Indian Shoals CX Race--First Win of the Year

This was a new venue for 2005 and it was great. I never would have thought that would be distracted by 2 other bike race/events in Butts County of all places on my way to the race. The race venue was another lakeside experience (4 venues this year are), and the big news was the dreaded uphill dam levee climb. I looked at this climb in Google earth and on my Topo mapping program, but I could not get a very good idea of the steepness until I got there.

However, in the end it was the dam that was the decisive launch pad for the win.

We started on grass instead of pavement and this is pretty rare. The start seemed slower than normal except for Todd Mills who decided to launch himself into oblivion at the start. Perry likes to ride in front and this was evident as he took the lead immediately. I decided that the only way to insure a good placing was to hang on to him for as long as possible. I do not like to wheel suck but as i'll explain, he gave me no choice.

The course had a single ridge that we would climb 3 times in different places. All of the climbs were steep, small ring climbs, but the entrance to each climb came after a quick turn and most had loose soil or gravel so you had to be careful not to make a mistake. Most of the race i kept telling my self that I would surely get dropped on the next climb. Perry weighs like 20 pounds and Ii am overweight and stocky! However, the short steep climbs are usually nice to me (except for the Muur de Grammont!) and I was able to hang with him. Funny, but each time we came off of the dam and went past the finish I had a hard time keeping Perry's wheel and it was flat there. Go figure.

I tried to exchange laps with him since we were all alone, but he insisted on being in front. Fine. It was to my advantage to have him there if I could hang on until the last lap. I assumed I was the better sprinter. Each time up the dam we would go slow and at the top we would be side by side and I would try to accelerate on the levee top and get a gap. Perry closed these with no problem. Since the finish came after a technical grassy downhill section, I wanted to be off the levee first.

On the last lap he tried a few times to ride me off of his wheel and my eyes were popping trying to stay with him. I was trying not to make any mistakes (since they have cost me 2 wins in the past) and Perry was not helping by forcing me to make oxygen deprived decisions.

Going up the dam the last time we were side by side just plodding, tired and slow. Near the top I figured now was the time to run if I could and I was first to the top by a step or two. I had already prepared by putting my bike in the big ring (46T) and went for the end of the levee hard. I was clear of him by a few seconds and I was able to navigate the technical downhill without incident. Making the 180 back to the finish, it was full sprint and the win.

I would have never picked this course for a win and in fact my warm up sucked and I thought I would be well down in the standings by the end.

It was nice calling home and letting Jill know that I had won and it made the trip somewhat worth being away from Charlotte for a few hours.