Rhett's Run 2009

It's been a long time since the last time I raced a mountain bike and despite some crits and ill fated attempts at road racing, 2009 has been marked by far less activity than last season. Rhett's Run had been a goal of mine at the start of the year but with a lack of XC races in my legs, I had to reevaluate my expectations. I had been training well the last few weeks, but with no races as a gauge, it was difficult to guess what was to come.

The day started with a few downpours, making the course slippery and shitty for the first wave of racers, some of whom opted to bow out due to the seemingly endless string of mud races this year. By the time we were set to go at 12:30, the course had dried substantially and now offered far more tack than slide. I lined up on the front next to people I knew would be leaving me behind almost immediately. I figured I might as well try to get a good starting position and hope for the best as the race wore on. When the whistle sounded, I made it into the woods in around sixth and was feeling good even though the express train was already slipping off the front.
The first descent was a blast as always but as we made a hard right to begin climbing, I lost my front wheel on a slick water bar and went down, losing two places in the process. I quickly worked around one of the riders who passed to jump on Bierman's wheel. For two laps, I sat on or five feet behind his wheel and was feeling good as he has shredded me in years past. Improvement, I was thinking.

As the race wore one, the older wave of experts started passing us and each one would slot between me and Wes for a while, disrupting my rhythm and establishing a gap between our wheels. Eventually, I rider between us bobbled and chose to run the steep loose climb, forcing me to do the same and allowing Wes some breathing room. The run up redlined me far deeeper than riding it had done the previous lap and I took a couple minutes to recover as Wes slipped away.

I rode the rest of the race by myself, picking off lapped riders from other classes and getting passed by people way faster than myself. All in all I felt good and rode consistently to the finish where I believe I took 8th. Not the podium of the last two years, but with a far deeper field, I have to be satisfied. This year is about closing the gap between myself and the top guys in my class and despite this being only race #2 of the year, I think I might be on the way to doing that. I'm a long way off from the best in the state, but it certainly gives me motivation to see how far I can take this for the forseeable future. Hopefully it will stop raining someday and we can get the season going in full swing. On to St. Joe in a couple weeks and then my first crack at a DINO race on July 5th. Here we go...