Rob Ballou

Racing and realizations

Racing (especially bikes) is pretty new to me, but I’m really starting to enjoy it. Enjoying it enough that after a race that I felt horrible during most of and felt pretty lame walking up to the score sheet after, I still felt it was a worthwhile use of a $20.

The Rhett’s Run trails are a blast! If you live and ride around St. Louis, the best description of these trails I can think of is a bit SIUE and a bit Klondike or Matson. They’re tight, twisty, with short climbs that come out of no where and some rocky descents and a few awesome rocky climbs. I got to pre-ride the course a week ahead of time and that made a huge difference. (For people that don’t race, but think about: ride the course ahead of time. It helps you know what to expect (and keeps you from turning the wrong way as I saw several guys do this weekend)).

That was how I would describe the course had the weather stayed nice. But as I pulled into Cosmo, rain started to fall. At first so light I was looking forward to nice tacky run. My tire setup would be perfect for that right now. As I pulled my bike out for a warmup, it rain a little harder. I waited it out and then set out on the trail. Things were wet, roots and rocks were slick, but not so much I ever felt out of control. I knew the race pace could change that though. The only issue I had was on some of the turning climbs, my rear wheel just wouldn’t hold a line, usually resulting in a ground out.

And then, at 10:40am, it poured. 20 minutes before the start. I stood under the pavilion just hoping it wasn’t making things worse on the trail. The rain let off before the start and I found my way to line. The pace at the front was higher than I remember it being at past races (or maybe it’s just been that long since we raced!). As we hit the first bit of Rhett’s goodness, I was jammed a bit behind some nervous riders, one who eventually went down. Behind him was a guy I lost to at LV and when I took the high line on a switchback, he took the low and I pretty much never saw him again.

I yo-yo’d with second place and he fought the trails on his first mountain bike race. It was frustrating for me because I knew I could out ride him skill-wise, but every time he forced a dismount, he would get back on the bike before I could swing a leg over and get after him.

I watched a few more riders go down and still just felt my heart exploding. I commiserated with a marathon racer who was suffering on the trails as well. At both of my previous races I felt sapped or blown out by the pace, but that was usually on the second lap! In my mind I had really worked up the next XC race (which was suppose to be Castlewood). I trained and felt pretty good about it, but by the time a month rolled around, I just felt bad. My legs didn’t feel heavy, but I just knew I couldn’t really hammer down without topping out my HR.

Mentally, I called it in during the first lap. When I pulled through the start finish I heard the measly “35 minutes, something something” rattled off I just knew I was done. That was slower than my pre-ride! But I don’t stop racing until something physically or mechanically wrong, so I dropped around the corner and tried to pick up some speed on the flats and downhills. The lead marathoners started to come around more and more as I struggled through the mud, making it harder to get back on track. After a while, I even lost track of where I was in the lap — “I am before or after the boulder?”. I eventually realized I had backed off enough that I was pretty well rested. Turning the wheels was still a chore, but my lungs felt better. I tried to put it in towards the line, but wheel slipped out of the woods, I came unclipped and never really had my foot back on the pedal before I reached the line.

In the end I got 3rd in my age group which is a great result. If I’ve been disappointed it’s only because the race I have with myself was so bad. In the long run, I’m happy to still be close in points to the top, but I also know I have a lot work ahead of me. Also, my disappointment lies in my own thoughts of moving up to Sport next year. I had sort of eyed results from Sport, thinking that I would be pleasantly in the middle, which is great. But when I figured out where I would finish in each race, it wasn’t very good at all!

Next race is actually a short track race at Castlewood and then maybe Springfield. I’ve been closely watching the Berryman Epic and waiting on the announcement of Burnin’, so I know I need to step up my training for the long races.

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