My long weekend in Prescott, Az began Friday morning at the "mandatory" pre-race meeting. Followed by the evening's "mandatory" Fat Tire Crit aka Road Race on Mountain Bikes. We were to do 30 minutes plus 3 laps on a very hilly road course. The video can explain it better than I can although its a bit difficult to see just how steep these roads were.
2011 Whiskey Off-Road Pro Men Fat tire Crit from Yuki Ikeda on Vimeo.
It was hard for sure but I was able to maintain a mid pack position until I was pulled near the end. A little more fun than the flat road crits I was used to and it made me consider road racing again after many years away.
I felt pretty good despite the 5500 ft elevation and was looking forward to the big event on Sunday.
Saturday was spent enjoying the town and the local trails, eating, resting, a hike with the dogs and someone special.
The trails at this altitude are more like what I grew up racing and riding on. Smooth dirt, trees, roots, logs, stream crossings...not the rocks and sand of Phoenix I have become accustomed to. The racecourse itself is impressive and can break a man in many ways. Altitude, Dangerous Descents, Unending climbs, it had all 3.
The morning of the race I was nervous, the starting grid was packed with dozens of the fast guys from all over, sunny skies and temps in the high 40s, there was a cowboy with a shotgun ready to send us off.
80 racers had entered this event and without delay we were off and racing. The first 5 miles is road climbing and the pace was not too bad for most of it. As we approached the trailhead though the road steepened and the pack began to splinter. I counted about 40 guys ahead of me as we hit the singletrack and continued to climb up the mountain for another 5 miles. The trail was steepening and the dirt was loosening as we approached the top of the climb, guys were beginning to crack, pull out, walk. I was moving up and counted myself about in the mid 30s now after ascending non stop for 45 minutes. I was feeling fine about how the day was going but feeling the familiar pain that comes with this sort of fun.
Suddenly I began to struggle and before long I had some sort of bonk like I have never experienced in my life. Im still not sure what happened but I was happy to make it to the top of the mountain after nearly an hour.
Finally a downhill! This was a serious downhill too, nearly 9 miles with some really high speed loose sections, plenty of exposure, and really beautiful views...if only I had time to look. I passed a ton of people on this one and everything was good until the next climb. I began drinking and eating here, realizing I should have done that long ago and simply went backwards for the rest of the day as we aimed again for the sky. This 3 mile jeep road climb was STEEP and I was suffering quite badly. But after about 30 minutes of getting passed and gasping for breath I crested the top and began my descent 12 miles into Skull Valley. This was 12 miles of high speed fire road that just went on and on....and on. I was thankful to be pointed downhill but also knew that when I reached the bottom I had to turn around and climb back up. The road twisted and turned for miles without sight of a building or person, no racers in front or behind I was now just out there in the middle of nowhere racing my bike.
Near the bottom of the mountain I began to pass those ahead going back up and finally realized how far back I had fallen. into the mid 40s now and half the course to go. Including the 12 miles back up the fire road followed by the most awesome 8 miles of singletrack downhill back to town.
Climbing out of skull valley was pretty sad. I was hoping to have good legs after some food and drink and make up some time but I simply spun my way up in baby gears praying for the top while feeling bad. This went on for oh about an hour and it was misery. Near the top I knew it was mostly downhill so I gave it whatever was left and cruised into the finish in just under 4 hours for 46th place. The final singletrack downhill was especially sweet as we cruised through a burnt forest, down the mountain into several stream crossings, some rock gardens, and finally some road down to the finish.
It was a bad day on the bike but I was still happy to see the course, meet some new and old friends, and explore Prescott for the weekend.
This was also my first race on my new Superfly Hardtail. After 1o years racing full suspension I have decided it may be time for change. It's like learning how to ride again but this thing is light Show allat 20 lbs and feels fast on the climbs.
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