American Mountain Classic: Prologue

I felt a twinge of fear signing up for a race against Jeremiah Bishop, Manny Prado, and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, so when we lined up for the prologue on Thursday I set myself up on the back row where I had a good view of the real pros up front.  I hadn’t seen the course, and only had a general idea of how long it was.  There were thirty of us so my only expectation was to not finish 30th. 

From the start, which was down a paved road, I was amazed at the pace set by the front row.  All I could do was put my head down and try to draft them.  They didn’t let up when the race turned onto a gravel road, but I could see a left turn onto some single track coming quickly.  I had to unlock my front shock but first had to conquer my fear of taking my hand off the handlebars and reaching for the lockout at that speed.

All I remember about the next twenty minutes was how much my lungs hurt.  I think the course was twisty with lots of rocks and roots.  Oh, and I nicked my helmet on a low hanging tree branch, and was teased by Reed Wycoff about it from behind. 

I crossed the finish line in 17th place with a time of 23:19, three minutes behind the winner.  I realized the obvious, that I wouldn’t be able to compete with the guys who do this for a living, but I also realized that I had no reason to fear the rest of them.