Racing in Flagstaff

One immutable difference between Phoenix and Flagstaff is elevation. Most of my riding is in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, with elevations between 1430 ft and 1730 ft. Rides usually include 700-900 ft of climbing. The course in Flagstaff at the Absolute Bikes, St. Mary's Food Bank Race ranged from about 7300 to 8000 ft and included about 850 feet of climbing over a 10 mile loop.

The setup for the race was expert/pro men starting at 9:05, followed at 5 minute intervals by expert/pro women, sport men, sport women, then unwashed masses, including me. The pros would ride 3 laps, sport 2, unwashed masses 1. Since I have never been in a mountain bike race, and I am old, fat & slow, I signed up as a beginner, meaning 1 lap. Thank god I didn't sign up for sport, 'cause I'm pretty sure I would have been a dnf.

Once all the skinny folks got out of the way, the unwashed masses started out. The course began with a gradual climb up a forest service road. Not too bad. After a half mile or so of easy pedalling to get warmed up, I cranked up the pace a bit until I was wheezing like an asthmatic bear. Ok, now I'm in the zone.

After about 3 miles of steady climbing, the road leveled and even dropped a bit. Then, it was off on a singletrack. Chugging along for the first mile, middle chainring, 2 and 3 on the rear, sometimes 4th, until the trail led into a rock garden that reminded me so much of Riverside State Park in Spokane that it was almost deja-vu, without the benefit of actually having oxygen to breathe. Mind you, we're now at 7800 ft and I am definitely a lowlands rider. Got tied up in some traffic for a bit, then continued on up through the rock garden and on up to the top for a half mile or so of fire road. A little ways before hitting the singletrack back down, there was a steep section on the road that everybody ahead was walking their bikes up. Being pretty good at short steep stuff, I cranked up the thing, then gasped my way the next 100 yds to the downhill singletrack.

Understanding relative speed and endurance might put things in perspective. By the time I was 3/4 of the way up the singletrack, I was being passed by skinny folks on their second time around. Granted, they had a 25 minute head start, but I was at maybe 6 miles, and they were at 16. I had ridden maybe 50 minutes and they were at 1:15. Guess I would be in the next Olympics. Might as well scratch that off my to do list.

Whew, now I'm at the turn and on the downhill singletrack. I think they refer to this trail as "Moto" but I'm not sure. Anyway, its a delightful drop with sweeping turns, no serious rocky stuff, and a joy to cruise on. Never having been on this trail, and not really wanting to spend a lot of time on the side of it going, "OW OW OW OW!" I did use my brakes a bit more than most. I got passed by as many people going down as I had going up. Even people I passed on the climb were whizzing by me like I was going backward. Next time I need to pre-ride a course before racing, just to figure out where the hell I am.

I dropped in to the finish line a little before 11:00 for a time of 1:26:35. In the unwashed masses class, I finished 30th out of 41. In the old unwashed masses class (beginners over 40) I finished 12th out of 18. My buddy, Karl cranked in a few minutes later, having had a bit of difficulty adjusting to the altitude. We both enjoyed it and are looking forward to another race.

After the race we met up with some great folks, friends of Karl and enjoyed a lunch of burgers, salads, beer, and conversation. Back to the 110 temps of Phoenix by 5:00. You know, after a day like that, a cool shower feels pretty good!