Best Pinnacle course in the 4 yrs I’ve been doing it. It was nice to see all the switchbacks back in the climb and the single track off the top of the Pinnacle was a great addition.
As for my race, it was going great for the first lap or so. I got caught up in traffic a bit on the climb and lost contact with the lead 5 or 6 from my group but coming off the top of the Pinnacle I was pretty much riding in the clear and was able to make up the lost time on the pump track leading to the downhill. By the time we hit the plummet I’d caught back to Bob and Luke and felt like I had a god race in the works. I was still feeling strong on the second climb when I noticed my rear tire seemed to be bottoming out on things it shouldn’t be. I stopped and gave it a shot of air and could hear the faint hissing coming from a spot on the sidewall. I spent a little time knocking it around trying to get the Stan’s to seal it but wasn’t cooperating. I gave up and got back on hoping (stupidly) that somehow things would somehow work out. They didn’t. Although the tire seemed to be holding I was definitely running at pressure lower than I’m used to which didn’t agree with my line through that rocky dip by the water tank. This time I put a hole in it that wasn’t getting sealed. It’s been a while since I’ve had to change a flat in a race and let’s just say it took a little bit longer than I would have liked. (side note: I put a lot of miles in commuting sometimes all the way into Boston and sometimes I get flats. I had more people ask me if I needed anything in the however many minutes it took me to change this one flat than I’ve had in the 4 yrs and 10 or so flats I’ve had commuting. Just wanted to say thanks.) Anyway, I finally get back on and, feeling fresh from my little rest, gun it up the fire road climb and back into the single track. The one advantage of flatting is you get the brief period where you legs have forgotten how tired they are and you get to pass a ton of people as it’s a lot more fun to pass, than be passed. This lasted for me back to the top of the Pinnacle. Somewhere in there I briefly entertained thoughts of just hanging out with Clint and enjoying 2 more trips downhill, but hey, if I didn’t think burying myself to the point of exhaustion and verge of cramping/puking was “fun” I would be racing so off I went. Besides, you have to believe you can get back in it or you never will. I kept a good pace going the rest of lap two, but caught a glimpse of Scott Hood on the uphill as I came out of the downhill single track. Damn that’s going to be a lot to make up in one lap. Lap 3 was a combination of hammering what I could and some conservative riding in the rocky sections and bridge transitions. A 16g CO2 just doesn’t inflate a 29er quite as hard as I’d normally run tubes and I didn’t want to be deprived of a 3rd trip downhill. I never did catch back up to Scott or any of the other leaders in my group who all finished minutes ahead of me. I ended up in 8th missing breaking 2 hrs. by just a couple seconds, oh well.
As disappointing as it is to have flatted on a day I had legs, I’ve still had a smile on my face all day. That course is just so much fun. Thanks again, Brian, and everyone else involved in putting it on.
