World Masters Mountain Biking Championship Races.. Bromont, Quebec .. Saturday Aug. 30th.

I took second place..

The course was worthy of a World competition. I did the first pre-ride on the jekyll and the downhills made Mt. Snow look like Kansas. Big rocks, roots, dips, whoopsie-do's, big drops, impossible climbs, narrow trails benched into the hillside (a slip and you had better grab a tree or you will be 30-50 feet down the ravine. Some racers handed in written protests as this section being too dangerous). After a few pre-rides, I was pretty comfortable with the course.  I spent quite a bit of time with both wheels off the ground :-)

The older guys and gals did two laps.. the young crazies got 4 laps. Competition was STIFF in all classes. One of our Connecticut series racers that won sport 40-45 at mount snow got lapped at Bromont.  

It was the best and most hard fought race I've ever been in. I doubt if its possible to have a closer race.

Fred and I changed positions at least a dozen times in the race. Back and forth for the entire race. Fred won the world cup two years ago, won the nationals series a few times .. and is the same guy I beat at Mt. Snow by 7 minutes earlier this year.

At the start of the race, Fred took off and put about 30 seconds on me. I reeled him back in and led at the end of the first lap by about 20 seconds.

He made that up and we just battled back and forth ... but in a very gentlemen-ly manner.. allowing passes, etc.

Something happened to my front shock on the second lap.. started banging away .. blew out an seal and lost most of the oil (see note added below)..  it sure made it difficult in the downhills.. but was just one factor of many to determine the outcome of the race..

We came out of the woods on the final lap with Fred leading by a foot or so. I passed him as soon as we got off the single track and we sprinted for home.. both of us totally spent.

As it turns out.. he had just a little more than I did.. and won by TWO seconds.

It was basically one of an experienced racer vs. an inexperienced racer. I just made too many mistakes. My computer said my lapsed time was two minutes longer then my ride time. I dropped a chain at least 4 times and washed out a couple of times and did poorly on the last rock garden with the bad shock. I swore a few times diverting energy from the task at hand, and worst of all, I didn't stand up in the sprint home.. I stayed seated in the granny gear as the finish was up a grade..... can you believe I did that??.
He probably lost only 20 seconds or so to mechanicals and falls (just a guess).

We both had Scalpels with 2x9's

I'm proud to be second best in the world in my age group.. that is quite an accomplishment for a rookie racer in itself... but I'm totally bummed out that I didn't have what it takes to dig out that last bit of energy in the sprint home. No matter how many times I re-run the video in my mind... the results don't change.

The medal looks nice hanging on the garage door and I got an experience that will last a lifetime , met some wonderful people, saw some beautiful country, and I probably have bragging rights for the next 15 minutes or so.. before we start thinking about our next Connecticut series race which is this Sunday.

Also.. in the sprint home, the spectators were cheering wildly . and the announcer did a blow by blow .. astonished that the old dogs could duke it out like the young bucks. Quite a buzz....I wish all of you could have been in my pocket digging for that last ounce of energy.

added 9/22 .. results of Cannondale inspection/repair of front shock

Quote from the Cannondale Service Rep:

"The upper cap of the oil damper some how managed to unthread which let the
oil escape through the top of the cartridge.  Other than the occasionally
pulling of your cartridge and examining it there was not much you could have
done to prevent it.  The replaced cap should fix it. They threw in a
telescope rebuild just to make sure nothing else happens for quite a while."

The oil dripped all over the disk brake as well.. just to make that last lap even more interesting. :-)

The shock just had a complete rebuild a few months earlier.

Got a two day turnaround from Cannondale so it was ready for the next Ct. race which was the following Sunday.

charlie
rev 9/5/03

added 9/22