'12 Season Opener - OMBA CARAMBA



Chatting with Marathon winner Mark Gullet before the start

So yesterday was my season opener on the race scene and like last year the spring is pretty much about mountain biking.  I like to use this to sharpen some handling skills and use it longer events as base building intensity as top end speed is usually still a ways away. 

Saturday evening the Mercy-Kuat guys put on a short-track mtb race at Sac.  I didn't race as I am still fighting whatever cold/sickness that's hung on for close to 2 weeks now.  Turnout was pretty low, but good times were not; fun event.  I went down with Dale to watch and ended up being the Prime Master.  Cale handed me 12 primes (between the A and B races) and told me to get creative.  By evenings end most got some type of prime and it was fun for me to create races within the races.  Dale jumped in the A race and had a solid showing. 

Ryan and crew moved OMBA Caramba (Sac Trail in SGF) up to April this year as part of the United Federation of Dirt series which is much better than the heat suffer fest of last summer for those who participated.  They take the best parts (non-rough stuff) and make up a 5.56 mile loop of fun-ness.  Some light rain during the week made for just a couple muddy spots, but 95% of the course was ripping fast and tacky.  Streams were full, but not much more than normal.



Not having much top end speed and needing longer rides I chose to jump in the marathon class for 3 hrs of solid riding.  Temps were in the mid-50's and I thought was perfect for mtb'ing.  Typically these fields are some of the biggest at UFD events so I was hoping to hide out in a large field.  Turned out only 15 or so, but it was still a good field.  Mark Gullet toed the line so that pretty much meant the rest of us were racing for 2nd; that kid (even with the beard) is consistently solid at endurance races.  I was on my SS and didn't really figure it would be too much of a disadvantage (except for the long paved start and an open field decent to the finish line every lap) and even if it was I wouldn't 'gear it up' as I love the simplicity of single speed.

Like most of my endurance mtb races I try not to start off too fast, but getting into a decent pace and build on it every lap a little faster.  I spent the majority of the first couple laps in 4th place, but liked my HR and pace and knew it was only going to get better and it did.  My 3rd, 4th, and 5th laps (out of 6) were my best as I was pushing the pace more (keeping a close eye on the HR) and my flow was much better.  During this time I caught 3rd and 2nd places and was able to ride the last lap with less pressure on the pedals just making sure to run it clean.  2nd place to Mark's dominating win (expected) and I was happy with that. 

Hung around for the post-race log hop competition and awards before heading home.  Nice to only drive 30 minutes to a race.  Thanks to Ryan and crew for a great event.

Most of Saturday was spend at Bolivar's Rock Solid gym where Ian played (and I coached) his 6th/5th grade team and won the championship 51-14.  The boys played great in all three games and had a ton of fun in the process.

The little guy had a soccer game (during one of our games) and had my folks, Jake, Deb, and her mom all present.  They won pretty easily and Deb reported D played great. 

Sunday after the race D and I spent a fun afternoon playing kickball (just the two of us = worn out) at the gym and then the rest of the evening was laziness with the crew doing a bunch of nothing.  Well, except we did finish off the day with some 'hide-n-seek in the dark'; a family favorite.