2011 Knobby 9 to 5 Race Report

Quick Stats
3rd Place Men’s Singlespeed
Laps: 9
Gearing: 32 x 20
Fuel: Carbo Rocket, Carbo Rocket 333, and EFS Gel, Pepsi
Bike: Niner One9

Single, ready to mingle

This was my first race of any kind on my singlespeed and would be my longest singlespeed ride to date. I am not ready to sell the geared bikes but I really enjoyed racing the singlespeed in Boise and I definitely see more singlespeed racing in my future.

Not only did I race singlespeed, I raced with no computers, HR strap, or power meters on my bike. For a guy who likes to see the numbers, this was a wacky divergence. In the spirit of full disclosure, my decision to race without flight instruments was not a planned one. As Michelle and I were setting up our simple pit before the race she said “I forgot my Garmin” in a somewhat panicked voice. She is hooked on the numbers now too so I gave her my Garmin 500 for the race it worked out great for both of us.

Even after a Friday pre-ride, there was a slight fear of the unknown in the back of my brain because I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel after several hours on the singlespeed. However, I was encouraged when I came through the first lap and the timing tent yelled “48” which meant I had done a 48 minute lap. The real surprise came when I followed that up with a 49 minute lap, then a 50 minute lap…and felt pretty good doing it. The demoralizing part was that I knew there were at least five or six solo singlespeeders in front of me after three laps. Sheesh!

Hamilton is looking lean & mean already

I settled into my groove and went about executing my plan to ride as fast as I could for eight hours. Drink. Eat. Smile. Repeat. Notoriously absent from my view was my teammate and fellow singlespeeder Hamilton. Hami passed me in the first ½ mile of the race and I hadn’t seen him since. My teammate Hamilton and I have a friendly rivalry but it has been on the back-burner ever since Hami started riding his singlespeed exclusively a couple years ago. At around 2 PM I started asking our friends in the pit “Where’s Hami?” “Five minutes” was the usual answer and the gap wasn’t coming down. Had I been suffering like a mangy dog I wouldn’t have cared but I was feeling good and had visions of seeing Hami in the distance and then executing a glorious final hour attack. But that didn’t happen. Hami was chasing his own rabbit in the form of 1st place rider, Mike Shane.

It is so hard to dig down for that extra 5% when you can’t see your adversary. Due to the rolling & twisting nature of the course, I never saw Hamilton or Mike during the final laps but I had a feeling I was closing the gap down just a little. In the end, Hami stayed strong, Mike Shane stayed strong, and the three of us finished within 2 minutes of each other. I am going say that my first SS race was a huge success.

Pretty close race in the SS class

Mike hasn’t officially committed yet but we have a potential three-way rematch looming at the Cream Puff in July and my motivation just got ratcheted up a notch.

The race itself was excellent again and the Knobby Tire guys do a great job creating a festive vibe. Big thanks to Club Ride for donating a pile of great stuff for the raffle as well.