Topham Racing

Last year I won this race with a time of 1:16:34. This year I was more than one and a half minutes faster at 1:14:58, but I took fifth place. I think there is only one conclusion to be drawn: doping.

It is truly a sad day for cycling when the friendly competitive nature of local sport class races gives way to the same pressures that have corrupted some of the sport’s most respected champions. Believe me, I understand the slippery slope. It starts with recovery drinks and glucosamine, and before long you are experimenting with optygen and whatever else people are claiming will produce results. At the end of this dark tunnel, is the inevitable rationalization that V02 Max is genetically predetermined, and Erythropoietin is simply a way of leveling the playing field. If a cyclist was born with horrible eyesight, we would still let him race after Lasik, right? And so it goes. Brad and Kevin, it is time to come clean!

I am kidding, of course. The true story is that the group is definitely faster. There are more fast riders in our group, and the differences in performance among those riders are getting smaller and smaller. If you don’t believe it, take a look at the top five times in our group:

Brad(86) 1:14:03
Kevin 114:19
John W. 1:14:26
Keith K.(19) 1:14:38
Reed(16) 1:14:58

I think that says it all. The only bad part about this is that I am fifth, and I have to lie awake thinking about all the stupid things I did that probably could have made that fifth a fourth or a third.

Austin and Cole raced again today and did great again. They passed several riders and really seem to be getting the hang of racing. Here is a pic:

My friend and colleague, Ben Bates, also raced his very first mountain bike race and had a solid finish in the Beginner 30-39 category. Not bad for his second week in clipless pedals. Thanks to Ben’s wife, Anna, too for the picture of me, above.

Finally, congratulations to my Dad, who got an honorary degree from Westminster College at today’s commencement ceremony. Having successfully completed chemotherapy earlier this month, it was his second major accomplishment in recent weeks. Maybe it is time to get him on a bike.

With multiple rain delays, a course change and a sixth place finish, you might not think this was one of my best racing days, but it was. Austin and Cole raced their very first race, finishing 23rd and 24th in a 9 and under field of 32 racers. They both finished the race, didn’t crash and had a great time. As I said, one of my best racing days.

Cole and Austin were long home running their lemonade stand to help refugees by the time my group started to race. With all the course changes, I didn’t know what to expect. When we came to the line, Ed asked us if we wanted to do three laps or two. All but one person said three, but one is all it takes, so we were going to do two. Later, after we were done with two laps (14 miles), I wanted to find the person who refused to agree to three laps and thank them. Two laps was plenty.

I felt better at the start than I have all year. I jumped out in front and stayed with Kevin for a long time. I even passed him (and Brad) after about a lap, and I thought maybe I could beat them for once. Ultimately, I could not stay with them on the second fire-road climb.

The weird thing about this race was that Kevin, Brad and I were all racing each other, but there were other people racing in our group that we didn’t really pay attention to. We ended up second, fourth and sixth, with other riders taking first, third and fifth. We finished in order of our points standing–we just had a few other people mixed in this time.

So I took sixth, which is actually my worst finish of the year. But I felt good, I gave Kevin and Brad a run, and I got to see my boys race their first Mountain Bike race. So that is how my worst finish of the year translates into one of my best racing days of all time.

Thanks to Brad’s wife, Lolly, I have proof that I led the start, although Brad and Kevin (and Stan too) were not exactly falling behind.

I love Solider Hollow. The weather is always perfect, and it is a good aerobic test.

This was also the first really good race to compare the speed of our group with last year. St. George was too early. Cholla was different. 5 Mile was a muddy joke. Sherwood was back to the 2007 course. So this was really the first race that produced results that could realistically be compared to results from last year. Those results were interesting.

I finally jumped out in front and held the start for quite a while. Kevin and Brad passed me about six minutes in, but I just followed Brad and thought I might get a chance to catch him and pass him. Kevin went by so fast I didn’t even think about catching him.

Sure enough, on the second lap, I sneaked in behind Brad and two other riders and they created some kind of vacuum that allowed me to increase my speed and slingshot passed all of them. I was then able to put some distance on Brad (I wasn’t sure how, but I later found out he crashed). I was sitting in second place feeling pretty good about myself with about five minutes left in the race. I looked behind me and there was Brad. I was able to hold him off for a while, but sure enough he caught me and passed me with just a couple of minutes left in the race. I still thought I had a chance to catch him on the last little hill climb, but when we got to it my legs were on fire. It was all I could do to get to the top. By then Brad had increased his lead and I just had to settle for third.

Third is good in our group. I took third at Solider Hollow last year too–but here is where it gets interesting. I was 2 minutes and 30 seconds faster this year than last year. My time this year would have easily taken home  a blue ribbon last year. Brad was more than ten minutes faster than he was last year (that was some spin class Brad). Mike was three minutes faster, and Keith was nearly five minutes faster. Our group has gotten fast.

So now with a good basis for comparison, I get to feel good about the fact that I appear to have improved over last year, and I also have proof that the whole group has gotten faster. I suppose both of these facts should make me feel better than I have yet to do better than third, but they don’t.

Brad’s wife snapped this picture of me after the race. I think lip liner suits me. The dirt at Solier Hollow reminds me of Nestle’s Quick. Too bad it doesn’t taste like it.