WORS Subaru Cup Super D Race Report



For some crazy reason WORS decided to combine the Pro and Cat 1 Super D fields, and it wasn't a shortage of participants -- I think we had 45 guys waiting on top of the hill to go down, split into four heats. Thanks to some careful timing with the signup sheet I got into Adam Craig's heat and started praying for the best descending race of my life.

By the time we actually got to the start line I was shaking like crazy. Having almost nothing to eat since the end of the short track (3 hours ago) was probably not the best strategy... and yeah, I might've been a little nervous, too.

I semi-botched the clip-in, but got it soon enough and drilled it along with 10 other guys straight at a narrow gap in the tree. After 8 seconds of sprinting we all locked 'em up and went down to single file, with me in fifth. Some junior absolutely crushed the holeshot, and Adam Craig could only manage 3rd into the woods.

There's only 265 vertical feel to work with at the venue, so there's not much D in the Super D. It was tight, pedaling singletrack, so we kept it all pretty tight, right up until the guy ahead of me took a bonus line I wasn't expecting. I had standard mid-race tunnelvision going on so of course I followed him, but I was off-balance so I shoulder-checked the next tree. Crap! Adam, I don't suck! Wait for meeeee!

I sprinted after the group through the singletrack, but by the time I got there Adam had busted through to the front and was on his way to leaving us in his dust. We had almost run out of descent (but not course) and yet my legs were already jello.

I faked it as hard as I could for the last 2 minutes of pedaling, which was good for a place, because the junior that got the holeshot pretty much MELTED DOWN on the final climb. Adam Craig (or 2nd, or 3rd) were nowhere to be seen, unfortunately, so I sprinted in for 4th in just under six minutes of racing.

Update: Nathaniel sent a link to Adam Craig's helmet cam from the same heat. I do not feature in it!

Final Update: Results!

Comments

Nathaniel said…
The super star has a video too:

http://www.vholdr.com/video/wi-pro-xct-super-d-heat-3
6/29/2010 10:07 PM
Colin R said…
Nice find Nathaniel!!
6/29/2010 10:25 PM
Flood said…
What, no mention of racing (bikes) with Kuzzy?
6/29/2010 11:42 PM
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