Race Recap for the 2008 Mas o Menos in Terlingua, TX

A lot can go wrong between starting the drive from Houston and crossing the finish line for Mas o Menos. As our semi-pro friend / race site tent neighbor John Seckinger wisely pointed out, that's all part of the sport and there's no sense getting worked up over all the things that can go wrong. Another racer we met at a gas station heading west said, "It all makes for a better story, right?".

Actually, not much went wrong, so I'll hit the highlights:

* Despite dire weather forecasts, the worst the weather handed us was a cold and super-windy night before the race. Tents blew over and the flapping from the tent material thundered for most of the night. So no fires, but hey no snow! I finally get RVs - some people (me) aren't natural 'tenters'. Thanks for lending the gear Coleman family!

* The food was fantastic. I bloated myself wonderfully on cheese tortellini at dinner and then huevos rancheros the next morning.

* The turnout seemed huge to me, but I'm a first timer to this particular race. A big bunch of super friendly folks. Wow, MTB racing needs more women.


* Ultra-friendly race workers delivered a pretty well-marked and organized race. The finish area felt a little chaotic and the volume on the music needed to be turned down all weekend. Cool trophies and awards ceremony. Did I mention how good the food tasted? I'll get to the course details in my rundown later. Here's the links for folks who would like to read coverage of the race other than mine (which is pretty much about how I did).

• Mountain Bike Action race coverage of Mas o Menos 2008
  
• Cyclingnews.com coverage of Mas o Menos 2008
• Mas o Menos 2008 TMBRA full results
• Mas o Menos 2008 full update from Solo Goat
• Mas o Menos 2008 Pics
  

Here we go...

After a short lead out, the pack went into stupid sprint mode and I found myself already gasping and riding about fourth from last position after only a half-mile. The first (roughly) third of the 30k usually stayed flat through jeep roads, twisty single-track, and creek beds. The deep loose pea gravel in the creek beds drove me nuts, but the single-track was nice and passing required some strategy. Riders got all crammed together on a short rise called 'Shiddy Hill' and then a long jeep road led to the base of Tres Cuevas - the big climb of the course.

I managed to do one of those really stupid moves where when I get within twenty feet of the top and get distracted by patting myself on the back for cleaning the climb, I space out, hit a rock, and fall over.

Between the flats and the climb I had moved my place up a fair amount - but I wasn't sure exactly where I stood. Now it's usually this point in a race where I can't keep my head right, I kinda psych out, and let the pack go by. This time I pushed pretty hard figuring I had done enough of the total climbing to not hold anything in reserve.

Now I kinda understand full-suspension. The top ridge ride and descent had the Yeti bouncing everywhere. The fast, loose, narrow, twisty jeep trail was fun, but I couldn't get any power to the real wheel. I had the air pressure on the tires high for fear of pinch flats on the sharp rocks and they just couldn't hook up. The course didn't test slow, steep technical descending skills, but rather high speed bike handling skills through rough twisties. I think full-suspension would have sped me up for this section. This pic shows me about to turn into the last bit of downhill single-track before the finish.


I had caught sight of a rider in front of me at the top of the big climb, but he quickly left me in the dust and I didn't see another wheel for the rest of the race in front of or behind me. The descent ended crash free and I crossed the line in third place out of sixteen for the 30k - my first time on a podium.

My wife's race support went above and beyond with driving, tenting, feeding, and organizing. Kevin at Bike Barn got the Yeti running perfect.