After watching first place slip away from my grip last weekend at the Valley Falls Challenge, I made it a point to at least have my game face on come race day for the Cooper’s Rock 30K mountain bike race. This was to be the 25th anniversary of this race, and this year saw some big changes to the course. Recently Cooper’s Rock State Forest has undergone some “managed” timbering near some great sections of trail, so race promoter Gunnar Shogren opted to design a new course that would eliminate those sections of trail, most of the pavement of years past, and include only a small portion of the roadside trail that is popular with hikers and recreational cyclists. The course he designed was a doozy…screaming-fast descents and long steady climbs with a few steep pitches and technical sections thrown in for good measure. I was actually a little intimidated by the course, at least one steep climb in particular that starts at the remnants of the Henry Clay Iron Furnace and climbs to the top of the ridge in less than a mile…brutal! I wouldn't be alone though, CER teammates Jason Stewart and Joe Sheets would be suffering with me.
A group of us pre-rode some of the course in the rain on a stormy evening the week preceding the race. After the pre-ride, I felt a lot better about the course. It was roughly 16 miles divided into 2 loops, so racers would be riding the same terrain twice during the race. I felt good despite the muddy, slick conditions, even after I laid my bike over and slid across, and nearly off of a slick wooden bridge.
I was really familiar with most of the trails and the direction we would be racing them, so my stress level was back to normal race jitters and not from racing a course for the first time. If I could claim a trail system as my home course, it would have to be Cooper’s, with Big Bear Lake and Watters Smith State Park right up there too, but Cooper’s is where I frequent the most for mountain bike rides.
I was coming into this race the underdog, well, at least in terms of series points. I was 2 points behind my series rival Scott from Blackwater Bikes, you know, our good friend BBG from previous posts. He’s made this series an actual competition for me. Neither of us has a finish lower than second place and when I’m not winning, he is. The Valley Falls Challenge was our closest race as we battled neck and neck for over a lap and I expected nothing less from our next meeting at Cooper’s Rock, so it came as a shock that I hadn’t spotted BBG or his truck before the start of the race. His usual racing buddy, Pete, had gotten really sick and wasn’t racing Cooper’s but I didn’t think BBG would stay home and give me a race at this point in the series. As the race director shouted instructions for the course, the start, and the finish, I scanned the horde of racers standing around and still didn’t spot my competition. Then finally, I noticed him at the registration tent, just barely making it in time to get registered and catch the last few orders from the race director. It was going to be a race after all.
After the pre-race meeting, all the racers grabbed last minute items. I chugged a little more water from a water bottle I used for my warmup and pedaled down the paved road a half mile to the start line. I was one of the last ones there, which is part of my strategy to ensure my muscles are warm and ready to go when the starting whistle blows. I realized then how many racers showed up. There were at least 50 sport riders and I had no idea how many were in my category. I lined up third row back, not really because I wanted to be that far back, but mainly because I got there later than my competitors. For this start, it didn’t matter much that I was third row back since there was over a mile of paved road and wide trail to pass folks before the trail narrowed on the long descent to the Iron Furnace.
The starting official started giving us warnings at 40 seconds out, but chose random numbers to update our time away from the blow of the starting whistle…but that’s a rural dentist for you.
14, 11, 10, 8, 5, 2, WHISTLE!!!
We all shot up the pavement, over a short rise, and hammered down to a sharp left-hander to a small bridge to 150 feet of singletrack…BBG and I hit the bridge side-by-side and I nudged him out barely before the next right-hander up onto the roadside trail. We were all hammering away on the roadside trail, which is wide enough for 2-3 riders to ride abreast, but not in the chaos of a race start. Everyone was cutting corners and weaving back and forth under the pressure of trying to hold their position or pass slower riders. My buddy Scott House shot past me like a bullet and I was cheering away for his break and hoped he would hold that pace and get on the podium in his category. Next to barrel around me was BBG. I saw him coming and let him go by me so I could latch onto his back wheel and try to put some pressure on him to ride outside his comfort zone. I hung on BBG's wheel for the entire ride to the pond on the roadside trail. We passed the pond and jumped on the gravel road that starts the downhill to the furnace. I followed BBG for a while then when he slowed the pace I clicked down 3 gears, stood up and hammered past him. I heard a resounding "Ahh, S--T!!!" as I went by which gave me that much more motivation to keep on the pedals. I was able to get around a few more racers before the trail got too narrow to pass safely.
