Race RECAP: 2022 Red Bull Bay Climb
The joy of DNF
The number one challenge to racing is making it to the start line
The number 2 challenge is making it to the finish
These two forces are the yin and yang mantra of racing; one promotes courage and full send to the limit to make things happen, the other promises results for a reduction in sending it % to hopefully make it to the finish line.
Both are deliciously exciting to dance on as the limits of total destruction
My last race was ironically parallel to the very first mountain bike race I participated in back in 1998; in the 1998 era the grundig word cup downhill series was racing at local events we now train for xco endurance racing on.
When your chain breaks a bunch of fun things happen; this particular event was quite unique and interesting for both social and mechanical reasons
Red Bull bay climb:
3 biggie size San Francisco insanity hill blocks of full send
The machine concept and synopsis:
Frame: 2021 Scott scale 920 MTB hardtail carbon
Fork: fox 32 performance step cast (custom tuned by fox USA)
Powertrain; 1 x 12
Sram gx shifter, shimano gx rear derailleur
Sram nx solid aluminum crankset and dub standard bottom bracket
Bontrager XR2 team issue 2.1 rear tire maxxis aspen 2.4 front tire
shimano xt front brake 2 piston 180mm rotor
No rear brake setup (deleted)
Syncros rigid seatpost
Specialized toupee seat
Bike weight 23.3 lbs - on the heavy side but with good power transfer
What happened is quite interesting in retrospect
Heat one; i was able to anticipate the countdown to start and holeshot the entire field and gap them to the transition of the second hill; out of 8 others 7 were on under geared road bikes and one was on a brompton with poor power transfer (folding bike). I was able to use the 760mm handlebar to full advantage and power up the front hill; cutting off the entire field in the process.
Transitioning to the next hill the chain broke.
Time to return to the testing field; just like any drag racing special beast machine in motorsports…… it only counts if you can finish the race.
Better luck next time! Failure makes success in competition ever the more interesting