June 3rd Southridge Race

Race Report

I'm still super excited about yesterday!

For those who don't know me, although I've been riding DH off an on for a while, I've never raced. I finally signed up and raced my first race in March in the beginner class. I won the class, and my time was well ahead of the sport class.

For my second race, I was a little unsure what class to enter. I wasn't sure if my first race was simply beginner's luck. Nonetheless, I decided to enter this race as a 35-44 expert (partly because if I entered sport Winston would have taken me out to the parking lot and showed me what time it was).

On Saturday, I was able to get several practice runs in. I showed up late (2:45 pm), so shuttling was limited. After the shuttles were finished, I practiced a couple sections I was having problems with (pretty much everything with the sand, and a few with rocks). That was also when I got to watch some of the semi pros (Orven) and pros (Clemens), along with a few others, play with some creative lines. Unfortunately, much of the sandy sections - and my lines - changed by the time I was able to get my one and a half lap of practice in on Sunday morning.

On those two practice runs on the upper section, I couldn't hit any of that stuff even close to correctly. I felt I was all over the place. Also, I was still adapting to the new bike (third ride on it). I felt pretty badly about how my practice went. I simply couldn't make it through a few turns without nearly crashing or coming to a complete stop.

Considering how I felt in practice, I was actually very relaxed on the start of my first run. After all, I thought, I didn't have a chance. I didn't have any expectations, and I had almost no pressure. At this point, my goal was to simply make it down without wadding it up or having to stop. In this case, I thought slower was better.

All the lines that I couldn't make in practice suddenly became very smooth. I dabbed a few times, but otherwise it still felt smooth.

As it turned out, the slower-is-better idea worked out for me. I had the fastest time in my class on the first run. I was shocked (even though I had a good run). I wish I didn't know the result of the first run. Knowing that I did well, I then had expectations of doing well again. The pressure was on, and there was a target on my back. The person who got second (also through fifth, since their time was so close to eachother), knew he only had to make up about 2-1/2 seconds on me. Oh the pressure! I didn't think I could do the same thing twice, let alone better.

My second run also went smoothly. I made up some time in sections that I knew I wasted on the first run, although I think I dabbed a few more times. I didn't make some of the same mistakes I did on the first run (like hitting the shifter with my knee, then finding myself in the wrong gear), but I did find some new ones (getting distracted by friends cheering me on at the bottom rock garden).

Thinking I may have a better second run, I was anxious to see the results. However, a few other guys in my class also said they felt better on their second run. I'm sure you could imagine how happy I was to see that my second run was under 2 minutes (2-1/2 seconds faster than my first run). But I was even more stoked to see that I won my class! WOOHOO!!!

I have to give a special thanks to a few of you who gave me encouragement and great advice leading up to and the day of the race: Jason Simpson, Chris (dirttorpeedo), Lisa Reinhard, and Aaron Potter. Thank you very much. I couldn't have done as well without your help.

 

Thanks for the pics Sharky! My buddy and I ended up having to bail out on our 2nd race run to get his gf back home (doh!). But you nabbed a couple of us from Saturday, looks great!

Had a lot of fun out there this weekend, especially Saturday when it was just run after run. I thought the course was easier, not to mention shorter (no wall!) than the Nationals back in May. But, it was equally fun, only wished I could have gotten in more runs.

My biggest problem came when I borrowed my friends IH Sunday. I realized just how much faster and more controlled a real DH bike can be. So, it's time to start saving pennies.

 

:clap:CONGRATULATIONS Lee !! I didn't know your number so missed cheering ya but always wonder if that is distracting when friends go by? Some tell me it helps so I guess it's different every run. Daummmn you're fast!!
Here's a cool shot from practice

 

Cool! Could you please e-mail those to me?

:lol:...laughing...I forgot my goggles on Saturday, so I had to wear sunglasses.

Normally cheering doesn't distract me. In fact, normally I barely hear it. But in this case, they called me out by name (part of normal cheering), and I was thinking "Oh, cool, so and so are out here right after their race cheering me on." I also glanced out of my side vision for them. All this took place in a matter of seconds, but just enough time for me to veer off the course and hit a rock (dab #7, I think).

 

Look familar Franky?



Edit - One more then:

 

Awesome!!! :bang:

 

Franky that's got to be your new avi!!! What fun!

[edit]...Ok, nvm...That will work.

 

That shot of Franky is awesome! Agreed - avatar!

If that were me, it would a trip to the ER.

 

Awesome shot of Franky heading OTB!

Here's a few shots I took whilst drinking some cold beer out on the hillside...

 

danngg dood!! 4real!!#-o we needSS to relax ehH!!:lol:[-o-]8-[

 

Keith,
The fourth shot down of the hillside gives a really cool perspective of that area. I didn't really notice it was that steep and long.

 

Valley of the Incycle Race Runs - I only shot run #1:

 

Keith - Where's the pics of Sarah?? Or did you only get the vid? How'd she do?

 

Franky, I love you man....and I can't stop laughing...

 

FFRRRRAAANNNNKKKK,sorry buddy,i thot i got all the pics of you crashing from evryone.we're still kool rite. i meen like for the fork,rite buddy?hahahahaha

 

Thanks Sharky, Nice Photos !! Good Job Lee, you were on fire man. Congratulations to everyone that competed.

 

I got some vids of Sarah instead of the usual pics. Sadly its a whopping 90MB!

 

Hey Franky,
You're bike made it around the corner, you should've just held on!:lol:

 

Thanks for the pics Winston, Sharky and Keith. Winston your pics inspired many concerned comments at The Path today. :lol: Whenever anybody asked me "are you okay?" I thought they meant my cold. Silly me. I don't even remember that fall! Actually, I don't remember most of yesterday ... been pretty run down.

What I learned about downhill racing:
1. Dont race with a broken spd pedal (thanks Jason and Chris for hooking my spacey self up).
2. Don't race with a visor blocking your vision (thanks Ryan for giving Darth Vader a makeover).
3. Don't race on a bike you've never ridden (thanks Luke from The Path for being young and naive enough to loan me your ride j/k).
4. Don't race at dirt-filled Fontana when you're already coughing up your lungs (thanks Keith for moral support and hiking my bike for me).
5. Don't take any of the lessons you learn too seriously.

I nailed number 5! Sa-weet!

Great job Lee. It seemed to me like everyone did really well (save for maybe Franky and me ... but we were trying to please the crowd with our super-cool crashes ... we took one for the team :lol: coolness comes with a cost ... we can't all be crowd pleasers, but someone has to quench the blood-thirsty masses hahahaha).

I propose making Fontana practice an oraganized thing. Maybe every three weeks? If we practice every 3 weeks 'till november, we'll be familliar with all the possible race courses! :beer:

 

i think frank maybe left the kickstand down and it was kawt on the rocks,cause you see its standing on its own.cc baby,you need to doo your job and make shure franky's is in good werking order! sara,thats a grate idea but theres ALOT of different routes to use,pluss it gets hotter than ach ee double tooth picks,ya no?