THE GIANT ANTHEM WINS THE SILVER FROM ADDICTED TO BICYCLES. THIS RIDE ROX IT. IT'S THE PERFECT XC MACHINE. HANDLES SUPER EASY AND CRUSHES SINGLETRACK. STAY TUNED FOR THE GOLD MEDAL WINNER TOMORROW....
Ok Ok Ok, finally a minute to catch up some things from last week in Vegas. The Cactus Cup, though the racer counts were low there were some BIG names there racing, including World Champion Christoph Sauser, Tinker Juarez (who crashed out) and Carl Decker. As for me, the 50+ field was small but included Robert Stanley who won the Winter Park Off Raod Finale this summer in my age group and who had also won the previous three events of the omniuim at the Cactus Cup. I was busy working the SQUIRT tent the previous two days but decided to jump in the XC race on Sunday. Roughly 20 miles of desert single track in 95 degree heat and blistering sunshine. My focus became Stanley as we headed out with 38 riders in our class...no age group classifications in this omnium. Starting out about 20 riders back the pace was brisk as the first 11k of the course were winding downhill singletrack which was SUPER fast and fun. I hung with Stanley until he jumped a couple of riders between him and myself and I struggled to pass the same riders and he was able to get a huge gap on me. at one point he had a couple of minutes and was out of sight. The HURL was the big climb, both technical and LONG in the heat but relatively mellow as far as grade went. I started taking guys here, probably 10 or so, the entire time keeping Mr. Stanley in sight. The descent was loose, technical with some sections that required plenty of concentration and for a change I rode really well going down hill passing a couple of mechanicals and flat tires along the way. From there it was a long winding gradual climb back to the area where we started. It was a perfect gradient for me and I started grabbing a gear everywhere I could hoping to get back in the race for my age group. With about 4 miles to go I could see I was realing in my target all though he still had about a 90 second gap on me, at least I could see him. Then I was sent on the wrong trail at a "Y" by a race official who was picking his nose when I came by...he screamed at me and called me back where I was able to get back on track, but more time lost at a critical point, I was pissed....on the next couple of mellow climbs, I could see Stanley spinning out on his bike and it looked as if he was struggling. I grabbed every gear I could as we approached three miles to go and began closing fast, I was suffering in the heat, but he was suffering more....I dug deaper, and with 2 miles to go I was somehow back on his wheel with a mile of climbing and then a gravel road to the finish. I could feel his pain riding behind him and tried to remain cool, I was going to sit tight until the road and find the right time to go. I had no idea how, but I had managed to move into third overall at this point. He waved me around, I sat tight. When we got to the road I was not sure where to start sprinting, when I went, he went with me and I unleashed all I had on a small incline with 500 meters left of racing....I looked back to see a hanging head and a cracked rider as I crossed the finish line where the dry heaves immediately began, 1st in my age group, second overall...
These cactus will cut the living shit out of you if you get caught leaning the wrong way...
The riding in Vegas is amazing, if you have never experienced true desert singletrack, next time you go to Vegas to gamble your life savings away, bring your best dirt mate and go ride the over 100 miles of single track that looks like this, it's rippin fast and fun and this is just one small part of their riding. Do not be fooled by this pic, there is some gnarly technical climbing and descending which makes the place a virtual riot to ride. When I first arrived at the Cactus Cup, I noticed local riders with these long unusual scars on their arms and legs...it didnt take long to figure out how they got them once I started riding...VEGAS FREEKIN ROCKS FOR STELLAR SINGLE TRACK...no shit.
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