I tried to look back and catch a glimpse of who was behind me and more importantly, where BBG was, but I was going way too fast on that narrow strip of trail to take my eyes off the trail ahead for too long. The long descent turned to true singletrack and leveled out a bit through some trees and a few little rocky sections before it turned steep again and kept shedding altitude. I passed a few more racers on the side of the trail fixing mechanical issues or flat tires as I followed Tim G. down to the furnace, through a "flat" section, then up the steep, relentless climb to Rock City on the top of the ridge. As I followed Tim, someone bobbled in front of him and he lost traction and came to an abrupt halt right in front of me. A couple hard pedal strokes and an evasive turn toward the edge of the dropoff on the side of the trail and I narrowly avoided having to stop which would have forced me to walk and lose precious time.
As the trail got even steeper and more rocks and roots jumped out at me, I struggled to keep traction on the rear tire and enough power to the pedals to keep moving faster than the guys pushing their bikes. I yelled "Rider Back!" more times than I can recall to warn those walking to move out of the way for folks still able to ride. Some make a great effort to get out of your way, while others pretend not to hear you yelling at the back of their head and remain walking on the most rideable part of the trail. I could hear another rider a few feet back, but I knew it would be a mistake to look back to see who it was. I've learned there are times to look back and times where it doesn't matter because I won't be able to pedal any harder anyway, so why add more stress.
I caught up to my good friend Chris who was racing Expert Class which meant he had one more lap than me to complete. I like riding with Chris, he picks incredible lines and rides smoothly so I enjoy just following his lead, which I did to the top of the ridge and down past the stone picnic shelter into Rock City. Rock City is pretty much just what the name implies; two sheer walls of course sandstone that narrows to a little over 4 feet wide at the end. It's choked with old, thick Rhododendrons and rocky sections that make you scrape the rock walls as you ride through.
14, 11, 10, 8, 5, 2, WHISTLE!!!
We all shot up the pavement, over a short rise, and hammered down to a sharp left-hander to a small bridge to 150 feet of singletrack…BBG and I hit the bridge side-by-side and I nudged him out barely before the next right-hander up onto the roadside trail. We were all hammering away on the roadside trail, which is wide enough for 2-3 riders to ride abreast, but not in the chaos of a race start. Everyone was cutting corners and weaving back and forth under the pressure of trying to hold their position or pass slower riders. My buddy Scott House shot past me like a bullet and I was cheering away for his break and hoped he would hold that pace and get on the podium in his category. Next to barrel around me was BBG. I saw him coming and let him go by me so I could latch onto his back wheel and try to put some pressure on him to ride outside his comfort zone. I hung on BBG's wheel for the entire ride to the pond on the roadside trail. We passed the pond and jumped on the gravel road that starts the downhill to the furnace. I followed BBG for a while then when he slowed the pace I clicked down 3 gears, stood up and hammered past him. I heard a resounding "Ahh, S--T!!!" as I went by which gave me that much more motivation to keep on the pedals. I was able to get around a few more racers before the trail got too narrow to pass safely.
 | |
| Hammer down! |
As the trail got even steeper and more rocks and roots jumped out at me, I struggled to keep traction on the rear tire and enough power to the pedals to keep moving faster than the guys pushing their bikes. I yelled "Rider Back!" more times than I can recall to warn those walking to move out of the way for folks still able to ride. Some make a great effort to get out of your way, while others pretend not to hear you yelling at the back of their head and remain walking on the most rideable part of the trail. I could hear another rider a few feet back, but I knew it would be a mistake to look back to see who it was. I've learned there are times to look back and times where it doesn't matter because I won't be able to pedal any harder anyway, so why add more stress.
I caught up to my good friend Chris who was racing Expert Class which meant he had one more lap than me to complete. I like riding with Chris, he picks incredible lines and rides smoothly so I enjoy just following his lead, which I did to the top of the ridge and down past the stone picnic shelter into Rock City. Rock City is pretty much just what the name implies; two sheer walls of course sandstone that narrows to a little over 4 feet wide at the end. It's choked with old, thick Rhododendrons and rocky sections that make you scrape the rock walls as you ride through.
My handlebars got wedged as I was riding a really tight part of Rock City and although I didn't have to walk and was able to ride out of my jam, everyone behind me came to a halt. To escape Rock City, you have to dismount and climb up and out with your bike. After all the effort and all the climbing, the long downhill back to the Iron Furnace begins with some flowing swoopy trail, blasts through a small rock garden, turns hard left onto a steeper, but really fast trail broken up by a flat sections and some tight, rocky turns, then the bottom just drops out of it as you ride off a small rocky ledge at speeds way faster than you really want to be riding. I had a horrible experience years ago on this little steep
section and every time I ride it, I just take a deep breath and hope nothing
bounces me over the steep dropoff to the left of the trail again.
