Going into this race I had zero expectations, I had trained minimally in the weeks leading up to the race. My short training schedule was interrupted by the horrendous (for Southern California) weather and torrential downpours that we had for a span of two weeks in early January. I got in 2 or 3 rides in that 2 week span. Not the best start to training, or prep for a race, after taking 3 weeks off around Christmas, but I'll take what I can get.
Less than a week before the race I signed up for the Solo Expert category. I contemplated being sandbagger and racing in the sport category, but knew I should probably just take the ego hit and race the faster category. My category of choice would have no bearing on how many laps I would complete. Either way, I wanted to do between 8 and 10 laps. No matter the outcome, I wanted this race to serve as a training kick-off. Something I could use to find where I'm at and have it serve as a motivational builder to get back into my form of 6 months earlier.
From a little online research I found that the course was very similar in length and overall elevation gain to Hurkey Creek. The Vail Lake course is about 9.3 miles long and has about 1100 ft of climbing per lap. The course looked a little faster than Hurkey, but wouldn't know for usre until actually riding it.
Friday night, before the race, we headed down to Temecula to stay at a friend of the Libbys. The family we stayed with owns the Great Harvest Bread Co. store in Temecula. We were all very gracious that they'd let us stay with them, especially since it was pouring down rain the entire drive down there. Also, they live about 15 minutes from the course, which means we didn't have to get up too early in order to make it there with time to check in and prepare.
The moring of the race was beautiful. The clouds that filled the sky the day before had rolled back to the distant mountains andit was blue skies up above the course. We could see that the course was already starting to dry out and it was going to be a great day for racing. It was cool out, but not cold... perfect weather for racing!
Setting up for a solo effort is quite a bit different than setting up for a team effort. When you've got teammates you get a chance to stop between laps and eat and recover. Going solo it's best to do most of that on the bike. I laid out all my food, water bottles, salt tablets, and gels in an easily accessible place that would take minimal time to get between laps. I also laid out my tools, spare parts, and lights because I didn't want to have to go digging between laps for something I wished I had.
The race started at 9:00am with a rolling start. A 4-wheeler lead us for about a mile around the campground, spreading the field thin for the beginning unpaved sections, then we made our way back to the course for the start of the racing. Immediately the course climbed out of the campground. The fast guys were off the front, pushing for position and picking their lines through the rocks and mud....
This was about the time when all hell broke loose for Poor Pete. It seemed that every time Pete began to fall into a rhythm something else would fall apart. Multiple flat tires, one which forced him to run 3 miles back to the pits as well as a broken off seat post bolt made Pete's racing experience a bit of a challenge to say the least. "After my seat post broke on the ninth lap in the dark and I rode back standing the entire way, I knew it was time to call it a race."
While Pete was battling his own demons Lan and I were feeling the heat of the second place 2 man team. "We jumped out early and built a 6-7 minute gap but these guys (Team Swamis/Encinitas, Ca) were strong-willed and kept pulling great splits." It came down the the very last lab. By the time night fell, Lan and I were able to use our night riding skills to our advantage and build some distance between us. Landon was there to ride our last lap and all he needed to do was stay strong, safe and steady. If he finished in a timely fashion we would take the race.
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