Treasure Valley Rally

[cbusick]

Expert 40+
This one made me really nervous, because on paper, I had a chance of doing well. The 7 guys that kicked my
ass at Secret Squirell weren't signed up, and I thought I could beat Vlad and Ian if I didn't screw up.
The Scottie's westport guys weren't all that fast and I could cross my fingers and hope that some ringer
wouldn't drive down from Vermont and Day-of and crush my dreams like 2 years ago.

So it was mostly down to how I'd do against the only serious competition, the other guys from MRC.
All of whome claimed they were just doing the race for "Fun" When has cratty ever ridden a bike for fun?
How would Briana do now that he had a full suspension bike? Just how much did Cratty shut it down at
Secret Squirrel 2 weeks ago when he knew he had the win at his last sandbagger race? Could I put enough time
into Jackson to keep him from running me over on Jamie's descent? Just how motivated was Oscar when his kids
told him 2nd place was first loser?

The start was a mess with us negotiating with Brett to have:
1) separate starts by age group
2) send the 50+ off first

I lined up in the 2nd row behind Cratty. Greg was behind me to the left. Brian had a good spot, nobody had
seen Oscar in a while. They started us and Greg barged forward, knocking a couple of the scotties' guys over
into my line. Fortunately he wasn't wearing MRC kit so we can just complain about the jerks from cleveland.
I was about 10 back as we went over the first bridge, then moved up, passed cratty before the 2nd singletrack.
The guy ahead of me flubbed the big tree roots and jammed me, which caused me to break check Cratty, sending him
off into the woods with a long tirade that started with "BUSICK!" and ended with the sound of crunching leaves and
branches.

I picked off one more guy before entering the loooonng single track around heron pond or swamp or whatever.
I was behind a group of three with Brian A, but was struggling to maintain contact. Watching the fly by
I was 7th. Then we hit the climb out of the single track and I saw a group of 3 ahead with Greg looking back at us.

I got around #6, but Brian made it around Greg, which put him into 3rd. Eventually #5 and I passed Greg
and I passed the other guy moving me to 4th. I had no idea I was that far up, I thought there were more
up the road. I was held up by the viking SS dude on what should be a fast downhill and Brian got out of sight
ahead of me. Finally I got past the viking and managed to reel Brian in by the powerline rock garden which
we both cleared, but then brian stumbled on the rocks climbing out of the garden and graciously let me past.
At this point we heard Josh Anthony behind us saying he was the 19-39 leader, so we pulled over and let him go
since he was flying. Cratty caught up to us soon after and we had a nice MRC group ride going.
Josh Anthony' green jersey disapeared ahead and I settled in a little on the climb thinking I was somewhere
around 5th place (actually 3rd) and best I could hope for was to win the MRC battle.
Then I saw a skinny guy in a Fritz jersey on the side of the trail who I assumed was ian and we started to
reel in yet another skinny guy in a green c-dale/riverside jersey. I assumed this was Josh Anthony, and so
sat on his wheel for a while, but I could hear cratty closing in on us again, and after green jersey flubbed
the 3rd rock garden in a row I was gettin impatient. I knew the climb to the bubble was where I had to put
time into people, and I was wasting it watching him flounder. Thinking he was still some guy from
another category I said: "Dude, you got to let me go, I got people coming up behind me and you are holding me up!"
He said something I didn't pick up, but moved over and I took off, nearly crashed trying to grab a cup
of water from the table at the bubble, lowered the droppah and attacked Jamie's Descent. (Turns out this was
Vlad, who at the time was winnning the race, but what did I know?)

At this point I thought I was possibly in 3rd, but in fact I was in 1st. I kept drilling it, wondering
where I would get a chance to drink some water. I chugged from my bottle at each fireroad, and finished it
just before picking up another bottle by the beach. Katie yelled something about me doing really well when I went by,
but I couldn't figure out my position from what she said. Then ate a gue as I went by the cheering section
at the MRC tent, chugged some more water and started lap 2.

Looking back on the fire road I saw Brian pulling a riverside guy behind me and gaining. Looks like I lost some
time drinking and eating at the end of the lap. By this time I was
starting to get suspicious that it was in fact Vlad, but Brian was convinced until the finish that it
was the 19-39 guy.

Knowing Brian wasn't cracked yet kept me motivated and I kept pushing. A couple times I could hear Brian
talking behind me. I realize now it was him and Cratty talking, but I couldn't imagine that since I was
convinced I'd cracked Cratty for good on the climb up to the bubble on lap 1.

As I got close to the Bubble I saw Segunchuck ahead on his singlespeed.
Damn, it took me a long time to catch him, but I wanted to get ahead of him before the descent, then I ran
out of forward momentum on the 2nd to last kicker before the top, failed to unclip and went tumbling down
the rock pile, twisting my seatpost to the left. I took a couple quick steps to jump back on the bike but my left calf cramped up and
I made a pretty poor remount and took off after Steve.

Steve was flying on the descent, I was barely making up time on him, then we hit the downhill fireroad and
he actually opened up a bit of a gap. What the hell gear was he running that I couldn't catch a SS on
a downhill? When it leveled out he looked back, saw me and I went by him on the right.

