Almost got on the podium.  But got invited on the box since I solo’d away on the field sprint.  Late last lap tactical error cost me a podium or a chance for the win.  Short story -Solo’d away from the field in a half mile uphill sprint finish for 4th.


Longer Version:
For the most part rode up front enough to keep an eye on things and tried to hide and conserve energy.  A breakaway formed on lap 2 with 6 people.  I didn’t think it would stick because it was too early.  However, I started getting nervous on the 3rd lap.  Luckily others did too and on the third of four laps I followed 2 guys and brought back the 6 man break that got away.  Had to go to either be a rabbit and shake it up for the teams that were shutting it down or possibly stay away in that break. It came back all together almost right after we connected.  Got lucky and didn’t really burn too many matches. Made the other two guys do most of the work.  Recovered just fine. So I feel like that was a good move.  Other than that just hid and stayed close to the front.


There were plenty of attacks throughout the race and I followed others to mark them.  Then with one lap to go a guy pulled away solo. I know him and he’s very strong but still thought no way he’s got the fitness or going to be allowed to solo away on the last lap.  Too many other teams and horse power.  Wrong! He made it and won. Then another guy snuck away with about a half lap to go that I didn’t even see go. And I was riding near the front!  There were a lot of stragglers on the course from other races and I got confused.  Even still everyone was in sight and they were all solo.  Still thought for sure we would catch the first guy.  Then with about a 1/4 lap to go another guy drifted away solo and I thought again no way.  It’s too late and we are going to be slamming it here really soon. Just let him dangle up front and burn out.  And we did hit it hard and fast.  But sure enough he ended up staying away and catching the 2nd place guy for 2nd overall.


After that guy went I worked hard to stay way up front and even put myself in not the most protected spot on last half of the last lap to keep the lane clogged so no one else could come around anymore.  I stayed on the very outside near the yellow line. As I suspected it got ramped up and super-fast.  I’m still thinking we will reel in the guy’s ahead as they were all solo and not grouped up.  I stayed top 5 the whole time. Bounced behind other wheels when needed and followed surges and was very aggressive.  When we came around the corner for the last 1 mile straightaway before final turn for finish hill it was on!  Single file and really hard which put me in a perfect spot.


Came around the final corner in 3rd position and then a few seconds later as the hill started (which is a 1.5 minute power climb at about 6% grade) I attacked solo and didn’t look back until I got to the top.  At the top there is about a 50 meter flat section so I sat down in saddle and started grabbing gears.  Looked back and no one near me!  Huge gap! Still 200 meters to go with a little 50 meter 4% bump ahead. I relaxed a little for short recovery before the last little 50 meter bump. Then sprint hit that as hard as I could and then looked back and still had same huge gap and no one remotely close and easy soft pedaled last 50 meters to the line.  I played the finish PERFECTLY!  Just too bad it was for 4th.


I even saw the two guys ahead of me and got close to them by the finish.  Just knew there was no way to catch them.  Wasn’t enough road left. Sad part was I thought that was first and second that I saw ahead of and that I got 3rd.  I didn’t know it was for 4th until about 10 minutes later on my cool down ride. I overheard someone behind me say there were three guys off the front. Shit!  LOL!  Was a clean fun race.  I’m proud of the result, but bitter sweet about the guys that got away.


