I decided to do the mtb race as well as the night race because it was only 3 laps. Pretty fun, there were around 25 people out there and the full suspension bikes got a head start, so I was at the very back like a minute behind. I caught the two fs bike leaders near the beginning of the last lap, had a battle up and down the hill, and won. Got a 6 pack and a free dinner at Cafe Dolce. That race was at 5:30, which was kind of weird timing with racing at 8 as far as eating and recovering and warming up goes. I pedaled around a bit, ate a little, and then we were lining up.
They called up almost everyone, but behind the first row, things were kind of a free for all. I was like, uh, hey, you guys want to try this again because no one is where they are supposed to be but then looped back around and Cory stuck me in front of him. I was supposed to be 3rd row, but some guys weren't there, but some people got added late, and anyway I wound up on the 2nd row, on the inside edge, behind Dan and Rob. Who were originally supposed to be on the 2nd row. But I think we were all in about the right spots. Had a good start- found my pedal, stayed up there, made it through turn 1, barely, because Rob got loose and almost took out himself and Dan (and i probably would have been the first guy into the pile). I was somewhere around 8-10th out of 54 racers and pretty happy with that. The first part of the course goes into the backyard/concert venue at the brewery, and is a little tight and narrow, so things are strung out single file and there isn't much room to pass. Then you get out around the edge and go up the hill and it widens out. Being up there let me not worry about fighting for position or trying to move up, and instead try to find a reasonable pace.
Next lap Ian comes by me and I'm like, oh, this will be a good wheel to follow. But I couldn't hang onto that and he went on to finish 9th overall and ahead of Rob and Dan, so good work Ian. I meanwhile, was beginning the backward slide. Guys were catching me, sometimes I'd follow for awhile, and then I'd get dropped. I just didn't seem to have it. Laps like, 3-5 I was behind the guy who won the masters race. He was pedaling really fucking hard up the hill and I was dying, but I could go a little bit slower and catch up on the way back down and through the 180s at the bottom. Once we got up the hill for the last time I could ride his draft down the back straight and through the start/finish and then it was back in the tight corners through the grass. But this going harder than I wanted up the hills and then slower down them and through the corners was not an ideal situation, and after like 3 times up that hill (we go down and back up it 4 times in a row each lap), I couldn't do it anymore and gave up on sticking with him. My 6th lap was like 30s slower than 1-5 and then I was just waiting for it to end. There were 9 laps. A few more guys caught me, including a teammate who was a favorite to win the masters race but got a flat and missed the start. Charlie was in the lead of that race (and is our masters state champion) for about the first half until that guy went by him up the hill like he was standing still. Charlie was coming up behind me with like 2 to go but crashed on the downhill off camber. He got back up and finished but I think hit his head pretty good.
I feel like I had a better race in me than that, and rolled in not very happy, but surprisingly got the last step of the cat 3 podium (5th). 1/2/3 and "open 4/5" all raced and started together, and they said they weren't doing a cat 3 podium, but they wanted to give a cat 3 state championship and there were over 20 of us so they figured they might as well. And I didn't get lapped by the winner (Kevin Bradford Parish, who has been racing world cups this year). Ivan was 2nd and only 8 seconds behind at the end, but KBP might have just been riding with him to make it fun. Andrew, who won this race last year and has also been in some pro fields this year, got a flat early on and then crashed a couple times so not a good day for him.
I never seem to race as well as I'd like at this one. Maybe it's because it's november in montana and fitness is on a downhill slide, maybe I went too hard and blew up, maybe I'm just that slow, maybe it's because the race doesn't start until 8pm. Or maybe I shouldn't have done that mtb race at 5:30 (but I got good prizes so totally worth it).
Wed night I was surprised at how far the tire pressure dropped after getting out on the course and things were fairly smooth and fast, so I was considering starting on the higher side. But that grass field warmed up during the day and turned into slick, greasy mud that I could barely stay up on during the mtb race, there's the off camber downhill, and the corners on the hill are fast and off camber. Thankfully the slick parts mostly hardened up and I was actually going too slow sometimes in there, just expecting to start sliding. I can't remember if I started at 25/27 or 26/28, and I didn't check them after, but I assume I was a little lower during the actual race. They felt good, had plenty of grip, and stayed supported on the paved chicane going into the start/finish. I've spent a lot of time racing at 27/29 or higher and they're definitely better when the course lets you go below that. Still glad I went with these as my one set of tubs for the last two seasons. Andrew had one up front with a grifo rear, Ivan was on terreno wets, Toby (3rd overall) was also on Baby Limuses.
There are a lot of pictures thanks to Myke Hermsmeyer and John Sieber
https://www.facebook.com/rollingthu...146986016686213
https://www.facebook.com/pg/rolling...25&__tn__=-UC-R
https://www.facebook.com/pg/jsieber...0&__tn__=-UCH-R
https://www.facebook.com/pg/jsieber...0&__tn__=-UCH-R
https://www.facebook.com/pg/rolling...55&__tn__=-UC-R
https://www.facebook.com/pg/rolling...35&__tn__=-UC-R
https://missoulian.com/news/local/p...Bv4o8gRT2O05A#1
