Our first two Wednesday races were at the old thunder course, and we had 3 in total there. There were two at the Ranch Club, and then the last week was at Big Sky Brewing.
Last year I moved up to the A group and usually finished somewhere near the back. This year I was hoping to do a little better, like to be a few spots farther up the standings and maybe in the top 10 a few times. Howevery, my riding was a little inconsistent over the summer and then we had a lot of wildfire smoke, so fitness was not quite where I wanted it to be. On the plus side, it wasn't horrible and I was able to match a few strava segment PRs as the season started.
Before the week 1 race I decided to dust off the cross bike and get out on it. I went out to "old thunder" and found it to be exceptionally lumpy, rocky, and slippery from all the rain that ended our fire season about a week earlier. That Wednesday I brought my mountain bike along too. After a few practice laps on each I made the decision to race on the bigger tires because of the rough sections of course. It was definitely as fast or faster in those parts, but there were also flat, smooth areas where I noticed the extra drag. The next week, on nearly the same course, I used the CX bike with it's brand new 1x11 drivetrain, and definitely noticed I was going faster, and was farther up in the standings. Until I got a flat tire that is. It was on the 2nd to last lap near the finish line, so I just waited for the leaders to roll through and then walked across the line, finishing a lap down.
Week 3 was the Ranch Club. I'm really glad those guys continue to host our races because it's a fun venue with a ton of room and options for different features. They tend to build obstacles and jumps/drops and A/B line sections. This year it was a series of logs you had to roll over and then off of down a steep bank, a sand trap filled with water, and a small jump off a trailer. And of course, plenty of regular sand traps to ride through. The downside is riding in the thick grass, which really hurts. We would go down to the end of the driving range and it feels like you are practically stopped but are pedaling as hard as you can. I think next year I need to get at least one file tread on the rear to cut back on rolling resistance. I'm also not sure if more pressure is better or worse in that stuff. I'm thinking a little more rolls faster and with the traction grass provides it's not much of a compromise. From the start of the first one I was in a pretty good race with another guy, Austin, but then he had some technical issues and I think crashed once or twice as well. The next time out he was a little ahead of me until the two 40+ leaders caught up, and I was able to stay with them all the way back up to his wheel near the end of the race. I'm not sure if it was just from the slight draft or if they are just more efficient at turning laps and I was able to take advantage of that, but staying on their wheels had me riding faster at less effort. But then with 2 to go I messed up my line and crashed in the final sand trap so he got a big gap and was able to stay ahead to the finish. I was also nearly caught by the next guy back after that due to my shifter being jammed up with sand.
Week 4 was at the old thunder course, and was actually our last race ever there, as some of the land we used was sold and is going to be developed. I was in a good mid-pack-ish spot, and then I drooped the chain and fell behind. Just staying in touch for the first few laps is hard enough, so as soon as you make a mistake you're off the back, and it's pretty much impossible to catch back up since you were already going as fast as possible..I fell back a bit until the masters racers started catching me and then I wound in a group and had a good race to the finish..
The last week was Thunder week. Once again I got out and helped Shaun build the course, which has the added benefit of letting me do plenty of practice laps. This year we got to use the hill across the street again plus some of the Missoula Winery property, which adds a lot of space and makes the course much better compared to the first year, where it was confined to the Big Sky lot. The new stage out back does take up quite a bit of room but we used a set of stairs as a run up, and maybe next year we can add some other features that use it. But I'll talk more about the course in a separate post about Rolling Thunder.
So yeah, the race. Same as usual I guess. Every week I was in about the same spot racing with the same people. I would like to be a few spots farther up, but every one is fast and pretty much all the guys ahead of me are faster all year every year. At the same time, I still think I have some improvement to do. Mostly, it's going to take more time on the bike before the season with maybe slightly more structured workouts. And then more cross drills, which I did none of this year. I'm still not great at remounts and that definitely slows me down. I was pretty happy with my line choices and cornering speeds but that can probably still use some improvement, especially in the tire department. I'm still on narrow clincher with tubes, so going to tubulars is definitely on my mind, but I don't really want to have to pay $100+ per tire and buy a wheelset that I can only use for racing. Maybe just tubeless?
Well that's it for now. Can't tank Missoula Bicycle works enough for the support, as well as Shaun, Dave, Nick at the ranch club, Pat, Tim, Jed, Big Sky Brewing and everyone else involved in putting these on. Plus all the racers for coming out. The bike community in the town is amazing.
Full photo galleries;
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
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