Thanks!
Tony

Jeff Jacobson, Jimbo Wimberly, and I (Ken Winston) of the UC Cyclery Racing team attended “Southern California's Premier Endurance Mountain Bike Race” aka the 6 and 12 hours of Temecula held at Vail Lake. It was a big turnout with many solo riders and 2, 3, 4, and 5 man teams competing. There were high school age racers, 60+ racers, and everything in between. JJ entered the 50-59 men category and I decided to race down one age group so we could compete together. Jimbo entered the 60+ men category.
Men’s 50-59 race report:
The course was 9.1 miles in length with 900 feet of elevation gain. There was plenty of undulating singletrack, a few steep pitches, one steep descent with a few boulders to get over, and a couple of fire road climbs. The course was not very technical but there were several blind turns so it helps to know the trails. JJ and I have raced this event before and managed to work together well while doing so. We had a plan to again work together and then see who felt the best toward the end.
It was a mass start, making it impossible to keep track of your competition. Jimbo led JJ and I for the first 3 miles or so. It was an uncomfortably fast pace that had us all thinking we had not acted wisely, considering we had to last about 6 hours. After Jimbo finally backed down his pace, I made the decision to keep pushing until we had reached the long singletrack descent consisting of “Tarantula” and “Tunnel of Love (TOL)”. JJ and I found ourselves riding with Cesar Mora (40-49 men category), one of our training partners and member of Stonehaus Racing. JJ wondered aloud if we were keeping a wise pace “Cesar, I don’t know what Ken is doing!” I heard him say. This I found a bit humorous since it is JJ who causes Cesar and I to ask what is he doing pushing a hard pace on our training rides! Regardless, I eventually took the hint and slowed to a more sustainable pace after finishing lap one.
For laps 2-5 we kept riding together, trading pulls at what seemed to me a 50:50 ratio. We had no way to know what position we were in. Nor did we know that we were racing the biggest category of the day with 38 entrants. I kept an eye out for anyone looking our age but had not seen any (apparently they were all behind us). Very few racers passed us and those that did appeared to be younger and on multi-person teams. Around about lap 4, JJ announced that he was feeling some cramps and did not think he could hold the current pace much longer. Yet he still took his turn with strong pulls that put me in the pain cave. I too had felt a few twinges, but I kept it to myself. On lap 6 of what would be 7 total laps, I had ridden through a few cramps, as had JJ. We were on the big “ambulance” climb to the top of the TOL when we saw a guy ride past us with authority, as if he was on a multi-person team, but his bike was sporting a “solo” tag. JJ thought he looked to be in our age category and proceeded to tell me that I should chase him down – and that he was cooked. After another 30 seconds of halting discussion we noticed that the gap from him to us had stabilized at about 10 seconds. This gave me the motivation I needed to try and race this guy who we later found out was Brad from Alberta, Canada, and was indeed in our class. On the remainder of the climb I closed about 5 seconds of the gap but Brad entered the long descent in front of me. I quickly got on his wheel and near the top of the TOL he let me pass him (this is a section with many blind turns, but I know it blindfolded). I sensed that this was where I should press my advantage so I put about a 15 second gap on him by the time we finished lap 6. I had one full water bottle on my bike so I chose not to stop at my pit. Brad stopped for about 30 seconds at his pit, as did JJ (thank you Strava flyby for this data). This gave me the breathing room I needed to nurse my cramps and stay out front to the end of lap 7. With only 40 minutes left in the 6 hours, there was not enough time to complete an 8th lap, so my race was complete. I waited at the finish line for Brad and JJ. Brad crossed about 30 seconds behind me and JJ 4 minutes behind. The efforts of your team resulted in 1st and 3rd place!   

Men’s 60+ Race Report from Jimbo:
I had a great time. It was the most fun course I've ever been on. Yes it would have been nice to pre-ride, warm-up, and maybe not go so hard at the start! It was my first mountain bike race in 2 years. My goals were to have fun, ride safe, and finish. I forgot how much fun you can have at a MTB race 😊.
Editor’s note: Jimbo won! The guy shown in 1st was mistakenly placed in the 60+ class results, but is only 56 years old.

Race Report; White Mountains Epic Series…50 mile MTB race, Arizona.
UC Result; Podium 4th position
By Simon Planken


The Epic Race Series is a fantastic set of MTB events that are spread out over the year and across many states. These draw big crowds – and some have a full PRO peloton too. The rides are normally 50 mile epics…that take in some great singletrack!
Last weekend (Oct 5th) was the White Mountains AZ Race - a 50 mile circuit that was mainly singletrack. I’d never raced here before and was looking forward to seeing the White Mountain-scape. My wife was racing too so we got there the night before and camped…almost got some sleep too!
My race division was huge. 48 riders in the mens’ masters 50m. (There were 900 riders total…these are big events!). I had not had any time to pre-ride so was going in blind…the course was relatively gentle – only 3800 feet of elevation. Won’t be so bad!!!
Thing is….it starts at 7100 feet. And goes up to about 8400…. hmmm. Maybe I should have borrowed Ken’s elevation tent the week before….
The line up was huge. They had bundled all the 50 and 35 mile riders together…and…those that had a season pass to the series were given a front corral spot. The race started at 7.15 am. A mass start and I struggled to weave through about 50 up-front riders as quick as I could before we hit singletrack (ST). My heart rate instantly went to lactic threshold (LT). Oooff…..


