Well, that was 'fun'

I spent most of the week in NYC, which means, not much sleep, overeating and no exercise. Ooh, I also got to go to the MLS All Star Game vs. Manchester United, that was good fun. It also meant less sleep, since it was in Jersey.

It could have meant even less sleep, since I was invited to the after party at the Highline Ballroom by my adidas eyewear contact (they sponsor RaceUSCS) This party included all the players. I made it to teh WTC Path station at midnight and decided to go to the hotel instead of the party, cause I'm lame, and old, and tired)

I got back to SLC late Thursday night, ironically, Lyna left SLC for Kentucky, early Thursday morning.

Anywho, Saturday was the ICUP finals at Snowbasin. I have only ridden the trails there once, 3 years ago for the 50k and did not get a chance to pre-ride. Waking up at 6am to drive up was brutal as well, cause I like to sleep till noon.

I planned on riding a lap to warm up, but, alas, I rode the first 2 miles of the course and turned around. Did a few efforts on the pavement and lined up for the start. Luckily, S-Day was there and accepted my offer of being my bottle handler, otherwise I was going to carry 3 bottles.

There were only 6 of us in Expert old guys (40+). I was happy the Chris B. lined up with us, always enjoy racing with him. Jason, Mark, Mikey and Alex joined the fun as well. We took off, wit Chris and I doing a literal Parade wave, then Alex took off, so I had to go to the front. Built my normal, it is just the start Bob gap and made it into the one track first, i ramped it back a bit and about 1 - 2 miles in Jason and Chris were closing on me. Right before Jason got on my wheel and we got stuck for a bit behind one of his team mates, my seat twisted to the left and then down, I rode it for a while, but it was bothersome, so about halfway into lap one, I pull over, catch my breath and raise and tighten my seat, Jason, Chris and several other category racers who i had passed earlier, get around me. As far as I can tell, i was stopped for about 90 seconds.

Here is where the mental game starts in a race. Feeling good, not red lined, at the front, something goes wrong, get it fixed, get going, one can easily give up and accept their current position. Immediatley upon restarting, i told my self "I am still going to win." I had 22 miles left, on a course I hadn't pre-ridden. I calmed myself and kept it steady on the remainder of lap 1. The descent to the lap zone was a bit brutal on lap one for me, I felt like my front suspension was blown, it wasn't, that DH was just rough, full of braking bumps and rocks.

Heading into lap 2 I could see Chris and Jason ahead, likely 1 minute or so up, so i kept pushing. Lap 2 the descent was a bit better, as I knew it and I was flowing a bit better.

Starting lap 3 I was a bit under a minute behind Jason and Chris. So, I started burying myself on the climbs and flats. Not yet taking risks on the descents. Towards the top I was about 5 seconds behind Chris, So on the descent, I started taking some risks, a bit into the descent he let me by and I tried to get him to get on my wheel, he said later he was not feeling it on the descent, I was. Getting close to the bottom, I could see Jason, 2 switchbacks ahead, then one ahead, on the run out to the beginning of the finish climb he was just about 5 seconds ahead, I completely went into and above the red to close the distance and about halfway up the finish climb I passed him and kept going, my legs were on the verge of cramping and if he would have had any surge left I would of been let in the dust, alas, he didn't and I crossed the line for the win about 3 seconds up on him. I have never buried my self like that at the end of a race before, likely cause i don't try hard enough, on Saturday I did and it paid off. My Heart Rate spiked above 190 on the finish. Scary.

Anything can happen in a race, just keep pushing. I tell people this all the time, amazing what you can do when you don't check out mentally.

The picture below is between the time Chris let me by abnd the bottom of the descent, i look kinda determined. At this point I had a repeating mantra in my head, 'Ima catch him, I'm gonna win!!!"