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Rockhopper Classic Race, May 7th, 2011

Contributors: Mike Pugh, Photo uncredited.
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Mike Pugh rode the Rockhopper Classic, a 19 mile mountain bike race at Pena Adobe, to a 1st place finish in the 40+ category!

Cool and very windy especially near the summit at Pena Adobe. Laps were 9.5 miles laps with lots of climbing.  It was unseasonably cold and windy. 

I did not feel prepared and this was my first race (MTB or Road) sense Aug 2010, I was not at the fitness level that I was at this time last year (2010 Tour of the Gila)

mpugh.jpg
Mike Pugh atop the podium after his grueling mountain bike race.

I got a brief 15 min warm-up and placed myself near the front of the cat 2 pack (all ages combined)  We went out briskly but not overwhelmingly fast, I stuck with 3 juniors and what looked like two other guys in my age group. We quickly caught members of the pro women’s field on the second climb and continued to catch more of the pro field in general throughout the day (they had 3 laps we had two) 1600 ft of climbing per lap is a lot for a central valley MTB race and it took its toll, we passed Pro1/2 riders walking their bikes on the back side climb.

Midway through the first lap I found a junior rider amongst the 3 I went out with and he was the perfect pace car, I was right on him throughout the first lap and my heart rate was a difficult but comfortable level for racing, I told him I was 47 years old and to relax, he seemed relieved to hear I was not another junior. No other "old guys" were near us and I was confident that I might be in first place at that point.

Conditions were dry which was good; climbs and descents were steep; people we passed on the single tracks were very accommodating on moving over. About 1/4 the way through the second and last lap my pace car rode away from me and I was alone still catching and passing Pro/1/2 riders who were obviously pacing themselves for the long 3 lap race. Half way through the last lap I felt hungry and a little less efficient ie........bonking. Heart rate wasn't racing but I was not putting out the power on the last climb that I was on the first lap while following the junior up the hill. Thankfully about the last 2 miles were downhill.

On the last climb the number on my bars was "blown off" by the heavy wind. The simple wire bag ties they gave us just cut through the cardboard. I caught the number and stuffed it down my jersey. This was important, timing chip was affixed to the back of it, so no number, no finish. I pulled the number out of my jersey at the finish and held it in place on my bars.

I limped to the finish and went straight to my car and ate about 1000 calories in 10 minutes, I was hungry and really had tested myself in my first race of the season. I won by about 1 1/2 minutes for the 40-49 age group, Shawn Miller of DBC finished 13th on some really narrow cyclocross type tires..........hats off to him, considering the very steep downhills.  Final time: Cat 2 Men 40 52:39.

Lessons learned:

-Eat well the morning of and consider nutrition during the race even though it's less than a two hour race, I bonked with about 5 miles to go on the last lap. 

-Bring plenty of cool weather clothes especially at altitude or near the bay. Temps were 10 degrees cooler than Davis that morning.

-Check your bike days prior. I had a cut on the sidewall of my rear light weight race tire, it held up luckily.  My chain was beat and did not perform well while shifting on the climbs, remember your bike goes through a great amount of stress when you race, more so than just a ride.

-Reinforce your number with duct tape before you attach it to your bars!

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