2013 Draper Fall Classic, Corner Canyon. 25 mile race.
Here's my little write up on todays racing at the Draper Fall Classic in which I raced in the 25 mile option.
The Bad.
Not much to complain about other than me going the wrong way (again) nearing the finish line coming into the tunnel. Making a left instead of a right. The signs were laying on the ground & it doesn't take much to confuse me.
Litterbugs! Jeez, stop dropping your gel paks on the trail during races. I'm sure it only takes a few hikers to complain that "all those racers are littering up the trails". It only takes one, I saw a half a dozen.
The Ugly.
So I was heading into the Anns trail section right on the back wheel of a Jr.
I decided to follow him & it ended up as being one of the highlights of my day. The kid was named Brynn(?), maybe 14 & rode for DNA. I found out right away this kid had excellent desending skills. I got right on his butt & he turned it up a notch. Him & I re-created that speeder scene in the forest in Return of the Jedi. We were FLYING, warp 10. I was very impressed with his smoothness & speed. Seriously, it was the fastest I have ever rode down that section & we were killing it. We were about 3/4 of the way down when we came around a blind corner that tightened up. His elbow caught a tree, my handlebar caught the same tree...........BOOM, high speed death.
I went otbs in the middle of the trail & it wasn't pretty. Knees & elbows took on rocks & roots & I lost. I had the air knocked out of me for a few & I got up to gather myself, Brynn stopped & asked it I was OK a few times, I managed to blurt out a OK & he was off. Class act that kid is & his parents shoud be proud. I sat for a few minutes in a lot pain, bleeding from all sorts of places & saw as my competition started passing me one after another. At this point I almost decided to call it a race & ride down to the finish but something or someone in my head started screaming at me..... was it Zosa? Was it Cobes?? Screaming at me to "Suck it up swingset!!!, nobody quits in mt. bike racing!!!"
After about 5 minutes I rode down to the tunnel & spent another 5 minutes at the 7.5 mile point to adjust bent bars & decide to either finish or call it a race.
The Good.
I decided to finish the race & even though I am paying for it now, I'm glad I did. I actually started feeling better as the miles came, I loosened up & pretty soon by the time I hit BSL/Clarks & was feeling like I was on fire. Catching all the riders that passed me & feeling good going into Rush. I passed Bruce Argyle at the beginning of Rush & said hi but I don't think he knew who I was. Finished on a strong note & knocked about 30 minutes off of my time last year with time considered from my crash.
About the event, I thought the 8:30am start was awesome. The weather was good except for the wind. The course changed up a few things & that nasty climb about a mile in on the service road took me by surprise. Bypassing the Silica Pit didn't suck either, thanks!
The volunteers ruled, thanks. I passed what seemed to be 30 trail builders along the way & tried to thank them for their work, thanks. I was able to catch up with Adam, Sally (thanks for the encouragement) & Cory Spencer. The UTMB Team are lucky to have such nice & decent people/racers on their team. Nice catching up with you guys. See you at CX?
At the finish I caught up with Brynn & we talked about what happened. He said he had a BMX background (of course 8~) ), he should try his hand at Super D, Enduro too IMO.
Overall, great event, I LOVE this venue & as I sit here with ice bags on my legs, got about 5k mgs IB in me & am on my 3rd Stella waiting to chow down on brats & looking forward to the Ute game..........holy crap, Adam has a Y sticker on his helmet
, I had a GREAT EFFING DAY.
Thanks for reading,
Bruce. Go Utes!
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