Non Dot Adventures 2017 Race Series

The 2017 Non Dot Adventures Race Series is underway, with over 100 racers taking on Dreaded Hill yesterday in the Whiting Ranch Time Trial.

So here's my first Race Report for this series:

I've been racing this series since 2013, and the Whiting Time Trial is always one of the toughest races in the series for me. Especially this year, it just got into my head. My times have been getting progressively slower since 2014 despite getting a lightweight hardtail a couple of seasons ago that should be ideally suited for this race. Then this year I pre-rode the course twice, thinking I had really pushed it hard and killed it on the second ride, only to find that my time was virtually the same . I started thinking there was nothing I could do to improve my time for this race. I had hoped to use the last couple of weeks to try different pacing strategies or even my full suspension bike, but life got in the way and I was left with just thinking about it and no chance to test any of my ideas.

On the morning of the race it was chilly with dense fog. (photo by Called to Creation)

About a half hour before the race started, the fog burned off and the sun was out. Fortunately, it still wasn't too hot as we climbed Dreaded. The weather was perfect!

This is the only Time Trial race I ever do, and I'm still not totally comfortable waiting in line to start in 30 second intervals ... then the 2 racers before me didn't show, so now I had 1:30 of sitting on the start line waiting to go .

One of the things I really struggle with is pacing for this race. At only 4 miles, it feels like a sprint, but I've gone too hard at the beginning of Dreaded, popped, and lost huge amounts of time over the rest of the course. Then again, if you go too slow up Dreaded, it's almost impossible to make up the time. Combine that with the not starting with the rest of your field, it's really hard to benchmark your pace during the race. Usually you can at least see the next rider or two up ahead as you slowly climb Dreaded, but with a 1:30 gap in front of me, it felt like I was climbing dreaded alone most of the way.

I decided to aim for a consistent pace up Dreaded, leaving enough in the tank to finish strong at the top. I alternated sitting and standing a bit and tried to keep my HR from getting out of control. I felt stronger at the top than usual, but I worried that maybe I hadn't pushed hard enough.

No time to dwell on it ... time to open it up all the way down to 4 corners and the bottom of Cactus. From looking at Strava I knew that I was losing time on the downhills ever since using my hardtail, even compared to other guys on hardtails. Time to really make an effort to stay off the brakes as much as possible. I felt pretty good at that point. It seemed like I'd carried more speed downhill and I still kept the rubber side down.

Only one climb left. Up Vulture View climb, which is even rockier than usual right now. The loose rocks really suck any remaining energy out of you at that point, and I caught a rider right at the bottom which meant I had to pass him taking an even rockier line. Oh well, the pain would be over soon. I felt so slow climbing the last bit of Vulture View, but gave it everything I had and tried to keep the hammer down (or what was left of it) across the flats of Vulture View Ridge.

After that it was just a matter of telling myself I didn't really need to use the brakes, and occasional few second sprints to get some extra speed all the way to the finish line at the end of the swoopy singletrack that ends at the base of Dreaded. That last run through the singletrack was so fun and felt so fast not having to worry about traffic through there! (photo by Called to Creation)


They had real-time results being posted on line, so by the time I cooled down and made it back to the venue, I found out I had pulled off 2nd place in Sport 40-49!!! I couldn't believe it! And somehow I had beaten my previous best on the course from 2014 by almost a minute! I was in disbelief and kept watching the results to make sure it wasn't a mistake, but it held. This was my best finish in years, and I'm on top of the world! It's great to see the extra riding and climbing I've been doing pay off in a race.


Apparently, I have no sense of my pace up Dreaded because what I thought was an easier pace than my practice runs ended up being a new PR by 47 seconds! It must be the adrenaline. Even the last sprint through the singletrack was a new PR by a few seconds ... even faster than when I had raced it on my full suspension bike with meatier tires - score one for using less brakes!

What a great day of racing and a fun event. As usual, Non Dot put on a great event. Everything was well organized, and ran like a well-oiled machine. Replay Timing handled the timing, and even had a station at the top of Dreaded so racers can see their split times up the hill vs over the rest of the course. Photos from Called to Creation were included with the registration, too. It was also really cool how many people were out cheering along the course. One of my Path teammates even walked away with a new helmet after winning a water ballon toss during the games at the venue while we waited for awards!

Well, there's my novel. If you've made it this far, I'm impressed.

Was anyone else from the forum there, or planning to race later in the series?

 

Nice write up and good job on the podium finish!

 

Congrats @MattB ! Great job metering out your energy with no real barometer - especially since you had nobody in the two slots ahead of you.

Nice RR, and pics. C2C does a good job with photos.

 

Way to go Matt! Some steep climbs and fast descents on that course.

 

Way to go @MattB !
Way. To. Go!

 

Congrats Matt! I really enjoy the Non Dot crew... I just don't like racing XC as much as I do Enduro, so I skipped last year and likely will continue to skip it.

 

Thanks everyone!

@Cougar - Yep, I can understand that. I haven't tried Enduro racing, but it looks like a ton of fun. I thought about it a couple years ago when I was trying to push myself more on the downhills, but the events tended to be pretty far away or just didn't work out with the family schedule. Next thing you know, I decided I was pushing my limits a little too much when I felt like injuries were taking me off the bike too often . Between that and watching the videos of how aggressive some of the Enduro courses have gotten, I kind of lost the bug to try it. I decided to just enjoy riding for the sake of riding for the most part, but I still like the Non Dot events to have something to put on the calendar and push myself toward a goal a few times a year. And I love racing on my favorite local OC trails (Dreaded is NOT one of them) with a (mostly) closed course where you can really push it. After driving up to Big Bear to race XC in the early 90's, I still get really excited that we have mountain bike racing going strong right here in OC.

I'll look forward to reading some race reports from your Enduro race adventures. Who knows, maybe I'll try one someday after all.

 

I have been racing the Non-dot the last few years but decided to skip the TT this year.
Last year I did it, and I remember dealing with all the issues you wrote about.

This year I opted to do Hellfire instead.
Saturday is my main riding day, and I couldn't see myself been satisfied with only 30 minutes of it.
Going for a second ride after a race would be a tough one to pull.

Congrats on the podium (and PR's).

 

Great report and congrats!

 

Nice finish Matt! My husband and I were volunteers at the top of Cactus and you came flying by pretty quickly despite the uphill diversion John threw in at the top. There was quite a bit of spacing in between riders this year but we could hear when the racers got to the top of Dreaded and then around 4-Corners. And yes, it was 44 degrees on my Garmin while we were riding up through the trees in the morning and then POOF out came the sun.

 

Nice work!!! Well done on the riding and on the reporting.

 

Thanks! And thanks for volunteering and cheering out there! Yeah, that little detour at the top of Cactus totally took me by surprise. I didn't join the pre-rides this year since I've done the course so many times before, but then little things like that can catch you off guard and force you off your usual line. Keeps you on your toes .