RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
As I lay on the ground with my leg pinned under the bike hoping the next car to come around the corner would see me in time to stop and not run me over, I thought to myself I would not feel at all bad if deer went extinct. So yeah 4 or 5 years after breaking both wrists I was finally on my way to my first mtb race since taking my long hiatus and only riding road. I had finished my mtb rack for my Yamaha two weeks earlier and just enjoying the brisk morning air as I rounded the slow right hand bend and then DEER in the other lane. I had almost zero time to react but it was not in my path so I did what I could to slow….just…..in…..case……..ah fuck it turn around and ran straight into me. My first thought was is my leg pinned under the bike OK? Yes, no pain but impossible to lift the bike off in my position so I needed help. My second thought was shit, is the mtb ok? Also yes, in fact it seemed to be rather unscathed for ending up on it’s side still solidly mounted to the moto. Luckily, I only waited about 2 minute for the next car to stop behind me and as he positioned his car to not get rear ended himself a sheriff came around the corner from the other way. Both were kind enough to help me up and gather some of my ejected items from the roadway. We pushed the bike about 50 feet to a nearby turnout to clear the road and assess the damage. The mtb looked good with the handlebars being spun as the only real sign of the fall. The Yamaha was able to restart after resetting the tip over sensor, and thanks to my folding brake and clutch levers, they were both intact. I assured both good samaritans I would be ok to continue my trip and I sent them on their way. I looked a my bloodied knee though the large hole in my pants but there was no significate pain emanating from the area so it shouldn’t keep me from racing. Then as I re-clipped my ejected shoe to the mtb pedal and replaced my bottles in the frame before I notice my garmin was missing from my handlebars. I quickly ran over to where I crashed and checked the brush alongside the road for about 5 minutes but I couldn’t find it. I was now starting to run out of time to get to the race with enough time to warm up and such. I figured if I couldn’t find it, then chances are someone else wouldn’t just stubble across it, so I planned to stop here again after the race and search again. On my way again with my front forks and wheel a bit tweaked to the left I figured I could straighten it out after the race.Finally at the race and already in need of a breather from my eventful morning I checked in and got my bib number mounted. I’m back racing a single speed mtb again like I used to in 2014, I always missed not having my SS after I had to replace its frame, choosing to go 11speed and full suspension after. I’m riding a new 2021 SPOT Rocker SS with a belt drive instead of a chain. At home I run 46t up front and a 30t in the rear because everything in my area is crazy steep. For this race I mounted a 22t in the rear to hopefully keep me in the mix when the Pro class riders spin it up to 20+ mph on the flats. After a quick warm up I quickly felt even if the 22t could keep me up on the flats I didn’t think I could turn it over on the endless punchy climbs. So with 10 mins till race start I rushed back to my moto and swapped the rear cog to a 24t. I’d be racing in the Pro/Open field against riders running normal multi geared drivetrains because 1. There was no SS class and 2. These guys would be faster and give a better challenge.
With 12 riders lined up in my race and dozens more in later waves of other divisions we started off at full speed racing to get prime position heading into the single track. Well everyone else raced off as I struggled to get clipped in and spin up my tall gear in the soft grass. Into the single track and up the first climb I was already out of the saddle and in last position but I was in touch with the line of riders. I think we only made it in a few minutes before the first rider mid pack threw his hand out conceding to the ridiculous pace and it wasn’t long before we had another pull out as well. I just continued to hang onto the tail end of my pack of 6-7 riders as the lead pack of 4 started to break away. The racer in me want to charge up to the front of my group and get on pace with the leaders but my body was asking how much longer before I was the next rider to drop off. The course was quite smooth with little to no rock or root features, but it was extremely dry and ridiculously twisty with hundreds of tight slow flat corners to keep you on your toes. If you relaxed for a even a moment your front end to wash out over the dry marble covered dirt. I did my best to stay close to the rider ahead of me but I also need to look ahead and maintain a gap to avoid getting bogged down in the tight switchback climbs. During the race I got staled out twice on climbs and had to get off the bike to restart. About 3/4 through the first lap we hit an extended DH with a dozen of so sweeping S curves with a very narrow berm. We had just dropped 2 riders on the previous climb, so it was only 4 of us left in the chase group and there was a gap quickly forming between the rider ahead of me and the other 2 in our group. He was struggling to ride the high line in the narrow little berms but there was also nowhere for me to pass him. Thankfully when we got to the bottom and onto the long flat section leading to the finish I was able to draft him as he pulled us up to the riders ahead. During the 2nd lap the rider ahead of me attacked up a climb and since I was feeling marginally better compared to the first lap I went with him. We quickly opened a solid 20-30 second gap to the two riders behind but at this point, we hadn’t seen any of the four riders out front since the 3rd mile of the first lap. I made sure to pass on the final part of the climb before the S curve DH so I could descend at my own pace. I opened a solid gap by the bottom but now onto the flat section with no one to draft I was all out on my own and spun out of gears. I used the BMX trick of pedaling really fast for 2 seconds and then coasting for 10 before repeat over and over.
By the time we got to the start of the 3rd and final lap the 3 riders behind me had caught up but now back into the climbing I could try and put some power down. My legs were hammered and I was starting to doubt my ability to clear some of the later climbs without staling out. I managed to open a gap on my pursuers, and I started to catch riders out ahead of me. At first it was one rider from the lead group who had blown up but then we started to lap some of the slower experts on their 2nd lap from the later waves. I also lost one position to one rider from behind who was charging hard in the final lap just as I was struggling to not have to get off and walk up the climbs. In the final climb I was slowly catching another of the early leaders but at the same time one rider was closing in on me from behind. I made the pass and gave it everything I had left up the final climb and final DH. There was no one in sight behind me as I hit the flat stretch so I had at least 20-30 seconds but again I was spun out all on my own for the final mile. It wasn’t long before I caught a glimpse of the rider behind and soon enough, I could tell he was getting closer and closer from the timing of the cheers of the crowds behind me. He got right into my wheel as we entered the final turn before the finish so as we hit the final straight, I gave it all the beans. I spun out to what felt like a cadence of 200 and never looked back. I crossed the line without getting overtaken so I’m not sure if he didn’t have a sprint of if he didn’t even try. I honestly thought I had finished like 6th so I didn’t bother sticking around for the podium, I just wanted to get home and take in a full damage report of the day. It turns out I finished 4th out of the 12 riders missing the podium by about a minute in my division which I’m pretty stoked about for a first race back after several years.
Minus the crash with the deer, it was a great day of racing. My knee quickly swelled up after the race it made it hard to throw my leg over the bike, but on the bright side, my pants didn’t chafe my open wound because of the newly acquired hole on the knee area. I did eventually make it home without further incident. By the way, I did end up finding my garmin 4 feet down a ravine in the weeds so all my luck it’s complete shit.
https://www.strava.com/activities/5110694262
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SS Mtbing is what made me into the crusher of roadie egos in the first place, think of this as me going back to basics to come back stronger and crazier.
