Shifting Gears

Going into the first event of the season, I kept telling myself to be patient and ride your own race. I was just admitting to Mitch that he was probably right about this, when I found myself behind 200+ people running for our bikes. Wait... who wants to hear another pack fodder story from Haricot Verts? Me neither... so that is why I am going to start interviewing people at races. It may not be the winners or cool kids – just racers giving their perspective on the event and how their day went.

This time I took an easy way out and interviewed a winner and cool kid nice guy John Shottler or ShotGun. Next time it might be you, so if some goofy old guy comes up with a pad of paper, a pencil and a Schlitz hat, either run or get ready from some questions.

HV: How was the course?

SG: The course was perfect. One of the 11 miles was paved, the rest was super sweet single track. It was very fast, pretty flat, and somewhat technical. It was well marked and was some of the best single track I have ridden in a while. It left a big grin on my face the whole race.

HV: How was the start?

SG: The start was stupid and chaotic. I stood on the "front line" pointed out by the promoter and was immediately pushed back to the 4th row by a bunch of dudes who knew they were going to win their 3 or 6 hour race by getting into the single track first. I hate Le Mans starts... we should be sent off in waves depending on category to minimize crashes and me yelling at everyone.

HV: What did you do in preparation?

SG: For the first time, my "opener" the day before was a Pro/1/2 crit in Hermann. The race lasts only an hour, but I found it to be a good way of getting my legs and cardio ready for a beating the next day. Other than that, I ate my banana and chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes, along with a 6 egg white omelet for breakfast. The night before was a butt load of fruit, pasta, and salmon.

HV: What would you have done different?

SG: It would have been nice to be one of the first in the singletrack. I hit the trail battling others and putting out elbows at about 30th position. I spent the whole first lap telling people to get out of my way, just knowing the leaders were getting bigger and bigger gaps as I was on a nice aerobic bike ride through the woods. I burnt a lot of matches sprinting past people through the grass and off the trail. I think I would have easily won the overall race if I started with the leaders. I brought back a large gap.

HV: What piece of equipment helped you out the most?

SG: I would have to say the new Cannondale Flash 29 carbon 1 bike with new Sram XX 10 speed was the best equipment I could have used. I was able to stay in the 42 big ring the whole race and use the entire 11-36 cassette. Thankfully I did not get a flat, because apparently my brand new Bontrager seat bag opened up during the race and dumped my tube, CO₂ dispenser, chain tool, and 2 connex chain links.