The land of Canaan

This past week was definitely a trying one. I was one of the family members who had to make the decision on how long to prolong a life. It is not a decision that I would wish on anyone. It's gotten me down and I really needed a getaway weekend. So I hopped in the car and went down to Canaan Valley and did a couple of races. The first on Saturday was a road race with some extremely nasty climbing. We began under the shadows of the windmills at the top of the ridge. Not really being in a race frame of mind, it quickly became a race of survival. The final climb was a steep 5 miler that I would compare to the grade of the Brasstown Bald climb in the tour of Georgia. I finished up and was definitely bummed out as I lost alot of points to the current series leader who seems to be foregoing the mountain biking this year to go for the WV 40+ road series. He's 8 points up on me now after 2 events. I'd hoped for better than I did, but if you're not ready in the head for a difficult race, you're just not going to do well. Thankfully the next couple of races, we're back on my turf as the races don't have the big hills and usually finish in a sprint. Then it's to the WV stage race that I won last year. It should give me a chance to get a lead in the series since I'll have teammates at the next few races that will be able to help me gain the necessary points back.
The second day of the weekend was the WV Mountain bike champs. I started the race out with the mindset of 'just ride the race, don't race it'. I got a good start and hit the course proper in about 12th place. Being on a single speed did make it difficult as I had to cede positions and fall back to 20th on the long draggy and bumpy fields. I kept thinking to myself, just keep riding, don't push it. A teammate of mine was having a very bad day and kept washing the bike out. I tried riding him back into contention and just when he seemed to be getting the legs and confidence back he wound up with a huge glop of mud in his eye. I kept on pedaling and was slowly bringing people back. I got myself back to 15th place thru the early parts of the 2nd lap. Then we hit the big climbs which lead into what the locals call the moonrocks. Unless you know the local lines and even then, you're off the bike quite a bit. I out walked the few riders I was close to and started leading back down the hill. I lost only 3 places on the climb leading into the moonrocks, but gained 2 back and then we hit the descent. I did ok with only a couple bungups. I kept it together, then we hit the last real climb of the day and I just didn't have it. I had to bail and walk the bike again. I guess it's one of the drawbacks of singlespeeding. Towards the top, I was able to get going again after losing 4 places. I started getting a bit pissed. Then everything started firing. I was able to wind up the pace and regain the minute or so on the riders I had to cede on the climb. Most of it was because of my cyclocross background that reminding me to stay where it was wet and not try to tip toe around the sides and be in the sticking muck. From 3 miles out, I caught the first of the 4 that past me, I blasted past the first on on the flats, then caught another on a descent. Once on the twisting single track that was a bit muddy but not technical, I kept the steam up and caught the next two right before the graveled road climb with only a mile to go. I got half way up the climb and saw yet another rider just ahead who I had to let go on the first lap. He was off the bike as well but I could see he was having trouble on the climb. I got myself up to the top and then gunned it once I'd gotten back on the bike. It was not quite about half a mile from the finish and I caught him on a quick roller coaster. Instead of sitting behind him, I did the single speed blast over the top of the roller and spun it hard and created a big gap. At the final turn, I took a quick peak and saw that I'd demoralized him and he was now just riding it in. I didn't take any chances and came blasting down the hill to the finish and at least made the finish look good. I wound up with a 4th in my class, 15th overall and top singlespeeder in a non singlespeed class. Not too bad considering I'd started the day feeling like crap and was just looking to ride rather than race. I'll be taking next week off to train in the mountains and recharge for that huge race the Barbour Detour. I neeed a win and I'd like to repeat from last year.