3rd Place (out of 450 ppl)
My bicycle racing hit both a high and a low note at the Tatanka 100 in 2014. Ever since I withdrew from that race, I've been focusing on racing more and more. Results like these are a great reward for the hard times training, and push me to double down moving forward.Go Green
This race was more of a charity ride, for a Chinese High School. When my friend Ken Ho pulled up to the parking lot in the morning, all signs pointed towards a great ride. There is a huge Indian temple under construction right next to where we parked. It's a really cool one, built up on the second story with a beautiful, inviting set of stairs leading up to it. All the Gods are sculpted, just not painted yet. It's an all-white canvas. They paint the eyes last, and in doing so the Gods are born. I've felt strangely drawn to the Indian Gods this trip, where I used to gravitate towards the Chinese ones. It was a great way to start the day.Ken was waiting for some friends, so I went up before him, checked in, and got in line.
I was probably 150 people back in line, maybe even 200 or 250. It wasn't a good starting position. If the race started right into the plantations, I'd have been screwed, but I heard there was a solid pavement lead in, and I was counting on that.
Another good sign: the music. I bike with music all the time lately, and when I was waiting in line, they played two of the songs from my playlist, including Big Fat Butt, or Wiggle, or whatever it's called. Funny to see conservative Muslims and old Chinese people jamming out to an American hip hop song with lyrics about ham sammiches and booties so big they be like two planets.
We took off, and, sure enough, we had four kms to sort out the pack on the tarmac. Nobody likes getting passed by a fatbike, so I had to deal with that. Many racers who would obviously finish well behind me kept re-passing me aggressively and sprinting, but nothing I haven't seen before. I stayed patient as we zoomed into the plantation in two long side by side lines on the doubletrack.
This pic is from later, halfway through the race, so the pack is thinner and more spread out, but this was they typical backdrop for much of the day. In the beginning, it was very jammed up, but I just took my shots when I could, stayed patient, and moved up through the ranks.
Heading into checkpoint 1 (out of 3), we finally had some major climbs, leading to maybe my favorite moment of the race. There was one very steep hill. It was probably the steepest of the day. Looking at the race photographers pics, nobody was able to ride it. When I hit it, it was jam-packed with people walking up on both sides. The only alley was in the middle. Excusing myself and asking for room in three languages, I charged up the middle. It was a really fun move, the kind you can only make with good climbing strength, and the footprint and traction of a fattie.
By checkpoint 1, I knew I was in a good spot. The pack had already gotten much thinner, and I was now mixing it up with much more serious riders. I put the hammer down at the CP. I didn't take any water, and charged away after I got my sticker. It was now single file, and easier to pass.
Eventually, I was with a group of five or so guys. Serious riders. In front, I couldn't see anybody. I thought it might have been the lead group. Two of us dropped the other three, and yo-yo'd through a section of rollers. I was just starting to think of asking him for some teamwork, we could trade off pulling. But I noticed he was struggling with my pace. So I did the opposite: put the hammer down on the next hill, and left him.
When we were yo-yoing he had told me that he was in first. So, for a few kms after I left him, I actually slowed down and regrouped a bit. It was great to be leading a race, but I was worried it was too early. Then, about twenty kms into the race, the road shot me out of the plantation into a construction area, full of sun, reflecting of the scraped jungle dirt like it was snow. There was a series of course marshals directing us through the confused construction roads. I asked one how many were in front of me. He shouted "tiga!"
I wasn't leading, I was in third.
We ducked back into the plantation, but it was more technical now. There were snippets of singletrack, and pieces of real jungle. We even went through a mud bog. It was perfect Trek Farley terrain. After some serious hammering, I caught sight of the second place dude. He was hundred meters or so ahead of me. This was just after CP2. The chase was on.
The plantation opened back up again, this time it was more of a full-fledged plantation road.
We went under the bridge, and I knew I couldn't pass him before the tarmac. I was much closer though, maybe twenty meters. I felt good.
He pulled into the roundabout, and I was furious when another scooter pulled in front of him. Who was this guy?!??! Only the Kardashians and the Pope get this many escorts.
There was a highway onramp. He was right behind the scooter. I was maybe ten meters behind him. That's as close as I got. I'd been chasing him for so long, I just couldn't go any longer at that pace.
I wanted to finish right with him. For the next 4 km, he pulled behind his windbreaker. I toiled about thirty meters back.
In the end, I was elated to finish third. And the reception at the finish area calmed me down enormously. People were freaking out to see Shrek, a fatbike, come in third overall. People were stoked to see a white guy at the charity race. The combo was almost overwhelming.
The winner was on the same team as the second place dude. He was also on a two year old Trek, so that was cool. He was on a Superfly 100 hardtail. He had a Lauf fork too. Here's a pic of the winner pulling into the plantation at the beginning of the race.
In the end, it was an epic day of riding. Shrek rocks. Ken Ho rocks for organizing my participation in the event, and for helping me get Shrek ready. Looking forward to another Malaysian bike race soon. Really looking forward to another Tatanka 100 soon as well. 2017, here I come!!!
