DCMTB

By Dave V.

This Kevin Dillard photo really tells the story of my B-Masters race in Reston:

I’m blurry,
I’m trailing the focused rider,
I look distressed, and
I’m about to get passed by a kid who is ONE-THIRD my age.

Until last Sunday, it’d been a decent CX season. I’d been feeling good on the bike and placed 14th, 16th and 9th in the C category at three MABRA races. I was itchin’ to try the B-Masters at a MAC race.

Before the race began, I knew it wouldn’t be my finest hour. I had a cold that my Gwadzilla Pre-Race Performance Cocktail (Excedrin & Red Bull) couldn’t hide. The B-Masters are definitely a more serious bunch than the C racers, too. Nonetheless, I was ready to make a go of it. The race started almost without warning. UCI/MAC officials are not chatty. With a sudden TWEET, we were off…

The course was made with MTBers in mind. I rode well technically, but didn’t have the inner UMPHFF to “push through the pain barrier.” I still grunted and grimaced the whole time. Unlike Joel and Joe, I only remember two details about the race:

1. Tris was stationed right after the barriers and diligently cheered me on for each of the 5 (I think) laps. I kept meaning to give her a YO! when I passed, but I could barely breathe. Thanks, Tris.

2. There was a one-half of a rear derailleur pulley arm on the ground, four grassy turns after the start. It looked like someone’s derailleur got sucked into the rear wheel and EXPLODED. Crazy. It gave the sense that something terrible had happened there. I sped through that turn each time to escape the bad karma.

In the end, I finished near the end of the B-Masters’ heap. It was still a morning well spent…actually, 44 minutes well spent. Now it’s time to “build my base” and plan for next year.

See y’uns out there soon!

Dave Vannier 2006, Cyclocross

Dave’s Race Report & Product Review

The Dirt Crit Cranky Monkey – Aug. 6
I’ve had a few semi-slick MTB tires gathering dust in my basement for years. They saw me through my first adult bike race, the 2001 Cyclocross Super Cup in Baltimore. I was riding a $300 MTB and had no idea what I was doing. The tires, however, did just fine. Last Sunday’s Cranky Monkey Dirt Crit seemed like the perfect time for the semi slicks to reappear.

The semi slicks raised eyebrows at the start, but performed great. I had no problems charging up the gravel hill at the start. (OK, no more problems than usual). They rolled well, gripped through the turns, and kept me in control on the big downhill. They even held tight on the edge of the trail as fellow 41-year old family man Chris Clarke lapped me on his road to victory. I wheezed out a 12 of 16 finish in the 35+ group. The fault was not in my tires, but in myself.
———

The Fountainhead Cranky Monkey – Aug. 13
One week later, I squarely blame my lackluster performance on my tires, not myself. For the technical trails of Fountainhead, I returned my semislicks to the basement and reinstalled my standard knobby tires, Panaracer Fire XCs I think. My 35+ race started well. I entered the singletrack slightly behind the lead pack and was starting to pass folks one-by-one. Just before the first steep, root-filled downhill I felt something was wrong. I pulled aside and found I had TWO flat tires. I don’t know what happened. I was riding relatively smoothly and not going for extreme air. My choice of 40 psi was a mistake. I watched EVERYONE pass me by while I changed both tubes. After another 10 minutes of riding, I saw the front tire wobbling all over the place. Part of the tire had rolled off the rim. No flat this time, but another stop to deflate/re-inflate my tire.

All of this stopping, starting, futzing and pumping had me flustered. I lost my mental race mojo. I was so far behind as I came down shockabilly hill, that the course marshal thought I was the 35+ leader. I had to slow down to explain that I REALLY did have one more lap to go. I regained a little composure on the second lap, and finished the race as many of the expert were coming in. BLECH. Now that my “bad race of the year” is out of the way, I look forward to a better day at the final Cranky Monkey at Quantico. See you there.

Dave

Dave Vannier 2006