Big
NORBA Championship
Series Race #3
There was no doubt in my mind
during the tortuous 35 mile drive through switchbacks up to
The town of
One out of
every two bikes in
The Cross Country Courses would climb ten miles to the summit and then return on a 3 mile descent. The climbing was mostly fire roads but the organizers (Team Big Bear) managed to include several sections of singletrack along the way. There were several steep climbs, and one area quickly became know as the “Hike a Bike” section. I doubt if even any pros rode it. The descents were a bit shocking. Some of the trails had just been cut and were full of loose strewn rock and ruts. Others just went straight down the mountain on a very narrow ski trail aptly called “Fall Line”. While I considered several sections barely rideable, most racers blasted the technical downhills with wild abandon. Junior X would do three laps (one lap a bit shortened), and Expert would do two.
Colt’s Cross Country Race on Friday saw nearly 40 hot shot Juniors step up to the line. Most notable was the large Balance Devo team. Colt rode a good race, consistently in about 15th place. Many of the kids ahead of him were the 18 year olds planning on turning semi-pro next year. On the final descent, Colt flatted and ran over ½ mile to the finish, losing several places. He placed 19th. I later learned that Colt crashed at least three times (he had two impacts with trees and did a “Jan Ulrich” into a ditch). Fortunately he was not hurt.
This race totally exhausted Colt. He was falling asleep at dinner and could not eat. When we got back to the lodge, he fell asleep immediately. This was not very encouraging since my event was the next morning!
I had decided to just ride my own race and (hopefully) avoid going redline right out of the chute. The ten mile climb would be hard enough without having to recover from nonsense. I had not pre-ridden the course so I was pleasantly surprised by the first 3 miles. There was actually some pretty cool singletrack. But, once you hit the fire road it was up, up, and away. When I reached the “Hike a Bike” the first time a Semi-Pro woman passed me. We would stick together for almost a whole lap. The first time on the descent was a bit of a shocker. Everyone had said it was difficult but it was almost impossible to keep the bike upright at times. I dismounted through one particularly hairy section…..(glad I did as a rider behind me crashed). It seemed the descent was endless. How could we have climbed so much? I was happy coming through the start/finish for the second lap because I had “survived”. I would later learn that perhaps half of my field did not finish. Believe me; I gave quitting a lot of thought too.
I finished 5th in the
55+, enough to qualify for the National Championships at Mammoth. Every guy who beat me was from
My Short Track event on Sunday was chaos. Everyone over the age of 30 raced together, something like 50 riders. My only goal was not to get pulled (if you get lapped). The course began with a run straight up the mountain for about 100 yards, then a 180 down the hill, then a traverse, followed by a foray into a pine grove (no trail existed here), a downhill through lots of dirt and ruts, and finally a paved section of turns back to the start/finish. I felt lucky to have my new Cloud Nine rear shock that could be locked into a “soft tail” mode. This gave me one inch of suspension which was perfect. I constantly flipped my Manitou Skareb from the fully locked out position to fully open as I went from pavement to dirt. There were lots of riders bumping in the turns, but nothing that caused any crashes. I finished about 13th overall and 2nd in my age category. These Short Track races are really a lot of fun.
Colt started the Short Track with the top 20 Junior X racers. These kids are fast. A day earlier the top Juniors passed 2/3 of the Semi-Pro field even though they started 5 minutes back! I thought this course would be great for Colt. He consistently ran between 11th and 13th place. He picked off one rider in the final road piece to finish 12th. Most of the older kids who beat him will be gone next year so Colt knows his time will come. Since returning home, Colt has been in contact with the coach of Ritchey Nova. He has been invited to join the team for the second half of the season. No decision has been made yet. Colt will continue to race for NEBC in any road events he tries.
The Pro races were a blast to watch. The Time Trial started at the top of the mountain and descended seven miles. The winning times were under 15 minutes! Perhaps the most fun was watching the women’s short track race where Luna Chix Shonny Vanlandingham and teammate Katerina Hanusova worked over the entire field. On the last lap, Shonny put it in overdrive for the win. Kona rider Ryan Trebon spent a lot of time with Colt, encouraging him about being tall. Ryan is 6’5” and finished 5th in GC, almost winning the Cross Country Event. He rode in on his rim but was passed by Trek’s Travis Brown. Tinker showed up to ride the grueling Marathon Event, two 27 mile loops that would include climbing the mountain at least four times. He finished second.
Next on the agenda is
