Hugh’s Report from Pajarito Punishment XC

Experpt from an email from Hugh Selby:

“

Speaking of crushed, I had an interesting return to MTB racing this
weekend.  As some of you know, I started racing mountain bikes back
in about 1993-4.  I was pretty terrible at it but being a competitive
fellow, I kept at it until ‘96 or so.  My last race was the obscenely
grueling Pajarito Punishment. It was there that I realized that I
hated getting pounded by guys I could routinely put the stick to on
the road – I left the knobbies behind and took up skinny tire racing
exclusively.  Somehow, the scarring from my MTB past had gone away
and by some weird twist of early onset senility, I decided to try my
hand (leg?) at dirt racing once again.  In a final irony, I started
back up in what is now my hometown race, the Pajarito Punishment.  I
suppose you can all tell me that you would have seen this as a bad
omen and tried something else; I also questioned my decision but
decided that the best way to deal with my issues was to face them
directly.  To paraphrase the Knight Templar from the third Indiana
Jones movie, I chose poorly.

The race itself was exceptionally well done and the course really
could not have been better.  Unfortunately, as I rolled up to the
start with my fork locked out (it’s what the pros do), I was only
aware of the vague sensation that I might soil myself whilst vomiting
as well.  This sensation did not ease as the start was
called.  Indeed, by the time we had returned to the ski hill proper,
I had the distinct sensation that I was carrying a basketball in my
midsection.  I had a reasonable start and so tried to ignore this
discomfort.  Alas, by the first bit of fire road climbing, my normal
climbing rhythm became syncopated by a third clenching muscle in my
nether regions.  Let’s just say that staying seated was the name of
the game.  I proceeded to, er, “gut it out” the remaining first lap,
stopping only once to howl in agony as I let more riders by,
clenching my lower half in a fierce battle to retain my innards.  By
the time I got to the descent, I had a bit of a let-up so I figured I
might as well get the miles in by finishing the race.  Again, I chose
poorly.  Needless to say, the second hike to the top was a
reintroduction to fantasies of Imodium and clean bathrooms, although
my legs did seem to be working reasonably well.  I have to admit that
part of the reason I kept going was that I didn’t want to disappoint
the Colavita cheering section (thanks Susan Oldham!).  How do you
explain stopping mid-race and charging into the lodge in front of the
cheering throng?  At long last, my deliverance was at hand as I
approached the final section of open road in front of the
lodge.  Susan cheered me across the line and I thanked her for
waiting for me to drag across the line, my reintroduction to mountain
bike racing complete.  That was about all the time I had before the
sweet vision of the lodge door invited me to its welcoming
porcelain.  I spent the next twenty minutes appreciating a completely
graffiti free stall (where’s the reading material when you need
it?)  and wondering whether or not El Parasol was a sound caloric
selection after all.

That was so much fun, I think I’ll do it again.”

Hugh Selby

Cottonwood Cycles opens 2nd store

Our sponsoring bike shop is officially opening their 2nd store in Aztec, NM today at noon!

 

Yea Cottonwood!

Keifer

Iron Horse Bicycle Classic- Durango, CO

It was a cloudy morning, 7:15 am, at the Durango Recreation Center parking lot, the start line for the 2009 IHBC road race to Silvertion, CO. 47 miles of mostly climbing, over two 10,900 ft passes, Coal Bank, and Molas.

I’d been getting some training over the past few weeks on the mountain passes, but not as much as I would’ve liked. The passes had snow, and pretty cold up there until the first week of May. I felt pretty fit for the event, and wanted to at least set a PR. I raced the Masters 35+ group, which was the second largest category at IHBC, only behind the 45+ Masters. 145 Starters!

Sometimes there is a tailwind for the first flat 11 miles north on Hwy 550, but not today, and with the chilly conditions, nobody wanted to push the pace, as with some other years. During the local group rides in Durango, we are normally rolling 25-30 MPH on this stretch, but not today. I was seeing 20-21 MPH, which is pretty slow for a large group like this. I went to the front and rolled 25 MPH a couple times, but couldn’t get any interest, so went back into the pack. After passing Hermosa Creek, saw the RR crossing gates coming down! One of the maintenance carts was coming down the tracks! We had to stop. The Masters 45+ group piled up behind us while we waited. After a few minutes, we were on our way again.

We waiting for the climb at the KOA (the steepest section of the whole race, mile 13), to start pushing. When we rolled by Rockwood, a few miles of climbing later, we were down to a lead group of 20. I was breathing hard, but not at 100%, so I sat in and let the others set pace.

At Cascade Lodge, the start of Coal Bank Pass climb, we were still about 16 strong. The first mile we were all waiting for the first attack. I was sitting in the group, feeling steady, at 10-11 MPH. I decided it was too easy of a pace, so I exited out right side and stood up to raise to pace. Most of the group jumped on my wheel. I settled back into a good hard pace. Within a few seconds a second attack jumped, and only a few riders stuck on. From there, we were all broken up into smaller groups, 2-3 riders each. Coal Bank climb had put us all in our place!

I rode a hard pace, caught a couple riders, and ripped the downhill on my Zipp 404 tubulars to the bottom of Molas Pass. I was caught about a mile into the climb by one rider, and I tried to stick his wheel. After a mile or so, I came unglued, and shifted to settle into my own pace. Another rider from Durango, John, caught me about a mile from the top of Molas Pass, and we rode together to the top. Now for 7 miles of screaming descent down to Silverton!

John and I worked together down the hill, screaming through the turns at 35-40 MPH, and hitting straights at  45-55 MPH. We hit Silverton together, with John leading the charge. The last 2 miles to the finish line are slightly uphill, and take forever. John drilled it at 1 K to go, to 30 MPH. I was drafting, but the legs were not happy, so I had to let him go ahead. I eased up knowing there wasn’t any threat from behind, and rolled through the finish about 10 seconds behind, for 10th place, 2:38 hrs.

I signed up the Omnium event, which included a Criterium on Sunday, and a TT on Monday. I won’t write much about these two because I didn’t recover well at all, through the rest of the weekend, and felt like crap, and unmotivated for these events. The Crit went ok, but I had no spunk and finished at the back of the lead pack. I hoped to save and recover for the TT the next day.

As soon as I hit the first little roller during the TT, I knew I was not going well. I was shifting and rolling too slow over the top of each hill. The legs were still not firing well. I rode as hard as a could, and ended up 3 minites slower than last year’s TT time. I was expecting to be a little faster, not slower!

For the Overall Omnium placing, I ended up 7th. I’m only satisfied with that, knowing I lost points on the second and third days. Next year will be better, for sure!!

Keifer