Now That Was Pfun!

Last night was the kickoff for the Short Track Training Series hosted by our local food and hospitality guru, Ralph Pfremmer, and his VeloForce teammates. They had laid out a very nice combination of technical sections and uber-fast dirt flats. The result was one narrow, but ultra quick loop that took riders roughly 5 minutes to complete and a honking large BBQ and beer party following the races.

Registering for the race, I had all the plans to jump into the B race but since Ralph has been bugging me to go head to head with him in a race, I elected for the A race at the last minute. I actually paid and registered for both races with the idea that if I got shelled in the A race, I could drop out and then race the B race. As it turns out, no shelling occured. My goal was simply don't get lapped by the pro-level racers. (I held off Chris Ploch until the final creek crossing and then he got me.)

Several of us didn't really contest the start and let the really fast dudes take full advantage of the open field to narrow singletrack flow of the race. As a result, we found ourselves near the back of the pack very early in the race. However, we quickly formed our freight train and begin to hammer through quite nicely. I passed several riders over the next few laps and then settled into a good rhythm with teammate, Kent Jones, and DRJ rider, Mark Bauer (Lil' Buddy.) Those two were running 29er s/s with 44/20 and 44/21 gearing respectively. I was running the big ring on most of the course and then the middle ring for the creek crossing section. We yo-yo'd back and forth until Kent took a corner too hot and then it became a race with me and Mark.

At the end, Mark's teammate, Chris Ploch, popped out of the creek behind us and immediately passed us and Mark jumped onto his wheel and got a pretty good gap on me at the same time. I fought really hard to get back onto Mark's wheel and by the time we entered the grass field for the last time, I had bridged up to Mark (and felt like he didn't know it.) I thought this was my only chance, but it would require me to outsprint him in the field. As we cleared into the field, his cadence went into hyperdrive on that s/s just as my right leg cramped (again) blowing me up in the process. My gears offered no advantage and the race was done.

I was spent, but smiling like it was Christmas morning and I was 5 again. What a cool race format. Reminded me of cyclocross and mountain biking. No elitist attitudes, nothing but slaps on the back and smiles galore. (Okay, maybe my teammate Mark Hasler wasn't smiling when he double flatted leading the B race, but that's a different story.) I'm going to miss the next two weeks while the family and I are in Germany and Austria, but you'll know where to find me on Thursday evenings.

Thanks again to Mark & Cody and the gang at Ballwin Cycles. They got the Gunnar Rockhound dialed in and it rocked last night. That bike floated underneath me and was ripping fast.