Shadey's run on Friday's XC pointed out two things: A. racing at altitude is hard, and B. the heat will catch up to you. Another thing Shadey pointed out is that he had no ability to produce power, his legs were simply "dead." This is a common result for racers who are not accustomed to going with less oxygen in their blood.
The Pro XC event is another thing altogether. With 90 starters it is a battle just to get position from the gun, and although the race is long, there seems to always be somebody there to take your spot if you let off the gas for even a moment.
At the front of the race, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was putting on a clinic: he was riding so fast and so effortlessly that it seemed everyone else was in another category. Well, not everyone: for the first couple of laps Jeremiah Bishop and Geoff Kabush were hanging close enough, and when they came through the start/finish and feed zone you could have sworn they were all on motos. At the end of the race 8 minutes separated these front three from the guy in fourth!
The following videos illustrate the differences in speed. Act I: JHK on the afterburners entering his last lap. Act II: Dave going into his last lap. Enjoy!
One unfortunate truth in altitude racing is that once you have gone over your limit (threshold, what have you), it is nearly impossible to resume any form of high output. Dave discovered this shortly after the start when he blew up, "after that, I couldn't get my heart rate above 160," he said. That's no fun. At the end of the day, Dave finished 60th after crashing hard on the last lap and losing several places. The good news is that he wasn't pulled from the race, as officials had determined that, due to the heat, they would be pulling the back 20% of the field. (The notion that a professional athlete should be capable of completing a 2.5 hr race in 85 degree weather must have escaped them.)
While Dave was suffering the effects of racing at 8000', Kenny was making steady progress up through the field to finish 37th overall, his best NMBS result to date! Better yet, he could see where positions could have been gained for an even better result: this is the sort of experience gained by a first year pro to make for even better performances next season!
Racing finished, we all headed back to our friend Deb's house to dine (like royalty) with her husband Mike. Roasted chicken, salads, and rice, with incredible glasses of wine!!
On Sunday we opted out of racing the Short Track (20 minutes of lung-searing hell) to go for a long ride into the Wasatch backcountry along the Wasatch Crest Trail. Nothing beat riding with your friends in an amazing setting on world-class singletrack trails!
JB - Great race man - for not living at altitude, you were flying. I dug up a track from the 06 XC at MT.Snow : http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/935191 - it is from the 40-49 Men's Expert field and MotionBased user joefabris.
Shadey's run on Friday's XC pointed out two things: A. racing at altitude is hard, and B. the heat will catch up to you. Another thing Shadey pointed out is that he had no ability to produce power, his legs were simply "dead." This is a common result for racers who are not accustomed to going with less oxygen in their blood.
The Pro XC event is another thing altogether. With 90 starters it is a battle just to get position from the gun, and although the race is long, there seems to always be somebody there to take your spot if you let off the gas for even a moment.
At the front of the race, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was putting on a clinic: he was riding so fast and so effortlessly that it seemed everyone else was in another category. Well, not everyone: for the first couple of laps Jeremiah Bishop and Geoff Kabush were hanging close enough, and when they came through the start/finish and feed zone you could have sworn they were all on motos. At the end of the race 8 minutes separated these front three from the guy in fourth!
The following videos illustrate the differences in speed. Act I: JHK on the afterburners entering his last lap. Act II: Dave going into his last lap. Enjoy!
One unfortunate truth in altitude racing is that once you have gone over your limit (threshold, what have you), it is nearly impossible to resume any form of high output. Dave discovered this shortly after the start when he blew up, "after that, I couldn't get my heart rate above 160," he said. That's no fun. At the end of the day, Dave finished 60th after crashing hard on the last lap and losing several places. The good news is that he wasn't pulled from the race, as officials had determined that, due to the heat, they would be pulling the back 20% of the field. (The notion that a professional athlete should be capable of completing a 2.5 hr race in 85 degree weather must have escaped them.)
While Dave was suffering the effects of racing at 8000', Kenny was making steady progress up through the field to finish 37th overall, his best NMBS result to date! Better yet, he could see where positions could have been gained for an even better result: this is the sort of experience gained by a first year pro to make for even better performances next season!
Racing finished, we all headed back to our friend Deb's house to dine (like royalty) with her husband Mike. Roasted chicken, salads, and rice, with incredible glasses of wine!!
On Sunday we opted out of racing the Short Track (20 minutes of lung-searing hell) to go for a long ride into the Wasatch backcountry along the Wasatch Crest Trail. Nothing beat riding with your friends in an amazing setting on world-class singletrack trails!
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