The Psycowpath series held their Nebraska State Championship race this past Saturday at Ponca State Park west of Sioux City. I had never ridden or raced at Ponca, but could tell from the online reviews that it was going to be a fun course. I got there early enough to do a warm-up lap and quickly realized that my 2 x 9 drivetrain with my granny ring being 29T was going to require some out of saddle climbing to keep me on the bike.
The weather was perfect and the course was in prime XC racing shape. Finally! A race that was not canceled or postponed due to the 2008 monsoons...
Numbers were down at this race compared to all the other Psycowpath XC races. There were only 65 total racers for all categories combined. Why? I don't know. I race in the Sport Open category and instead of 20+ guys, we only had 12 line up at the start. The opening climb up the pavement had us all hanging in a tight group...
I felt pretty good during the first lap as my fitness was carrying the day. By the end of the first lap, we were strung out enough that the remainder of the race was man against their fitness and the challenging climbs. Although I made all the climbs during lap 2 and 3 in the same gears as I did in the first lap, I felt baked in lap 3. A lot of Seven Oaks at Boone type of climbing where one has to keep grinding up tier after tier of climbs that are linked together. I would rank this course in the same category as Boone and Lewis and Clark when it comes to climbing.
This photo shows what a lot of the race was like for me in terms of the climbing...
I thought it was a perfect course for the Nebraska State Championship where distance and effort are a little more than the other races in the series. I ended up in 6th Place in Sport Open. That's the same result I had for last year's Nebraska State Championship at Swanson Park. There was a pair of fast brothers from South Dakota who took 2nd and 3rd and had not been at previous Psycowpath races. Otherwise, it was pretty much the same guys I was up against. I was happy with my race, but sure was spent at the end...
Fun was had by all. Ponca is a beautiful state park and the singletrack was well worth the drive over and back to do this race.
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