Last weekend Team Racer Wes Castro and I participated on our first Night Downhill Race. SRC had a “test” night race last year and it was well received. Since Fontana can get really hot during the summer months, a night race series was created.
Wes and I arrived at the venue a bit early, I had some wrenching to do since I wanted to install a Fox 40 fork on the Airborne Taka. As Wes went up for his first practice, I was wrenching away and finished right before the first shuttle run which started at 7 pm. I lined up and noticed that darkness was slowly creeping in, no big deal, I was used to riding at night.
As I took my first and only practice run, the lights were up but the course was still very visible. The course was somewhat mild, but it was really fun. Lots of turns, fast singletrack, a couple of drops, the same ol’ lower rockgarden and yes, the dreaded wall.
After my first practice run I headed down to do some final and minor adjustments to the Taka, adding the Fox 40 fork to the bike really made a difference to me, I am really comfortable with that fork due to its plushness and responsiveness.
Practice time was limited to 2 hours, shuttle lines were long so I decided to skip another practice run. Once the seed list was up, my race run was scheduled for 10:47 pm, yep that is way past my bedtime. As we hung around at the top of the mountain, mingling with the other racers in your category is the norm, we talk about bikes, the course, previous races and we all wish good luck to each other as our turn to go down the mountain arrives. This is what makes racing fun, there is no hating or bad blood amongst the racers, we are all out there to have a great time and make it safely down the mountain.
As I came down, the course was 98% lit, there was one section that was completely dark, I just hanged on to the bike and placed all my trust in it, the Taka performed beautifully. As I arrived to the wall, I noticed that I was not gasping for air and had plenty of legs to pedal, the coolness of the night really helped out as the Fontana heat really sucks your energy dry.
I ended up placing 7th and Wes placed 2nd, the racers on our category seem to be getting better by each race and it has turned quite competitive. I was really happy with my race run, the Airborne Taka and the race venue. Some riders complained about the lack of light, for me, it was OK, I just had an issue with the lack of practice time.
Next race is on July 30th, I hope to be there, it was certainly a new fun experience!
Big thanks to the Team sponsors: Airborne Bicycles, VIP Energy Mix, Bumblebar, Ergon, Serfas, Evomo and DirtyDogMTB.
