Sask cup #2 on singlespeed! Single speeders unite!

Hey everyone! Here is my latest racing report. This is the first time racing a single speed on a short intense xc bike race. Myself, Tom Wolfe, and Jon Bath were the only single speeds in a expert field. There were seven of us altogether.

As single speeders, we knew right off of the back that we would be left behind in getting to the first stretch of single track and that was okay with us. Thus, we spun to the back of the elite, expert class.

We stayed together for most of the first lap until Tom snapped his chain and had to fix it. That mechanical cost him around five minutes. We checked to see if he was fine and he said to go ahead. Jon and myself stayed together for most of the first lap until a terrible crash caused Jon to go head first into the the ground. He thinks he broke his nose. We paused and stopped to make sure that everything was alright, but I think that the adrenalin kicked in and all of a sudden Jon put the hammer down. By the end of the first lap he was starting to open the gap.

For the second lap, I did not see Jon at all; I thought that he was going to lap me. All I could think in my head was keep pedaling, no coasting at all, watch my heart rate and drink as much Gatorade as I could for each lap.

By the end of the second and most of the third lap, I was riding by myself and then I saw the cool Swobo jersey and white single speed of Jon right at the beginning of the 4th and final lap. In the feed zone he was no more than 50 meters away. Motivation kicked in and some extra energy emerged! We entered the single track very closely and then on the flats, I finally caught him. It looked like the adrenalin rush was over; but I have to admit for someone who broke his nose and still keep a pace like that...awesome!

Middle to the end I decided to put the hammer down and just giver! Right at the last climb before the finish, I caught up to another person in expert field and looked down at my fork and said "forget it!" and attacked. I ended up beating him on the final sprint. I remember hearing, man get out of that small gear! Wait it's a single speed. That dude's crazy!

I ended up second in the expert category and first in the single speed group. The single speed group that I raced with, were all gentlemen and were extremely fun to race with. The race did not have that serious tone to it. We shook hands before the race and cheered each other on. We made sure that we were alright if something went wrong and were willing to stop to ensure safety. To me that is why I love to race, for good clean competitive spirit and showing the best of human compassion. It has been an honor dudes, see ya at the next race!

Check out the pic of Jon, if you look closely you can see gnarly damage. Jon, you are hardcore!

Cheers and many drinks!

Mel