Just want to hear, what is the best race some of you have had so far in your racing 'career’? If you are a pro you do not count, this is for the cat 5/4/3s, and ok the 2s, and 1s. You know the one race you thought you would be lapped by the field, but you somehow got third out of 20.

Last September there was a Pro-Am MTB race at Mountain Creek Ski Resort. They advertised a $10,000 purse. It sounded like a big deal to me. I decided to race in the Pro class. I said, "What the Heck!"

The promoter did almost no advertising other than putting up a web site. News about the race was spread through the LBS in North Jersey. On race day, only 10 guys showed up in the Pro race. Ironically, the promoter was paying out to the top ten.

At the start line, I was among the same guys I race with all year. About half of us were Expert riders and the rest were Pro-Semi Pro. I envisioned myself finishing in the later half, maybe 7th.

The course was pretty brutal. Very technical, with long ski trail climbs and max speed descents. Everything in between was rough singletrack or quad burning double track. As the race progressed, people were beginning to spread out and I was racing with one other guy. We traded spaces for 2/3s of the race. As we went, we were passing guys who we having trouble, mostly with punctures on the descents. I realized that I was slowly moving up in the field. The guy I was with, and I, new we were going to take each other to the finish. After 3 laps at the top we had to bomb down nearly the entire mountain to the finish.

Going into that last section we were playing head games. Slowing and accelerating to put each other in trouble. Throughout the race, he had me on climbs while I was the better descender. I anxiously awaited a technical section to put distance between us and just gun it to the line.

That time came, I made a daring pass, and just went ballistic. I finished with a huge gap between us to take 4th in the race. I was only beaten by two Pros and a Semi-pro guy that usually crushes everyone in the Semi-pro races.

I was totally stoked. The prize money I received was enough to cover my registration fees for the entire year. A bonus to this was that I had just joined a new club. The club was looking to expand into the MTB scene. Many of the guys I raced with on the road were there marshaling the course. Having such a strong race really earned me some respect with my new teammates.

It was a good day all around!

It was at an evening of several race at a half mile oval track. Instead of racing in the A group with the other Masters and a few Cat 1,2, 3 and getting my behind kicked. I raced in the B group with everyone else.

I did well in all the races placing in all but 1. One of the races was a 15 lap points or prime race where we got points based on position every third lap. At the first sprint there were three of us that ended the sprint fairly hard and pulled in front of the field but we were spent and let the gap collapse. On the second sprint we were more measured knowing what to expect from each other. Once the sprint was done, one of the guys kept going and the third person and I followed and we pulled a sucessful break and ended a half lap up on the field. Then we just kept a measured gap on the off laps trading pulls, putting the gloves back on, on each bell lap.

On the final lap (which was double points) I made the mistake of taking the final pull and ended up getting third spot in the final lap which knocked me down to second place overall. We talked to each other all during the break and worked well together which was fun. We argued with each other going into the final lap on who was going to take front for what seemed like a long time. I remember yelling, "But I don't want to!" but ended up taking the pull anyway because it felt like our lead was slipping due to our confussion.

It was the first time I was in a successful break and 2nd is my best placement so far.

I had a friend (I was unattached) who road for a team but he'd lost most of them and he's a wicked sprinter. I was (I'm not on form presently, new dad) a diesel who could pull long and hard and is not afraid of a bit of the hargy bargy. Lead group was split in 2 lines, side by side on a fairly narrow , fairly crappy bit of road. we were in the outside group and the course makes a right turn before the final sprint. My pal looks over and in the other line is his nemesis who's been pipping him. I hear him say "man I want to beat this guy" I say "are you SERIOUS?" and he says "like a heart attack". we're in an okay position in the line (I'm 2 back off the front) but being in the outside lane I realize it's going to be hard coming through as the inside line will drift to the middle as we go through the turn. I tell him "get ready right before the turn and hug my wheel". right before the turn starts I dive in between the two groups with sprinter in tow. Did I say this road is tight. It's elbow to elbow but my move pulls us up to the front. This effectively causes the inside line to slow a tad as they can't drift to the middle and must take the corner tightly. The outside guys are trapped as well. I'm in full hammer mode and motoring in the mid thirties and we've already gapped the peloton. I pull aside completely taxed, blocking the outside route and release my pal about 30 meters from the line. He sprints easily to the win and I coasted to a top ten spot revelling in his victory. It was that day that I realized that there is joy in a good lead out and can see where the Lombardis of the world get their kicks.

Mine was my very first race on a velodrome. I had never won anything on a bike or came even close on a road bike. I went to one of the local tracks on stock bike night where they have races for geared road bikes. You have to pick a gear before the start and stay there. I came up to the line in the 45+ race in my Performance jersey and touring bike complete with top mount CX levers attached to V-brakes and MTB pedal and shoes. The other three guys were in team jerseys (though I later gained enough knowledge to recognize that the one guy was not really on team Saturn :-) ). It was a 5-lap scratch. We started off and the other three formed this perfect V and I just tucked up behind the lead. We went around four laps in V formation. Then going into the first turn the guy on the outside hit it and I went with, then right on by him. I never looked back, but friends in the stands said I got about a four-bike length lead and just held on to win by about a half a bike. That was it – I’ll never quit racing.

TF