CCCX #2 at Fort Ord report - By Mike Urbina

I'm almost hesitant to reveal all the details of this race day in that some of you may start to question my mental capacity (if you haven't already).

So, it's Friday night and I'm knockin' back a few beers but I'm not over indulging because according to my calendar I have a race on Sunday. Around 11pm I decide to go
to bed but first I check my e-mail. There I see a post from Hane asking who is showing up for tomorrow' s race. I'm thinking "for chrissakes Hane get it right, the race is on Sunday". Out of curiousity I check the CCCX website and see the race is
indeed on Saturday. D'OH!
My bike is on the work stand right where I left it 2 weeks ago after CCCX#1 where it was making all kinds of terrible noises. Oh well, I'll get up a little early, give it a quick tune up and I'll be good to go.
Saturday morning: Get up still feeling kinda sore from Thursday's road ride (I
thought I'd have 2 days to recover), eat breakfast, work on bike, get all gear laid out and packed, load truck. I roll out of Morgan Hill with just enough time to get to the race and still have decent time to suit/warm up. I get about 15 minutes from the house and my mind starts to wander as it often does (insert swirling dream sequence music here) "wow, good thing I checked my e-mail last night, and I did get a good night's sleep, I wish I'd packed everything last night instead of this morning, you know how you always forget things when you wait till the day of the race". It was at that moment a small light bulb went on over my head and I realized I'd forgotten my FRONT WHEEL! I'm way too committed so I go back and get it. I know exactly how long it takes me to get to Fort Ord and now if I'm lucky I'll get there with enough time to get suited up and maybe make my start. My prediction is exactly correct as I get there right as the sport class is all lined up and getting ready to go.

I sprint to registration and as I'm frantically filling out the waiver I hear a voice to my left saying "you're late". I look over and it's Allan. I run back to the truck and he follows me with a camera, taking delight in my plight. He gets some great shots of me fumbling around, trying to pull it all together and get to the starting line.

Ok, here's the race:

I pull up to the line just as the 35-44 guys are going off. As we, 45-54 and 55+ (combined again) pull to the start line, the starter yells "2 minutes". Ok, no warm up for me but that's fine, I've been told warming up is for pansies. Off we go and I'm mired in the pack. Hane is getting through pretty good so I follow him. I didn't get a chance to check out the course so I don't know exactly where we'll be turning onto the dirt. I get to the point where I can see the cones directing us and I've got enough in my legs to surge up into the top 5. We turn left onto a gravel strewn fire road that goes up for about 150 yards and I start going anaerobic. Damn! All I can do is watch while about 7 guys pass me.
Half way through the first lap I started to calm down and find my rhythm. I was catching people but only recognized a couple from my group. At that time I settled into a battle that included Russ from Team Roaring Mouse, Bill Cleavenger (One of my competitors from last year who is now in 55+) and a guy named Dan.
As the race progressed, Russ ended up dropping out with chain suck problems. The course was nice and tacky save for 2 or 3 good size mud holes. This made for some drivetrain problems of my own later.
So now it's Me, Dan and Bill freight training the course, running into alot of traffic but doing alot of passing. I didn't know what position I was in but I kept thinking that Dan and I were probably running 5-6. This guy was stuck to me like glue, lap after lap. (see photo)
I stopped looking back because I could hear him braking right behind me, breathing right behind me. When I passed certain groups of spectators I'd go by then immediately hear them yelling "Go Dan!" When I passed the photographer he'd snap my pic then I'd hear him snapping Dan a millisecond after. You get the picture. When we'd hit the technical sections/downhills I'd gap him pretty good but as soon as we got back on a flat or a hill he'd close it right back up. On the 3rd lap (of 4) I started to lose it a bit from being pushed; I was bouncing off my anaerobic rev limiter and getting sloppy. If I wanted any chance of keeping Dan behind me I knew I had to ride smart, stay smooth, and calm down. Problem with that was, as soon as I'd let off even a little bit he'd show me a wheel. On lap 4 we're going into a short, steep uphill section. I went to down shift and my chain got all tangled up. Bill had pulled between Dan and I at that point and he pounced. He goes by and pulls right away. I could tell he had saved something for the last lap. Dan has pushed me much harder than I would have gone had he not been there and I'm tired. As we cross the paved entrance road for the last time, with about a mile to go, we begin the 150 yard fire road climb. Dan is right there and I figure this is where he'll make his move and take that last podium spot from me but....he doesn't. At that moment I realize I have a good chance of holding onto my position. We're about to head into a rutted out downhill section with a tricky turn at the bottom followed by a big mud hole. We've got 3 slower riders about 10 yards in front of us. I know if I can get around them before the section it will be a huge advantage so I go for it. Coming out of the mudhole I look back and I've gapped Dan by about 50 yards. Ok, great but I kick it up a notch because I know if I don't he'll come right back. As I entered the finish chute I dared to glance back and didn't see him. Man, did I (finally) breathe a sigh of relief.
I thought there was a chance I'd finished in a podium position but wasn't sure. I
never checked because I was so busy after the race taking with the others about the epic battle. It wasn't until I was back at the truck changing when a fellow competitor came up and told me I'd finished 2nd. No wonder it hurt so much!

Other highlights:
Allan Sherlock with a convincing WIN in the Expert SS division, Jeff Hane with a 7th in my division.

Mike U. 2/17 @1.38"47