With all the success in the past few weeks and how well I'd been feeling during the week, it's an understatement to say I was excited for the first mountain bike race of the year. With the new Trek Elite 9.9, I was losing almost 6 lbs off the old bike, and the confidence of having a new coach behind me, I had pretty high expectations. My dream goal was to really burst on the scene with a top 5. I didn't feel perfect on Saturday, but as the pre-ride went on I only felt better and better and the bike was hooking up nicely. This was certainly in part to the new tires I just picked up. I was lucky to snag some Bontrager XR1s and some XR3s, both tubeless ready. I mounted up the XR1s thinking I'd most likely use them in the sandy condition, as they are a good all around tire, but brought the XR3s in case of mud. The XR1s were sick in the sand of Iola, better than anything I've ever had. It had tons of traction and the 2.2 had the volume to push the corners hard without burping. But rain was expected that night so to be honest, the pre-ride was useless.
And what do you know, it rained. It rained hard that night. I stayed the night in a cabin 20 minutes from the course with a teammate, so I was able to not only relax and get a good nights sleep, but also keep a close eye on the weather. It rained a little during the night, but poured pretty good that morning. Tim (my teammate) and I both considered changing tires. He had a super slick raven on the back, and switched, which was a good idea. I decided to leave the XR1 on because I figured the sandy course would hold up. I was pretty nervous that things would fall apart completely and I'd be screwed. I got the venue at the Iola Winter sports club, always a cool place to race, and walked around. Between stopping to talk with good friends from Madison and years past from racing, I checked out the course.The starting area and the surrounding area was dry, but also sandy. Based on that I stuck with the XR1s. I got ready and started the warm up. the legs felt good, much better than the day before. I had a big breakfast and right on schedule I started burping it up during my warm up. On a side note, the guys I was staying with asked if I had any pre-race rituals. Tim would eat mac and cheese pizza the night before, pretty strange, but it must work. I had nothing to really say then, but I do now. Big breakfast, followed by lots of water. Then if I don't burp and taste it before the race started, I know I won't feel good because I didn't eat early enough. So that was a good sign. I got some hard efforts in a lined up.
I got in about 2nd row, but as more people came to the line i was pushed back to 4th or 5th row. That kinda sucked but it was ok because I nailed the start shooting the inside. I usually avoid the inside because everyone goes for it and if you are a few rows back it clogs up, but the inside was lose so people avoided it and the lane was open. I moved into the top 15 and charged up the hill taking a few more spots. I think I broke into the top 10, probably 9th for a period. I passed a few people on lap 1 and then started to fade on lap 2 a little which was made worse by some mechanical troubles from the mud, but i think that was pretty common. But what I was blow away by was how well my 'dry' tires were handling the mud. Some sections were beyond greasy, and running was the only option, regardless of tires. But in the light mud and the sandy sections I was making up 1-2 spots because I was railing the corners like they were dry. I think in dirt with more clay they would have clogged up, but in that sandy stuff, they were able to shed mud and hook up. I kept it going, my drive train was well behaved, until the last lap and I was able to nurse it in for 13th. Not what I was hoping for, but this will get me a call up in the next race so I should be well on my way to a solid season. 
I have to give some mention to the Speed cycling crew. I've been coached by Gordy for only a week now, but I'm already seeing benefit. Obviously it's impossible to see benefits from improved fitness in just a week. But i think the extra motivation both racing and training have helped a ton. And Gordy's experience has kept me from over training so I felt fresh and ready to go on race day. It's good to have someone with the experience and the knowledge to keep you on the right track. hopefully this is only the beginning.
Full results are here on the WORS website
Thanks for reading!
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