NMBS #4: Deer Valley Super D
Well once again the Deer Valley curse has gotten the best of me. Seems every year both at the National event and the Utah State series I either manage to choke or have a catastrophic mechanical up there. Which is a bit sad as with the past 3 years the courses have really catered to my strengths.
I managed 9th out of 16 in the Open Mens 30-39 and to be honest for a moment there I thought I had that race in the bag. I managed to catch the guy who started ahead of me rather quickly and then passed another rider near the finish. The Turner RFX just nailed the downhill sections and both the high speed/loose and the chewed up/moon dust corners.
In hindsight I lost that race at the start line and on the climb. Obviously I need to work on my cyclo-cross mounts as I seriously flubbed that up which cost more than a few seconds. And I just died on the climb. My legs felt like someone had tied a boat anchor to the bike even though I prepared for it and dropped my gearing down from a 38 to a 36 tooth ring. For the rest of the course I decided a heavier MAXXIS 2.5" Minion 3C was the best choice given how many people were flatting and the added bulk up front really helped on those chewed up corners filled with cantalope sized, loose rocks. I had trouble during a few practice runs with rear tire choice and settled on a MAXXIS 2.35" LUST Ignitor with a tube. The extra thick sidewall helped avoid flats and the Ignitor seemed the best overall choice for that diverse a course.
Overall I had a killer run, but those two errors cost me the race. The course they put together was one of the funner courses I've raced and would love to get up there and do it all over again in the future...win or lose.