Cable Classic - 23 mile long course

Race day was yesterday...I love racing at Cable. The long race is about 1/2 singletrack and the rest two track.

It was 63 degrees and humid as we drove out of Duluth. Sunny on the way down and then as we were getting ready to warm-up, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. The rain let up at the start, but temps dropped as the race went on. Our 8 mile ride fromt the finish back to our car was freezing.

The race got started at 10 am. The lead-out car went pretty slow, so it wasn't tough to stay up near the front. I got behind a few guys in the first section of singletrack and couldn't get by them. Unfortunately, that opened a gap between our group and the next group that we couldn't seem to chase down. The singletrack was fantastic! Twisty, windy, but able to keep the momentum going. I was racing with Team Hollywood and a Ski Hut guy for most of the race. It was fun to be racing with fast men! I was able to hold my own on the uphills and singletrack, but had to work on the road sections. I felt quite a bit better than I did at Maplelag last weekend from the standpoint that I could get my legs to spin up the hills and my legs didn't burn the entire race! Some races I know I just have to suffer through. I didn't have it as bad as some of the other Duluthians racing. Our friends Charlie and Brian lauched off this moto-style burm that is on the trail to slow people down prior to crossing a gravel road. Brian launched first and dislocated his shoulder. Charlie didn't hit his brakes at all prior to going off this thing and landed hard - crushing his helmet and looking like he'd been dragged behind a horse for a mile or two. Reports from the volunteer manning the area - Charlie flew the highest and furthest. Way to go Charlie!

Scott had a bit of bad luck as well. He was leading the race with Jesrin G. They had a comfortable gap ahead of the chase group. Scott said he felt fantastic! He couldn't go hard enough. Then he flatted. After his tire sealant failed (not enough in the tire) and big air failed to put the air in the tube (went everywhere else); he had to put a tube in, but then the tube had a hole or something. Then he finally begged a tube and air from another racer, but by then he had gotten passed by 1/2 the field or so. He raced his way back up to 44th, a big disappointment from the way the day started.

Scott and I lubed up our chains with Dumonde Tech racing lube. There is this huge puddle 1/2 way or so during the race that there was no way around. I biked straight through it and thought that was the end of clean shifting. I had zero problems shifting after that. Even the cool down ride to the car, my chain didn't sound dry or nasty.

So I finished first amongst the women, and 13th overall amongst the men. I wasn't too far out of 10th (about a minute). I could see a group of six or so men right ahead of me on the long two mile two track section into Cable, but was kinda tired and didn't have enough left to pour it on. Luckily, some Hollywood racer passed me and didn't try to drop me. Thank You!

I love racing cuz I learn something new each race. Whether it is how to better prepare for the race, race strategy, tactics, etc, etc. It is great having men to race with as they are very fast and it is tough to get around them being about the same speed. It makes me work. Nicoli A, an accomplished XC skier and improving MTB racer, stated in his Russian accent last year "Sara, my goal is to beat you." He came pretty close this race, only 1/2 a minute back. Looks like I have more work to do.....

A contrast from yesterday, today we had snow on our deck when we awoke this morning. We went for a nice little walk in the woods and are in recovery mode. I am really tired today, so looks like an afternoon nap is in order.
Photo by: Gary Crandall