MTB National Championships at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma CA
Attended the MTB Nationals in Sonoma this (very hot) weekend. To be honest, when I heard the championships were being moved from Mammoth Mountain to Sonoma I was pessimitic about what the event would be like. I have to say that I was impressed at what they put together. The event was very spectator and participant friendly, even in the 90+ degree heat. The courses were well designed and there was ample aid stations.
The only event I competed in was the Super D. Since I haven't raced in over a year, I was hoping to use this event to warm up for the nationals at Mammoth (which were canceled) and the Downieville Classic but I had to work with what I was given. First complaint I have is that there was no shuttle to the start. So after a three mile climb to the staging area we had to wait in the hot sun (Sonoma has no shade by the way) until we finally got to line up. It was a Le Mans style start which means I had to start in the back (I suck). After loosing a peddle on the initial decent I was surprised to find that the cable to my rear derailleur had snapped (fun). The course was mainly fire roads with a few short climbs so not having any gears was not that bad. Was able to pass about five guys on the way to the finish. After waiting over a day for the results to be posted I found my time listed as 0:00:00 and my placing as 84 (there were only about 20 guys in my class). Everyone that finished behind me were given DNFs. So was rather disappointed in the time keeping element of the event but other than that it was a good time.
See you all next year in Vermont!
The only event I competed in was the Super D. Since I haven't raced in over a year, I was hoping to use this event to warm up for the nationals at Mammoth (which were canceled) and the Downieville Classic but I had to work with what I was given. First complaint I have is that there was no shuttle to the start. So after a three mile climb to the staging area we had to wait in the hot sun (Sonoma has no shade by the way) until we finally got to line up. It was a Le Mans style start which means I had to start in the back (I suck). After loosing a peddle on the initial decent I was surprised to find that the cable to my rear derailleur had snapped (fun). The course was mainly fire roads with a few short climbs so not having any gears was not that bad. Was able to pass about five guys on the way to the finish. After waiting over a day for the results to be posted I found my time listed as 0:00:00 and my placing as 84 (there were only about 20 guys in my class). Everyone that finished behind me were given DNFs. So was rather disappointed in the time keeping element of the event but other than that it was a good time.
See you all next year in Vermont!
posted by Chris B at 5:05 PM
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