The ST weaved through an initial forest section…with ample sprinkling of sharp rocks. This was a volcanic area and the mix of volcanic debris and pine forests was unusual…folks were flatting already….I passed a large number here. Then, a well-timed fire road section…I burst forward to join a fast group…not sure how many were ahead at this point. One by one I picked them off. For some reason, my HR was staying just below LT and I felt great! Wish I could feel like this every race!
I managed to get to the front of the group and lost them on a sharp climb. This was about 16 miles in. Then I hit the first downhill! This was fun! Tight twisty ST through the trees. Similar to Big-Bear…I was flying, HR was coming down, temperature was perfect now at about 65 oF. This was going to be a good race and I was starting to think of…. BAM!!!!!!!!
What the hell was that. I’m in the air!... My bike SLAMS into a downed tree. It was across the trail and I didn’t see it due to the shadows and dappled light. A small section had been cut out to get a bike through. Didn’t see that either….crap…I’m still in the air…!


Luckily, I was airborne for so long I had time to choreograph my landing. Normally I land like a sack of potatoes and hurt my wrists. This time I told myself “No! Tuck and roll”. I hit the trail on my right arm, then shoulder and went into a fast roll. Then another roll. Not sure what happened after that, but I landed in some ferns (luckily) and stopped to take stock. My right knee hurt badly, but other than that I was OK. Adrenaline was on my side at this point…


I looked up the trail. No…further up the trail….there she was. My bike was a crumpled mess. The bars were fully 180. I was expecting to have a broken rim. I hit this tree hard. But no! Bike was fine! I recently upgraded to SRAM’S wireless AXS system (highly recommended!). How was that?…quick check. Yep that was fine too! The rear derailleur automatically locks itself down in a crash and is actually built tougher than a standard one with a shorter cage.


So I was still in this….. At this point the fast group I had chased and passed caught me…and past me. They all asked if I was OK. I was still going over myself and let them go…and I took a couple of mins for my knee to calm down. Then I forced myself back on the saddle…quick bike check…and back on the ST downhills. Albeit a bit slower!
After about 10 mins, I felt fully back in the game. I could occasionally see the group again…and chased them down over the next 10 miles.
At mile 26 ish, we hit a FAST downhill fire road. Super smooth. I doubled down and caught the last guy. Drafted for a while, then made my way through this pack (about 8) and took the lead…I led this group to the next ST climb…and was surprised when I dropped them almost immediately. Think they all burned up on that fire road trying to catch their prior leader. I found myself alone for the next 10 ish miles.….
At mile 36, I noted on the ride profile there was a near vertical section. Wasn’t sure what this was. Then I started uphill…and noticed two things.

1. The forest was on fire. The trees and ferns were black, and smoke was coming from the left-hand gulley. Smell was thick!
   
2. The trail turned to super loose dirt and went to a 70 angle. I was forced off the bike onto a long hike a bike section.
   

I wasn’t expecting this. My legs were tiring, and I was slow through this 10 min section of steep hiking. I paused to drink and take a bite. I recalled the race coordinator mentioning a “natural burning” of the forest and we were to not worry about it…OK then! But let’s get moving shall we!! I was passed at this point by some young buy who was way too cheerful. I waved him by and never saw him again.


Next was a fun fast downhill….and the rest of the 12 miles were quite flat. I picked up pace…and then ran into the 35 mile group. This wasn’t too bad…I picked them all off and they all let me pass. Mile 49. I can see the finish… OK - full on sprint…. almost there! Wait…why are we going this way?


I didn’t realize but this race was 53 miles, with an extra “squiggle” at the end. Ouch. I burned myself to early! But so did others! The last mile was a fireroad...I caught dozens. Not sure how many were in my group. But I kept my pace as fast as I could. There it was; Maxxis finish line with crowds. One more sprint. I catch 2 guys 10 yard from the finish line. Done!
My Garmin says 4 hrs 12 mins (moving time). Average speed 12.5. That’ll do!
I grab a free beer, an orange and go chill and wait for my wife (Chi). She comes in with a grimace; “what the hell was that finish! 50 miles I signed up for!” I chuckled as I knew how she felt!


