Meat?... I like Meat!!
Funny title for a blog, but its the Meat of the MTB race season. Since Canada Cups its been Crazy!! Three week training block in record heat and humidity and mental preparing for the peak part of the season. Those races consisted of a trip to Wisconsin with Jordon for a stop on the Pro XCT Tour, Then two world cups for me (Seamus) and then I headed out to National Championships in Ketchum, Idaho. phew its been a long few weeks of race recovery cycle. I'll Start with Wisconsin:
Wisconsin went...well i guess the only word would be BAD. The trip was great (Thanks to Dave with host housing, transportation, food and humor) but the racing was not what Jordon and I expected. After coming of good races and training we were sure that a good race was in store. One thing i have learned over racing the past few years is to not expect anything and expect the unexpected. Cliche but true. Anyways back to the race report. I think this is the best one on the Pro XCT circuit. It shows the course builders and promoters put a lot of effort into the event. Tight fast single track down hill's, open power sections, steep switch back climbs and last but certainly not least, rowdy crowds to cheer you on!! The race for Jordon and I was short lived. After a lap Jordon withdrew from the race and after having Human and bike Mechanical problems I dropped out in hopes to stay fresh for the remaining three weeks of racing.
Next stop was U23 World cup in Mt. St. Anne Quebec. This was my second world cup on my career but i went into the race not to worried about out comes or results. I was confident that i was going to race well but knew it was going to be super fast from the start and kept things realistic. The wet Quebec summer has left the race track with a slippery mud on every rock and root making the wooded sections almost unrideable. The Race was fast right from the start. Starting from the back and trying to move up was going to be monstrous goal. After the first of five 5KM lap it was clear i still was feeling the effects of travel form the previous week and the heat on the open ski slope climbs. Soon i was riding in the last ten positions at the back of the race trying to survive this brutal course. I finished up on lead lap in 35th place. Definitely not the result i was looking for or capable of but used it as a character building experience.
Things were looking up the next weekend at my "home town" world cup in Windham, NY. I say home town because i live 20minutes from the venue. I was feeling recovered and fresh, the race course was riding so fast, almost no mud and everything was flowing perfect. Its got to be one of the best tracks out there along with Wisconsin Pro XCT. There are over 20 Bridges on the course and the downhills flow wicked fast. Everything was awesome race day. Warm up was great, i felt focused and the home town crowd cheering hard for me. There's nothing more inspiring. I got off to a slower than normal start but after the first lap made up huge amounts of ground moving from some where in the 50's to mid 20th position. Every time thorough the start finish the crowd would go crazy. I could hear the announcer Larry Longo on the loud speaker talking me up and getting the crowd pumped for when i come through for my next lap. That cheering can carry you a long way up that mountain. I finished in 27Th place after starting last row. Finally a solid race in the books after some hard luck two weeks in a row. A good sign for National Championships less than a week away.
The Final and most important race of the "Meaty" part of the season was U23 National Championships. Nationals this year were held in the ski town of Ketchum, Idaho around 6000' at the base of the mountain and starting line. I'm not sure how high the race climbed but anything above 5000' and you can feel its effects. The race course was really uninspiring. Right off the start line you climbed 10-12 Min's straight up a loose fire road climb that if was any steeper you were couldn't keep traction with the rear wheel, then straight back down the mountain on loose over hard pack scary fast single track decent to the start finish area. Not much thought put into this track!! I wasn't worried by it though. Everyone had to ride it. The only thing was that I was at a disadvantage. Coming from Sea level to 7000' and trying to perform is tough. So my strategy was to be steady from the start and keep moving up as the race progressed. It seemed to work. After 3 laps i was gaining ground. Riders who went out to hard were walking the climb or blowing corners on the decent. I felt the best on the 5th and final lap picking up another three positions finishing in 11th place. Not bad for a flat lander. A handful of the riders in the top 10 were from altitude so i figured at a theoretical sea level National Championships i would have been inside the top 10 or even on the podium which was what i was gunning for but 11th is better than blowing up.
