2013 Race Season Wrap-Up

2013 was a long season full of ups and downs. I started off a bit slow in the TMBRA series as I was focusing my training more on the Ouachita Challenge, finishing decently mid-pack at Waco, Comfort and Mellow Johnny's.

Mellow Johnny's Classic

Next up was Double Lake, my local race where I knew I could do very well. I had a great race, riding in 2nd early with the leader in sight. He got a small gap on a group of 4 of us, and we stayed together the rest of the race. I was feeling good and hoping to make a move on the last singletrack section, but an upset stomach just 2 miles from the finish took me out of the group. I was able to hang on for 5th place. I was happy with my race, and feeling good heading into the Ouachita Challenge.

Patrick and Richard went with me to OC this year, following the usual schedule of driving up Saturday for registration and a little spin, then race Sunday morning. My race went great, I finally broke the 6hr barrier which has been my goal for the past few years. My stomach stayed stable and I was strong throughout the race. I had a minor flat early on but it only cost me a few minutes as Stan's sealed up my Schwalbe Rocket Ron up quickly.

Unfortunately, later in April I broke my hand in a head-on collision at a local trail. I had to get a cast and all that, but thankfully no surgery. I was out of the cast in 4 weeks, but it took a good bit longer than that for it to get comfortable riding and gripping the bars for any length of time. I tried to stay on the bike a bit while in the cast, just doing some short road rides locally. The worst part was that I had to miss the last few spring races, just when I was coming into some good fitness. This was definitely a step back for my season but I had to take it in stride and keep going.

I still drove up to Dallas with Richard to support him racing there. Warda was next, and since Sugar Cycles was title sponsor I went to help out. We worked the feedzone and wherever needed. It was tough being there as that's usually another good course for me but I still enjoyed being out at the race.

Fall started back up with the Camp Eagle Classic. This is a HARD race and even harder when you don't have any fitness! It was a great family trip though, Tate went with us and we all hung out in the river Sunday afternoon after the race.

We took a vacation to Crested Butte in early September where I had a great week of riding. There are some fantastic MTB trails there and I feel like there were a lot more I didn't get to see. The biggest ride I did was up Gunsight Pass, to over 12,000 ft. The trip will require a separate post, I'll get that up soon.

Top of Gunsight Pass

Next up was Ruston, historically my best course as this is where I learned to MTB and I know the trail like few others. It rained Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I was a bit excited for a wet race as this would play well to my skills. I was leading the race early and pulling away, but I crashed on a wet bridge and hit my head pretty hard. I chased back to 2nd but eventually the headache got the best of me and I had to back off finishing in 3rd. I felt like I was getting some fitness from the trip to CO, but a small mistake eliminated my chance for a win.

The last race of the season was at Tyler, we drove up Saturday and arrived just in time for a massive thunderstorm that soaked the park. Looked like it was gonna be another wet race, but the course was actually about as perfect as it could have been Sunday morning. I had a decent race, and while I had the speed to run at the front, I just didn't have the top end fitness to sustain it and finished in 4th.

A little wet at Tyler

I feel like I was strong the whole race though, a good sign going into the marathon season which is going to be my real focus this next year. I'm signed up for the Breck Epic next August, a 6 day stage race in Breckenridge so long training will be my plan.

My BMC was flawless all year after the small incident at Comfort, and was the best bike I could've been on as it's fast, light, and fits my style well. I've learned a lot more about the different suspension settings and where/when to use them to go fast and smooth. The X0 components have been very solid, my favorite part has been the clutch derailleur and how quiet it keeps everything no matter how rough the trail is. As it proved at the OC it's going to be a great marathon bike for the upcoming season.