We both podiumed. The trophies were carved bears in tree trunks…they gave me a grumpy looking one! My 4th place was 1 min behind 3rd…next time! 5th place was a min behind me.


Overall a great race, very well organized. Next year I hope to do either the Carson City (Tahoe) or the Grand Junction (CO) races. Who’s in!!!

Race Report by Ken Winston

​Randy Liechty and I traveled to Winter Park Colorado to represent the UCC/JW Floors mountain bike team at the 2019 USAC Mountain Bike XC Nationals.  Both of us entered the 60-64 Category 1 age group, which contained 25 starters.   It was an experienced group that contained 2 prior national champions and a few runner ups (including Randy who finished 2nd at the 2015 XC Nationals held in Mammoth).

Randy on our recon of the course.  This is the start of the big descent.
 

​The day after the race, Randy and I did a little recovery ride up Mount Evans, which has the highest paved road in the USA at 14,130 feet elevation.  We even hiked and biked the extra credit trail to the actual summit at 14,245 feet.  We started our ride in Idaho Springs, elevation 7500 feet.

Pascal Bonaventure, Justin Rivers, and Dan Mahlum participated in the Carson City 50 mile MTB race which is part of the Epic series (Whiskey 50, Grand Junction, Carson city and OZ trails).
Dan and Justin entered the Open men and finished 14th and 37th respectively.  There were 150 participants in this class.  Pascal entered the Masters Men 45+ which had 100 participants.  He finished 3rd.  Below is a brief description of Pascal’s race.

I had always wanted to race on the amazing trails near Lake Tahoe.  The race was originally scheduled for early June but because of the unusual amount of snow the race was postponed to late June.  Despite the later date the original course was shortened (48 miles instead of 52 instead) due to patches of snow on the highest trails.   The race started by a long climb on a paved road transitioning to a dirt road followed by a long single track with many switchbacks and beautiful views (Ash Canyon to Kings Canyon trail) and a flowing descent to Kings Canyon road.  King Canyon road is a long steady climb on a sandy deceiving fire road.   Following Kings Canyon road the fun began with the iconic Flume trail along Lake Tahoe and Snapdragon.  The return to Carson city consisted of a mixture of nasty sandy fire road and super fun flowy trails (Postal route and Jackrabbit).   Obviously elevation is playing a big role in this race. 
​
My race was interesting with 2 major incidents.  On Flume trail in a tight corner at the most dangerous place (see photo) I touched a rock with my handlebar, lost my balance and went over the cliff.  Fortunately I was able to grab a big root with my hands. The 2 riders behind me stopped and pulled me out from the precipice where I was hanging.   It was scary and I was really lucky to escape without injury.  

Steve Boyd and I traveled to Amarillo, Texas to represent the UCC/JW Floors mountain bike team at the 2019 Mountain Bike Marathon Nationals.  This 350 rider event was held in Palo Duro Canyon. ​

The course consisted of a 4 mile prologue to sort out the field followed by two unique 20 mile laps.  The course had one climb that was steep and technical with about a 300 foot elevation gain.  The rest of the course was undulating with a combination of technical rocky sections sprinkled amongst mostly flowy singletrack.  The week leading up to the race was quite rainy for the Amarillo area and Texas in general.  My wife Suzy and I had our connecting flight from Houston cancelled due to severe thunderstorms and flooding and we had to drive 9 hours in a rental car to get to Amarillo in time.  I made it just in time to attend the rider meeting, unpack my bike and get some sleep before the race Saturday morning. ​

By race day, the rain had cleared.  But due to the rain the night before, it was announced that the start would be pushed back 2 hours to give the course time to dry out.  There were long lines to get into the race venue and this caused the start to be moved back another 45 minutes. ​

