The Reagan Park TT has come and gone another year.
I went for a little course recon on Friday with Chip Meek and Jeff Pendlebury, and the trails were ripping fast. Chip had the lines down, and following him through a few laps definitely helped a ton.
Come raceday, the trails were a bit greasy at spots from the previous night's rain, but all things considered, weren't too bad.
I had maybe ten riders start before me, within maybe 10 minutes I started picking people off one by one. Staying smooth in the corners and jumping hard at every opportunity. For once in my life I felt good.
All was going well, until I ran into a slower vet open expert. Being the considerate mountain biker I am, I tried to politely ask for a pass when he got the chance to slide out of my way.
No response...
Getting a bit less patient, I started demanding a pass: "Yo man coming through... move it!"
Still nothing. I started looking for a split second in which the twisty trail would allow me to pass without crashing into a tree. Lo-and-behold I got a little too ahead of myself and washed my front wheel out on a stick outside the trail. Fucking splendid. Note to everyone, if you're getting passed in a TT by someone who started like 5 minutes after you, get the hell out the way.
Back on the horse. I saw Chip gaining on me through the switchbacks. It was now my goal to not get passed by him. About 2 seconds after thinking this, I ate shit. Whoops.
He went by me like I was standing still. Impressive.
Motoring back to the finish, I ended up in third place with a time of 43:29. That's like 4 minutes faster than when I did the race in 2009, so not complaining.
Expert turnout was weak with 5 people. I got 3rd, which rules, but out of 4 finishers, it could be a lot better. Where's everyone at?
