Race Report : Mt. Hood SkiBowl

Last year I attempted this race, but fell a bit short, as the family camping trip near the race site didn't exactly work out : a night of heavy cold rain which leaked into the tent, freezing temperatures and some snow the morning of, and general miserable damp conditions. So yeah we got out of there fast and went back to bask in the normal climate of Bend.

But things looked much better as I made the drive up to Mt Hood on Sunday morning. Sunny skies and warm temperatures. Was feeling somewhat crappy after a 2-week hiatus from training [the family DisneyLand/camping trip], but at least no ass-freezing would occur. Drove into the SkiBowl parking lot, and picked a nice shady spot to park. Got out of the car and - what the f*ck!? - I am greeted by a blast of icy cold air ! Check the thermometer - yup, it's 11C and windy. Quickly add some layers to my shorts and sandals attire, and repark the car in a nice sunny spot. This place definitely has its own micro-climate.

Luckily I had thrown a few cold-weather riding items into the car at the last minute : Goretex sox and whatnot, so I couldn't wimp out and drive home.

We lined up at the start, and they began going over the course. The course director held up a large cardboard map of the trails, and described the navigation procedure. Now if you recall the Mt Hood race I reported on last year, you remember how I bitched about all the intersections, and how various age groups and classes all got routed differently and it was very confusing. Course marshals were similarly confused, frequently sending people in the wrong direction, and their timing was all screwed up as there were parts of the course were racers were going in both directions on the single-track. Well as I listened to all the various loops and turns we had to do today, my eyes becoming crossed and my brain cramping, I realized this might be deja-vu all over again [yep that's redundant but it sounds right]. But hey maybe they fixed up their procedures and it would all work out. What's this, since I'm in the Expert 40+ category, I get to wear a pink ribbon on my handlebar to facilitate the marshall's job ? Hey that's brilliant, or very stupid, I'm not sure :)

The race starts and as expected [psyche!] I feel somewhat weak and wheezy. We start climbing up the face of the main ski run - for the enjoyment of the crowd which is watching the downhill race which is just finishing up. My friend Chris passes me at the bottom of the climb - and I foresee a strenuous back-and-forth friendly competition between us today. But suddenly he pulls over, and I look back and see him flipping his bike - some mechanical problem. Now there are only 3 other 'pink-ribbons' to worry about - I think I see them ahead.

We grind up the steep switchbacking climb - which is actually an intermediate downhiller trail. I have a new tire on the back for increased cornering traction, but unfortunately it appears to lack climbing traction, and I'm spinning out frequently.

I'll skip the next hour or so until we get to the fun juicy bits. So it's past the halfway mark in the race, and we're climbing up a horrendously steep ski run which just goes on and on. The trail is loose and rutted, and if it was 1 degree steeper I'd probably be walking. I've been in a group of 5 or 6 riders for the last little while, but myself and another guy are climbing well, and we open up a significant gap. At the top of the climb, he goes left and I go right - I have a pink ribbon, so the marshall sends us both the right way. Actually the marshalls have been pretty good so far, so I'm thinking perhaps there will be no screw-ups. Trying to maintain the gap, I pound down the ensuing fire road at high speed. As I come around a corner, I am confronted with a confusing scenario : there is a sign that directs Pro/Expert to go left, and another sign that directs Sport/Beginner to go right. Well, this is the first time I've seen a sign like this all day, but anything's possible... The confusing bit is that there is a small log lying across the Pro/Expert trail entrance, as if to deter entry. My tired and sweating brain determines that the log is to prevent the less-experienced racers from picking that line, and that Pro/Experts should just hop across and keep going. Makes sense, so I go for it. The trail goes into the woods and starts descending rather steeply - soon large rocks appear, and I am going off 2-3 foot drops. At this point, several voices in my head all start talking at once. Voice #1 is 'stoked' that they picked such a cool steep technical line for part of the course, and is basically saying "Woohoo!". Voice #2 is saying this is starting to look wrong and you should turn back. Voice #3 is being the calm collected optimist - stating that this is probably just a short section and must be the right way - don't worry about it. As the trail gets gnarlier and gnarlier, and I note the lack of small race signs which have been tacked onto the trees in the other parts of the course, I begin to slow down and pay heed to Voice #2. Finally at a full stop, I look up at the intimidating climb that faces me if I decide to retrace my steps. That sucks. I turn to keep going, but the Voice#2 is strong and makes me hump my bike back up the trail - maybe there was another trail entrance that I missed on the left. Get to the top [probably lost no more than 5 minutes with this diversion?], see no other trails, and again look at those initial signs. I am frozen with indecision. I rider comes by with a hand-drawn plate. He says he is in Expert, and asks me where we should go. I quickly describe what I just did, and then he says he's going right. What the hell, I follow him. Probably totally off-course, stupid race !:)

We go down the downhill run that we first climbed up. I can see pretty far down the hill, and see no racers I recognize ahead that were in the group I gapped earlier - could they still be behind even after I went off-course ? Or maybe my diversion lasted longer than I thought ? Hey maybe they made some other wrong turn. Get to the bottom, and we go over the bridge for the last lap. At the major SNAFU intersection, I am thinking I have to go up that big strenuous climb again, but I am directed up a different road, that leads back to the downhill I just did. Head for the finish line, with no one around me in front or behind. As I come through, I hear 'First Place, 40+', and am handed a gold medal. OK, now I know I screwed up - there's no way I can be first, not in Expert, and not with that diversion I took. I talk to other racers that have finished, trying to figure out if I went the right way - and apparently I did. Except for the 'Diversion' of course : it turns out those signs I misinterpreted were actually for the downhill race which happened earlier in the day - so I was XC'ing my way down the ProExpert downhill course - cool - maybe I should enter the Hardtail class in that race next time.

As racers cross the line, I hear more and more stories about misdirections and confusion. Maybe this is some kind of Love/Hate Codependency disfunctionality going on here. The race organizers fiendishly craft complicated race courses, and the racers love bitching about it afterwards. I am about to leave, and decide to look more closely at the results, as I still don't believe my first place finish. I ask the finishing line dude if I can check out the nametags and results board, and I see a name I recognize - someone who's usually way ahead of me - check their time - yup, that's faster than me. So I hand them the Gold medal and ask for the Silver. The guy gives me a funny look, as if I'm trying to pull something on him, then comprehension dawns and he swaps the medals and thanks me for being honest. Well they would have figured it out sooner or later anyways. At least I got some hardware - no great achievement as only 5 in my class - and maintain my #1 ranking in the Expert 40+ standings [at least until the really fast guys start showing up at more races:)]