Here in Montana, once rolling thunder happens bike season is pretty much over. The week before it got a little cold and rainy and then the week after I think it snowed for a few days. Since then I've gotten out a few times but not a whole lot and I'm already starting to feel fat and out of shape. I definitely need to get a couple of pairs of skis and a fat bike to be a little more active during the winter. And I do plan on lifting weights a little more often. I got into it in feb or so last year and I think it made a pretty big difference as far as the race season went, especially the first half.
So anyway, in addition to our 6 wednesday night races, I went to Helena for their race and then there was rolling thunder. Helena and thunder were on sequential weekends which meant 4 races in a week and a half. As the season ended, I was starting to feel pretty good. I rode quite a bit in sept-oct, unlike last year, and even did a couple of good intervals and hard rides. Two weeks before thunder I did hill repeats on saturday, then set some climbing prs sunday, so I was feeling optimistic. That wed I was finally up where I wanted to be, racing with Rob Mazza, Ian Foster, Shaun, and Charlie, the guys I had been chasing but a little bit behind earlier on. Then I won in Helena. Feeling good with one week to go. As usual, I went out and helped with course setup, and immediately my legs started hurting from all the walking around up and down the hill and pounding in stakes. It didn't seem to have too much of an effect that wed night race though.
Since it was rainy, and thunder week, and the last wed night with season awards afterward, the race was cut a little short- 30-35 min. Robert went for the hole shot off the line and was way far ahead on lap one. I spent some time in the chase group with doc Rob, Cory, and Charlie, and then managed to ride away from them and close up to Robert, who was riding solo in 3rd place. But I was only on his wheel for about 10 seconds as I started having some technical difficulties. My shoes weren't going in the pedals due to mud buildup and my bike stopped wanting to shift. Everyone has similar issues I suppose but I practically had to ride the last two laps with my right foot unclipped which I'm pretty sure slows you down a bit. Still held on for 4th which was my best finish ever on a wed night, so I was optimistic about my chances at rolling thunder. Every year I am a little disappointed with both my fitness and performance when that race comes around and it had been my goal all season to at least be on the podium if not win (in cat 3).
Unforunately the weather and my preperation and the other racers conspired against that and once again I feel a little short of where i wanted to be. I drank a few too many beers wed night, didn't spin the legs out thursday, didn't do a good enough openers ride friday, didn't pay enough attention to the changing course, spent too much time walking around Saturday spectating, and didn't warm up well enough. Lately I have been surprised at how hard I need to go the day before to feel good. I mentioned that hill workout a few weeks earlier. I had gone easy thrus, put in a little effort friday, and then didn't feel super great doing the workouts. But the next day, when I expected to be sore and tired, I felt great climbing and set a PR up ravine. So I think I should have done a little more friday and a little more earlier on saturday to get the legs ready.
Anyway, onto the race. It dumped rain thrusday and then friday afternoon, so the course was even slicker and wetter than it had been wednesday. Pre-riding on Friday, it was pretty slick and I didn't even bother riding some sections, like the ride down, because I knew they would be way different by saturday night. The course did dry out, but all those tires on it all day did create a few ruts and torn up grass. Thankfully, I made the right tire choice earlier this year with the Baby Limus, and was starting to get used to how they work. I raced at 25/27psi, and maybe could have gone a little lower, but I had experience racing at those pressures and there were some sharp edges and I'm happy with the grip. If anything I still need to learn to push those tires harder in corners.
I noticed that the masters men had started the age groups separately, and with the big group of 1-2s and 3s, I suggested 2 starts for our race too. Last year we were all together and it was kind of a mess- crash at the start and no one knew who they were racing. So the 3s started 20-30s behind the 1-2s. I knew I had to stick with Robert and the leaders off the start to have any shot at doing well, and I actually had a good start. Going into the ride down I was 5th wheel or so and stayed in the lead group. Then on lap 2 I started to not feel so great. Maybe it was just that hard, or maybe all the stuff I mentioned. By the time we got down the hill onto the grass I'd lost a little distance to the top 5 and was going backward. On top of that the adrenaline is going and you wind up taking the wrong lines and going into corners too fast, sliding, missing the apex, etc. Micheal, a guy I have been finishing ahead of wed nights, caught and passed me and had quite a bit of space.
But by lap 4-5 (out of 10), I started to feel better. Focused on staying relaxed and riding the right lines, which I knew well due to setting up parts of the course and spending all that time out there, and I started catching back up to Micheal. I passed him, felt good to the end of the race, was turning laps on par with Robert and the leaders, and... still got lapped by the cat 1 winner and finished 6th. Just off the podium has been a theme for me this year.
Aside from about 2-3 bad laps I suppose it didn't go all that badly, and it is a really fun and awesome event. It brings some of the biggest, most competitive fields in the region, you're racing at night under the lights, and there are a ton of spectators yelling and cheering. I even got a canadian $10 bill on the run up. Next year I'm bringing more snacks for afterward though. I was really close to bringing my little portable grille and either hot dogs or taco stuff and sure enough a group of us ended up hanging out drinking some beers and wishing we had food to eat.
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