Now its a well deserved rest period to prepare for the late summer MTB action and preparation for Cyclocross!! Yupers i let the word Cyclocross slip but its a month and half away. Buy your Muck boots and dust off the cow bells!!
-Powell
Wisconsin went...well i guess the only word would be BAD. The trip was great (Thanks to Dave with host housing, transportation, food and humor) but the racing was not what Jordon and I expected. After coming of good races and training we were sure that a good race was in store. One thing i have learned over racing the past few years is to not expect anything and expect the unexpected. Cliche but true. Anyways back to the race report. I think this is the best one on the Pro XCT circuit. It shows the course builders and promoters put a lot of effort into the event. Tight fast single track down hill's, open power sections, steep switch back climbs and last but certainly not least, rowdy crowds to cheer you on!! The race for Jordon and I was short lived. After a lap Jordon withdrew from the race and after having Human and bike Mechanical problems I dropped out in hopes to stay fresh for the remaining three weeks of racing.
Next stop was U23 World cup in Mt. St. Anne Quebec. This was my second world cup on my career but i went into the race not to worried about out comes or results. I was confident that i was going to race well but knew it was going to be super fast from the start and kept things realistic. The wet Quebec summer has left the race track with a slippery mud on every rock and root making the wooded sections almost unrideable. The Race was fast right from the start. Starting from the back and trying to move up was going to be monstrous goal. After the first of five 5KM lap it was clear i still was feeling the effects of travel form the previous week and the heat on the open ski slope climbs. Soon i was riding in the last ten positions at the back of the race trying to survive this brutal course. I finished up on lead lap in 35th place. Definitely not the result i was looking for or capable of but used it as a character building experience.
Things were looking up the next weekend at my "home town" world cup in Windham, NY. I say home town because i live 20minutes from the venue. I was feeling recovered and fresh, the race course was riding so fast, almost no mud and everything was flowing perfect. Its got to be one of the best tracks out there along with Wisconsin Pro XCT. There are over 20 Bridges on the course and the downhills flow wicked fast. Everything was awesome race day. Warm up was great, i felt focused and the home town crowd cheering hard for me. There's nothing more inspiring. I got off to a slower than normal start but after the first lap made up huge amounts of ground moving from some where in the 50's to mid 20th position. Every time thorough the start finish the crowd would go crazy. I could hear the announcer Larry Longo on the loud speaker talking me up and getting the crowd pumped for when i come through for my next lap. That cheering can carry you a long way up that mountain. I finished in 27Th place after starting last row. Finally a solid race in the books after some hard luck two weeks in a row. A good sign for National Championships less than a week away.
The Final and most important race of the "Meaty" part of the season was U23 National Championships. Nationals this year were held in the ski town of Ketchum, Idaho around 6000' at the base of the mountain and starting line. I'm not sure how high the race climbed but anything above 5000' and you can feel its effects. The race course was really uninspiring. Right off the start line you climbed 10-12 Min's straight up a loose fire road climb that if was any steeper you were couldn't keep traction with the rear wheel, then straight back down the mountain on loose over hard pack scary fast single track decent to the start finish area. Not much thought put into this track!! I wasn't worried by it though. Everyone had to ride it. The only thing was that I was at a disadvantage. Coming from Sea level to 7000' and trying to perform is tough. So my strategy was to be steady from the start and keep moving up as the race progressed. It seemed to work. After 3 laps i was gaining ground. Riders who went out to hard were walking the climb or blowing corners on the decent. I felt the best on the 5th and final lap picking up another three positions finishing in 11th place. Not bad for a flat lander. A handful of the riders in the top 10 were from altitude so i figured at a theoretical sea level National Championships i would have been inside the top 10 or even on the podium which was what i was gunning for but 11th is better than blowing up.
Now its a well deserved rest period to prepare for the late summer MTB action and preparation for Cyclocross!! Yupers i let the word Cyclocross slip but its a month and half away. Buy your Muck boots and dust off the cow bells!!
-Powell
posted by Giant Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Team at
9:56 AM
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