But since Monday was the annual Stan Crane Memorial Intermountain Cup race that pretty much takes place in my backyard, I basically had no excuse not to race, as long as it actually happened. It rained much of Sunday and into the night, which threatened to cancel the entire event.
A one hour delay to the start time turned into two and almost three. The course was completely changed, but eventually we were off. I was actually happy about the course change, as it put us on fire road for the big climb, which wasn't as steep as Clark's, and I thought the pitch and duration would be right in my wheelhouse. It also meant I wouldn't have to go out as hard and would still have opportunities to pass.
While still on the singletrack, though, I tried to make a pass while adjacent to some barriers. As I tried to go around, I clipped my handlebar on the barrier and crashed hard. I smashed my right quadriceps right above the knee and wasn't sure I could even pedal. I thought I'd already lost too much time and thought about withdrawing altogether but didn't. When I got back on, grass was jammed in my cassette and every pedal stroke hurt. I had to stop again to clean the grass out. I got back on again and figured the bruised muscle would loosen up if I kept pedaling.
There was a fast descent on a fire road right before the big climb, so I put it in the big ring and went for all I was worth. As I rounded the corner onto the climb, I could see the race leaders ahead and kept after it.
Once at the top, I lost more time on the descent, as I was stuck behind a slower rider and couldn't find a way around. When I did finally get a chance to go around, I found that the rough trail had knocked my chain off. I had to stop to put it back on and was once again discouraged about my chances.
On the fire road descent of the second lap, I was able to make up a lot of time. My legs were feeling strong, so I pushed hard on the climb. This time I descended in the big ring to keep my chain tight enough not to come off in the rough sections.
Back at the start/finish area, Rachel didn't realize with the course changed and shortened that we were doing three laps instead of two, so she wasn't there with a fresh bottle. I still had some water, but was feeling like I needed Carbo Rocket.
As we started the final lap, I could tell my competitors had used a lot of energy, so I kept it in the big ring and pushed hard up the singletrack. By the time we got to the doubletrack climb, I still felt strong, so I kept pounding and then tried to descend fast but clean so I didn't crash out.
I made the final climb, crossed the finish line, and found Rachel. "How'd you do?" She asked. With all the start waves, she couldn't tell where I stood.
"I won."
And it felt awesome. In fact, it still does.
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