Chequamegon always has a special place in my heart. If you
frequent this blog you’ll know. I’ve been doing it since I was 12, haven’t
missed a year. The past few years, I’ve had some success as I’ve slowly crawled
up the results sheet. After a great race in Lake Geneva I knew I was in a
position to do something special. For most people, Chequamegon is an all-out
test of how hard you can go. But with the speed being so high, it’s a different
race at the front. I know it can be a roadie course with roadie tactics. To
some this means the strongest will win, to me I know that it means someone with
the right move at the right time with the legs to back it up can come away with
the win. I came into the race for the first time with the thought that I had a
(an outside one) chance to win.
Friday we rode some great single track as a team and
finished up with riding the last section of the race course. The weather was
shaping up to be perfect and we finished off the evening with some amazing food
cooked by some talented teammates and friends. I’m beginning to really appreciate
a good meal the night before a race. The team was staying at the Villas in
Telemark but my parents were in Hayward with an extra bed in the room so my dad
picked me up and I stayed with them Friday night.
Saturday morning was the expected Chequamegon early wake up
and get ready. I cooked breakfast in my trusty rice cooker and got ready before
rolling over to the start line. I picked up a new camelbak on the way over to
use for the race. With no option for race feeds the camelbak is the way to go. After
a good warm up I was primed and ready to go. I lined up second row right behind
Cole House, figuring he was a good wheel to follow. He ended up dropping out
after breaking a chain early and then some sketchy riders later I was a little
out of position going into Rosie’s Field
but I put an effort on to keep the front well within sight. The pace was
pretty easy when we hit the ski trail and because of that the group was big.
Brian went to the front to change that by throwing in an attack. That put into
motion a bunch of counters and pretty soon we were a group of 12.
The group rode some solid tempo for a while. Well it was
solid tempo so most, but it hurt me a little while still allowing me to stay
within myself. I took the time to make sure I was eating and drinking. I think
I took 4 Clif shots during the middle hour of the race and it really made the
difference. The middle of the race was the calm before the storm except the
infamous ATV crash everyone’s hearing about. One of the ATV riders
unsurprisingly crashed around one of the corners and took out 6 of us 12
leaving one guy down and out. 5 of us caught back on but the nerves were tense
and little tire rubs and tumbles kept happening. In response to this the pace
went up. We hit fire tower hard and it only got harder. I was dropped but not
out. I caught back on once again and did what I could to recover. When attacks
started going again on the Birkie Trail I was struggling to keep on and with
about 4 miles to go I was off the back again. I had a little cramp from my left
hamstring which might have come from the crash. I kept fighting and once again rejoined with 2
miles to go, but as soon as I was on, I was off again. From there I pushed
hoping the leaders would slow up again but they never did enough for me to make
it on.
I knew the last mile well so I judged the gaps in front and
behind me and roe as hard as I needed to maintain and made my way to the
finish. Rolling down the last big final hill into the bowl was something
special. I knew I had raced as hard as I could and was happy to finish where I
did. Brian came in for the win to make it 5 times, congrats to him. Also, Isaac
Neff had a huge ride for a top 5 in 4th. He probably deserves the
biggest congratulations of all. Another year, another Chequamegon, always an
amazing weekend.
But there was literally no time to stop and reflect because
Tuesday morning I was off to Chicago. I picked up my Visa on the way to O’Hare
and caught my flight to Beijing at noon. HUGE thanks to my mom for picking me
up and bringing me there. At that point I was still in total disbelief that
this was happening. But by the time I made it on the plane I was beginning to
believe. It was 13 hours from Chicago to Beijing. From there I honestly had no
idea which flight I was on. I met the Canadian team and found out they had a
flight that night. After asking around I figured out I was on a flight 2 days
later. I got that changed quickly and flew into Guiyang Wednesday night and was
in a 5 star hotel be Thursday morning at 4am.
Thursday was awesome as I met my roommate Cruise Bogedin
from Lindenwood. Good dude to have as a roommate, really nice, and
knowledgeable about Asian culture. We rode around Thursday as saw the city by
bike. He took a ton of pictures and I’ll add them up as soon as I get them. The
city has the most amazing park at the center of it. It’s surrounded by a bike
path and then the rest of the city circles around that. There are huge statues
around everywhere. We finished the day off with a ton of food, which was the
case every night in the hotel restaurant. The food was a good mix of what I’m
used to and more traditional Chinese food.
We began Friday by meeting out interpreter and guide, Candy.
She was a very nice and very honest 3rd year English student at the
local university. Her job was to make us feel welcome, make sure we had
everything we needed and interpret when it was needed. For the most part it was
just really cool to get to know her and learn about the culture. We hear about
China on the news and it doesn’t always get the best reputation. But meeting a
person is totally different. Friday also had us riding in the riders parade
through the city. About half the route was just getting to the downtown area
and once we got there the streets were lined with people. It was exciting to
see the people so excited to see the riders. When we stopped to get on the
buses people came rushing over and asked for autographs and pictures with the
top riders. I was just in shock and disbelief as to where I was. In the
afternoon we rode over to the course and rode a few laps.
2 things here. Each time we went to the course, we had a
police escort. It was very awesome to have that kind of respect and to see all
the people and to see the city by bike. Second the course was incredibly
difficult. I would say Mont Sainte Anne had 2 or 3 spots where I was scared
each time; Guiyang had 4 or 5 spots where I was scared to ride each time. Some
of those were B lines! It was mostly hard pack with some gravel over it. The
terrain was very steep. We began by climbing up a gravel climb that go crazy
steep on the last switchback. That descended down a super fast and fun rock
garden. Then right back up a very steep and loose climb. After another time
down around a berm it was a very long climb with a few switchbacks and loose
rocks. This was the real leg burner. The last few pedal strokes were painful
even when going easy. From there you dropped down back to the bottom with a
series of huge 3 to 5 foot shear and near shear drops. A few jumps and then
back up with a series of slightly easier climbs one at the top you came down a
fast flow section and a really fun rock garden. Then some crazy steep chutes. I’m
talking as steep as it gets, all brakes and no slowing down. There were some
sections with jumps that I couldn’t ride, but overall I was smooth and fast.
We got some good footage of the course I’ll post it soon.
Ok, that’s enough for now. I’ll post the rest later. I’m
gonna go sleep some more.
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