D Ville Race Report
So D ville is over and it was as fun as I heard it would be and probably tougher than I thought it would be. The heat was into the triple digits and the nor cal fires added a little bit of smoke to make it a bit less pleasant. Good thing the smoke was not like the few days leading up to the event.
I got up there the week before to get some runs in and do some training. The DH is so long and with over 900 ft of climbing per run there were days when I did just one run, never doing more than two. My first run down was with Weir who we all know is the man to beat in the DH. It was pretty dusty, so staying right on his wheel was the only place to be, otherwise you couldn't see anything.
The crowds rolled into town on Thur. and the tension started building. Chris Shepard was being talked a lot as the man to beat in the xc. How strong would he be? Would he be able to survive the baby head downhill and if he was to the top first, how much lead would he need to hold off the charge of Jason Moeschler and Mark Weir on the DH to the finish?
And the DH discussions were just as deep. Myles Rockwell was also making his first appearance, Jurgen was back to see if he could do better, HB, Hestler, Wade Simmons and the unknown of Trek XC rider Ross Schnell were all making their first appearance too. There is so much pedaling on the DH that I would consider it more of a short XC race. The main climb is said to be done in right about 3 min for Moeschler and Weir, but then I spoke to Shepard and he said he did it in 2min 44sec.... I gave it one go at it, not in a full run either, and it took me 3min 55 sec. So, I knew I was going to loose a boat load of time just on that one part.
Saturday morning and the unknown was about to start. How long would the xc take? How hard was the climb going to be? Well, it better take under 3 hours or your not even starting the DH on Sunday and starting off real slow was the plan to make sure I didn' BONK on the uphill.
HB, Myles, Jurgen, Wade, and I all started together super slow. We talked for a good 15min as probably a hundred or more people passed us. I started to feel as my legs were warming up and then I started ramping up the pace, picking off riders left and right. I kept a good tempo, never getting out of my middle chain ring and never seeing my fellow gravity friends again. Towards the top I passed Sue Haywood who at the time was the leader for the Pro Women, but the cramps were arriving every time I would stand up. I wasn't sure if I would seize up, so I would try to use different muscles to pedal and stay seated.
In the end I finished good, never bonking or fully cramping with a time of 2hrs. 18min, 20 minutes behind the winner of Ross Schnell. I guess Chris Shepard was clearly out front at the top of the climb, but flatted on the DH, still coming in 4th behind Jason in second and Weir in 3rd. I was pretty happy with my performance, but was definitely tired and not sure how the legs would feel on day two.
Joe from the Bike Company made the drive up to be my mechanic for the week which was no new news. Joe has been helping me out all year, doing a great job I may add, but what was news, was the sick black Miata all LOPES 55 sticker'd out that he drove up. A custom bike mount and it was the ultimate shuttle car. We rallied up the mountain in what had to be record time and made what had to be the best shuttle drop off ever.
My start # was 33, right after Myles. I did a little warm up and could feel the legs were not great, but I hoped they would start feeling better as I made my way down the hill. I started slow to make sure I didn't get too blown off the start, stayed smooth, hit my lines, and tried to save energy for the first big climb. After 20min of DHing I felt pretty good, but within 30seconds of the climb I was grabbing easier gears and suffering. Using my 32x34 for most of the climb I knew I was loosing minutes to the top xc guys, but I pushed on, recovered on the coasting bits and managed through the rest of the pedaling parts. My time, 47min 19 seconds, which put me in 5th place. Ross Schnell killed everyone and got into the 44min times. Weir was on a good run, but flatted and then blew his wheel up, so he DNF'd. Moschler got 2nd, almost a minute behind Ross, followed closely by last years 3rd place finisher Nathan Riddle only 10 sec off Jason. Myles was 4th, about 18sec in front of me, but I'm sure he had some more leg power saved from the xc the day before where he came in about 25min behind me. Jurgen also saved himself for the DH I think, but he broke a deraileur and had a bad time in the DH.
All in all it was a great time. The river jump comp was fun, the free food Chris King and his crew made each day was all time, the atmosphere was just awsome. A fun bike race/event.... imagine that. The way it should be!!!
Thanks to Jason for letting me park my Sportsmobile at his house for a week and just for being such a cool guy. Jason is a class act and stoked to have met such a icon of D ville and a cool guy. Thanks to Weir for all the tech info on the course, set up, etc. and for really bringing the hype to this event. I don't think this event would be getting as much attention as it is without Weir. Thanks to Wayno for all your shuttles and work in putting on a great event. I know I am missing others, but thanks to everyone involved. It was a great time...
Posted by Brian on July 15, 2008 10:02 AM