Change of Plans

All year I had been planning on travelling back home to Western New York to participate in the Raccoon Rally. A cycling event held in Allegany State Park this weekend, June 28-29, 2008. I did both the road race and the MTB race in last year's event and even though I sucked in the road race, I finished fourth in the MTB race (beginner). So I was determined to head back up there and at least podium this year. Enter VORS. The Virginia Off-Road Series is a year-long points competition at the various levels of the sport. I am participating in the beginner series and after the Xterra Urban Assault on June 14 I moved into first place in the competition. So instead of travelling to Western New York I decided to stay home and defend my lead in the VORS by participating in the Rappahannock Ridge Rumble today in Fredericksburg, VA.

For we beginners, it was advertised as one 9-mile lap starting at either 9:00 or 10:00 depending on which web site you believed. I decided just to get there early and maybe do a one lap pre-ride if the later start time proved true. I got to the gate on Wicklow Drive at around 7:25 a.m. and the gate was locked. No problem, I just hung out until someone showed up. At 7:49 a truck towing a trailer full of port-a-johns showed up so I knew the gate would be open soon. I registered, got my things together and took off on a pre-ride at around 8:30. I really took it easy on the pre-ride just scoping out the course and where the technical challenges were located. At one point, early on, there was a ramp to the right of a tree and a rooty curve downhill as the optional route or maybe it was the other way around. Well, I had ridden over what seemed to be a similar ramp at Rosaryville so a the last second I chose ramp. Bad choice, I wasn't ready to pull up on the wheel or jump when I hit the end of the ramp so my front wheel dropped and I end-o'ed and landed on my back. Another feature of the course is a long tunnel under I-95 along the ridge. It has about one-half inch of water running through it and has a layer of pebbles. Did I mention it was long? Other than missing a turn for the beginner course and the end-o the pre-ride went well. I got back at 9:25, toweled off, changed gloves (Did I mention it was hot?) and tried to chill out a little before the race.

The race got started right at 10:00. Since there were just about twelve total beginners they sent us all off at once. There was about a half-mile long gravel road to start and I ended up fifth entering the single track. My cadence was about 130 yet I couldn't close the gap at all and I had shifted all the way into my smallest cog. Finally I noticed my chain had slipped into the small crank. I shifted it back to the middle ring and then I was fine. I passed one of the four in front of me on the climb up to the ridge and then passed Ludek Kolesa, a guy who has been at a few of my races this year at the top of the ridge. I knew I was in third and was hoping to catch one or maybe both of the others, Going through the tunnel was nice because at race speed the water flew up onto your back and cooled you off. After the tunnel there was a dangerous side-hill part of the trail that I was a liitle sketchy with in the pre-ride but I was more worried with finding the last turn for the beginners. It was the one I missed on the pre-ride. Anyway, I wasn't paying enough attention to the trail and my left wheel went too low and dropped off the course and I flew headfirst into a log that was placed there to keep people from doing what I did (it was too small). After my head hit my shoulder smashed it pretty good, but I didn't feel the shoulder too much because my head hurt. After the head cleared I saw the torn skin on the shoulder but by then I was almost finished. Sure enough, within a minute I was back at the road and crossing the finish line. I ended up first in the beginner men 35+ and third overall beginner. I got to choose first from the schwag table (some Hammer Gel and a flask) and there was pork barbeque and a couple kegs of Blue and Grey brew on tap. What's not to like?