Sunday, May 4 marked stop number two of the MMBA CPS (Championship Points Series). It was sunny with temperatures in the high 60's and the trail was in perfect condition. Ft. Custer Recreation Area is a state park located next to the Ft Custer National Guard base. The trail features areas such as The Trenches which were used for training as far back as WW1. The reference to Stampede has it's origin from the start line as riders thunder across the grass before the trail funnels down to singletrack. The holeshot rules here! I am now in a new rider classification and I am still trying to figure out the various aspects of racing a singlespeed. The class is now Elite/Expert SS which is an open class without age breakdown. Age should never matter but it can have some advantages. I quickly found out it is a very fast class. We started in wave #1 in front of 6000 Sport riders (jk). I knew I would have to push just to stay ahead of the throng of riders behind me. As usual, I was off the back within the first 5 minutes as those leaders must have been pushing a very tall gear while I spun out my 32X17. We hit a couple of short, steep hills and I was well on my way to blowing up! I settled in behind another SS rider while we finished lap 1 and I recovered well. My mistake was I settled in too long and should of gone around this rider much earlier. Once the leader of one of the Sport categories caught me (and woke me up)I made a move around several SS riders and pushed it to the end. I had no issues with the bike as it performed flawlessly and the gearing was fine for the course. Although I placed 10 out of 14 with a time of 1:20:47, I was happy with the result. I know I will only get faster on this new rig and I'm looking forward to the next race.
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