Winter Racing in Arizona
by Clint Hosman on January 21st, 2008
What a great weekend for racing. I was afraid from the weather early in the week that I was in for a frigid day on the bike as the temperature has been in the low 50s. Thankfully Friday it started to warm and by Saturday they where calling for low 60s. Not that it made a whole lot of difference for my race starting at 8:30. I got to the venue at McDowell Mountain with plenty of time to get signed in and warmed up but of course as is the case with most well laid plans something had to go wrong. Today it was that my registration through active.com didn’t go through even though the money got pulled from my account. So I had to hurriedly fill everything out and try to find a pin that wasn’t completely frozen to the point of not working. With that done and my fingers chilled from not being in their gloves it was a mad rush to get my bike a gear all set up. It wasn’t until the end of the first lap that I realized that I hadn’t put any sun screen on which for a white guy like me is sure death.
For a race that lasts 60 miles the start was pretty fast and with no warm up my legs locked up within the first 5 miles. I had to let about 9 guys get out ahead of me and give the legs a time to set into their tempo and hope that I didn’t lose too much time in the ensuing recovery. The course was three big loops along the competitive track that all the NORBA’s use in addition to a long section of what is called the Pemberton trail. It was all done in reveres this weekend which added a certain element of change to the old course. My favorite section and best performing one was a long 5 mile climb that led to the high point of our race. Aside from some lame log breaks along the way it is totally smooth decomposed granite that rises at a steady clip making a great track for a 29er. This was where I was able to regain time and pass people on each lap. I would start at the bottom spinning an easy gear and then as I felt more in tune with the rhythm of the climb I would start to power up clicking through the gears and either moving up and passing people or catching them. The ease in technical terms of the climb is matched by the pure stupidity of the decent on the other side. Its nothing but baby heads for another 4 miles and by the end of taking those things at full speed my upper body was just smoked.
All 60 miles aside from the start felt great and I was able to fight my way back to 5th place for the finish. I did however fall off the bike one time in the middle of the whole thing. But get this; it was going uphill at speed. I don’t know how it happened but I was carrying momentum to climb up a steep wash and when I hit the top the whole bike fell out form under me and I was on the ground. I have no idea how you wreck that hard going uphill and I am sure I was the only one to do it on the day.
After the race I felt great and I am still satisfied with the results. To podium this early in the season is a good thing but I know that at this point I am not at full capacity. The mere fact that 60 miles felt so good is a huge confidence booster.
Special thanks to Brian Grasky for the action picture. My wife performs the vital function of bottle handoff so we seldom get any photos of me actually racing. Brian is a great cycling and tri coach that I have known and competed with for years. Stop by his site and see what you can learn from him. On top of that he fly’s F-16s for the Air National Guard, how cool is that?
January 21st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Congratulations on your first podium of the year! More to come I’m sure.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Hey, congrats on the finish!! I’m sure it will not be the last you have to write about. Keep up the good work!
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 am
Great job Broseph!
I might ad Brian Graskey is finally off his crutches after suffering a really painfull spiral fracture to his fubula and tibula in a wreck out at the Fontana National last year. Its good to see him back on his feet.