BC Bike Race Stage 7

Well, it worked out surprisingly nice that I could check into hotel pre-race. Went out for a little warmup, bumped into Trish, and even small inclines felt laboured. I hung back for the first 90 seconds where everyone goes ballistic on the road, which is so pointless as then we go on a gravel road straight up under a chairlift. That's a hard start. About 25 minutes, and in 10 minutes I was in a good spot. I picked up a couple more spots on the gravel traverse over to Crank it up, then proceeded to do just that to the best of my abilities. Norona was behind on his trials motorcycle filming, so we'll see if any of the footage works. I might try to contact him for some of it after, not for vanity, but so I can self assess what I do poorly and what looks effective.

Passed a lot of people on all the jumps, helps having sessioned it before. It's big and wide and people hear you then just say go by, so it's pretty tactful actually. Lots of folks don't get the "lean into the bermed corners and lay off the brakes to rocket around" - if you stay inside line, it's off camber gravel sloping out, and you have zilch for traction.

Hung a right at the bottom and grinded it back up. Got to Sam the world's fastest man on a bike, he's a strong single speeder and makes Naked frames. He let me go by on the right, and right when we started the pass, the bushes on the right stopped and there was a giant washout. I stayed out of a big crash by inches and my heart was in my throat, neither of us saw it. Lucky.

After that it was into the Lost Lake trails, I felt good enough to stay punchy on all the short climbs so it was a fun time, and really enjoyed the technical on the suspension. They inadvertently added a double technical section where we came into the shade so your eyes had to adjust, then find the squiggly little trail with so many roots it looked like forest, then on top of that there was a strong bikini cheering section to take your eyes off finding the trail even more.

Mountain biking is a measure of the vitality of my existence, and this was a good week. So fun not feeling decrepit. It's life, life is good when I can maintain a certain level. I was 22 today and 24 on the week.

One topic I heard endless hours of discussion on this week was dropper seatposts. I still don't get it. North Shore I'm sure they add value on a 6" burly bike. This race is technical, but it is cross country. The top xc racers set most of the best enduro times, or were close. I don't get the logic of adding more weight and complexity to a bike on this terrain, and I can't tell you how many drop post guys I passed. Downhill speed is 95% from your eyes seeing the line, your body following it, your bike staying in control through suspension/tires/brakes. There's maybe, maybe a smidge to add on super steeps or jump sections, but its overall irrelevant. But they seem to be good business these days, so what do I know.

On a humorous note, when I was showering up to get ready for a lunch with Trish, I hear a click, and some dude and his wife walk into the room, also having been given working room keys. Uhhh, as I poked my head out from behind the door and said what's happening out there... maybe that morning check in skipped something in their system.

This was such a fun week. I love seeing Trish do awesome, she was 3rd overall - 2nd place girl is already on a flight back home to New Zealand. Pat was a great fan and supporter, popping up randomly on sides of trails when he was out riding his other stuff.