April 30, 2017 NIMBA Bonneyville XC and forgotten Lowell 50 Race Report (April 8)

     So this is my second race at Bonneyville. I did it the previous year as a time trial. I hadn't been there before then. I did okay, but definitely felt that I left time out there not knowing the trail very well. I ended up making it down this year a week before the race to scout out the course. I made a couple quick laps knowing that I had more in the tank, but figured I should be competitive enough to follow wheels. With it being a XC I figured knowing the course would be less critical. Jody put together a great course for this weekend, I just wish we didn't get smashed with a torrential down pour. The rain definitely limited the turn out, but there was still 8 brave souls that started in my class. Bill Martin was there and would be the man to beat since he won the TT last year. He didn't disappoint this year too. He rode off with a few minutes between him and the chase group of Dan and Gavin. Experience paid off for Dan as he ended up beating Gavin, but the kid will only be getting faster. I ended up just off the podium in fourth. I'm not sure why I started off so conservatively, but I ended up losing the chase group as I was too timid going into the woods at the start. I feel looking back that I should have forced the issue since I overestimated the passing opportunities. With that being said, I was starting to make up ground on the last lap, but it was way too late.

      Lowell 50 is the last gravel grinder of spring. Going into this race I was pretty hungry to find a podium step. I feel like my form was coming around for this race. It was finally a nice day for a race as you could see in the picture above. There was four of us from TCL in fat bikes. Paul fresh off his podium at Barry, Dan with his first and runner up gravel races, and Jamie Clark super hungry too flirting with the podium this spring. This spring was missing a couple of the usual heavyweights with Randy Coddington, and Matt Acker not racing in fat today. Instead we gained another worthy competitor with Joseph Martin, perennial podium finisher in overall category for as far back as I can remember.

     TCL was the team that was fielded for the race so I was hoping we would be able to use that to our advantage. Lowell only has a couple of strategic points to worry about, but it just so happens that the first one is very early in the race. The segment is called "Rude Awakening" according to STRAVA. It is a punchy effort of roughly 1:30's of max power. At the top of this climb the fat bike field was virtually cut in half.  The added effort of the big wheels didn't faze Joe too much though. He was more than willing to keep on the gas as we rode away from the climb. I believe at this point Dan actually had his chain come off his chain ring.  I was looking around as I only saw Joe, Jamie, Paul, Kevin Collins, and I riding in the pack running down stragglers from the 52 milers. Some how I thought Dan had made a break and was out of site, but he was actually trying to solo back on to the peloton. I heard a familar grunt as Dan was deep into the red from running us back down. At about this time we were running into high winds and high traffic. I lost contact with Joe, Jamie and Dan as they had made a nice move around some traffic and I was unable to follow. I figured I'd be able to get around the pack and catch back on, but was unable to do so as they really put the hammer down.

      I looked behind me for support and realized that I was separated into a no mans land. A handful of strong gravel racers were latched onto my wheel as I was pulling a solid 24mph and not pulling in the lead pack. Unable to branch I fell back into the chase group I had become a part of. I was hoping to see more pace lining happening, but unfortunately I was part of a group race leaders happy to be at the front of their respected categories. I kept my eyes down the road looking to see if we were pulling in the fat leaders, and also kept my eyes behind me to ensure I wasn't getting ran down from behind. Thirty three miles into the race in a very fast, but washed out and rough gravel section my chase group had a nasty accident. It just so happens that there is a video from a racer directly behind me that caught the footage. 
Ignore my jiggly self haha. On a serious note the riders only had a case of road rash without any broken bones. I came to a complete stop from the accident and could see the second chase group gaining time. I sprinted back up to speed and made sure I didn't get ran down. It was disappointing fourth place finish for me. The team came in with 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 6th.

Side note: Possibly the last race for my trusty Salsa Beargrease that has been with me for 3 hard race seasons and thousands of miles.