Swamp Thing

The Matson Hill State Championship Mountain Bike Race was held this past Saturday. We've had quite a bit of rain showers over the past week and many folks weren't sure if we'd have the race or not. The conditions Saturday morning were somewhat dry and the racing began under overcast skies. As the morning progressed, the skies darkened and right before the beginners/women/juniors classes took to the course, the skies opened up. This wasn't a brief, light shower, but a good ol' fashioned downpour! And it kept on coming down as they called us to the line. Our race officials, Dave and Larry, called us to the line, promised to call the race in the event of lightning, bid us safe racing, and set us off.

The actual race course is a unique set-up. The race begins with a 1.5 mile hill climb up a very steep gravel road followed by a half mile section of paved roads which leads to a very tight singletrack course of roughly 3 miles.

My pre-race strategy was this. Make a strong effort climbing Matson Hill and attempt to stay near the front as we transitioned into the tight singletrack. I felt that if I was able to get into the singletrack ahead of the pack or very near the leaders, I could hold off the charge, so to speak. What I didn't know was that the organizers of the event decided to have a race within a race and offer a "King of the Mountain" prize to the first rider reaching the Matson Hill "summit" in each class. The prize was $20 and a 5-pack of O'Fallon Brewery's finest. Once I learned of the KOM prize, I thought my strategy may well go right out the window.

As we started, I let a fair amount of riders head off with a pace I knew they wouldn't be able to sustain when the steep parts of the climb hit, or so I thought. I then panicked and thought perhaps some of the riders were actually going to keep the tempo going. With panic as my motivator and a good measure of hill repeat training in my legs, I decided to shift into a harder gear and start some out of the saddle tempo to close the gap. I slowly picked off riders and kept building my pace. As we neared the first bend in the hill, I could see a few more riders and kept going after them. I kept alternating between standing and climbing seated and really thought about my pre-race strategy and the possibility of not only getting up the hill in decent shape, but also winning the KOM title! (Being a recovering fat guy and all-around poor hill climber, I felt like Michael Rasmussen in the Tour de France. If they call him "The Flying Chicken" what would they call me... "The Flying Ostrich!") As I neared the top of the hill, I was passed by the wonderkid, Zak Hafner, and that quickly slapped me back to reality. This kid is fast!!

I approached the trailhead and was cheered on by several folks. I also had a sense I was doing rather well and that boosted my spirits even further. Ten seconds later, I was almost out of the race. (I guess I should mention, I've only ridden Matson once and that was only for 1 lap before mechanical problems put an end to my day. ) As I set up for the entry into the trail, I thought the trail entered to the left of a trail marker, when in fact it entered to the right. As I set up for a fast entry into the trail, I immediately saw my mistake and corrected. I nailed the first corner okay, but was way out of line for the second quick left-hander and shot off into the brush. I was able to stay on the bike, but nearly smacked a tree head on. I quickly got back on course and discovered the trails were extremely slick and very hard to carry any sort of speed through. As I ran off course time and time again, I thought this will certainly be a DNF. Making matters worse was the fact that everytime mud flew into my eyes, my vision blurred and I would again run off course.

Jim Hafner (1st place) caught me not quite half way into the first lap. He must have been having a better day bike handling, because I never saw him again. He ultimately finished about 4 minutes ahead of me. I slogged and slogged through the slop and worked to not let anyone else pass me throughout the remainder of the race. The course got wetter and wetter while the mud thicker and thicker. I remember thinking at one point I'd rather be climbing Matson Hill Road for another 10 miles than negotiating this swamp.

As I made my last climb out for the race and came across the finish line I remember thinking there weren't that many racers ahead of me (there weren't all that many at the start either, but I was still in the minority) and perhaps I did fairly well. As I watched others come across the line, I began to take note of the classes and finishing positions. As it turns out, I was the first rider in my class to get into the trail, so I feel as though I accomplished one mission. As luck would have it I also won the KOM race and finished 2nd in my class!

Overall, it was a race I'll never forget. I felt I did the best I could under the conditions and while it was a smaller field than normal, I'll take it! When I finished and got back to the car, I looked in the mirror to see my face resemble the Swamp Thing and my legs and arms were coated in black mud. My jersey, shorts, and socks were completely mud caked. Perhaps I'm a mudder? Could this be the return of the SWAMP THING?

Congratulations to Jim Hafner, Zak Hafner, Mike Tieber, and Justin Suvarna! Great race guys! I took my wife and kids out for ice cream and concretes at the Malt Shop on the $20 I won (thanks for the recommendation Johan!) and I'm going to enjoy those O'Fallon brews, too!