Now I didn't want to embarrass myself by not being able to hold off a single speed in the tech so I
squashed the dropper after the field rotary and plunged into the woods saying to myself
"ride like Greg is chasing you!" I hit the next fireroad picked off some novice traffic and hit the
final single track along the lake, still drilling it to keep Steve from catching back on.

I held him off to the finish, was surprised by how small the group of riders was hanging around and went
to the tent for some shade and something cold to drink.

Turns out it was a good thing I pushed so hard to stay ahead of Steve, because by the time I got to the tent
Vlad went by soon followed by Cratty. Holy Crap! Cratty nearly caught me after all that.

I thought I was probably 3rd, but Don checked the results and, nope, not 3rd, I won the race!

How early is too early to go to bed?

[KTeves]

Congrats Busick! Sounds like you killed it.

[tsavage]

The only thing possibly more embarrassing then landing on a podium in a race I sort of sandbagged is having the actual sandbag hanging out from under my tshirt in the podium picture.

Anybody know how many podiums we had today?? I think we covered nearly every gender, category and age group in some fashion. That was awesome.

[JeremyC]

Busick did kill it. It took me 45 minutes to catch him and Briana. Once I did I eased up a bit because I had been redlined for... Wait for it... 45 minutes. I slightly regret it but I have to be realistic I don't think I could have kept it up. Anyway it didn't matter because a "runner" aka dude who couldn't ride the rock garden, got between us and in my desperation to catch back on I crashed magnificently. If I was Michael Rasmussen I would have been in a body bag (sorry 2000s TdF reference look it up). My bike was upside down in the woods but unscathed. I knew those guys were gone so I eased back into it... Until Greg caught me and then I woke up again and cleaned the rest of the course. I actually think I caught 2nd place but it was so close to the end and he looked skinny and young I didn't stick it to him which was foolish. I was crushed, the comraderie at the tent was awesome. MTB racing is so hard it creates bonds of suffering.

Oops sorry to get sappy. Good times.

[cbusick]

Katie and I have to tally the podiums, but it was a bunch.

Kathleen
Smudger
Todd
Cactus
PJ
Julianne
Cole
Ewan
Busick
Cratty
Karen
Grace

Did I miss anyone?

[tsavage]

Oscar and Greg's kids podium'd too right?

[Briana]

Great race today Chris! I can't believe we were 1st, 2nd and 4th going into the second lap. I had know idea we had moved up that much. I guess it gives me a little confidence for the next race. Hopefully i can keep the cramps at bay next time.

Brian A

[oscarp]

Oscar and Greg's kids podium'd too right?

Yes Reid got 3rd in the kids race and 11th in the u13.

[fowleezy]

Nice work all!

[peterkuhn]

Great writeup Chris! I felt like I was there, brake-checking Cratty

[pace21]

Congrats all! MRC domination in the Mediocre Millenials AND the Premier Division

[oscarp]

Busick winning, so impressive. And Cratty coming 3rd, I have slightly changed my opinion about him. So many podiums, so cool. I think MRC made up 10% of the race entries.
I was out on the course following my son Reid who was doing the U13 race. Was his first "real course" race. It was definitely challenging for him but he rode it all no complaints. Even got a flat. Thankful someone out there had a patch kit. He finished last, but had a smile on his face. Later he would make up for it with a 3rd in the kids race. Unfortunately my race had long started. They were in the middle of starting the sports groups. I jumped ahead right before they were to start and was just gonna try to see what I could do. Ended up passing loads of riders. Even managed to make it up into my category and passing a few riders placing 10th. Bummed I couldnt be with the guys, but it was a great Dads day seeing my kids happy to be on their bikes.

[mohinishvi]

break check Cratty, sending him
off into the woods with a long tirade that started with "BUSICK!" and ended with the sound of crunching leaves and
branches.

LOLOLOL

"Dude, you got to let me go, I got people coming up behind me and you are holding me up!"

Nice pass!

[chrismitchell]

Race number 4 on the year for me: The Treasure Valley Rally. I raced it two years ago and remembered a brutal technical race that was heavy on the climbing. I remember crossing the finish line so exhausted that I was going cross eyed, greeted at the finish by Busick who informed me that I won my class... out of two people. Magical.

This year there was a bit more competition, a starting field of 13 in the 19-39 mediocre millenials featuring PJ, Jimmy and myself. I of course checked the signup list before hand to see what the competition was like. There were a lot of different names than the previous races this year, there were a handful of guys that had been beating me pretty consistently and I didn't see any of them signed up. This along with my pre-ride earlier in the week had me feeling pretty good about a strong finish. This race was roughly double the length of the other sport races this year, I knew it was going to hurt, but I thought the added distance could play into my favor.

