Black & Blue: Last one of the year....

Yesterday was the Black & Blue, the traditional season closer.  By this point I was pretty much relegated to fourth place in B-Vet for the year.  The next closest guy was fourteen points ahead, and it would have taken a DNF for me to make up that kind of ground.

On the drive there in the morning, I put more than the usual amount of brain-time into thinking about strategy, time-keeping, and technique.  I reminded myself that this would be the last ride of the year so there was no need to be conservative.  I didn't want to end my season with any regrets or a bunch of stupid errors like I've committed in a couple rides lately.

By a cool coincidence, Ed, Jim D., Mark W., and I all post-entered on the same line.  Great to see Mark come out for an enduro and at the start I started to tell myself that I was going to hang with Jim D. for as long as possible.  He's been on a tear all year and has really only been slowed down when he had a mechanical issues.  Off the start, Ed and I agreed to let Jim take off first so the order was Jim, me, Ed, and Mark.

Right off the bat I felt good and that my pace was decent.  The conditions were perfect.  We were on line 24 and that meant the downed leaves were swept away but the trail was still in good shape without any tough ruts or mud.  The Jim, Tony, Ed freight train stayed together for the whole first section and we all dropped a one.  That felt good because it's not very often that I can match Jim's speed.  Started to think that maybe Jim was taking it easy (and maybe he was) but over this year I've gotten better at controling my state of mind and I used it to build some confidence and to tell myself that I could elevate my comfort level a little.

The next few sections were pure, classic New England enduro.  Rough, rocky, technical.  The second section was the now-infamous river section.  This year, rather than running us down the length of the creek, we criss-crossed it a few times.  I led Jim and Ed into the section and managed to stay in front of Jim for a while.  I think my long legs are an equalizer for his speed in the very technical stuff where there were lots of log crossings, mud holes, etc.  After we got out of the super technical stuff he was right on my ass and I let him by.  I stayed close enough for us both the get the same flip at the check out.  Ed had a few issues in that section and lost a flip there.  The first of two A/B sections was next and it was more of the typical stuff:  Challenging and I was still feeling like my pace was good.

My only real big mistake of the ride happened at the next check in (at the small farm we seem to use every year).  It was a known control and I failed to notice that it was also the gas available.  Ed was nice enough to drop off a gas can there for us in the morning.  The fact that I'd missed the (perhaps crucial) gas stop occurred to me just after leaving the check-in.  There was a good amount of  tar on the day so I think that kept my gas mileage high so that I made it to mile 58 without even needing reserve.

Just before the official gas was the second A/B section, across the street from Martin's hare scrambles track.  I committed one minor error here.  There was a check out just before this section and lots of guys sitting around for a reset.  I couldn't understand why my computer didn't pick up on the reset and started doing it  manually.  Took me about half a minute to realize that the reset was only for the Cs and I needed to get moving.  Might have cost me a flip on the way out.  Jim got me by a bunch in this section.

Ed was only a couple minutes behind us coming into gas.  Jim left a couple minutes before Ed and me.  This was Martin's and it was terrible.  It's so nice of him to have shared his land with NETRA for all these years, but it is beaten down.  Just not a fun section.  Ed and I pushed hard trying to shake the other as we exchanged mistakes and missed turns.   With only 30 routesheet miles left, it really felt like the home stretch.

The next section was near Martins and more wooded (maybe it's still on his property).  There was lots of downed ribbon here and a group of 5 of us got lost.  I was behind Ed when he realized that we'd lost the trail.  After 30 seconds or so he pointed out an arrow so I doubled back and found the trail.  Right after that, I found Jim, with the ass end of his bike pointed straight in the air and the front buried deep.  He was just hauling the front out of a 4-foot mud hole.  I asked and he said he was OK so I pushed on hoping that Ed had found the trail behind me.

After another long(ish) road section it was obvious we were headed to the last section of the day.  Routesheet said that it was probably only going to be about 4 miles or less.  It would be a familiar section for Snow Runs and Black & Blues of the past.  The last section of the last enduro of the year.....I decided to leave it all on the trail and pushed at 10 tenths (as the formula one guys say).  Rock gardens, climbs, descents, and lots of twisty single-track.  It was a blast.  I heard and saw Jim pulling up behind me after entering the section one minute later.  I pulled another 5% and managed to just barely stayed ahead of him as we came into the check-out together - both of us on locked-up front tires as we crossed the stripe.

All in all, a great day of riding, competition, and camaraderie.

Reflections on the day:

• I made good improvements on realizing when I was merely trail riding rather than racing and correcting that quickly.
• My form was pretty good all day.  That's different.
• The cardio work on the C2 seems to be helping me to continue pushing in longer sections.
• I got my timekeeping mojo back - lost that at the Gypsy Moth.
• I elevated my comfort zone.  Continued pushing in some areas where I would have previously backed off.

The humbling part, as I've gotten faster over this season, my competition has done the same.  Two promotions to A out of the class proves just how competitive B-vet was this year.

Congrats to Jim and Ed on first and second respectively in B-senior.  Next year's going to be a ton of fun with 4 PFers in B-senior together.  Can't wait.