Race Report: Xterra World Champs 2008
October 29th, 2008 by Dan Hugo
Xterra World Champs 2008, Maui
8th
5:52 behind winner Ruben Ruzafa
Photo by Nils Nilsen/Xterra
Any result on Sunday would have struggled to cap my euphoria seeing two friends surprising me on Saturday in the car park. Leigh and Dave have been working in Canada, and made the trip out to come and support me with South African flags and all. We studied together in Stellenbosch, and I’ve not seen either for ages. I’m sure some day I wont recall much of the race intracacies, but I’ll recall them walking up the to the car.
Leigh and David
Seas were calm as the countdown on the beach began. 550 athletes, 48 of which were in the pro-men’s field, hit it out after the Xterra canon fired. I started way left, for preferred breathing visuals, and thought settling in on Craig Evan’s feet I’d make it to the first bouy in second. Hardly close. So many class swimmers. The front pack flew round. My best swim, yet ran out in 20th.
Charging into T1
Shouts were firing while racing through T1 and rushing up the golf course to mount alongside a stream of athletes. As I turned onto the tar up top, Stoltz came by, and dragged me to the front while slipping feet in and gloves on.
It was totally different racing a course blind. Never knowing where a hill ended, which lines to follow. A different test in many ways. On the first gravel climb, loose as anything, it wittled down to Batelier pushing the pace, with Marceau, Llanos, and Stoltz single file behind, wheel to wheel. Me tagged on the back. It all seemed for real.
Llanos dropped, and I went passed Stoltz to third. I thought mistakenly Conrad was suffering, until the first short technical ascent. He perfectly timed a push into the corner like a three time World Champion here would, and made it up. Battelier, Marceau and myself pegged. From here Stoltz edged on, and I thought the day was his for the taking.
Marceau dropped soon after, with some steep ups of on and off stuff. The heat was getting oppressive, and I was nearing my limits. Little respite on some rolling terrain, but generally it all felt up.
The new Specialized Epic 09 was radical. Although Batelier would pull away on some ups, the bike would allow me so much more pedaling time I’d close on anything flat or downhill. The suspension is so smooth, and all round it felt so responsive. The best bike in the world.
Photo by Nils Nilsen/Xterra
After a short descent, before Ned’s Peak, I realized my rear had lost air. I got the cannaster ready, hopped off and filled. It held at first, then starting loosing against the rim when the pressure got higher. I sprinted off in the hope of the spinning spreading the Stan’s solution to where it needed to be. The terrain is such that I couldn’t know what went down. Maybe I hit the rim, and the small dent let some out. Maybe I burbed it, and then hit the rim. Maybe a puncture that got sealed and I hit the rim on low pressure. I don’t know. Either way, I stopped near the top of Ned’s Peak, the highest point on the course two thirds through, to fill again.
Rueben Ruzafa came passed, and was moving well. Looking down as I got going again I could see maybe five riders closing. I had lost impetus and confidence, and couldn’t tell descending The Plunge whether I was loosing air or holding. I stopped again, checked it, and thankfully it felt okayish. Mike Vine passed. After the bottom, I stopped a third time and emptied my CO2 cartridge as Michael Weiss, Josiah Middaugh, Olivier Marceua and Eneka Llanos came by.
I was tiring here, and held company as opposed to make back time. I was warned of the closing sections, a loose and rocky sting in the tail. I made a fourth stop, to pull a dread srub out of my cluster as my chain was jumping. Stoltz was on his rim not far on. A sad sight for the South African hope.
Felt as though I was wilting in the heat, and although Llanos and Josiah were spitting distance ahead on the run, I couldn’t bridge. We passed a fading Battelier, and got passed by a flying Brent McMahon.
Strange running passed bikini’s and boardshorts on Makena Beach. Different to the usual isolation. The hurt was really on here, and with the pace on the sand slowing, I could see 3rd place at the end of the beach, but all of us seemed to be hobbling along in survival mode. I just couldn’t shift much.
Photo by Nils Nilsen/Xterra
Over the lava rocks after the Salt and Pepper beach I could see Brian Smith closing, but the flag lined finish shoot was close enough to hold 8th. Not a magical day by any means, but one I’ll take with a smile.
Without the air loss, and with the legs I had, it might have been a 4th of 5th. Who knows. I went out hard on the bike, and possibly paid for it towards the end. But I wouldn’t do it differently. I’m still amature enough to enjoy a moment riding up front with some of the greatest names in the sport. I gave all I had on the day, and with my objective to learn, I succeeded. There’d be no way to understand the course without racing it.
I hope the day’s experiences and small lessons will stay imprinted in my memory for preparations and race days here for years forward. This is after all one of the two major sports goals.
Struggling in
The Aside:
Just to follow on from my pre-race athlete watch… A lesson for me was to remember the results sheet never looks like the start list.
Stoltz flatted. Marceau struggled and said he had average legs. Baterlier was riding well but faded and eventually walked some of the run. Dodet didn’t get to start after a crash in the week. Lebrun’s back was in spasm after the Ironman and pulled out on the bike. Brian and Chris Legh finished behind each other as they did last year, only 9th and 10th this time.
In the front, a name no one was mentioning before, a Spanish pro-mountain biker, had a radical race. He only lost 2minutes on the swim, and he started swimming 12months ago, he biked the fastest split, and had the second fastest run. Very classy for a first Xterra. Michael Weiss was alongside him for parts of the run and had a strong bike/run for second. McMahon had the fastest swim and run (run by 2 minutes) for third. Vine continued his fine Tahoe form here for fourth. Olivier recovered on the run and ran from 8th to 5th. Llanos really impressed me in 6th, two weeks after a 2nd place in Kona. Josiah Middaugh was again the guy ahead of me in 7th. With Brian and Chris rounding out the top ten.
While sitting in the dope control room, drinking litres tryig to hydrate enough to fill 85ml, I realized how incredible Rob at Specialized South Africa had been. Speaking to Olivier, who has been 2nd here three times and sure race favourite, he said he desperately tried to get an 09 Epic for the event, but no one would do for him what Rob had done for me. I felt honoured.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
(Many of them, so set the timer to 1sec or so)
| A Maui Wow-ie | Specialized S-Works Epic 09 - The Story |
October 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] job first time round with his fine 8th place finish - but you can read his report in his words here. His fellow South African, Conrad Stoltz had ‘one of those days’ whilst defending his [...]
November 1st, 2008 at 12:04 am
Knap gedaan Dan en dis goed om te hoor dat jy nog “still amature enough to enjoy… is - niks fout daarmee nie. Hoop om jou gou weer in SA te sien.