did; my assumption is he got stuck in one of the bottomless mud pits somewhere along the way with everyone else. Coming through scoring at the end of the second lap, I was in the lead.
Lap three, getting beat to hell and back but pushing on. Came into a turn a bit too hot and ended up in an airbox-high rut that I’d been avoiding up until now. Problem was there was another bike stuck in this rut right in front of me. It took what seemed like forever to get out and get going again (realistically about a minute and a half), but not one single bike came by us the whole time. Didn’t know if that was good or bad or how much longer my luck would hold, but I rode from that point on as though I were on fire. Through scoring the final time….still 1st. Checkered flag. A win??? I’ll be damned…. a WIN! By two minutes and change. Unbelievable.
Not a bad way to start a season 🙂