Well the first race of the BA series is now under my belt (series info and results are here). The race was significantly harder than I expected. The weather was comfortably cool in the upper sixties and lower seventies for the B race. There were 39 men and 9 women starting 30 seconds later who massed at the starting line. The line wasn't very wide at about 7-8 riders wide, and I found myself in the 3rd/4th row. Needless to say, I didn't come close to getting the hole-shot, and I was in about 15-20th place going into the first set of turns.
I began to work to pass people, but it was hard at this point because it was quite congested and many people were jockeying for position. Although there was no single track, the course was pretty technical and challenging. The east most section began past the first couple of turns where we crossed quick 3ft dip down and shot back up the other side and into the 'hilly' portion. The 'hills' were actually man made dirt piles. The course wrapped up and around the tops of the 3 hills (two out and on the way back in) in a series of off camber 'S' turns. After cresting the 2nd hill, there were 2 quick descents, the 2nd of which ended with a 90* right turn in loose gravel. It was hard to find a good line here, and I ended up unclipping my right foot heading into this one in case I washed out.
After this turn, there was a flat section which lead out around and then up onto a paved section across the bridge to the island. The 3-4 inch high pavement edge started after an ever so slight rise and there was a quick 90* left turn right in the midst of the transition from grass to pavement. This made the transition difficult to bunny hop, and most riders compensated by slowing and unweighting the front and rear wheels in succession.
After a headwind out to the island and a sweeping 180* turn to head back, there was a man made barrier in the middle of a turn to head up the longest hill. There was still a lot of traffic at this point on the first lap and guys were having problems mounting and getting up the hill. I picked up a couple of places here when I chose to run up the hill.
Going over the off camber turn at the top of a small hill led into some fun switchbacks that took us up a small rise and then shot us down a dip and into the next left turn. These reminded me of riding at the Lorain speedway, when you would shoot up the bank and then swoop back down. Past the wheel pit there were many twists and turns, a quick jaunt in and out of the woods, and through two sections of sand. The first of these was ridable, the second was not.
Next there was as set of 3 railroad ties, evenly spaced about 10ft apart. I really appreciated that these barriers were not regulation height, although others liked them even more, since they could ride them. Finally there were a few more turns including a switchback that which crossed a gravel driveway at the apex. Heading down a gradual hill and sweeping turn brought us back to the start.
I picked up a few people over the course of the race, until I had my first mishap. Heading down the 3ft dip, I turned too sharp heading out of it and firmly planted and went over my front wheel. I got a nice gouge in my right calf from my chain ring and Pat Miranda gave me some words of encouragement as came up on me as I shook it off and remounted.
Heading out on the last lap, I was holding Scott Carter and Pat off while seeing who was next up ahead. Here is where I made my most costly mistake when I hit the pavement transition too hard and pinched my rear wheel. I thought it looked low and by the time I was sweeping around to head back in it was affecting my handling. I rode it back in, as Scott passed me. I continued to ride it until I was at the off camber hill, where I shouldered the bike and trudged to the pits.
I had taken my pit wheels off my road bike and unfortunately the drop out thickness was a good bit wider on my Ritchey, so the wheel change was a little less smooth than I'd liked. As Pat rode by he assured me that he had a giant gap on the next rider, which was accurate. I got out of the pits a little ways behind the next rider, Rick Bennett. I worked my way up to him and made my pass during the 2nd sand section.
At this point, I just wanted to hold my position into the finish and I didn't want to make any mistakes.
After a somewhat disappointing B race, I figured I'd bite the bullet and throw myself into the A race. I lined up at the back of the A's with Mike Vanucci and waited for the pain to begin. The A start went much like the B's and I was in the back fighting for position. At the top of the 2nd hill before the big descents, the pack jammed up. I chose to dismount and run around several people which really worked well.
Disaster struck again at the pavement transition where didn't unweight my front wheel enough and pinched again. This flat came quickly and I was less than 1/2 way out to the island before the leaders of the A masters caught and passed me. Riding the flat front was pretty tricky on the paved turn, but I got around and back in to where I could run to the pit.
As I was running to the pit, I passed Chris Ricardi whose rear wheel had shifted in the drow out. I was able to quickly change my wheel and get out a bit behind Chris, who I tried to go after. He was riding well at this point and putting a little more distance between us.
Through the S/F, out, and heading back through the pit area, I still hadn't gained much ground on Chris, but I saw Mike V. coming out after a wheel change. I trailed him for a while and when I passed him between the two sand sections, I said we should go after Ricardi.
Another lap came and went and I wasn't getting any closer to Chris, however, I was still hitting the same points on the course at the same time as other riders were hitting other points that I'd seen them at on previous laps. I think I remember seeing Mike V. in the pits again heading out to the technical part. My hunt for Chris was cut short when I felt my rear tire go flat after hitting a rock that I think I'd hit several times on previous laps and had still never seen. I'd gotten an extra 35 minute work out in the A race, but that was enough for me and for my tires.
