kirtland pump station

welp the season is over...This was my second year racing at Kirtland park, and I love this course. I think it's a perfect course for a single speed. There is really only one section were racers can gear up, otherwise it's turns, technical climbs, switchbacks, and two 'day of reckoning style' stair cases that frame the course on the east and west sides. Just like last year the stairs and a technical dismount-180-around-a-tree-on-a-hillside-switchback are what saved the race for me, ....well at least made it so I was able to hang with the fast guys. I never like the first lap of the race, they're crowded, no one's willing to give an inch and people take unnecessary risks. Fortunately for me one of those unnecessary risks was racers trying to ride this 180 around the tree thats on a hillside switchback. Every time I ran this kooky section I either passed a racer or made up a great deal of time on someone who passed me. Otherwise I spent most of the race passing and then getting passed by a Stark Velo racer, I think his name was David. Finally in the 7th lap after the first stair run he blew by me in the flat, and I thought damn thats it, I'm gassed and there is no way I can catch him. But low and behold on next and final lap he tried to ride the dirt path parallel to the second section of stairs, where he stuttered, faltered and failed. Earlier in the race I caught him here but he immediately blew by me on the remount. This time around I had caught up right behind him and ran those old concrete stairs as hard as I possibly could, stairmaster, and hoped for a smooth remount as I was passing him. Success! and then went wide open, full throttle, pedal to the metal, as fast as my stumpy legs could spin through the spiral of death on the baseball diamond and home into tenth place. and then on to Happy Dog for some grub.

I'm bummed the season's over and very excited for next year.