The race started up a gradual climb for maybe a ¼ mile before entering the singletrack that made up nearly all of the course. Another feature of this opening stretch was a fairly significant muddy section over the upper half that tried to slow you down just when you were fighting for position to enter the singletrack. I charged up the hill with the rest of the field, trying to hold my position through the sticky mud and be as far up as I could entering the singletrack. I certainly went out harder than I had at the first race of the season. I was moderately successful and entered the singletrack approximately mid-pack. This course was far less technical than the Dash Point course had been and really had only a few spots that were really muddy or rooty. I tried to push as hard as I could throughout the race, but kept developing bouts of nausea. Whether it was from effort or too big a breakfast, I’m not sure. I’d ease my pace a bit and then begin to feel better. For two and a half of the three laps, I felt pretty good, not great, but good enough for this point in the season. For that last half lap though, I really began to feel the effort and lost any sense of smoothness or flow on the trails. All my turn ins were late and I began to miss my lines. I made my way through it though and ended up 14th in the Sport 40-49 field. Definitely an improvement over a month earlier as was the gap to the leader. All in all, the training seems to be progressing right on schedule with my first road race less than two weeks away now and I’m excited for my “real” racing to begin. - Dave
Sunday was my second race of the year, on my favorite trails of the Westside Series. But after the second lap, I began to despise those trails, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
I started off this race feeling great on the beginning climb, able to keep up with some new competition in my Expert 18 and under category. But when I hit the mildly technical descents was when I felt unprepared for this race. I just had terrible flow through the mud and roots. At Dash Point, I knew I was the only one in my class. I still tried to pass as many experts as possible, but I didn’t push myself as hard through the rolling rooty hills as I did at Sammamish. I completed one lap, able to keep up with the middle field of the expert category when fatigue suddenly hit me. I had little energy for the short steep climbs and little energy to push myself through the mud fields. I felt like every line I picked was the worst way through a technical section. I just needed more time on single track before a race like that. Anyways, on the second half of my second lap, I went over my handlebars on a very rooty section. I came completely unclipped, and my bike took a couple bounces on some rocks. When I pushed myself up and retrieved my bike, I noticed the rear derailleur stuck in the rear wheel spokes. Carefully pulling, I managed to get the rear derailleur out of the spokes. I took a very quick look and everything looked okay. I thought I could maybe catch up to the pack. About 50 feet after my crash, I shifted all the way down to the small chain ring, ready to fly down the decent when my rear derailleur completely fell off my bike. The hanger was snapped in half. I looked up and saw Dave on the edge of the trail. We walked back to the car, and I got my second DNF ever in my racing career.
I’m happy I got this bike malfunction out of the way on a race that didn’t really matter. I view these Westside Races as practice races, and opportunities to train in race pace on single track. I still enjoyed a very fun trip with Dave and Cody, and still plan to race more Westside Races in the future. - Keelan
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