The rest of the downhill from here
takes very little time if you’re not on the brakes too hard and spits you out onto
Mont Chateau Trail, which is little more than an incredibly rocky low-grade
climb up to the Iron Furnace. Mont
Chateau Trail is tough to ride quickly because of all the exposed rocks, but
since it was relatively dry on race day, “smooth” lines through the roughest
parts were evident if you paid attention.
I hammered as best I could up that part and once again latched onto the
back wheel of my buddy Chris. We chatted
all the way up that section until we hit the Iron Furnace. I kept looking back, and to my surprise there
was no sign of BBG behind us, or anyone else for that matter.
 |
| Empty trail behind me! |
Chris and I passed the furnace and
began the mile and a half climb up the cross-country ski trail to the start of
the second lap. The ski trail is not at
all steep, just long and the rocks and roots make it anything but an easy ride
if you’re trying to keep your speed up.
About two-thirds of the way up the ski trail Chris and I passed two of
his teammates, Derek and Anne, who were cheering us on and taking photos. Someone cheering for me always helps me pick
up the pace a little, and even more when I know them. Chris also got some motivation and pulled
away from me, but was still in sight. I
didn’t want to lose Chris just yet since he was giving me a visible goal to
chase after. After another three minutes
of climbing, we approached the top of the climb and the horde of spectators
cheering racers onto their next lap.
Throw out some “thank you”s to the
crowd for the encouragement, make a sharp right-hand turn and hammer the
singletrack that leads to the pond and the big downhill. I caught up with Chris again and we killed
the long downhill and started the steep climb out to the ridge together. My legs still felt good, but I could tell I
was slowing down on my second lap.
Chris, despite having raced 60 miles the previous day, and racing one
more lap than I would for this race, was still riding faster than I could up
the climb and would slowly begin to pull away from me. I wouldn’t see much of him until the end of the
race. On the last steep descent to the
Iron Furnace, I caught up with one of the fastest guys in Sport Class. He was having a rough day with cramping and
was riding a lot slower than usual. He
followed my wheel on the rest of the downhill and up the rocky trail to the
furnace. We started the ski trail
together, but he only made it a quarter mile before cramps forced him to stop
and stretch them out.
At this point, all I could hear was
my heart pounding, my rhythmic breaths, and the sound of my tires rolling
across the rocks and dirt of the climb to the finish. I knew the climb was 1.5 miles long, so I was
able to keep track of my progress on my Garmin bike computer. I also knew the trail well enough to know
where I was and how far I had to go. The
power in my legs was waning, but I kept the pedals turning for fear
that BBG would catch me on this last long climb.
Every 30 seconds or so, I would glance over
my shoulder to see if anyone was behind me, and finally I saw another rider
coming up fast. I saw the tell-tale blue
and white jersey of a Dynamic Physical Therapy cycling team rider and saw the
red and white bike and knew it was Brian D., whom I had passed on the first
long downhill. He’s an incredibly strong
rider and I was surprised I had stayed in front of him for so long. We were about half-way up the ski trail to
the finish and he passed me looking really strong. I tried to hold his back wheel and keep his
pace, but he was really putting the hammer down and was soon out of my sight. Oddly enough, this made me feel great,
because I knew how strong a rider Brian is and that there was a safe bet that BBG
was not holding that kind of pace. I was
pretty comfortable that if I kept my current effort, I would capture the win.
 |
| Gunning for the win! |
I passed Derek and Anne again and
they were still cheering like crazy. I
knew then I only had a few more minutes of racing, so I dropped a couple gears
and finished strong. I crossed the
finish line alone and draped myself over my handlebars gasping to catch my
breath. After pushing my lungs back into
my chest, I pulled over and stood with some guys I knew that had already
finished (the really, really fast guys) and waited to see who would cross
next. My buddy Gregg, who races the
Grand Masters (55+) class, came in a minute or so behind me, then a couple
minutes after that BBG finished. He was
close…closer than I thought. He must
have had really good legs for the climbs.
He came over and we congratulated each other on another good race and
wished each other good luck on the series finale.
When the dust cleared I came in 1st in my category finishing the 16 mile course in 1 hour 47 minutes, which was good enough for 7th overall out of 57 racers in sport class.
This win brought me within 1 point
of BBG in the series. I still can’t
believe the series is so close and the series championship will be decided by
who wins the last race, the White Oak Challenge at Watters Smith State Park, at the end of
September.
It’s a must-win for me, so
time to rest a little, then really amp up the training and lose few more pounds
before race day ‘cause there’s gonna be a showdown at Watters Smith!
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