Anyway, onto the race. I lined up in the middle of the front row, PJ on the far right with Jimmy right behind him. For once I was in the right gear at the start and I jumped to the front of the pack and waited for people to start going by... except they never did. I turned around and looked before the first singletrack, and everyone was single file right behind me. Perfect. Into the single track and then back out onto the fire road. Some dude in a sleeveless jersey briefly jumped in front for the next short single track but I took the lead back on the next fire road. Going into the long 2 mile flattish singletrack I felt great, I settled into a good rhythm and kept my breathing steady. By midway through the section I couldn't really hear anyone behind me, but I kept telling myself that PJ couldn't be that far back. I started catching some of the people in the expert race a lot faster than I expected. I came up behind an MRC kit towards the end of the singletrack before the climb started. I so badly wanted it to be Cratty but it was Don grinding away on his over inflated tires. I passed Don and continued onto the climb, still feeling great. I figured at this point I was in good shape, the terrain in the early part of the course was my weakness and I had made it through without seeing anyone from my race. At this point, I just knew I had to keep it clean and make sure I still had something in the tank for lap 2. I got up to the pebble, passing a handful of expert racers on the way and surprisingly still felt pretty good at the top. I kept it smooth on the descent and past the beach for the start of lap 2.

Going up the fire road at the start of lap 2 was where it hit me. It was hot, I didn't eat enough, and that Gu packet on an (relatively) empty stomach did not agree with me. I pushed through the first single track (AKA HMT) trying (unsuccessfully) to get my heart rate and breathing under control. It was not meant to be, I was in the pain cave and there was no escape. At this point in the race, things had spread out pretty well so there weren't a whole lot of people around, every once an a while I'd pass another rider and realize that I must not be doing that bad if I was still passing people.

Going into the climb up to Sampson's pebble the second time around I was a mess. It was everything I could do to keep my heart from exploding out of my chest. I caught up to Kathleen on the way and we chatted a bit before she let me by. It didn't even sound like she was out of breath and here I was I thinking I was going to die. I have no idea how she managed an extra lap (AWESOME JOB KATHLEEN!!!).

After passing Kathleen there were a couple more expert racers that I caught up with. I rode with one guy for a while who was having issues with his bike, we went back and forth for a while until he flipped over the bars (hard) in a rock garden. I asked if he was okay, he said he was, but didn't stick around for long. By some miracle I made it to the pebble without crashing and stopped to enjoy a drink at the top. Chugged the first, dumped the second on my head, chugged the third, shot for the trash -- missed. Oops. From there it was all about keeping the rubber side down and getting out alive.

It felt great to get my first win here, although I am disappointed I never caught Cratty. Awesome turnout for MRC. Big congrats to everyone on their podiums, and honestly everyone who finished. That was a brutal course!

[Briana]

It felt great to get my first win here, although I am disappointed I never caught Cratty. Awesome turnout for MRC. Big congrats to everyone on their podiums, and honestly everyone who finished. That was a brutal course!

It looks like we have another Cat 1 upgrade

Brian A.

[JeremyC]

although I am disappointed I never caught Cratty.

10 minutes faster and you would have had me...

[pace21]

although I am disappointed I never caught Cratty.

10 minutes faster and you would have had me...

That’s harsh prez, even by my standards

[JeremyC]

although I am disappointed I never caught Cratty.

10 minutes faster and you would have had me...

That’s harsh prez, even by my standards

Sorry I forgot my smiley face

[cbusick]

This wasn't a good race to use Cratty as a marker to judge your own performance. He shocked us all with his TVR redemption. I'm just glad he didn't catch me.

[cbusick]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dnsKKSWUrfV61pAo8

First lap times

[JeremyC]

Our sponsor Steve Salvadore is no joke. Get him a kit!!!!!

[cbusick]

Our sponsor Steve Salvadore is no joke. Get him a kit!!!!!

Already ordered. Actually he just asked for a Jersey, should I get him shorts too?

[Smudger]

Supremely low expectations. Those who have ridden with me know my lack of fitness. Lots of coaching and traveling and very little riding. My goals were

1. don't be last
2. Don't let Ewan catch me on lap1

I started at the back of the Sport 50+ but even with my low expectations it was obvious there were a couple of riders who maybe had even less. I sat behind several riders for too long until I eventually decided it was time to pass. I was however still riding more than racing. Eventually I heard what I was expecting "get out the way you old Scottish B*d" This was the code I gave to Max and Ewan to use if they wanted to get past. It was Max who was crushing the U16 race Fortunately I
Coley also passed slightly after. As I had cleaned the 1st lap I decided to focus on doing the same on the 2nd and riding clean meant i passed a lot of riders. I assumed most were from younger age groups though and had no idea of where I was in my field. The only point that I started to race was when I caught Jimmy towards the end. Managed to no dab both loops and finished feeling good. Biggest surprise of the day was hearing 3rd place Sport 50+ John Smith as I was trying to pull my pants on. Shocker

Ewan raced the U16 and mixed it up with some of the strong riders he's been racing against all spring. Max Jackson crushed the course for the win Ewan pushed the kid who had won the last 4 races of the NEHSCA season all the way and came in for a solid 3rd place . Although he didn't catch me he did beat my lap 1 time by 2min.

[cbusick]

"get out the way you old Scottish B*d"

Nice job Smudger, too bad the little ingrates don't remember you when you were wikid fast but would have been cursing your arse off (at least I think it was cursing) in the rock gardens. Two clean laps there is impressive.

[oscarp]

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