The whole enchilada

This last weekend was the Manitoc Big Valley Festival. I took the family up on Saturday to preview the course after the hard rains we had on Friday. It was pretty sloppy in some areas but was mostly dry for the race on Sunday. I cant say it's my favorite course, but it definately is a big area.
The singletrack sections were good, but they were laced together by open grass fields and roads. This course suited the strong riders, and the strong guys won with good margins. As for me on the otherhand, the race played out differntely. I started out good, and got the hole shot, despite trying to take it easy. I would have rather have just sat in and drafted on the long grass start section. Ever since racing in Florida years ago, I just can't make myself start slow.
I had not raced since June so I knew this race was going to be brutal on me, especially given the long distance and steep, muddy climbs. There was a long gravel climb going into the first section of real singletrack and I knew I wanted to be first in so I attacked on the hill and kept the pace high in the woods. I was opening a small gap in the tight stuff, and thinking it might be a good day afterall.
Then I hit the first tough climb and was passed by Lorson and another guy. No problem I thought, I will just hang back and bide my time. Unfortunatly, my legs had nothing going into lap 2 and by lap three I was cramping hard. At this point I was just in survival mode and no amount of gels would bring me back to life.
I got passed three times with 20 minutes to go and ended up 6th. Te series offers a yearly supply of Chipotle burritos to the winners, and each time a guy went by I just kept thinking...there goes my burrito.
Oh well, that's racing, sometimes you got legs and sometimes you don't. I will adjust my training accordingly and should be ready for the next Knob race, where the course is tight and suits me much better.
One thing for sure, the Zaskar has not let me down once all year. It's by far the best tight singletrack bike I have owned. I often find myself brushing trees lightly with my shoulders because I take such a tight line. This suits my riding style to a T.






































Photos credits:justysia on flicker. much thanks.