Afton

Photo by Skinnyski.com

Had a blast racing at Afton Alps last weekend. This was one of the first races I ever did when I moved to MN. I remember racing the jr. beginner (citizen) class at this race back in 1996, when I raced on a fully rigid, steel frame KHS.

I was feeling a little nostalgic and decided to race Afton this year on a fully rigid bike. 13 years after my debut into MNSCS (legacy Salsa Series), I boarded a bike that only vaguely resembled the bike I raced on that sunny June morning in 1996.

This year I have decided to switch back to a hardtail as my primary racing steed after 3 consecutive seasons racing on dual suspension Trek Top Fuels. With the larger 29" wheel setup, the bike rides seems to roll smoother over obstacles and helps compensate for not having ~ 3" of rear wheel suspension travel. In addition, I have an extra straight blade carbon fork that can replace the stock Fox RLC on courses where suspension isn't necessary. With the full rigid setup, the Gary Fisher Superfly tips the scales at 20.1 lbs with pedals, cages and GPS (19.9lbs w/o the GPS). This made for a superlight ascender at the Afton course. Although it was somewhat abusive on the longer descents to have no suspension, at the same time is was pretty fun trying to hang on. The fully rigid racing rocket on which I raced last Sunday was light years ahead of the ~30lb pig I drug up the hills with my scrawny 15 year old body in '96.

The race went about as expected. Afton has never been my favorite course for whatever reason. Even in years when I've been light (not this year) and had success at hilly courses, I've suffered at Afton. I have learned to be patient with this race: start nice and slow, get through the first lap or two and if I feel good, start hitting the accelerator. That is exactly what I did on Sunday. For the first few laps I was probably sitting in 15-20th place, not suffering at all. I actually wanted to be riding harder, but was having a difficult time getting myself to push it. Finally, in the middle of the 3rd lap, I got the snap back into my legs. I started picking off riders around me. First up was a Peace Coffee racer that had been riding about 15-20 seconds off my front wheel, then Heath, CJ Faulkner on Shady Lane, caught up to and followed a hard charging Devin Curran, who was really putting the hammer down on his SS. He and I had been playing cat and mouse the entire race, working our way towards the top 10 overall. Finally, I got to the base of the final climb up manhandler with plenty left in the tank. I put my bike in the middle ring and about 4 clicks down from the top and marched uphill past Devin and towards a rapidly fading Eric Oftedahl. On the bend going to the top of mandhandler, I passed EO and started preparing for my last descent into the start/finish area. 9th overall. Satisfied with the result and my fitness. Looking forward to Mt Dulac, which will be my last race as a single man.