So it’s the morning after and I am draggin’. Yesterday was the Mountain Cross race put on by Bikes Unlimited. It was held at a new trail about 20 minutes outside of Lynchburg right next to a nursing home and it was pretty cold. About half the race their was sleet coming down. Add on to that the fact it was my first race and I did not train very well for it, the race kicked my tail.

The trail is pretty new so it still had a lot of loose dirt and the tight brush made parts of the trail feel very claustrophobic. The first half of the loop was pretty fun and relatively easy. Lots of short downhills and climbs with the hardest part being a tight switchback on an incline, which didn’t look to hard until you entered the turn and all the dirt started moving underneath you. The halfway mark on the trail was an open field ride that you could kick the gears up and gain a little time, however the hard right turn off the field was an immediate drop into a creek crossing. I have learned quickly in the past that you want to hit creeks at a good clip so your momentum will carry you through and up the bank. This one made it a little hard though cause there was quick drop before you entered the creek which kept making me want to revert to my rookie ways of tapping the brakes. I never biffed in the water, but I also never had enough to carry me up the bank without at least putting a foot down. Once you were past the creek the real fun started. With a few muddy climbs and about twelve log crossings, it quickly tired me out. The logs ranged from about four inches in diameter to, I think, a little over a foot. It’s hard to remember due to the floating black spots in my vision at the time. The trail ended with a steep 20 yard climb out of the woods and then another quarter mile across the field.

I rode the Gary Fisher X-Caliber for this race due to the rumor of all the log crossings. The difference in rolling over obstacles became very evident on the back half of the track. I could tell I wasn’t working near as hard to roll over the log crossings. On the last lap, I was still able to cross some of the them even though I know I wasn’t popping the front wheel up as high. However, I also noticed how the wider diameter of the wheels hampers the acceleration some. After picking my way through a technical spot into a flat stretch of track, a quick pedal stroke doesn’t kick the speed up as fast. The Reba forks also felt very good. I am used to what has become a basically rigid ride on my GT Avalanche and I have been riding the Monocog a lot lately with the rigid forks. With that in mind… there was one particular part of the trail that was flat and straight but had a pretty big rock protuding up. The first time I went through the trail I didn’t see it until the last moment so I only had time to brace myself for impact. Instead of my body taking the jarring hit, the Rockshox took it nicely and I rolled over it unscathed. All in all, the X-Caliber was a perfect fit for the trail. It just made the technical riding a lot easier and that definitely made up for the lack of acceleration.

I don’t know exactly what the time limit was, but I ended up completing three laps. The first one went well and I felt good on it. The second one got pretty tough on the back half of the loop. I fell a few times with one tweaking my hip pretty good. I fell against some little trees which bent under my weight. Well what happened is that my leg got pinned between the tree and the bike and the the rest of my body left the saddle which rotated my hip in a way that God did not design it for. A little bit after that I tried to go over the biggest log crossing without enough speed and got thrown over the handlebars. My last fall on that trip was on a log that was laid diagonally on the trail on an incline. Once again I didn’t have enough speed when I hit it and once my rear tire connected it felt like someone grabbed my back wheel and yanked the bike out from underneath me. I am still surprised at how fast I can go from pedaling to lying on my stomach in the mud. After the second lap I was planning on calling it quits, but I succumbed to the peer pressure of those at the trail head and went back in for my final lap. This one wasn’t as painful because I rode/walked it a little smarter. I took the hint from my body and stayed on my feet for parts of the trail that were more technical. Also, I want to give a big “Thanks!” to the camera man who got a shot of me walking the bike.

All in all it was a good experience and I came out without any permenant damage to me or the Fisher. There were eight racers in the beginner category and yours truly came in seventh. I did beat Troy from the bike shop and I’m sure that had nothing to do with him getting a flat. It was good times though and we all enjoyed a very good meal after the race. A bunch of organic food provided by some friends of Bikes Unlimited and 39 cent sodas to wash it all down. It was pretty cold out so we all packed up pretty quick and headed out. The next race is in two weeks and I’m hoping to be in better shape by then.

My lovely wife attended the race and took some pictures so I will have those on the site pretty soon along with some I am gonna steal from the Bikes Unlimited website once they get theirs posted. Check back soon.