Last Saturday my new MWI teammate Ira Brown and I hit Hwy 44 up to St. James for the UFD MO State Single Speed Champs. Neither of us even knew St. James had single track, but turns out there is around 8 miles of single track well hidden on the southeast corner of town.
There was little expectation leading into this; it was just great having Ira back and any day on the bike is a better one than not. Decent turnout with some fast guys on hand and some fun solid promoters (Eric and Dan from Route 66 Bikes). Temps were nice and cool for the 3 lap (7 miles per) 21 mile race.
After a lite warmup it was time to go. Fast start on open gravel roads for about 1/2 mile before hitting the single track. Oh, turns out the single track was tight, twisty, and tight (did I mention tight?). This was not so good for me as I need it a little more open with pedaling and not so much handling, but it was what is was so we are going. Hit the single track around 4th or 5th with Ira right on my tail. After the first lap I was 5th and feeling like I rode way about my head actually flowing pretty well on the tight stuff. 2nd lap starts and quickly three guys fly by and I jumped on the back holding on for dear life. The leader gaped the rest and dangled off the front about 20-30 seconds (we could see him from time to time as the trail doubled back). A DJR (or DRJ, not sure the team name) guy leading our trio was killing it, but I was able to dangle on the back. We hit a end of the lap (about a 1/4 mile gravel road) and the DJR blows (felt bad as he was killing it) and the Team Segal guy and I get a gap. I stopped at the beginning of the last lap to grab a new bottle (and a gel) while the Segal guy took off. I chased and 1/2 thru caught and dropped the Segal guy. Rode well the rest of the lap and nabbed 6th at 1 hour 51 minutes. The 5th and 4th place guy were less than 1 minute ahead, but the front 3 were gone... Ira rode well getting 9th not to far back..
Much like the couple marathon races I felt better as the race progressed, but the concentration was the most intense I've had in a race for some time due to the tight single track. Had a lot of fun, but with the rising temps of summer that was probably my last mtb event of '12. Mission accomplished for this season as my handling is the best it's ever been and my fitness for longer events was solid without overly taxing my body; the base is laid!
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With that said I'm now looking for a month of crit/circuit races on the road to get a little leg speed going. This weekend is Tulsa Tough and as of now I'm doing both days in the Masters field. In a couple weeks is Tour of KC (with one of my favorite courses at Longview CC Saturday and a routine crit on Sunday) which dropped from three days to two and then Tour of Lawrence with the 'monster' circuit on KU's campus Saturday and a routine crit on Sunday. Having no interval session with my HR above 165 (threshold is 184) I am looking to 'hang on' at each of these and simple improve form (i.e. results/placings will not happen).
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After that it's a couple weeks laying low then building to 'the season' in mid-September.
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