Norba National
Mt. Snow, VT
Aug 27-28, 2005

Today was one of the most magical days I’ve had on a bike in years. It’s the day I’ve been waiting to have for the past seven months. And it couldn’t have come at a better time; the final race in the Norba National Series.

We arrived in Mt. Snow, VT Thursday afternoon to beautiful weather; mild temperatures and lots of sunshine. After last weekend it was such a relief to know the course was dry and the high pressure system sitting over Vermont was to last through the weekend. Mt. Snow is a small ski area in southern Vermont. They have had many World Cup and Norba National races over the years making for a popular and well attended event. It’s probably the biggest of the season in terms of spectator numbers, vendor booths, and participants.

On Friday we did our usual pre ride of the course. Over the years the course has basically stayed the same. The only variable seems to be the weather. More often than not it is raining and muddy. But every few years a drought settles in and the course remains dry and dusty. To my sheer delight the course was dry this year. After last weekend’s mud fest I was looking forward to some dust and sunshine.

The course began at the base of the ski area and then quickly climbed up a steep service road. That funneled into another steep grassy double track climb that eventually narrowed into our first single track descent in the woods. It was fairly fast and not too technical. After coming out of the trees the course went straight down the ski hill back to the start/finish area and then took a hard right and started climbing up towards the other side of the mountain. The climbing was hard but was broken up by some short downhill sections in the woods. The worst of it was a painful granny gear single track climb up a technical root and rock garden. Climbs like this are challenging because if you are behind someone that falters and can’t make it up the climb, being single track there is no way to get around and you’re forced to dismount as well. The crowd was large and boisterous in the woods because right next to this lung busting climb was a fast technical descent. People were pounding on drums, blowing horns and ringing cowbells. Great place to watch the race.

The course continued up the ski hill, wound around a lake, and topped out on a rocky service road. Then the fun part. The descent was all on tight twisty single track. Very rough with lots of big roots and rocks. Being dry made the descent challenging but not scary. All you had to do was hang on and let the bike do all the work. Haha! After the long brain rattling descent you came across the ski hill and up two short quick climbs. Quick being the relative word because they were long enough to make the legs fill up with lactic acid. Then another rough descent through the trees past the large boisterous crowd of rowdy fans and then onto a flat service road that took you back to the start/finish line. We were scheduled to do three laps. It was going to be a long rough day on the bike.

Race day was sunny and warm. I’ve found that sleeping in makes the day go by faster and since we didn’t race until the usual 3pm, I slipped in my ear plugs and slept till 10am. It helps that I’m still on Colorado time and I didn’t go to bed until 1am. Being my last Norba National event I was highly motivated to have a great race. My goal for the season was to win a Norba National and after seven months of racing I still hadn’t crossed the finish line first. This was my last chance. I was excited, motivated, and a little desperate I guess. Plus I had thirteen family members that had made the trip up from New York. Some of them had never seen me race. I was excited to show them what I’d been doing for the past eighteen years.

The gun went off and Willow Korber set a blistering pace up the first climb. I was right behind her and after the first five minutes I was still right behind her. Having raced for so many years I can usually tell within the first few minutes of the race what kind of day I’m going to have. This time I knew it was going to be good. My teammate Shonny came around me just before the first descent. Willow got a bit of a gap on us but nothing to worry about. After the long sustained climbs that brought us up to the lake she had about ten seconds on Shonny and then I was another fifteen seconds behind. We went into the first descent and I started to fly. I don’t normally make up time on the descents. Getting older I guess slows you down. You know what it’s like to get hurt. But the course was dry and I was on my full suspension bike. Both Willow and Shonny were on hard tails. I caught Shonny part way down the descent. When I passed her I got a huge adrenalin rush. Even though she’s my teammate it felt good to drop her because she’s been the best rider for most of the season. Once we made it down to the start/finish line and began our second lap I could see that Willow was only about twenty seconds ahead of me. I knew I was going to catch her. I did and passed her right before the feed zone. Another huge adrenalin rush. I was in the lead and powering up the climbs with enthusiasm and energy I hadn’t seen all summer. Nothing hurt. The bike was flawless. I flew down the descents.