VEISHEA Race Report

My first mountain bike race of the season was today in my back yard at Peterson's. It was the VEISHA mountain bike race. This race was also my first ever mountain bike race back in 2003. Wow, five years ago. A lot of stuff has happened since then. I was looking back at the results from that race a few days ago.

Some names from that race in 2003:
Chris Maharry (Expert)
John Adamson (Expert)
Carl Buchanan (Sport)
Thad Neil (Sport)
Rob Versteegh (won in Sport)
Sean Myers (Sport)
Dave Krenz (Beginner)
Troy Tellinghuisen (Beginner)
Kyle Sedore (Beginner)
Nick Wooley (Beginner)
Scott Sumpter (Beginner)
Bruce Reese (Beginner)
Ron Degeest (Beginner)
Mike Lebeda (Beginner)
Bruce Neil (Beginner)

In 2003 I didn't know any of these guys, but they all seemed to be good friends. I was envious. This stuff looked like fun. I wanted to become one of these guys.

After a couple of year racing beginner class races at Petereson's (VEISHEA and Iowa Games), I decided that, in order to become a better bike racer, I should join a team. I joined Team 14 for both the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Late in 2007 Team 14 disbanded, and MOB Racing was born.

Fast forward to today.

I now find myself running a team of very talented bike racers. I don't exactly know how it happened. I could not have planned it if I tried. And yet here I am. Cool!

OK. Enought with the self examination. On with the race report.

At the race were Rob, Chris, and Scott from the MOB, and Taylor had also ridden up with Rob. I was also pleased to see several Bike Tech guys were there from Waterloo/Cedar Falls. This was our first race in the new MOB kits, and we were eager to make a mark. There is a write-up on the MOB blog about the overall MOB results, so I will concentrate on my race here.

I did a warm-up ride with Scott and the course looked great, except for the previously mentioned 50 yards of mud. It got better as the day went on, but it was still a mud bog. Here's a tip when riding in mud that I learend from my motocross day. Don't fight the ruts, flow with the ruts. I you try to control the bike in the mud you lose. Just try to keep forward momentum and let the bike find it's own path through the ruts. Sadly, I didn't remember this until lap 3.

I decided to ride my 'cross bike. I've wanted to try a 'cross bike in a race at Peterson's. Peterson's is mostly a fast, flat, and smooth course. I brought both the Dos Niner and the 'cross bike just is case. The deciding factor was the mud. My Dos Niner does not do a good job of clearing mud, so the decision was easy.

The Sport race started off and found myself in the front of the pack going into wind for the first leg of the race. No a good place to be. I was trying to figure a way to get off the front, I hit a root on the trail, and I went down - HARD and FAST. Problem solved. I went from first to worst just like that.

I got up, got back on my bike, was suprised to see my bike was still ridable. I tried to get back in the race. Within a 1/2 lap I had caught back up with Kyle Williams, who was in second place. He and I went back and forth for 5 laps or so. We could see first place from time to time, but we could not make any progress catching him. I was digging a pretty deep hole keeping up with Kyle, and finally in the 5th or sixth lap he passed me and made it stick. I tried to keep him in sight, but I was fading. In the six or seventh lap (of eight) I was also passed by Nate Harp. Once again I tried to keep him in sight, but I was fading fast. By then riding the cross bike was taking a toll. I finished in 4th of eight. I'll take it.

As far as I'm concerned, I was a great first outing for me, and for the MOB. I've been doing a 2-3 hour gravel ride on most weekends during the winter. I have not been doing much in the was of focused training. Given that, I'm OK with this result.

Next up is Sylvan Island in the Quad Cities next weekend.