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Posted May 10, 2004 Chalk Creek Stampede 4X (MSC No. 2) Thanks to Josh McGuckin from motionboy and cameracourage for the photos. Shots are from the winter race. If you have shots from this weekend, please send 'em. 
I'll tell you this, and then I'll tell you some other stuff:
The Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop, CO is stop No. 2 on the Mountain States Cup (but the first gravity event). XC racers did their thing on Saturday, and we did ours on Sunday. The situation Bright sun reflected off the snowcapped peaks of San Isabel National Forest and steadily bore into everyone's souls. The occasional cloud relieved the glare, and as afternoon came on, the mandatory gusts tore across the valley. The cooling effect was nice, but when you came onto that final straight, the crossing headwind shut you down and did horrible, random things to your jumping. So, in summation, it was a nice day. The course is full BMX, only downhill. If you rolled a soccer ball off the gate, it would emerge -- stoked out of its mind -- at the end of the course. You can coast a run at almost full speed, after you peg the first step-up. 
Keith Darner, benign emperor of Nathrop, applied magnesium chloride a few days before the race. This stuff binds dirt particles together and makes for a very fast course. In the morning, the traction was unreal. You could take any line you wanted. By the time practice ended, the main lines were packed to concrete, and tiny particles were rolling on top of the hardpack. In the pro/semipro men round of 64, at least four of the fastest guys slid out and low-sided in the third berm. They'd be leading at Mach 27, then BAM! dust and factory equipment everywhere.
In traditional 4X, you do a qualifying run then get seeded fastest against slowest. Winners advance and losers spectate. This setup has a couple bummers: 1) It takes a long while to qualify everyone and do the seeding. 2) When you lose, you're out, and that's no fun. 
The way Keith does it, there's no qualifying. A random draw places you in brackets, and you get to spend more time practicing. Lane assignments are also random -- yesterday we picked golf balls out of a bucket. When you lose a round, you get to keep riding in a "secondary" bracket, which is super cool. It takes a while to bust through all the brackets this way, but everyone gets more racing. The only bummer, for people who care about winning, is the top qualifiers don't get lane choice, which can be a real advantage. Keith and gang are still working out the kinks, but they plan to run all Mountain States Cup 4Xs this way.
While the winter races had maybe 40 riders, the Mountain States Cup drew closer to 150. You had all the local characters, plus the fast flatlanders from Nebraska Downhill Racing -- "The Winningest Downhill Mountain Bike Team in Nebraska." The action There was lots of great action from beginner to pro, especially in the first corner. Whoo yeah, that first corner made and broke many a race. Fast Bobbi Watt won pro-expert women. When we go dirt jumping, she's so graceful I call her "Tea Party Barbie," like she's hitting a rhythm with her little finger in the air. Yesterday she was as pleasant and smooth as always, but with a little edge, so I was calling her "Race Day Barbie." Lisa Myklak (Team Asterix), running the No. 1 plate from last year's MSC win, was solid all the way through the rounds but had some misfortune and wound up 4th in the final. Ross Milan (Team Yeti), also sporting the No. 1 plate, was powerful and dominant all day long. (The dude is so strong: I've seen him shot-put hay bales onto a tall pile, hence the nickname "Hay Hucker.") In the final he gated Fast Jon Watt (Team Lenz Sport) and led the whole way. But as Ross hammered through the final straight, Jon used his super smoothness powers to reel Ross in. If the final rhythm was twice as long, it might have been Jon's race.  Ross doing what he does best.
The day's greatest battle went down in the final of the pro men's "losers" bracket. These guys had all lost in the first round (mostly by sliding out in the third turn), and they were hell bent on taking 33rd place. The rad thing was, they all removed their chains. Full coast, baby. Steve Wentz somehow shot of out of the gate and took the honors in his smoothest run of the day. It was probably the first time he wasn't going too fast for the berms. As for me, I cruised my first round because nobody else showed up. In the second round, I drew lane 4 (bummer!) but I shot out front and cut across to the inside. Bob Te Selle (The Fix) and I bumped elbows. I kept pedaling. Bob went down, and I led it from there. That was the high point of the day; I felt really good about my decisiveness. In the final, I drew lane 2, with Bill Te Selle (Robert's brother) in lane 1. We had practiced a couple gates together, and I knew he is a strong, fast, aggressive dude. Beep beep beep beeeeep! Bill and I reached the first turn together. I braked to drop back and swoop into the inside, but then another dude barged right through my path! So then I was in third. I went for a crazy inside pass, fully sketchy, foot out. I chased and tried another pass, no luck, foot still not clipped in, and another guy squeezed by, so then I was in fourth. As Bill exited the tricky rhythm he nose bonked, lost his tire seal and crashed. Everyone balled up. I passed one guy and reached No. 2 at the final straight. From there I out-pedaled and out-pumped him to take second place in expert 30+. (Randy Frost from Nebraska Downhill Racing took first -- damn flatlander.) I wish I would have committed more fully to my pass attempts, but I was glad I kept charging. Hey, in 4X anything can happen. To top it all off, I won a set of Hayes brakes in the raffle! In racing, raffles and life, hang onto your ticket and don't give up 'til all the numbers are called.  Bob (left) and Bill Te Selle at the winter race.
The next Mountain States Cup is Battle the Bear in Denver. Dual cross May 22. XC May 23. |
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Brief physics distraction:
But when you hit that turn at 20 miles an hour (like Matt Thompson and Steve Wentz), your lean angle is 61 degrees -- and you need a lot of traction to stay on line. Those guys didn't get the traction, and down they went.
