These past couple of months have been
extremely busy trying to get prepared to go back to school, which has
involved several observation hours, doctor's appointments, and of
course refreshing my brain , without neglecting my duties at work or
on the bike. Following a lackluster performance at Lumberjack where
both my bike and body were rejecting the idea of a decent finish I
took a few weekends away from racing to get in some solid training in
preparation for the last few NUE races of the season.
Two weeks before the Wilderness 101 I
decided to test out my speed at the Bulldog Rump XC race in northern
Jersey where I was able to take my first victory of the season,
winning by a couple of minutes within an hour and a half race. Now
that my anaerobic fitness was in check I was psyched to do the Curse
of Dark Hollow 40 mile race the following weekend in my back yard in
Michaux State Forest. Everything started out really well there. I
was able to ride in the lead accompanied by Rob Spreng for the first
30 miles without riding much harder than tempo before my rear tire
punctured. Normally this isn't a deal breaker at Michaux, but when
your backup tube also has a hole in it the game is over. So my
endurance felt great throughout the day and I took the flat tire as
just a part of racing. Maybe it was for the better as I would feel
just a little more rested for Wilderness.
A week later and I'm back on the
starting line in Coburn, PA. The Wilderness 101 seems be be
gathering a faster group of racers each and every year ant this time
around was no exception. The start of the race was the same as
usual, but before mile 40 hit I was already all alone chasing whoever
was in front of me. Fortunately with a deep field of talented riders
I spent the entire race battling back and forth with Garth Prosser,
Rob Spreng, Jake Sitler, and Mike Simonson and was able to finish up
with a solid 8th on the day, which wasn't bad considering the top 5
had finished all within 6:45:00!
With my confidence, endurance, and
speed back where they should be I took the next couple of weeks to do
a pair of XC races at Bear Creek to keep my speed in check and have
some fun in the rocks. I finished 4th the first weekend and 3rd the
following weekend and was 1st place working man both weekends, which
was not too shabby. The following week would be another test of
endurance with the next stop of the NUE series, the Hampshire 100.
Going into Hampshire I knew I would
have a great race, but with another competitive field to race against
I wasn't sure where I would end up. The start of this race was much
like Wilderness with a large group taking the front of the race for
the first 20 miles. After that was a series of steeeeep rollers that
would just suck the power right out of you if you could not stay on
top of a big gear. This is where the pack splintered into a small
lead group and several small chase groups. I was in the first chase
group with Rob Spreng and two others trying to track down the leaders
(or not let them get too far away)! By mile 40 we caught and passed
Jonathan Schlotter who had an impressive 2nd place at Wilderness two
weeks prior along with Jeremiah Bishop who was repairing a tire at
the moment. Once Jeremiah was back on the bike he flew by us all and
most of the chase group followed trying to hold his wheel. Schlotter
and I were left behind and soon I would drop Schlotter and eventually
bridge back up to Spreng by mile 50. The two of us rode and worked
together through the end of the first lap and all the way to the aid
station at mile 90 where the course would enter one of the final
singletrack sections. While on the second lap we were both
surprisingly informed that we were in 4th and 5th place which was
hard to believe and motivating at the same time. We would again
catch and pass Bishop who was again having tire issues around mile
80. This is where I decided to pick it up a little without making an
attack on Rob. I knew if we worked together we could probable hold
of Jeremiah improving our positions as well as helping out Christian
by giving him an edge over Jeremiah for the NUE Series overall
standings. As we rolled into the aid station at mile 90 I attacked
hard assuming we were much closer to the finish. After a few miles I
realized my early move, but was able to continue my pace to the
finish placing 3rd for the day! It looks like I'll be back in the
running for a top 5 overall finish in the NUE Series, but only time
will tell.
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