Once at the race, I met up with Steve Boyd and his cousin Gordy, who lives near the canyon and helped build the trails we were about to race on.  After a nice warmup (a recon of the prologue loop), it was time to line up.  My group lined up with the 40+ women.  The ladies crowed the start line making it impossible for any of those “called up” to the front to take their rightful place.  The old guys filled in behind, grumbling a bit like old guys sometimes do. 
The course started with a flat paved road section and the ladies pulled our coed peloton.  Content to wait for the short road climb, I sat in the group.  When we hit the paved road climb I quickly went to 2nd wheel and several of the other 60+ guys jumped to the front, vying for position before the single track began.  I slotted into third as we entered the single track.  I wanted to be in second so I had a wheel to follow but not be at risk of getting blocked in the tight sections that I knew followed.  Mark Kuithe (Dallas rider) was leading with Paul Curley (Boston rider and 30 time (!!) national champion of various disciplines) in second.  About 5 minutes into the prologue singletrack, Paul struck his pedal on a stump and flipped his bike spectacularly.  Just like that I was in the 2nd position I desired.  John Lauck (Utah rider who finished 2nd at True Grit in March) was behind me in 3rd.
We completed the prologue loop and headed into lap 1 with the top 3 riding wheel-to-wheel in twisty narrow single track.  After a few minutes I noticed Mark was a bit tentative on the technical portions of the trail so I politely asked “do you mind if I take the lead for a bit”? He was quick to oblige.  As I went past I heard him breathing quite heavily. I heard later that my choice of words gave the other guys in the front group the impression that I was not pushing very hard, which was not the case at all.  I was actually 10 BPM over my target heartrate.  However I managed to move away slowly and gap the others.  Within minutes I had lost track of them due to the twisting nature of the course with lots of vegetation to limit the view.  At this point I slowly backed down the effort to get my heartrate to “target” as I held about a 1 minute lead.  It was encouraging to pick off rider after rider from the earlier groups (55-59, 50-54, and 35+). 
After about one and a half hours of racing, I ran out of water with about 5 miles left in the lap.  I was concerned that this might catch up to me in the form of leg cramps later.  It was at this time that I saw teammate Steve Boyd up the trail and was motivated to catch him and have a friendly to pace with.  But Steve had an issue that required he stop momentarily on the side of the trail. Too much pre-race hydration perhaps.  I went by him with a quick shout out.
At the end of the lap I stopped briefly to replace my two water bottles and headed into the final 20 mile lap.  This was a more technical lap and the challenge took my mind off my slowly rising fatigue level.  I continued to work past riders from the other age categories at a steady cadence.  At one point I began to work with a younger rider.  This only lasted about 10 minutes before he faded back however.  Again I noticed that I did not have enough water to finish the race and made a plan to stop at the neutral aide station to fill up one of my bottles. 
It was at this time that I heard Steve Boyd behind me.  Shouting, he informed me that the second place rider of my category was with him!  “His name is Paul and he’s a nice guy” Steve announced.  This was the guy who flipped his bike on the prologue loop….the 30 time national champion.  “Oh boy, game on”, I thought.  So much for cruising into the finish.  And so much for the luxury of stopping for more water.  I had the ability to increase my pace, which I did immediately.  But I was now very concerned about cramping.  We were over 3 hours into the race and there was about 6 miles to go.  I could foresee a sprint finish as a real possibility.
Paul passed teammate Steve and got onto my wheel.  Several times he got so close that he bumped my rear wheel with his front wheel.  Paul was riding aggressively and definitely not like someone who was tiring.  He jumped in front of me on a short trail bypass section that I did not even see, but the main trail brought me back to his rear wheel.  I was content to ride his wheel for a while and see the pace he set.  It was a pace I could sustain, but knowing that he had already crashed once in front of me, I decided to go back to the front.  Past the neutral aide station we went; without stopping.  I had about two swallows of water left.
Locked together, Paul and I clicked off the miles to the finish.  I stayed in front and Paul stayed on my wheel.  I contemplated trying to ride him off my wheel, but each time I started to accelerate hard, I could feel the twinges in my legs.  So I resigned myself to a sprint finish.  As we entered the finishing area, there was a 50 yard uphill on asphalt, a sweeping left turn, and a 100 yard flat straight section to the line.  I needed to guard the inside.  When we entered the finishing area, the cramps came on.  Distracted by the cramps I didn’t stay tightly to the left as I wanted to.  Paul powered by me on the inside and easily accelerated away to a 0.9 second margin at the line.  We finished 1st and 2nd with a 9 minute margin on 3rd (John Lauck) and 4th (Mark Kuithe). 

