Date: November 21, 1999
Event: Snow Valley Psycho-cross
Team: Wooden Wheels
Sponsors: Wooden Wheels, Specialized
Class: B Race
Category: B Race
Length: 35 minutes plus 2 laps
Time:
Conditions:
Bike: Specialized FSR XC '99
Tires: Specialized Team Control

MBR.com: Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

Raced the day before at a Cylo-cross race in New Jersey.

MBR.com: In the last two months how many hours a week have you trained?

4 hours. I haven't had any time during the week to ride so I just have been racing.

MBR.com: Were you strong from start to finish?

Yes. I took the lead 3/4 of the way through the first lap and basically had the lead the whole time.

MBR.com: When did you put the hammer down?

They had a long, flat section that was real sandy and rutted out. It was double-track and I attacked in that section. It lead into a fast smooth uphill, so I just attacked in the sand and when I got to the hard stuff I just continued and that was it. I just stayed in front from that time on. I got ahead of the top 4 guys in the sand.

The middle ring on the bike kept skipping. Every time I would try to stand it would skip and I was hitting my knees with the handlebars. My knees are still bruised up. After two laps I had to figure out what to do and the only thing I could do since it was 9 speed with a large gear in the back - I just ran the big ring in 3/2 and 3/5 the rest of the race.

MBR.com: How do you rate the course?

The course was great. The singletrack out there is all very challenging, a little bit of technical downhill, the uphills were all interesting (it's all singletrack) with a couple of open sections. It was about a mile long course.

MBR.com: Were you happy with the way the race was run?

Yes. Snow Valley does a great job of putting a race on with a minimal number of people. They really only have about 6 volunteers for scoring and everything.

MBR.com: What was your prize for First Place?

15 dollars, there was a 10 dollar entry fee.

MBR.com: If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

I would get a middle ring on the bike. It hurt me a lot trying to run the big ring the whole time, you couldn't spin as much as you needed to and spinning is the way to win but I used the big ring (it helped too).

MBR.com: Is there anything you would like to add?

Not really.