White Tank Mountain Competitive Course was the venue for the 3rd issue of the Arizona State Championship Series. This 7 mile loop was mostly fast, rocky doubletrack although there was about one mile of rather technical trail sprinkled throughout.
Temps were on the chilly side again, about 60 at start time. There were quite a few racers on the line this time and I had only raced against about half of them. The rest were guys I have never seen or heard of so I had no idea what to expect. Coming off a killer cold for the past two weeks I was feeling weak on race day. Had I not pre-registered I would have skipped this one all together.
After a half arsed warm up the gun was fired and we were off and racing. The first mile was slightly uphill leading to the "tech section". The guys at the front were extremely fast and I lost contact falling back to the group of locals I know from the previous races. Speeds were high enough that I was able to draft and work with some of the other guys on the first lap. I turned an extremely fast first lap compared to my practice times and was suddenly feeling optimistic.
Well into lap 2 of 4 I was feeling ok and probably somewhere near the top 5 when I hit the bedrock on a fast G-out and heard the too familiar hiss of air from my rear tire. I rolled on but all the air emptied and I was forced to put a tube in
The rest of the race was spent playing catch up and battling lapped traffic on the course. On my final lap I began to feel the fatigue from the previous laps but still managed a top 10 finish...barely.
The next morning was the first Kenda Cup West Race near San Diego. As I drove into the mountains just outside of the venue I was shocked to see snow everywhere, icy roads, freezing temps, yikes! Arriving at the venue was more of the same, snow and mud and a bunch of mountain bikers.
The xc course was covered in 6 + inches of snow and the organizers decided to close the course, and instead have an abbreviated course around the parking lot. The course layout was lame, but I think the organizers did what they could considering the conditions.
Arriving on the start line late I was again offered a prime starting position right up front and happily inserted myself there.
Bang we were off and racing! I actually led the pack down the first quarter mile of road before they swallowed me up so that was completely unexpected and kinda cool...until we hit the water crossing. As the officials re routed the course all the snow up in the mountains was quickly melting and flooding the stream we would cross five times during the race. This was possibly the deepest water crossing I have ever experienced in an xc race. Completely rideable but freezing cold and extremely deep.
By the second lap every wave of racer had been sent out onto our short track cyclocross mud fest! So besides the river and giant mud bogs I was now battling 400 racers all on a single 5 mile loop. In all my years racing I have never done anything like this in my life.
I think the pics from this race tell the real story. Basically my bike stayed together, my body failed, and I finished near the rear. Not my best results but a very fun weekend of racing anywho and a truly crazy race experience.
Next weekend's race in near Tucson on a military base, rumor is it's the funnest course on the circuit!
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