Camp Hilbert #1 Race Report

While all you roadies were out there in Walkersville dancing in the wind, we MTB'ers were enjoying a beautiful day down in Maidens, VA at Camp Hilbert. After all the rain on Friday, one would think that any trail would be too muddy to ride on but this was just not the case at Camp Hilbert. The trails were perfect except for one 30-40' section about halfway through the course. There was a large amount of water and mud there but you could not ask for a trail in better shape than the rest of the course. That being said, I was racing in the Sport Master 45+ race which was starting at 12:10. I was the only geezer signed up for this race on Bikereg for the longest time but at the very end I believe there were seven of us pre-registered. When I checked in today it looked like there were about 10 folks on the list including race day registrations. I was liking my chances for the win when I was the only one signed up but as folks joined in my chances were getting pretty slim. Especially when one of the guys raced with me at Blue Ridge School who was ~4 minutes ahead of me after the first lap. I am sure he would have finished farther ahead of me if I hadn't DNF'd with my shoulder injury. Speaking of my injury, I was feeling quite uneasy about the shoulder for a couple of reasons. Obviously I didn't want to crash and further injure it and I was worried about being able to lift the front wheel in the few technical parts of Camp Hilbert.

Anyway, at the start, the Sport Masters 45+ men were the second to the last group scheduled to start. While we were lining up there were only four of us and two Clydesdale ready to start behind us. Mark, the promoter, asked the Clydesdales if they wanted to start with us and they said yes so there were six of us on the line. Of course, I'm thinking I like my chances of being on the podium because all I have to do is finish ahead of one of these other three guys. I didn't think I had a chance against the guy who was thrashing me at BRS but I knew nothing about the other two so I thought maybe. My chances dropped pretty quickly after the start when all three of the other guys in my race and the two Clydesdales took off leaving me in sixth place. Now I'm not the fastest starter needless to say. My strength is my stamina. I know I can throw out three pretty much equal laps and I won't fade much at the end. The trick is to stay close enough to pass someone before the end. BTW, I tested the shoulder in my pre-ride popping some wheels and it was good so the shoulder was not the problem. So the guy in fifth place is the guy that was thrashing me two weeks at BRS so I thinking top three is probably not going to happen this week, but maybe fourth? So I decided I would try to keep him in my sight and see if he could hold his pace. The first lap I did fairly well in this regard. He was about fifty feet ahead of me the entire lap. I was getting closer to him on the climbs but he would power away from me on the descents. Camp Hilbert doesn't have anything really steep or long in the way of climbs and descents. It is mostly fast, a true power course. Early in the first lap, I came up on a female enduro rider and asked her very politely if I could pass. I think I said "I would like to pass, please, if you don't mind" or something like She said sure and then proceeded to stay right in the middle of the trail. I stayed patient and surveyed the trail ahead and then said "How about just after that big tree on the left?" She went off on me yelling something about that she knows I want to pass, etc. Right after the tree I accelerated and went by her on the left as she did not slow down at all or move over at all. As I went by her I said "You don't have to get upset, I was only trying to tell you when and where." To which she replied, "I've been out here since 9:30." I was thinking that if racing your bike for two and a half hours is going to turn you into the wicked witch of the west maybe you should consider the XC race instead, but of course I didn't say anything.

Right at the end of the first lap I clipped out on a rooted climb and lost sight of the guy I was hoping to keep in sight. That was when I thought, I guess its fourth but I was hoping to press harder and get him in sight again. I was encountering and passing a lot of the Sport 35-45 folks who started two minutes ahead of us so that was making it harder to catch up. I kept looking ahead but didn't see the guy I was looking for. In the last quarter of the lap I saw him in the distance. He was in an area that I had gotten real close to him on the first lap so that gave me the incentive to push harder. I was hoping to get close and take my chances on the last lap. He was riding up the same rooted climb that I had unclipped on in the first lap as I reached the bottom. I saw him clip out just as I got to his wheel. He said, "I'm sorry" as I hopped off my bike and starting running up the hill past him. I told him "it's OK" but I could tell he was in a world of hurt. So I hopped back on my bike and tried to create as big a gap as possible. As I crossed the finish line I looked back and he was about one hundred fifty feet behind me. I was thinking that the only way I wouldn't finish third is if I crashed or had a mechanical. But I rode a clean third lap and was cautious where I needed to be. So I finished in third place. Not long after I crossed the line the awards were being handed out. I won a $15 gift certificate to 3Sports.