Revenge of the Rattle Snake

(See attached file: ROTR.jpg)

Where should I begin? One thing I knew I had working against me from the start was the goal of by 6:30. We came pretty close and left at 7:15. It was wet, rainy, windy and chilly on the trip down. Almost seemed like the prefect storm for a race in Davis. The goal was to get to Davis by 10:00 for the 11:00 start and we were so close to making it. At 9:50 and only a 1/4 of a mile to go traffic was stopped at a 10:00 Ruth decided to jump on her bike and ride down to get us registered. Finally at 10:20 traffic started to move and I found somewhere to park and found out what the holdup was caused by. The Leaf Peepers Festival was a holding a 5K run with a huge turnout. So after a hectic scramble to get ready in the rain I was finally ready and headed down to the pre race meeting. That's when I heard something that I always hate hearing. " Make sure you take a map with you" we marked the course yesterday and you never know if anyone sabotaged it. I know it's hard to mark a course and when it's a 40 mile race it's even harder. So here's my problem the I have no map reading skills so if I'm off course I wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to get back on course. What I have learned in the past is always try to follow a local or at least someone that knows the way.

But at 11:00 on the dot it was race time and we were headed down route 32 for a little bit onto a gravel road. For the first 3-4 miles it seemed like a bad course for a single speed and I was wishing I had a little steeper gear. But finally I got into some single track and everything was going get until I realized that I was on Mountainside. If you ever rode this trail it's pretty hard to forget. I don't think it's to technical but it's a gentle downhill grade but it's littered with baby head rocks and just beats you up and without any rest until the end. Nearing the bottom I happened to see a couple of familiar faces TJ and Nick Waite were pulled over and fixing the flats together how special. Finally at the bottom I was looking forward to the long climb out. At the top of the climb was the first aid station and Matt said I was 5th. I was pretty happy cause up until then didn't have any idea where I was. This is were we turned onto Plantation trail another one of the world famous in Davis. At this point I was feeling pretty good. The trail was rocky, rooty and wet but for some reason I felt like I was riding pretty well. Funny thing is sometimes when you think your riding well your really not because you either get caught or dropped. But today at this point I was still catching and passing people. I passed three people and had the 4th in site and it turned out to be Rob Spreng after riding with him for a little I passed him. He stayed close and we passed someone hiking in the trail and he told us that aid station 2 was only about 1-1/2 away. I popped out on to route 32 and got to the aid station first and grabbed and fresh bottle and something to eat. As I was heading up the road I looked back and someone was right on my tail. I had to look twice because it wasn't Rob anymore it was Nick and Rob was right behind him. The three of us headed up the road together and then when the trail headed down I just was spun out and they were out of sight.

Something else that happened very soon is when all the technical skills that I seemed to have disappeared. The trail was freshly cut and at some points it felt like I never rode a bike before. It didn't come soon enough but I came to the 3rd aid station and didn't even stop. But I felt allot more comfortable because this is where we got onto to the State Championship course which I've raced before. I heard someone saying that we would be riding Moon Rocks in the opposite direction. I was hoping that it was going to be a little more rideable in this direction. But I can found out quickly that I was wrong. But all I knew is that I had to be getting close to the finish and finally after 4 hours of riding there it was. Just like that it was over I finished 3rd overall and first SS .

It seemed to rain for the entire race but as soon as you finish and stop you get cold really fast. So I quickly headed to the car and got cleaned up and grabbed something to eat. I also decided to move the car to the other side of town so when Ruth finished she wouldn't have to ride as far. Just as I was parking the car I looked over and was surprised to see her riding down the street. What happened is Betsy and her both missed a turn early on in the race and had to back track and got to aid station after the cutoff and were sent down route 32 to the finish. We were hanging out under the tent and had some great food from Sirianni's Cafe and some awesome beer from Mountain State Brewing Co. That's when Gunnar and Betsy talked us into racing the Red Sled at the Month of Mud cycle cross race at Raccoon Park on Sunday. Stay tuned to see how it turns out. Thanks Blackwater Bikes

J