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Davos Dash - Mountain Bike Uphill Time Trial - CycleTime Trial


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Vail, Colorado
United States
Vail Recreation District
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 20m 56s
Overall Rank = 1/34
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

5:45 PM race. Loaded the mountain bike and headed to the race site. When I got there I couldn't get my front tire on. The disk break pads closed up and the disk wouldn't go in. I was in a bit of a panic because I only had about 10 minutes before the start and I still needed to register. I used USAT card to open the pads and I got the tire on. Tried to ride the bike to registration but there was a substantial amount of rubbing. Luckily, I ran into my friend who happens to be a bike mechanic and he fixed it (I know nothing about mountain bike maintenance). I got registered up and to the starting line with just enough time to settle down.
Event warmup:

I did a 30 mile ride a few hours before the race. Had a Red Bull and found my category and waited for my start.
Bike
  • 20m 56s
  • 3.65 miles
  • 10.46 mile/hr
Comments:

I don't own a mountain bike. I borrowed my a bike from a friend particularly for this race. I did a pre race ride of the course as hard as I could on Monday and today (Wed) was my second ride on the bike. At least I knew just how hard this climb was going to be. I was very hot out and the sun was scorching. I raced in the Sport (CAT3 class). I had mixed feelings about this because The two guys that I ride with from the Bike Service (Carlos and Ciro) were in the Expert class. I wanted to ride with them, but they are "experts" and mountain bike race all the time. Ciro Just finished the Fire Cracker 50 in like 4 and half hours and Carlos races every mountain bike race in the Vail Series and is competitive. I checked out the previous years race results and I was pretty confused. I could race Masters/Vet, Sport, Sport Vet, Beginner... and others. Based on my pre-race run of the course, I thought that the Sport category would be best. The pros and experts started first and then the women pros and experts went 30 seconds later followed by Sport/SportVet/and Masters in the next wave. My wave was huge and I knew that I would have to get out fast and be with the leaders on the paved part of the course because once we hit the dirt the ride gets steep and technical and passing was going to be difficult.

The start felt like a 5K... Immediately my heart rate soared. About 5 guys and myself took the lead, I didn't jump to the front and just tried to feel out the breathing of the guys around me and to settle my own breathing too. The paved road gets really steep and I could feel myself naturally moving towards the front. A few hundred meters from the dirt I pulled into the lead. There was this guy in a silver kit that I passed and he seemed very fit and strong. On the first steep rocky climb, silver guy passed me. I made a bad shift and lost some ground. At the top of this climb there is a couple of hundred meter descent with a hard left turn through a river. I kept Silver in front of me and I powered through the river and had some momentum going into the next climb... I started to pass some of the expert/pro women and a guys at this point. I knew a really steep pitch is coming up so I made a move on Silver. I passed him and started climbing the rocky pitch... towards the top I saw Carlos and as I passed him he cheered me on... It was so dusty and my lungs were burning... I pedaled on and soon enough I passed Ciro and he asked for water and I gave him my bottle and told him to keep it. The course flattens somewhat for a half mile or so and I tried to power a bit but there was so many riders to pass that it made it difficult and I just cruised this section with the other riders. I knew I was in the lead of my category and I continued to pick off experts... I was riding towards the top and making good time as the pack thinned out quite a bit now. The finish is a series of steep little pitches with one super-steep pitch to the top. This pitch is about 300 meters and a true lung burner. I had intended to drop to my middle chain ring for this but went to the granny. I was afraid to shift back up so I just spun as hard as I could. I kept hearing people yelling for the guy behind me... He had been on my wheel for the whole race but I never saw him, I could only hear him. I didn't know if he was in my class or not, but I couldn't let him pass me. I ended up beating him by 1 second and he was in my category after all!
What would you do differently?:

Better shifting. Might have had a faster time if I raced expert since it would have been less congested on the course. And yes, I need more practice, but I have no complaints. I took 35-40 seconds off my practice run from Monday and I went as hard as I could for that run.
Post race
Warm down:

Went to the bar where I work for awards. We hosted the post party so it was fun having 300 or so dirty racers in there drinking up!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience and using a borrowed bike, I had some stupid shifting issues. Not the bikes fault, my fault

Event comments:

The Vail Race Series on Wednesday nights is something I would love to do. I did this race and enjoyed the spirit immensely. Next year, I would like to be in the whole series.




Last updated: 2009-07-17 12:00 AM
Biking
00:20:56 | 03.65 miles | 10.46 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/
Overall: 1/34
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: A steep uphill time trial on pavement for the first mile and then on a dusty dirt service road with huge gully's all the way up. Some very steep and rocky grades including a small river crossing.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2009-07-23 1:56 PM

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Expert
622
500100
Conifer, Colorado
Subject: Davos Dash - Mountain Bike Uphill Time Trial


2009-07-23 2:17 PM
in reply to: #2304283

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Regular
65
2525
Subject: RE: Davos Dash - Mountain Bike Uphill Time Trial
wooooohoooooooooo!
congratulations!
2009-07-23 7:15 PM
in reply to: #2304283

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Expert
968
5001001001001002525
Wellington, North Island
Subject: RE: Davos Dash - Mountain Bike Uphill Time Trial
Wow! Great job on the race. Congrats on taking first!
2009-07-24 10:37 PM
in reply to: #2304283

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Expert
892
500100100100252525
Subject: RE: Davos Dash - Mountain Bike Uphill Time Trial
You da man, Dime! And to think I shared a room with such a stud...

Congrats, man.
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