MNSCS#7 Buck Hill

I came down Thursday to do the Penn Cycle race at Buck to check out the course. It was super dry and dusty with loose, sandy corners. There were also 230 people on the course at once, which was pure insanity, especially considering this is a 2.7 mile loop with a 12-13 minute per lap average. It's pretty much a dirt crit and the direction they ran the course meant no real sustained climbing to speak of.

Sunday's course was similar, but run in the opposite direction. So, we started at the bottom of the south end and climbed around the base up to the top. We got some serious rain on Saturday which really helped pack down all the loose stuff. Trail was nice and fast. And for maybe the first time all year, it felt like summer. Hot and steamy.

Clayton and I got our call ups to the line and waited for the countdown. As usual, Clayton was 100 meters up the trail before I even got clipped in. Brandt was on his wheel and I slowly clawed my way up to him. We were 1,2,3 out of the first section of singletrack at the top of the hill. Clayton and Brandt eased up a bit before the next little kick up the gravel road and for whatever reason I decided to surge. After two laps of sitting in traffic on Thursday night I had decided I would rather be first into the singletrack and blow up than to get stuck behind people. Well, I got the holeshot and stayed in front the rest of the lap.

With all of the switchbacks in the singletrack it was hard to gauge how close behind people were, so I kept pushing the pace as much as possible. Came through for laps 2 and 3 feeling pretty good, grabbing a drink through the start/finish area and trying to hit the climb as fast as possible. I got passed by 2 guys along the way, but wasn't too worried. By the end of lap 3 and start of lap 4 I started catching the Expert women and lapping some of the Comp guys. Lap 4 I was feeling a bit tired but knew if I could hammer the climb I could recover a bit in the singletrack. Was able to hold my position but I could see and hear people not too far behind me. I was able to make a couple of passes before the downhill, and I think this helped me open a little gap.

Final lap and I gave it everything I had up the climb. I could see Andrew, Ben and a couple of others not too far back. I got that adrenaline boost that comes on the last lap and rode pretty well the rest of the way. Dropped it in the big ring before the downhill and hammered the rest of the way home. I thought I did ok, probably at least third in my group. Turns out I got first in my group and eighth overall in Comp. First win ever. Gotta say, felt pretty good, especially after a disappointing result at Hillside. Close race, too. First through fourth place were only separated by about 30 seconds. Hopefully I can recover and have good legs for Sunday's Border Battle in River Falls.