Fired Up

Photo by Troy Meives

I'm always amazed at the time it takes to reach good form. You think along the way that you're riding well but when that top end comes around and the leash comes off it is an awesome feeling. After some solid weeks of racing and training, and the strength I had in my legs at the Subaru Cup, I knew the Firecracker race was my best shot for a win this season. It is the perfect course to suit my strengths - short power climbs and tons of fast, technical singletrack. I was excited to see how the Epic 29 handled it and was not disappointed, it cornered and carried its speed to the point that I felt it was a substantial advantage. However in the pre-race I came in hot on the switchback decent and slid out on some flagstones into the briar patch, raking my legs and arms and came out looking like I was attacked by a pack of wild cats for the rest of the weekend. Seems like after riding road all week I always have a few of these spills until my body relaxes in the corners and allows the bike to do its thing. After the 3rd lap I felt I had the course committed to memory and knew the speed to carry into each corner w/out having the scrub off speed and waste energy. Speaking of Scrub, the rotors are finally broken in and stopping with almost the same power as the XX, but with a huge weight savings. Anyway, with the pre-race down I had a solid dinner and managed to not stuff myself like I normally do, it's funny I eat less in preparation for hard blocks of 4 hour rides than I do for a 2000 kj or less race so I need to keep that in mind.

On to the race itself. It was ridiculously hot and the track was fun so we did our warmup on the first shady singletrack section, we stayed cool and got to get the feel for the corners again right before the race. I actually wore my HR monitor this time and my hr was very steady even in the heat, I knew it would be a good day if I stayed hydrated and ate enough gels.

At the start I did the usual pedal whif and then hammered up near the front, and when we hit the road section went up to lead it out. My thinking for the day was stay in the front and get to the singletrack first, I felt I could gain time there and then recover if they caught me. I slowed slightly on the dirt road outbound and took a look back, expecting 10 people ready to pass. The pace must've been high enough as no one did, so I pushed on and found myself in the lead in the 1-track. I kept the gas on the entire lap, I could see Tristan and Eppen about 10-20 seconds back so I just tried to see if I could maintain that. When I came around through the feed zone It had grown to maybe 30 seconds, I was glad I had remembered to put ice in my cooler when Lynn handed me up a fresh bottle as it kept the core cool and the hr from climbing.



Photo by Niki Frazier

Going out on lap two I wanted to be out of sight, so again I kept the gas down. Without many hills I was able to keep the pace high without spiking the HR, as long as did not go 100% anywhere. I concentrated on keeping it nice and steady and on controlling my breathing to find that sweet spot to ride in. Mentally I was really enjoying the course, Craig Manthe and crew did an amazing job, all the burms and wood bridges are super fun to ride made you want to go faster so hats off to them. That helps take your mind off the pain in your body. The next two laps I kept thinking I saw them catching me since the course loops back on itself so much. I kept the pace up, at this point however I was not hitting the hills as hard and getting some recovery here and there. Still enjoying the course though!



Photo by Amy Dykema

On the last lap there was some traffic, and again I couldn't tell when I saw someone behind me if it was someone closing the gap or if it was someone I had just passed, so I had to stay on it for the most part. Going up the last switchback climb though I knew I had it so I could roll into the finish and enjoy the moment, always a great feeling! I've been close a couple times here and I'm stoked to add this to my short but (hopefully) growing list of wins. I have to thank the 212 team for all their support, especially Chris for taking the time to work out a plan for me. It's obviously working!



Photo by Amy Dykema

Up next is Alterra, which I'm sure will be tough and hot as usual - a proper showdown. Stay tuned...