Norcal HS Race #5 Boggs - Max Houtzager

Norcal HS Race #5 Boggs Mountain Classic
Boggs Mountain near Cobb, CA
Varsity Boys (35)
Teammates: Bobby Zidek, Eliel Antilla, Sven Beer and Taylor Smith
Result: 2nd

Food Consumed!

My form seemed off and on before the race. I had been training well but struggled to recover with a slight cold, coughing a fair amount, yet had little stress going into the race and seemed to have good legs. I haven't seen much good luck at Bogg's with double flatting and being pretty sick each time before, but pre-riding the day before for a rad course with some rocks and little to no drafting / road tactics kept me happy. I had a blast flowing through the endless sweeping singletrack filled with loamy corners, ups and downs.



My poor starting position thanks to still not having call up only lost me a bit of energy sprinting like mad at the start in the wilderness next to the fireroad to get up front. Into the first singletrack I got 5th wheel knowing all the guys in front of me could descend fast enough, but soon realized I still wasn't really ok with not leading or riding in 2nd, so didn't let that happen for the rest of the race. I ended up setting the pace and leading most of the downhills for the majority of the first half of the race, although evidently I should of done so even more. Bryan and I dropped the rest of the lead group off and on, and I was stoked when it was just us because we absolutely ripped the course.

Starting lap 3 it was just us and Spence, who I had no idea was with us until he decided to pull from the feed zone to the first singletrack. I was stoked to see him having such good form compared to before (and for the pull). I dropped into the singletrack before him and we got a small gap on Bryan but he latched back on pretty quick.

Bryan and I dropped Spence on the main fireroad climb due to my gnarly attack (dug deep!). I strung Bryan out a bit doing this which I was proud of because until then it seemed like he was in complete control. Bryan got ahead into the final singletrack on the lap. He had just tried to make a really sketchy pass that I would not allow because it was totally unsafe and could have led to both of our demises. A bit later he aggressively passed two riders weaving off the trail to the right of one rider and then in between them and to the left of the second, forcing me to do the same in order to not get dropped. The decisive 4th lap was close but this riding was kind of annoying since things were not yet imminent. Then he passed another rider who moved just shortly enough for Bryan to pass, forcing me to try to pass him on a tiny slippery soft patch of trail in order to not get dropped while Bryan rode a frantic semi-attacking pace. My bars clipped the riders hip and I saved my self from crashing, my bike drifting sideways, unclipping a foot, and dropping my chain, which I got back on without too much trouble. I was then able to pass the rider while Bryan passed two more that then wouldn't let me pass easily just before two switchbacks before the chicanes and the start of lap 4, giving him about a 20 second gap to start the final lap. I proceeded to ride the final lap strong but mostly just solid, knowing that if I tried to catch him my eyes would probably pop out of my head. It was cool to be neck and neck for so long but kind of a bummer to have another race mostly determined but uncontrollable factor, yet I'm still stoked with how I rode and even more so with 2nd in the overall in spite of missing a race.