MMBA YANKEE SPRINGS TIME TRIAL
SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2017
Oh Yankee Springs. The big start to west Michigan mountain bike racing. There were lots of rumors that the TT would be the reverse direction this year since the trail became bidirectional last fall. A couple of weeks before the race date it was confirmed to be the normal direction. It was tough getting out to Yankee to train with the horrible weather and the fact that I ended up out of town for a week in North Carolina. My free time also seemed to line up with the yellow (reverse) direction so I didn't get to run any hot laps before the time trial in the normal direction.
I was extra ambitious to do well when my friend/teammate J'son put his *Scepter* up for grabs. What's the Scepter you ask? Webster defines it as an ornamented staff carried by rulers on ceremonial occasions as a symbol of sovereignty. J'son received this for his victory the previous season at the TT in the Fatbike class. Here's a low res pic I have of the coveted Scepter. After J'son received the Sceptre he declared that any race where we were competing meant it was up for grabs. It just so happened that J'son and I were second and third riders to go off the line for the Expert racers. I love being the chaser and do some of my best riding under that kind of pressure. As I sat at the starting line it reminded me so much why I love this sport. Sun was shining and it was fun to catch up with fellow riders; some which I hadn't seen since last season. This year would have a record number of racers so instead of the single gate drops they where releasing racers two at a time.
10:03 struck and I cheered for J'son as he shot out of the gates. I had 15 seconds to gather my thoughts and get ready to launch. The announcer introduced Mayford and I. Of course my last name was mispronounced. It rhymes with vowel by the way. Count down hits 10:03.15 and I pretty much completely wiff on clipping in. A very rare mistake for me. I hit the first part of the lap at a PR pace. I was really hoping to see glimpses of J'son, but I didn't see him at all. Instead my teammate racing expert 29-u came up. I cheered and let him around as he rode off towards two smoking laps. He ended up winning his age group. My other teammate Dan started 15s behind him, and I completely expected to see him. I kept looking back every so often to see him coming up, but I didn't see him. By the time I finished my first lap I knew he must have either crashed or had a mechanical. He ended up with a broken pedal. First lap was 48.16 which was over a minute faster than my previous PR. I kept the hammer going as hard as possible, but Yankee is a course that can/will eat all the power you can throw out. I started fading and ended up with a 50:29 for my second lap. With a 1:38:45.2 I ended up 12/44 in age group. My best result to date. J'son ended up digging deep and squeaked out a podium finishing in 1:35:11.4. No Scepter for me haha.
Extra side story: I rode up to the race with J'son. As we're unloading the car to get ready for warm ups he realizes he left his water bottle filled with Infinite Jet Fuel on the counter of his kitchen. Being the good teammate that I am I shared what I had in my camelbak to fill a water bottle he had in the car. Right after I do this J'son realizes the sign up tent has huge coolers filled with Jet Fuel. *face palm*
I was extra ambitious to do well when my friend/teammate J'son put his *Scepter* up for grabs. What's the Scepter you ask? Webster defines it as an ornamented staff carried by rulers on ceremonial occasions as a symbol of sovereignty. J'son received this for his victory the previous season at the TT in the Fatbike class. Here's a low res pic I have of the coveted Scepter. After J'son received the Sceptre he declared that any race where we were competing meant it was up for grabs. It just so happened that J'son and I were second and third riders to go off the line for the Expert racers. I love being the chaser and do some of my best riding under that kind of pressure. As I sat at the starting line it reminded me so much why I love this sport. Sun was shining and it was fun to catch up with fellow riders; some which I hadn't seen since last season. This year would have a record number of racers so instead of the single gate drops they where releasing racers two at a time. 
Extra side story: I rode up to the race with J'son. As we're unloading the car to get ready for warm ups he realizes he left his water bottle filled with Infinite Jet Fuel on the counter of his kitchen. Being the good teammate that I am I shared what I had in my camelbak to fill a water bottle he had in the car. Right after I do this J'son realizes the sign up tent has huge coolers filled with Jet Fuel. *face palm*