MTB race in NYC?

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-Photo by Max Breslow Photography-

www.MAXBRESLOW.com

Today was the 2nd annual MTB race in NYC. It was the first time I’ve been over there, albeit I’ve read all about NYC trails in various bike magazines and it not being too far from my house. I had visions like most would of mountain bike trails located in NYC. Stairs, broken-up concrete, glass, traffic, hobos, drug-dealers, smog, abandoned buildings, graffiti, bridges, tunnels and sidewalks. I didn’t realize how on point my visions would be though!! But, to my surprise, there was also super technical rock gardens, greasy off-camber roots, crazy flowy singletrack, insanely steep downhills, awesome rock formations, and even a cyclocross-inspired stair run-up!! The paved climbs allowed you to push until you’re legs were on fire, the stairs and techy-rock gardens drained your focus and pounded your upper body, add to that 5 1/2 laps and a humid hot day=PAIN!! Pain I haven’t felt in quite some time. I sweat so much my shoes were wet, I don’t think that’s ever happened before. Unfortunately, due to the rain yesterday, turnout was not super-spectacular.

So my day started off cruising to NYC with MTBNJ Team rider Chuck-E-Chillout. As would be expected from us suburbanites, we got lost the moment we got into the city. Luckily we weren’t too far off and found the park after a call to my wife put us on the right track. We soon realized we were in a “ghetto” of some kind. Many people seemed like they could easy jump me and steal my bike, I hardly look tough in my matching spandex outfit and freshly shaved legs. Nonetheless, the locals seemed to get a kick out of the fact guys were racing bikes around on some of the sidewalks, I’m sure it’s something they’ve only seen once before. I enjoyed being cheered on in various forms of urban language, most of which cannot be stated here, but all of it was AWESOME!!

My race went fairly good. I came into this just to have fun and de-compress a bit from my streak of bad luck in my regional series. I had only 3 goals. A) Have as much fun as possible. B) Finish with NO mechanicals. C) Not get lapped by any of the pro field. Check on all three, I did have a brief run-in with B, but it worked out in the end. They started us on paved bike path that went straight uphill, then it turned and went uphill again, then it turned one more time and went a little more UPHILL. 2 guys left straight from the gun, I kept them in reach but they were hammering the climb like the finish of race was at the top. I went into the woods 3rd. For the first lap it cut the course in half and dumped you straight into the techy-rock section. I ran a few sections and got onto the wheels of the 2 leaders. Coming into the first full lap, they both once again hammered the climb, only this time I didn’t fall off. A missed attempt to bunny-hop a small set of stairs after the run-up, gave them a gap. It stuck, they stayed a few turns in front of me, I needed some backup for the long road sections. Lap 2 Danny Habig caught my wheel, and just when I though I had an ally, he broke his chain, I was alone to chase again. Lap 3 I pushed hard, hoping to see the leaders somewhere, they were MIA. I was starting to fade a bit from the heat and was pushing super-hard, a little too hard, I took myself out coming back onto the pavement. A little road-rash and a bent derailleur. I quickly pulled it sorta straight, brushed off some dirt and jumped back on. Not too far after Danny would catch me, I went to 4th spot. I kept him in sight hoping to get him on the last lap. My derailleur wasn’t quite right and he started to open up a gap because my bike was skipping around. About 3/4 through the last lap I shifted into my wheel and got my chain caught behind my cassette. I was NOT going to DNF!! I pulled the chain as hard as I could to get it back on and did another “manual” adjustment on my hanger. Now my goal went to not getting passed and finishing. Check. Damn was I glad that was over. I sweat damn near everything I had and my legs were POUNDING, but I completed my checklist. Great race, even though it hurt worse than anything yet, and I didn’t podium, I think I’ll remember this race forever.

The race did have it’s share of victims. Only 14 experts finished. In the pro field my buddy Chuck crashed hard and may have broken his collarbone and fellow Fisher 29er rider Michael Patrick broke his derailleur off. Expert High Gear Cyclery rider Ellen Serutto also had a pretty good fall and may have broken her wrist, but she stayed in it to win her race!!

Overall this was a great event and I had tons of fun. Hopefully this is a sign that a turning point may be coming in my season. Next week, Fair Hills. See you out on the trails!!

-Jim.