Cascade Chainbreaker Race Report

One word describes this race:

BROWN

For us westsiders, it was a big change to go over to Bend and race in the dry heat of the high desert.

They started the race with everyone lining up in their respective categories, one behind the other (Pro, Expert, Single Speed, Sport, Beginner). This was pretty cool because it kept things organized, and also made it look like a really big race. I think there were around 275 people entered.

My start was pretty normal: slow. I wasn’t off the back up the short climb on the gravel road, but I sure wasn’t at the front. I was gasping for air the first half hour, breathing in as much dust as oxygen. You could hardly see the trail on the first singletrack section it was so dusty. The course was pretty heavy on singletrack. No long sustained climbs a la Mudslinger, and no real descents either, just a lot of short ups and downs. The amount of singletrack minimized passing opportunities, requiring requests to pass rather than announcements more often than not. I didn’t have to worry about that much the first lap, but my strength came on the second lap and I passed a bunch of other riders. Once the pack thinned out and I could actually move on the singletrack, I really started to go. Most of my passes were “polite,” but I took a few opportunistic passes that were pretty tight. Coming around through the start/finish area was pretty cool. The course was set up like a big figure eight, and riders would swing in and out of the start/finish area several times. It was one of the more spectator-friendly mountain bike races I have seen. Being around all those spectators also gives you a little extra adrenaline to really keep the tempo up. I came into the finish area strong, but got stuck behind two juniors. Their technical skills were less than mine but they were stronger than I was and I couldn’t keep their pace. I got passed by one guy right before the finish; he was just going faster than I could manage. He had passed me once and then I passed him during the second lap on the more technical stuff. I had no idea where I was in the standings coming in to the finish. When they took my tag and placed it up on the board I was fourth! Third place finisher beat me by about 30 seconds. Dang, if I had only known.

I refueled with an ice-cold coke after the race, and some pretzels and a banana, and then later a beer from the keg. Excellent post-race immediate care.

I hear this may be the last year for this race at this location. That would be a bummer, it’s a pretty fun (albeit dusty) course. Thanks to Webcyclery all the other volunteers who helped put on a great race.

Race at Reehers is this Sunday in Timber. See you there?

-Smack