This round of the US Cup Series was held at a favorite venue for many mountain bikers—including me. The course offers all the fun a cross country coarse could deliver; intense climbs, technical descents, meandering turns (very ‘cross-esque). This year the start/finish was setup on the north side of the park which also provided a nice area for the racers’ family and friends. And although the controversy leading up to the Santa Barbara Bike Festival seemed to impact attendance, those that showed up were rewarded with a course that was in excellent shape and really a whole lot of fun!
My class, the 50-54 Cat 1 field, was not as full as normal but the hot-shoes were all there; John Biron (who’s been on fire this year) and Steve Silva (who has this place wired) were both on the line. Thankfully they are also both Platinum Performance racers and thus our team had a good shot at putting someone on the box.
When the whistle blew, I jumped out in front as we entered the initial climb up to the plateau. However, Dean Swank (55-59 class) went by just before reaching the top. I followed for a couple minutes and then attacked once we had a little bit of a tail wind heading back up the gradual incline leading back to the multiple S-turns. Soon thereafter Johnny Biron made his move getting by Dean while Steve Silva moved up into the mix. Biron was smelling blood (probably from my lungs from going out a bit hard) as we entered the downhill on the backside towards the south entrance. I did my best to add some distance while descending but by the top of the climb back to the south parking area Johnny B was right there. I kept the pressure on and was able to develop a short gap by the time we entered the downhill back to the asphalt. I once again attempted to increase the gap on the downhill but took a short off-track excursion going over the bars into the bushes in a tight left hander but remounted quickly and got by a couple of folks leaving Johnny to descend in what must’ve been, very dusty conditions. Sorry JB.
By the time the first lap was over, I was beginning to think about the flaws in my strategy of the hard first lap as my legs were starting to feel a little less than fresh. Nothing a little recovery time wouldn’t fix so I gue-ed up, drank and entered the S-turns on top with a fair amount of room. I was blessed with a fairly open course leading into the downhill on the backside and felt good…that is until the climb up to the south entrance. My legs were not recovering as well as I hoped and struggled to get back to the descent into the asphalt with a comfortable gap hoping John had already backed off and somehow forgot I was up there. That, unfortunately for me, didn’t transpire. As we got onto the asphalt climb, John wasn’t too far back and I knew he was going to get by.
At the top of the climb Johnny B was playing the ever-kind teammate and suggested I get on his wheel and finish this baby. I intended on finishing but knew I was also done (so to speak). I held on for a couple seconds and that was about it. John finished strong while I was somehow able to keep Silva from going by on that treacherous last lap.
It was a fun, although extremely tough, day in the saddle for me. The dizzy spells have stopped and my memories of yesterday are that I still love the course and was delighted our team finished one-two-three for the day. Congratulations to John and Steve for excellent results!