Steve Boyd finished in 9th place in the large 50-54 men category.

Rough week leading up to Barrio nursing a strained quad.  I wasn’t even sure I could race it.  Well within the 3k marker to go on the final climb at SLR I went from a for sure top 10 being in the final group of 8 up the hill to having to practically stop pedaling as my leg cramped/seized.  I couldn’t straiten my left leg.  Was awesome watching a lot of people come by me for 22nd.  Ha!  Rode Sunday and new something wasn’t right.  Got an MRI on Monday and turns out I had a slight upper quad strain.  Spare you the finer details, but was told to take it easy.  Took a couple of days off the bike and the rest of the week easy (as far as intensity goes) skipped all the usual rides.  Felt good enough for some crit action.


Barrio Logan I Raced in the CAT 3/4 and Masters 45+.


CAT 3/4 Result:  10th.  62 entries!  Was really hard to stay up front.  Sketchy with all those people.  Marked some moves, tried to make some moves and then missed the final break of 6th 😊.  About 8 laps to go when they got away and I didn’t think it was the right one -wrong!  We were keeping them about 100 yards away so I wasn’t panicking – mistake!  So when the lap cards came out with 5 to go I figured it was time to get the peloton motivated and try to get it back.  Went upfront and took a pull, wiggled the arm and a junior came around me, but no one else so I followed him, took another pull, wiggled the arm and another guy came around.  That happened for a lap and a half.  Then I took a pull and wiggled my arm and no one was coming around so I swung out wide looked at the group and said so that’s it were racing for 7th ?  – Crickets.  Got 4th in the field sprint.


Masters 45+ Result:  9th.  A lot smaller field, but they raced the 35+ with us.  Again, I missed the break (shocker) that happened early about the 3rd or 4th lap.  There were 4 in the 45+ and 3 in the 35+ in the break.  I was just too far back when it happened.  I tried to bridge solo – Mistake!  Oh so close, but then turned into the wind and cya later.  Was way too windy and I didn’t have the horse power or fitness.  Went back in the group.  Then Greg Kogut went hard around the half way point and I went with him.  We got a big gap and made up some ground, but we couldn’t do it.  And since he had someone in the break I wasn’t even sure if he was trying to bridge or just make another break happen.  I bailed and went back to the group which was the best decision I made all day between both races because we caught Greg with a few laps to go.  In the field sprint hard to say exactly where I was, but it was definitely up front and in the mix and got 9th.


Great event and great day of racing.  Injured leg was a non-factor.

​Tony

On Saturday April 20 I dipped my toe into road racing. I’ve been doing quite a bit of cross training on my Tarmac and enjoying it.  My racing license only allowed me to register in the Men Open Cat 5 or Men Masters 45+ 4/5 road race, so I registered in the 4/5 race. Two dozen riders lined up and we took off in a neutral start down a long descent.  The first couple of laps were uneventful. The group kept a moderate pace on the rollers and there were no effective break away attempts. My heart rate was fairly low for what I knew I could hold in a two hour MTB race, so I went to the front on the climb back to the start and pushed the pace. We dropped a few riders, but the peloton mostly stuck together as a couple of us took turns at the front.  This continued for a couple of laps.  I thought a large group of R5Ciclismo riders from Orange Country might be able put something together, but nothing materialized.


At the turn into the last lap it felt like the race was suddenly on. A big-boned rider that had proven to be strong on the flats took off on the descent and quickly put a big gap on the peloton. We were already at 40+ mph and let him go, but we reeled him in within a few minutes of hitting the rollers at the bottom.  Everyone was jockeying for position.  I have been riding with a strong group of riders at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays that includes several UCC racers. The routes include Torrey Pines, Calle de Oro and Three Witches and I have become pretty confident in my ability to hang with just about anyone on long climbs, so I was stoked that this race ended with a long climb to the finish.  I thought about attacking at the bottom of the hill to see if I could outlast the group for the three miles to the end and separate myself from the sprinters, but the pace had already picked up considerably.  Riders jumped off the front a couple of times and I chased them down, hoping to work with someone to get a gap, but their efforts didn’t last long and they didn’t keep up when I took the lead, so the peloton would catch back up. I felt I was pushing at about 85-90% and knew I had plenty more to give should something happen. At the 1 kilometer to go mark I thought again about attacking but held off. As soon as I saw the 500M sign ahead, I attacked and hoped to surprise the group. The hill flattened out for a bit and I could feel riders coming up on either side of me.  When the grade pitched up again I knew it was time to dig deep.  We rounded the last corner and could see finish line ahead. I hoped the competitors were tiring out and I gave it all I had. I could hear them close behind, but was able to hang on for the win. 

