Back on the trizz-ain

 I haven’t raced my bike for what seems like forever and today I finally had enough of my wimpy, can’t-do attitude, so on this, the 25th of June (also Bike to Work Day if you live in the “bubble”), I took my new mountain bike to task with the Wednesday night short track race, sanctioned by none other than my Alma mater’s fiercest rival, CU Cycling. Wow, that was a long sentence. So, Jesus Christ, short track racing is intense! It’s like the first lap of a road crit where you’re fighting for position and pinning it to try and get to the front…but for the whole race! Add to that a dusty course, super tight corners and 50 other racers and you’ve got a harried 25 minute sufferfest. Going to into it I thought “25 minutes? that doesn’t seem like much,” but when you’re out absolutely busting ass to hang on, 25 minutes feels like juuuust the right amount of time. As for the race itself, I got a tremendously crappy start, it was pure chaos with that many dudes trying to clip in at once and get a good position. I bumped into some people and then about 50 feet later there were the first of several little rhythm jumps and then you hit tight single track where passing is largely fruitless. I think I kept my position of somewhere between 20-30th the entire race. My pedals definitely need to be ratcheted down because through countless corners my foot would just slip out – a total momentum killer and an invitation to crash out either yourself or some unlucky rider near you – sometimes both. I think I dumped it 2 or 3 times, losing 3-5 places each time and then having to bury myself to catch up and pass the same 3-5 people half a lap later. The final dump-truck happened when I found myself screeching through a corner on the second-to-last lap when all of I sudden I missed the turn and went plowing into the course tape, resulting in a less than graceful tumble (withcut-up knee, to boot) and a mouthful of white, Shimano plastic. I’m guessing I finished somewhere in the 25-30 range and while I’m never happy finishing halfway down the results list, I learned some valuable lessons tonight that I’ll take with me for the next races. Fitness-wise I know I can finish top 10 so I’ll be gunning for that next Wednesday. Part of my buying the new mountain bike was to race these short tracks and after not being in Boulder the past couple summers, I’m so thrilled I’m here now and out racing them! The races are packed with riders, spectators, beer guzzlers, and the entry fees are just right. Tomorrow will probably be a lunch time Betasso ride.