Man, I was looking forward to this race all year.  It was my first race ever last year, so this year was sort of my 1 year anniversary of bike racing.  Katie and I got up around 7:30, had breakfast and hit the road.  We met up with our friends in the parking lot and started getting ready.  I felt pretty good.  I was a little concerned because Katie and I had done a 52 mile 4000+ ft training ride the day before.  I wasn't sure how that would affect my legs.

 

My friend Ari and I hit the track and ran in the Loren, Matt Cerkel, Franck and a couple of other familiar TWW faces.  I went back to the car to chat with my parents and warmed up on the trainer for a few more minutes before I headed off to the start. 

 

Once the whistle blew (or the guy said go, or whatever happened) Loren took off and I was about mid pack.  I caught up to him quickly, but I couldn't keep up the pace on the flats.  I settled in to a good pace and was having a good time.  I stuck with one guy from gravy wheels the majority of the first half of the race.  We would get separated while we were dealing with people crashing and passing us.  But it was nice to have somebody to work with.

 

At the first creek crossing I had a good feeling of accomplishment as I rode across it and must have passed 5-10 pansy roadies walking there bikes.  It was as if their bikes were going to melt in the water or something.  Whatever, I took advantage of it.  Meredith was taking pictures at one descent and told me Loren was only 2 minutes ahead.  Mentally I just figured we were ~40% through the race, and that by the end, he would have his 5 minute lead like he has in our last 2 encounters. 

 

Once I hit the climbs, I was having trouble getting my bike into the little ring, so that would throw me off and I would just walk that section.  All in all, I probably rode half of it.  Once I got the hang of getting into my little ring before the climb started, I was able to make 95% of the climbs.  As I crested the top of the steep section, I caught a glimpse of Loren.  Crap, he isn't that far ahead, maybe an 1/8th mile or so.  I pushed pretty hard, and could see him on the longer stretches of trail.  Once we came out of the woods, I saw that he hadn't made any ground on the fire road decent. 

 

I pushed as hard as I could, but it just wasn't enough to catch him.  He finished 52 seconds ahead of me.  I still didn't beat him, but it feels good to know I am starting to ride faster and more smoothly.  It was nice to see I was right up there with Hane, Hillstrom, Loren, and had finished significantly ahead of Franck.  Of course, then I read today's race reports and see that John had issues with his cleat and was laying on the ground half the race and still beat me.  And Franck had a 1 mile detour, so there goes my big lead over him.  Oh well.  I had a blast, the mud was great and it was cool to have my family and friends cheering me on as I left the last ounce of energy I had on the track as I came around to the finish. 

 

See everyone at skyline!

 

Matt Leonard

4th of 12

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