Bear Springs

Team WebCyclery/Niner headed up to the race Sunday morning, with 3 full-suspension Niners in the bed of Dan's pickup. Rob and my kermit-green Jet9's were eager to demonstrate their prowess once more, after their initial testing in the Chainbreaker last weekend. Dan was hoping to redeem himself after an early exit from that race, due to a brutal crash that ensued after his pedal clipped a large unseen rock whereupon he catapulted over the bars and made contact with the ground head first. Actually wait, Rob needed some redemption as well, as a maladjusted seat-post height had caused massive leg cramping, resulting in him not finishing the race either. I was also somewhat apprehensive, as I wondered if the good showing I'd had on this new bike was a fluke. Today's race would be quite a bit harder, and the potential for debilitating cramps much higher. I had a secret weapon though maybe : rummaging through some old boxes full of various race gels and bars, I had found this sample tube of electrolyte replacement I'd picked up at some race last year. Mix with 32 oz of water it said, and enjoy increased performance and eternal happiness - or something to that effect. Of course it's one of the major taboos to never try anything new on race day, but it tasted ok, so in it went.

The race start was the usual cluster-fuck, with a steep rutted hike-a-bike right after we'd turned off the road into the singletrack. Dozens of racers rubbed shoulders scrambling up awkwardly in stiff biking shoes, and several end-arounds were possible with quick-thinking creative route finding skills - I observed ChrisS execute a couple of these, and jump ahead several spots. Many sections of snow confused the issue as well. Soon we were spread out somewhat on the rolling singletrack, which helped dissipate some of the adrenalin. Not too long afterwards we crossed back over our initial trajectory, to the cheers of the roaring crowd - well all 8 of them. Another steep doubletrack climb, which was going to be difficult to clean due to the throng ahead of me. Oops, there goes one sideways, with a domino effect taking out a couple of riders. A minor karfuffle ensued, with much use of sailor language and use of the bike as a wacking device. Cooler heads managed just to prevail, and I was able to scoot around a large clot of walkers/wankers/wackers. Saw DanW ahead, but only briefly as he dropped his chain near the top (add foreshadowing music here:).

The singletrack was a blast, and the Jet9 was eating it up nicely. Got to the long talus field section, replete with large jagged rocks, and was hoping to drive the dually through there to see if I could make it. However a large group of riders just ahead had all dismounted it and were walking it, so I followed suit. Near the end of the section, some 'hero' came behind me still on his bike (or had just gotten back on) and attempted to call us to move over so he could ride through. Uh sorry buddy, when you see a big crowd like this in front of you walking, you've got to walk too. He attempted to ram through anyways, his tire catching the back of my leg. Ok, that's it, I turned around and popped him in the face. Just kidding :) well hopefully he got the message when we didn't all jump aside.

After a great downhill we hit a longish fireroad climb, and I saw the other Jet9 - with RobU aboard - just up ahead. Caught up to him, and that little extra effort seemed to initiate the nauseousness that dogged me for the rest of the race. Coulda been the new Electrolytes, or perhaps the 5 beers I'd consumed the night before. But overall felt great, even with the temps in the high 80's. Had been slurping go-juice at an accelerated rate all day, and sucking back more gels than usual, all in the hope of warding off the big 'C'. And mostly that seemed to work. Also noticed that riding a full suspension just makes a race more fun - I mean it was fun on the old DosNiner as well, as that thing sliced and diced it at a pretty high level - but this here ol' Jet9 just cranks it up to 11 mates !

Catch up to SpencerS, and am I hallucinating or are the cicadas just going insane around here ? No - it's Spence's Juicy7's with extra squeal appeal. Man those things are deafening ! After 10 minutes or so of languishing in his screech trail, I overtake him to put it all behind me, but he latches onto my pace and the painful high frequency sonic bath continues. RobU is also hanging with us, enjoying the sounds of nature too.

The race is almost over - or is it ? With all the corkscrew wacky windings of this crazy course, it's really hard to tell. They lopped off a few miles this year due to snow, so I'm figuring about 2.5 hours total - only half an hour to go. Usually this is a most excrutiating 30 minutes, and this year is no exception. At the start we had been warned that water levels are unusually high due to melting snow, and this will only be exacerbated by afternoon runoff with today's blazing sun. We hit the section with multiple dismounts and wading through water, and the cramps start hitting hard. I start whining/muttering about it aloud, and am comforted to hear the same stream of complaints from others in the vicinity. Am still hanging with Spence and Rob, and we get to watch each other crash spasmodically on the wet roots, and then try to remount with cramp-stiffened legs. Some of the sections are just crazy obstacle courses, with a couple of feet of icy cold stream water (actually felt real good on the throbbing swelling sore hot feet), interspersed with log sections that had been placed for us to hop on (and slide spectacularly off of:).

Now comes the steep climb out of the marshy madness, and as usual you can find pockets of exhausted riders taking a breather - maybe these are beginner or sport class riders - leaning on trees, massaging unresponsive limbs, etc. Around 10 minutes to go I announce, and Rob and I push ahead. I have sucked my Camelbak dry a few minutes before this, and hope I'm right. Soon enough the canal bank approaches, and then the ensuing road back up to the finish. Rob and I see no one behind us, and the Jet9's cruise to the finish together. Why such amicability ? Well we're in different age groups, otherwise @$%@$*%! :) No photographers are around to witness history in the making, but at least you've got me to tell you this here story. Another awesome Bear Springs - a truly classic single track battleground.

P.S. : now what of that mentioning of foreshadowing earlier on ? Well we see DanW at the finish, already changed from his biking attire... wtf did he go flying past us while we had our heads down commiserating in cramp-land ? Nope, chain-sucking and chain-dropping woes finally caused him to abandon ship - better luck next time Dano! But at least Team-Full-Susser-Niner gets 2 out of 3 finishes today, an improvement over the 1 for 3 last weekend.