40 Hours a Week to the Start Line of a World Cup

Riding and racing mountain bikes has been a big part of my life for the past 12 years now. Over the last 2-3 years I’ve dedicated myself more than ever in search of my full potential on the bike. At the same time my job at a growing company has been going well and moving forward at the same pace. There’s been countless times I’ve thought about the need to choose one or the other to truly be my best. But there are also plenty of times where balancing both is actually what seems to make me better. Either way one of my primary goals for 2010 was to race a World Cup for the experience of seeing the highest level of racing first hand. Ideally it would be a World Cup in Europe, which would have the most competitive fields…

From base training in November all the way through the races I’ll do later this month my schedule has been pretty much the same. At least 8 hours a day in the office, then riding, eating, and sleeping – very little excitement during the week. Actually I don’t think much about my routines because I’m so used to them, but Beth and I sometimes joke that I’m an old man in a young man’s body. I even pack clothes and snacks the night before and go to bed at the same time each night so everything is ready for work and my ride the next day…

Anyway, after racing well through the spring my June consisted of a solid block of training, little racing, some extra time at work and lots of errands and planning for the trip. A lot goes into prepping for a race trip somewhere you’ve never been: planning time off work: supplies from snacks to spare derailleur hangers: random things like a trunk rack for the car since there’s no way my bike and bike box will fit inside: figuring out how to get it all packed: and the list goes on from there.

Probably the 2 most interesting challenges once in Europe were finding good food and finding our way around on the crazy roads. There was definitely good food, but it was challenging knowing exactly what we were ordering sometimes. There are very few grocery stores, with smaller markets much more common. Not a big deal when you’re just on vacation, but more challenging when trying to eat familiar foods before the race (and they are closed in the middle of the day). The mountain roads are the next craziest thing in Europe and our adventures included regular gas put in our diesel car, hitting another car in a parking lot and hitting a fence mid switchback.

Beyond all the planning and adjust was the racing itself. The world cup courses put most everything else I’ve raced on this year to shame. Champery had some super technical sections to start with and the really muddy conditions made almost the entire course tough to ride. Mid pre-ride I actually broke my derailleur hanger and snapped the derailleur itself in half when mud forced the derailleur into my rear wheel. Not good. Standing in the mud on the other side of the world with a broken bike and no idea who might be able to help me with the parts I thought my World Cups might be over before they started. A little prayer and a lot of help from Shimano did have me ready to go for the next day though.

The race in Champery had 175 riders and a start lap that was 2/3 of the normal 16-18 minute lap. Lining up in position 167 was essentially the last row out of many rows. I held my own with the aggressiveness of everyone in the back of the field fighting for position. It's a much different race back there, sprinting anytime the course opened up at all, and coming to several dead stops as we went back into the woods. We ran close to 1/2 of the entire first lap... Everyone knew they wouldn't be in the whole race and weren't afraid to go hard. We were putting in big efforts but losing time rather than gaining it. The 2nd and 3rd laps turned into more of a mountain bike race, a really tough one. I ended up 134 out of 175 starters, with a bike in one piece, and ready for more.

For the next weekend in Val di Sole my goal was to fight for positions and not just race for the experience of being in the race. I knew a top 100 was possible. Through the start loop I felt I had made a couple good moves and passed a handful of guys, only to look back and see only 3-4 riders behind me. Not good. From there I really did put my head down and go hard, but a solid result was not meant to be. The course was in good condition, but I was feeling less than 100% fresh as soon as the first lap and that meant I wouldn't be able to do anything special on the short, super steep climbs. Even so I was at least able to move up a few spots higher than my starting position and finish 3 of the 6 laps. Mixed feelings definitely followed at the finish... disappointment for clearly not riding my best at the biggest race I've ever been to... but also joy and thankfulness for being able to take part and for the entire journey that led me there!