By Brad Walker
As always I want to thank Flying Dog Dog Brewery and of
course Bike Doctor of Frederick. I can’t say enough of how great everyone is at
the shop. Over the course of two years the shop has really been the best. So if
you’re reading this stop by the shop and check them out and spend all your
money. Okay so I got that out of the way, so hopefully you’re still awake and
or haven’t shut down your computer…
So this weekend was the 10th
Annual running of the Greenbrier Challenge at Greenbrier State Park in Hagerstown
Maryland. For once the race isn’t on the same day as another popular race in
the area and so this year I decided to finally race at Greenbrier. For many
people, Greenbrier is a tough 5.7 mile loop that is basically mostly uphill and
very little anything else. So if you don’t like steep climbs than it’s probably
not a course you will like…hence why I’ve never raced here although I do most
of my training at Greenbrier. So I decide for once to do the race, spend the 35
dollars and drive the 8 miles or so to the course. The weather decided to not
cooperate with what I would consider ideal riding conditions…80 degrees and
instead was a chilly 53. It’s not so much the temperature being cold it’s the
fact that I hate breathing the chilly air into my lungs while I cling to my
handlebars wondering why I do this to myself, and actually pay for my heart to
be 185bpm for an hour and half. I check in and get my fancy MASS series plate
and attach it to my bars and head down to watch another Flying Dog Racer take
off in an earlier category. So he’s off to suck the cold air so figure it’s as
good as any time to get ready and changed into the team kit.
The cat 2 men went
off starting at 11:30 so it’s still not warm enough out..yea I know I’m a
complainer, well its almost the end of April I mean come on…seriously! The
director counts us down and off we go, I didn’t really have much of a plan this
race other than ride the loop as fast I could. So instead of deciding beforehand
how I would start I decided while I was half way down the starting track along
the lake and my choice of starting was an all out sprint to the top of the
first climb. The spectators were all saying great things to me about how great
the start was meanwhile inside my head I was already yelling at myself as I
could tell I already went way past my threshold level. In other words I was
hurting and hurting bad. Regardless it’s a race so I put the tough face on and
keep on getting it as I know the course well and I know all I gotta do is get
to the top of the big steep climb and the course is basically half over. This
plan didn’t work out too well as I got a stick lodged into my rear derailleur
while passing a fellow racer. So I had to un clip and throw the bike upside
down and bend the derailleur back into line the best I could. I hop back on the
bike and take off only to find that I have lost three of my top climbing rings
in the back. Normally it wouldn’t be too big of a deal but Greenbrier has two
steep climbs that require those rings. So I’m basically stuck muscling the bike
up the hills wearing myself out big time. Regardless I keep on pedaling and
trying to catch the two guys who are now in 1st and 2nd…
On
the 3rd and final lap I finally catch one of the guys on one of the
big climbs and he informs me that the leader is only a minute ahead. I push it
as hard as I can and decide on the last semi technical decent that maybe it’s
time to go from a fully rigid bike to at least a suspension fork on the front as
it really slows me down on the downhill’s as I have to pick my line a little
more carefully. So I do my best to catch the leader but it’s to no avail so I
finish the race in 2nd and have a bag full of bike stuff, a nice
little medal and the best part a 50 dollar check to show for my efforst. This
season is starting out pretty well as I have placed in the top 3 in the last
couple races. Hopefully the season keeps going well. Also I want to say great
job to Flying Dog’s newest team member Nathan Hickle of Hagerstown as he won
the Cat 3 race. This coming weekend is the Fairhill classic in upper Maryland.
Till next time…
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