DC Sprint Trails
Posted on June 04, 2007 @ 10:16 PM
I spent this past weekend at the third annual DC Sprint Trails race in Fresno CA. The premiss for the race is simple; A race involving minimal/no pedaling, two riders on the course at a time competing against the clock and each other. 16 riders make it to the finals, 16th place races 1st place, 15th races 2nd, ect... the person who gets beat gets eliminated, the process breaks down until the winner is decided. I knew this was a big event for racers but for a dirt/street rider like myself I really didn't know how good of a time I'd have. Allan Cooke and Corey Bohan were supposed to attend the event but due to a prior obligation neither one was able to attend. Originally, I thought; if nothing else, atleast I could duke it out with my DC dirt jumping comrades. So, it was to be me against a bunch of racers - guys who train year round and are used to events like this.
Now, I haven't raced since I was 18 years old, nearly nine years ago. What chance do I have against a bunch of conditioned racers whom I probably have nothing in common with? Well, believe it or not, I had a blast! Everybody was really nice and surpisingly stoked that a "dirt jumper" like myself would attend such an event. I'm not sure how I did in the race (I think 11th place) but what was most important is the fact that I had an amazing time. It was so different from everything I'm used to, it was fun trying to stay low instead of trying to see how high I could go on each jump, diving into a two foot tall berm at top speed hoping that my nobbies don't give out on me was a feeling that I won't soon forget. It was amazing coming down the last straight shoulder to shoulder with someone else going as fast as we can. It really brought me back to the days when I was a kid and me and my friends would meet up at our local track and see who could cross the finish line first. All of my pre-concieved notions about racers and racing in general were thrown out the window and I'm really glad I went.
If there's one thing to be learned from this experience; it's to keep an open mind and not limit yourself to just one or two aspects of riding... You could be missing out on something great. Big shout outs to Dwayne Taylor and Randy Stumpfhauser for giving me an unexpectedly great weekend.