It was a great feeling to come out on top in a sprint finish. Greg Twitty come in 9th in the Masters 45+ Cat 1-3 in what looked like a blistering race with a 24 mph avg overall pace and stacked field and Greg Fenton podiumed at 3rd in the Masters 55+ Cat 1-4 race.

Going into stage 5 I was sitting in 6th place a little over 5 minutes from 5th place. The morning of Stage 5 I was feeling better than I had all week and decided I would “race” this stage and see if I could snag a podium spot or move myself up in the GC to come out of the week with some positive motivation to ride into the season.
Stage 5 was billed to be the fastest pace stage of the week with no hike-a-bike sections so it fared well for my current cautious riding. The stage was 27 miles with 2300 ft of elevation gain with most of the ascending coming from 2 gravel/double track climbs. The start of the race headed right into the first gravel climb and after some jockeying I found myself in the 3rd of 3 groups that had formed. I noticed that 3-4 riders from my category (Masters 40-49) were in the 2nd group about a quarter mile up the climb.  This group included my category’s race leader and also containing the current 40-45 Marathon XC champion.  This is when I decided to push off the front of the group I was in and close the gap to the 2nd group. My legs were feeling good so I was able to close this gap over the next 1-2 minutes and joined the 2nd group that did include 4 riders from my category and 2 from Open class. I took in some nutrition and decided to push the front of this group to liven things up. Not knowing the course, I didn’t realize that we were about to head into a tighter trail covered in roots that had 1-2 preferred lines so being at the front worked out to be a good move as I was able to pick my lines and push the pace. This ended up dropping one of the Masters riders and one of the Open riders off the back and now our group was down to 5 including 3 from my category, 1 Open rider and me.
We then crested the first summit and dropped into a tight, rooty descent where I allowed the other riders to go ahead so I could ride cautiously down the descent that was still pretty wet and sloppy from the previous day’s rain storm. I made it down without any incidents but lost 20-30 seconds to the group so started to push my pace again just as I came around a corner to find one of the riders had crashed and was now off the side of the course. He was the Masters Marathon XC national champ who also happened to be a local and the winner of the last 3 Pisgah stage races for the Masters division. I checked that he was OK and continued to push on. In this process, I was joined by the 2 guys that we dropped on the last climb and the 3 of us worked back up to the rest of the group just as we passed the aid station and headed into the second long climb.  This climb hurt! It was about a 30-minute climb up a gravel road that turned to double track for the second half of the climb. Our group was now 6 riders including 2 open class, 3 from my category and me. If I could hang on and beat out one of the Masters men I would make the podium.  Several of us traded blows on the front trying to wiggle any of the riders loose but everyone was pushing hard and the group stayed mostly intact. I checked the segment on Strava after the ride and my estimated power for the 30-minute climb was about 320 watts which I was happy to see because I was getting some of my pre-crash power back and could sustain it for 30 minutes.
Having no expectations going into this week I was satisfied at the top of the last climb to be with the leading group from my category. This is when I decided to let the other riders enter the final descent (also the Enduro segment for the day) ahead of me so I could ride the descent conservatively and finish the week in one piece. At this point I had already accepted 4th place for the day content with potentially moving up 1 spot in the GC. Half way down the descent I found one of the 3 riders from my category on the side of the trail fixing a flat tire. Wait, this means I could get onto the podium if I finished without letting anyone else catch me. I pushed a little harder and finished the descent smoothly, maintaining my position. I crossed the line 3rd on the day in the Master Men’s category and later found out that I had put 7-8 minutes into the guy previously sitting in 5th place so I had moved into 5th place on the GC.