Queen of the Classics

On a day when the best racers in the world were battling in the Queen of Classics (Paris-Roubaix) what better way to spend a day than racing a tough and technical mtn bike race. The Napa Valley Dirt Classic is 22 mile single loop course of mostly single track, some double-track, many bitch climbs and a brutal granny gear climb out before finishing w/ a lap around the oval a la Paris-Roubaix. My memory of the course was hazy so my strategy was to stick it hard on the start and be sure to be in the top 2-3 going into the single track. I got a good jump at the start and got to the first single-track in 2nd. The rider in front soon ends up off the track and I find myself in the lead. One rider comes around me but it's just him so I get onto his back wheel as we hit a run-up ?, thought this was a mountain bike race !. We both scurry by a few riders who are in the tail end of the group that started two minutes ahead of us.

We start to wind our way through the groups in front, younger sports, expert women, single-speeders, you get the idea, well somewhere over the next 1 hour of riding I lose his wheel. There were long sections of the course where passing riders was pretty much impossible. Many minor passing adventures, but no falls and one dab later I was able to cross the line 2nd in my start group, 1st in my age group.

My goal was to win my start group, but I'm happy w/ my result. The best part was receiving accolades from my daughter, although she did add that it was about time that I won a race.