saturday was a good day on all fronts...
friday was night was mellow. i just got everything ready to head out early in the morning and made a killer pre-race meal. grilled, wild caught sea bass fajitas.
saturday morning
beth and I were on the road early to head up to the OC and meet up with
ryan,
slater, and
monique. it was kind of chilly but i made the call to go with no arm or knee warmers and hope that i would warm up quickly. i got in about 15 minutes of spinning and then got on the starting line feeling really relaxed and ready to have fun.
 |
| manny, me, and weeger getting ready to do work. |
got on the starting line right next to manny and it was pretty cold... called weeger up next to me... time to man up!
 |
| the start |
got in front pack of 5-10 for the initial miles and pace was solid. a little slower than VQ i think but still game on. manny and 2 others got a way and i was sitting in 5th overall climbing to the gate with 4th about 30 yards up on me. just kept the gap and didn't try to close. he was working really hard and i was thinking he would eventually blow.
rode pretty hard to the motorway intersection. I caught 4th place on the main divide after motorway and worked hard to get away and did. at 4 corners beth, slater, and monique were waiting with bottles and i was stoked to see them and was feeling good.
 |
| monique and beth waiting at the aid station |
I charged up to santiago peak and then bombed main divide. half way between UHJ and LHJ and i crashed... going 30 mph.... HARD. scary. upperbody got ripped off my bike by a log and my helmet and glasses were ripped off my head. my handle bars twisted and chain came off. i jumped up assessed everything and got back on it. only damage to the body was a scraped up kneed and some cuts on my hand. minor but definitely kept from from railing the rest of the super fast fireroad sections. the 29er is FAST.
i obviously lost some time with the crash and could see Guy Sutton, who had moved into 5th, reeling me back a bit and he as riding strong. i worked hard to keep him away climbing up to trabuco but he was making up ground for sure and was pretty much on my wheel when we started descending trabuco.
he got by me and i never saw him. i rode trabuco OK. it was really overgrown and after getting away clean in my first crash i didn't want to push my luck and settled on taking 5th overall and winning my class.... and smashing my time goal of sub 4:30!
This was my first race on the
Specialized S-works Stumpjumper Carbon HT 29er. the bike is rad and feels much fast all around than the 26" version i was riding. i can't thank gordon,
B&L, and
Specialized for helping me get on the this bike.
after the race we all headed over to Team Slamo's (Slater/Monique) for a post race BBQ. good times for sure. good friend, good food, and good beers.... great end to the day. some photos from the festivites....
 |
| me and my support crew |
 |
| PTE |
 |
| slater trying to convince me to do an ironman |
 |
| iron chef slater |
 |
| carne asada and fish tacos |
 |
| more food |
.jpg)
8 comments:
Rad race, Manny needs to watch out one day youre gonna win this!
Nice job dude!
Glad you came out pretty clean from the crash. We will have to meet up soon
congrats bro! solid race and well deserved beers for sure!
next time you are hanging with slater - let me know so we can gang up on you. you're running now - it's only a matter of time!
No more crashing! What is wrong with all of us lately...glad your ok and super fun weekend. "have a rad summer" is a guarantee
by how fast your HR is dropping after those effort I would say that you are FIT!! Fit enough for an Ironman for sure
nice work dude!
Slater and Denner will get you sign up for one of those b'''''s :)
Solid race!! Love the 29er.
with all your buddies saying "Rad" "Dude" "Bro", i kinda feel like i can talk the lingo:) Cause i know what a 29er is!!! Peter is going to ride one during the 24hr race this year!! Too much fun..
Post a Comment