Friday noon Tami and I headed to Hayward for Saturday's Chequamegeon 40 mountain bike race. This was my 7th year in a row doing the race and wasn't too excited about it until Friday. I hadn't done a race all year and started to get butterflies on the drive out. My riding this season has been a small fraction of previous years so I didn't have too high of hopes for a good finish, which for me would be around 2 hours and 50 minutes.
We checked into our hotel and drove up to Telemark to get my race packet. I got checked in for the race and then Tami and I checked out the Expo and bought some T Shirts and shorts for the kids. We then went to the Angery Minnow for dinner and back to the room to sleep.
I got up at 4:30 and got my bike to the start line by 5:00 but still only managed to get into row 9. Some poeple really get there early for the prime spots, then back to bed for a couple hours.
The race started fast, too fast for me as I was in the red by the time we hit Rosies field, the real start of the race. I stuggled my way to OO, not quite the 1/2 way mark, way over the time I hoped to and really had a hard time not quitting but Tami was there with full bottles for me and cheering me on.
The next 14 miles were a blur as I tried to get into some kind of groove and keep up a decent pace. As I neared firetower hill I eased up a bit knowing what was ahead and attempting to save enough to ride all the way up. I managed to ride the first two of the three sections but got bottled up by all of the others walking and had to walk the last part. I know if I had a little more room I would have managed the whole thing. That is the hardest section of the course and it usually totally wipes me out. That gave me a little boost especially since my 2X9 drivetrain has no granny gear and I had to really grind up that thing. I felt good at the top and knowing I had about 10 miles to go made up my mind to push hard untill the end.
After reading the race report and looking at the pictures from the race I felt even better knowing Christian Vande Velde had to walk firetower and he didn't have to deal with people all around him walking.
On the last section of the Birkie trail I crested a hill to see a guy bend over his bike puking all over I asked if he was ok and he managed to say yes then he got back to fertilizing the trail and I rode off just as the smell started to hit me. That would not be a good way to finish. I rolled across the line in about 3 hours and 8 minutes, took a quick shower and had a beer with Charlie and Mark then headed back to Hayward and the Angry Minnow for a late lunch then we headed home.
Brian Matter won the race for the 4th time in 2 hours and 59 minutes. A new course record. CVV flatted and didn't finish so technically I beat him.
A great time all around. I was worried being purchase by Lifetime would change the event but it all seemed the same to me.
Cycling news.com report
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