A few weeks ago I tested a gear on the SoCalEndurance Vail Lake course to make sure I was geared properly. That's like the one thing about single speeding that can be complicated; getting your gearing right for the course. In WI, even in a 6hr race, I typically ran the biggest gear I could push. In SoCal there is way more elevation and I know that smaller gearing is faster in the end, so I ran a 34 oval up front and a 21 in back. The course was great for a single speed because there was plenty of rest between climbs. Enough of that jazz, let's get to the race recap.
As I was lining up I thought to myself about something I have learned from lining up at around 300 races across all disciplines, you're not going to win the race at the the start but you can lose it. I try to avoid the melee of adrenaline rich racers squeezing into spots that don't exist, but also not go out so hard that I explode thirty minutes into the race. So, when Jason yelled "Go!" I was able to avoid the near crash of 4-6 riders directly in front of me as I believe someone missed a pedal. I then spun up and got to the outside of the pack to reduce the rubber band effect around corners of the start.
My guess is that on the first lap I passed about fifty riders in the first single track. I burned a lot of matches doing so. It was important to do so because I knew I had to have fewer people in front of me as I headed into the switchbacks to Bridges because it is steep. As it was, I did a lot of track standing and then shooting around people the first big climb. By the time I finished my first lap my average speed was way higher than I expected or really wanted. I knew I couldn't keep that going.
My plan was to throttle back a bit, however, there were a lot of riders that were starting to feel their own fast first lap and I couldn't sit behind them on the climbs. So, I burned more matches going around them. Up until just over halfway through the second lap I had only seen a couple of other guys on single speeds, and then I started to see two guys ahead of me standing on climbs. And they were moving. Ryan (who I met afterward) was catching Andrew (whom I also met later) slowly. I couldn't back off the the pace just yet. I could tell these guys were fast.
I caught up to both of them as Ryan was catching Andrew. We just came out of some tacky twisty single track that we chatted about and then we asked the ever important question "What category are you in?" We were all in the 6hr. I got to the front of the group as we headed into a false flat. I kept the pace I was going when I caught them. They stuck to my wheel....for moment, and then they let me go. I knew what I had to do. Keep the pressure on and see if I could get out of their sight. Out of sight out of mind.
By the end of the third lap I couldn't really see them anymore. I was also lapping people and not really catching many riders on my lap anymore. From that point I figured I should back off a bit and maintain. My legs were starting to feel the climbs.
On the fourth lap I cleaned everything again. The big climb was proving very difficult in the switchbacks. Not because of the grade per se, but because of the slower traffic and walkers. All of those matches burned earlier were adding up so on the fifth lap I decided to run one of the switchbacks in order to save my legs. Plus, it was easier to run around people than to ride around them.
One thing that is great about mountain biking is that 95% of the riders want other riders to have fun no matter what speed they are going. So getting around people is relatively easy as long as you're polite about it and give enough heads up. In the section that proved the most leg-draining of the day I caught a rider who had no options for me to pass, and I told her "no worries, we can wait until it's safe." Then a duo or a four man team rider caught us. He was also super polite about it, but she wanted to let us by, so at a little peak she pulled over and said "Go now!". As I went around she couldn't unclip and she fell into me. She was fine. Her bike seemed okay. I was fine. My rear wheel was hit hard enough to pull it out of the dropouts...
The three of us recombobulated. We sent the team rider on. I asked again if she was okay and I got my wheel back in, tightened down, checked for a loose hub, checked for tire rub on the frame, found none and was off. What was probably one minute felt like ten and so I got after it again so Ryan and Andrew wouldn't see me. My worry about the wheel faded even though looking down I could see some wobble in the tire that wasn't there before, but hey, that's why I run 32 spoke Speed Tuned Wheels.
The next two laps were about maintaining the pace. I ran the same switchback but rode everything else. I was on pace for possibly doing nine laps. I didn't really want to do nine laps. So as I did the math in my head I realized that the guys behind me could only do eight laps. That meant I only had to do eight laps! The eighth lap I backed off a bit and tried to limit mistakes but keep the flow. I didn't want to cramp so I ran most the switchbacks and the very tipity top of the big climb.
Near the same point the young woman fell into me I saw another rider standing as he climbed. Another single speeder, and he is wearing jorts! It had to be Brad from Carborocket and it was. I didn't really know if Brad was in front of me or lapped traffic, either way I knew I was catching him. He let me pass and didn't try to follow so I figured he was done for the day either way.
I know I say this all the time, but Carborocket is the best. I took one bottle every lap and that's all I did for all 8 laps and it was all I needed. I felt good the whole time. I used to drink Walgreens Ensure, nicknamed "faux-sure" during long solo races because it treated my stomach well. Carborocket is so much better. Seeing Brad in his jorts out there made my day.
I rolled across the line 1-2 minutes passed the time I would have needed to go out for a ninth lap. Perfect, I was done and I felt good still. In fact, I really had to pee. I checked the results up to that point and I was in first, which meant I won!
I got cleaned up, talked to the other TASCO riders in between their laps (who crushed the 12hr solo race by the way), hung out with TASCO Nate for a bit, got my podium call up and cruised on home.
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