Last Sunday at Xterra Whitewater in Charolotte, NC was my 3rd Xterra race of the season. Race 1 in Vegas went real well, with a 1st place and max championships points in my age group. Race 2, Xterra Uwharrie, didn't go so well. So I was looking forward to putting another good effort and high placing.
The weekend started out with a road triathlon on Saturday. The Triangle Triathlon in RaleighA 1/2 mile swim, 17.5 mile road bike, and 3.1 mile run. I raced aggressively and after the swim I took the lead on the bike and held on for 3rd place starting the run, just behind the 2nd place guy. The guy in 1st smoked the bike and was out of sight. But as soon as I started trying to put my running shoes on my left quad cramped up. I had to stand there for a minute until it relaxed and then walked/ran my way out of transition. Once I started running, I was pretty much pain free but fried overall. I ran 6 min pace and held on for 6th. My buddy, Nick Ranson, a recent GF 29r convert was in town to race and hung on for 8th.
We picked up my wife Erin, and quickly headed out of town to Charlotte for Xterra Whitewater. Whitewater is a man-made rafting park, with rock climbing, repelling, kayaking and of course mtn biking. I really suggest you check this place out if you're in the area! We got there in time to pre-ride and was impressed with the trails. Rolling, smooth and very fast with enough challenges to make it fun. This was my first Xterra on my XX built superfly hardtail. This bike is amazing, I've read enough report about the superfly and the XX components and none of them are exageration. The precise shifting and responsive frame made an immediate improvement in both my speed and handling on the bike. Thanks 29r Crew!
Swim: 800 Meters (with 500 M Run)
The swim here is in 2 bodies of water. 1st segment was in a lazy river and we swam around 600 meters. I stayed in a lead group of 3 guys in the first heat of 2. When you get out of the first swim you had the option of stashing some shoes to put on. There was about 500 meters between swims, running up a single track climb, down a gravel road, across a bridge then up another steep hill, about 25% incline, through some more single track then into a holding pond for the rafting. They had the pumps off so we had calm water, but I didn't expect the 90 degree water in the 2nd 200 m swim. After getting over the heat shock the 3 of us headed across and to the transition area.
Bike: 13 Miles
I was 2nd out of transition onto the bike. The guy in 1st took off and I basically had a solo ride in 2nd for 13 miles. Had a great and almost mistake free ride. The ride would have been perfect expect for a a puncture on my rear tire. I rode it as flat as I could but eventually had to stop and put some air in and let the juice seal it up. That sort of worked, but by the last couple of miles I was rimming out frequently and had to pick my lines more carefully then I'd have liked. I ran a Jones XR 1.8 on the rear, which I like, but probably just a little too small and soft to race on rugged trails. I had puntured my 29-3 2.0 the day before so the xr 1.8 was a last minute addition. The 29-3 is a much better tire for the trails around here which are rocky, rooty and dry. I really like the 29-3 running 2.0 front and back. Grips nice and rolls fast.
Run: 8K
Came into transition on the run still in 2nd place in my heat. Legs were tired but once I started running I actually felt pretty good and was holding a nice steady pace. The run followed basically the same course as the first part of the bike and was 8K or about 5 miles long. With about 2 miles to go I started to be able to see the guy ahead of me but would run out of time and finished 20 secs behind him.
All in all I finished 5th overall, 3 guys in the next heat went faster but only 2 mins separated me from first, so my first xterra W is in sight!
Results at http://www.xterrawhitewater.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=site.display&page_id=4192
MC
