Talon Trails Excrutiation Exam

Formerly known as the Warda Torture Test and it lived up to its name this year. Lots of rain in the previous week and some light rain the day of and cold temperatures made for some cold, wet riding. All the trails were real slick and muddy. The dirt was hard enough where the trails weren't getting tore up, but traction was a problem.

Race started out as a run. I decided to go out pretty slow and went out near the back of the pack. Probably not the best idea cause I was behind some slow people for the first 7 miles of singletrack. I wanted to start out slow, but not so slow as to make it hard to push my gear. Passed a few people, people were real cool about letting you pass and headed out of the single track onto the roads and dirt roads to Smithville. Made a wrong turn going out of Bluff Creek Ranch. Got yelled at by all the people I'd just passed, so turned around and caught back up. Rode the 25 or so miles to Rocky Hill Ranch at Smithville mostly by myself. Only time I rode with anyone else was briefly when passing or being passed. Also managed to piss while riding and not get it all over myself. Thought that was pretty cool.

Was still feeling pretty good by the time I got to Rocky Hill Ranch for 22 miles of singletrack. That is when things got brutal. Geared pretty steep with a 34x17 and a 29er tire was great for the road, but hard on soft, wet, singletrack. The sketchiness factor was increased by the wetness and the disk breaks on the new unit decided to strech so I was pretty brakeless. Was able to get a little bit of brakes by adjusting the barrels on the levers, but I really didn't want to stop and really adjust. Cross definately paid off because my technique was to dismount and run a lot of hills instead of trying to mash the peddles up just to spin out. My lower back was already pretty sore from the steep gear and running seemed easier in a lot of sections.

About 5 miles left of singletrack a woman named Shontelle from Bicycle Sport Shop caught up to me. Offered to let her pass, but she opted to sit on my rear wheel, which she did till the end of the singletrack. We split up at the pits at Rocky Hills enteracne, but I caught up to her on the road. I was trying to hammer because there was a large climb out of Rocky Hill Ranch and I wanted to get up it with the highest cadence possible. Put some distance on Shontelle and I was kind of bummed cause I wanted to ride with someone. I guess a guy we passed earlier caught up to her and she was able to jump on his wheel. We all rode together and then he broke off. So Shontelle and I rode the 20+ miles back to Bluff Creek Ranch together, with me pulling most of the way. I was pretty stoked to ride with someone. At this point talking was much better than being left alone in my thoughts. Turns out Shontelle jsut got signed on by a pro Canadian road team. Pulling a professional roadie while on a singlespeed at the end of a 80 mile mtn bike race was pretty awesome.

Ended up 3rd in the Open 19-29 yrs and 19th overall with I believe they said over 80 starters. Felt pretty good about that finish. Was one of two singlespeeders out there and I have no idea how the other guy did. Was an older guy and I passed him in hte first 7 miles of singletrack

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2007-13