Date: May 19, 2000
Event: Chevy Trucks NORBA NCS#1 - Big Bear
Class: OPEN
Category: Pro
Length: Four 8.47 mi laps - 34 miles!
Time: 2:59:23
Bike: MARIN Mount Vision Pro
Tires: Kenda Kosmik Lites

(Pictures from Xcelerate Twilight AMBC - Athens, Ga 2000)

Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

Nothing too special, I had to go out to California in March..... had to go out there for four or five weeks. We were working on getting the team vans ready. So that month it was like..... no training at all. I didn't do the training I wanted to do. That kind of put me in the hoe for training. I was not at all prepared for Big Bear like I wanted to be.

The race was on Friday....... when did you get into town to start your "altitude training?"

Wednesday evening. Two days before the race. I wouldn't call that "altitude training".

What was your position at the starting line?

I think I was probably 60th.

Does the rush of an big event like this make you stronger during the race?

Yeah, in a big race you push yourself a little harder. If you slow down any, there is always somebody that's going to pass you. There is also always someone right in front of you that if you push a little harder, you can catch

Were you strong from start to finish?

The first lap really hurt me... I went a little bit too hard. I was pretty far back and I had to get out towards the front because the course dumped us into a single-track climb pretty quick. I got in a pretty good position, but after a few short, steep climbs it got my heart-rate up too high and it took me the whole of the first lap to recover. The next three laps I was reeling in people. I was way back in the 60s, but just keep passing people - picking off a person, then another..... that kind of helped. It was encouraging to pick off people. So the second, third and fourth laps I had recovered, everything was under control. I was able to push the big ring up the fire road climb... I was cramping on the third lap.... but just kept going. My calf at one point started cramping and made my toe point out straight... I didn't think I was going to be able to pedal the thing.... I got that under control the third lap. The fourth lap wasn't too bad.

When did you put the hammer down?

There is no putting the hammer down up that high when you are not acclimated. The first lap was my fastest lap, but I didn't feel like I could do anything. After that I just started going.... The third lap was my slowest, the fourth lap I really put the hammer down. I got back like 10 people on the fourth lap, caught one guy right at the end. With altitude when you are not acclimated, you just can't push hard.

Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

No, everything was pretty smooth.

How do you rate the course?

It's pretty good. There were a couple of technical sections on the downhills.... it was steep and rocky....... I could see someone in front of me like 40 seconds up.... and I knew that I would pass that guy about a quarter of the way down the hill. If that would have been a low altitude course, it wouldn't have been that hard. It is a pretty decent course. It's fun. (the pro course at least)

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

Yeah, they always do the best for the pros. They almost didn't run the race because of land use problems. I doubt it will be there next year. I hope it's down the mountain a little bit if they do change the location. There are five nationals and four of them are at altitude. You send all of these Americans to Europe to race the World Cup races and they have to be under a certain elevation..... Here is this country we are training all of our best athletes to be good at high desert venues. If you go to Europe, it's all low altitude, rocky, a lot of roots and rainy. That's why none of the world cups are a Vail anymore. The only World Cup we have is Napa. They need to get some of the national series races down lower.

If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

Oh yeah, I'd back off a little bit off the start... what happens out there if you go too hard.... if you go anaerobic.... (at least for me) it just takes so long to recover. You've got to watch your heart monitor and keep it below a certain point. If I could do it again I would keep my heart rate below that point at least for the first 20 to 30 minutes. It cost me a lot of time when I had to slow down. People just passed me and passed me. There was nothing I could do. So I'd just back off on the start, and after I get going, then kick it in.

Is there anything you would like to add?

My teammate Mark McGarity got 4th place Expert. I was real happy with that. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors.....