CCX DH #4-Bob Lofland

Hard choices, Cyclocross or Downhill, Downhill was the choice. I
figured a couple hours of climbing would be good exercise and I need
it. And Toro Park was only about an hour drive.

I was happy hear the the single track in race #2 was part of the
course. I was a little concerned with the upper freeway. It did not
feel very good in practice. And the climb was over an hour, so I was
only able to get one practice run from the top. I broke a spoke on the
second climb up, and almost called it a day. Did not want to destroy a
wheel. But Scott and crew convinced me that 31 out of 32 was not bad.
When I arrive up top I checked the wheel, no noticable wobble, so I
figured what the heck.

I set my Epic Brain totally soft. And my Terralogic F100X totally
turned out. The suspension was very soft. On my preride I was
concerned about burning up the brakes. Seemed like I was on them a
lot. During the run on the upper freeway I used brakes only twice,
once over a rolling rise and the other into a very fast and soft
corner. It was really clear and steep fireroads. I felt great on the
lower portion, and even launched a couple logs. One little slip on a
corner caused me to dab, but it was nothing. Well maybe that and a one
faster corner would have put me in 7th.

End result was 8th out 14. I was happy considering this was my 2nd DH
race and the 45+ group is not categorized, so it is all expert, sport
and beginner lumped in one. 5th, 6th , and 7th only had 6, 7, and 14
seconds on me respectively. Then the 4th place guy, Rich Davis
finished 8:58, about 30 seconds faster.

Overall I felt good about being so close to the next places. It was a
long course. If I had pushed a little harder, maybe put on real DH
tires? Next time. One more CCX DH and I plan on being there.

And no crash or damage. I think I am going to start doing a little
more DH next year. Providing the venues exist that allow me to use my
XC rig.

Bob