May 2, 2013

Probikers Maraton 2013

Finally back in business. First mtb marathon of the year. I was lucky to have it in my city, so i knew the track pretty good. I also helped the organizers ti draw the course so i had a bit of an advantage before the others but on short track it's not that much, because everyone is running on 100%. On week before the race i got my new 2013 race-bike. Didn't had much time to accommodate with it but i managed to do some adjustment for my personal preference. For the day of the race a pretty numbered crowd got together to race on the 1 lap or 2 lap course, the

short track was 36km the Marathon was the twice of this. 
Started the race after a half an hour of the long track starters, went off pretty fast, the "safety car"  (police) went too fast, and some of the rookies took up a pretty fast speed. Which was not safe on tarmac, if you do not know how to pedal in a peloton. Luckily no one got hurt, and after the tarmac section it followed with a climb and a power horses went in the front, lucky me i could follow them so i got a bit of a gap between me and my followers. From that time i got into pursuit mode, and tried to pass whoever i could. It was a pretty fast race, i couldn't do no tactics, full gas all the time, almost all the time on the big chain-wheel. I really wanted to get on the podium as last year. I was really motivated. Didn't felt that i changed bikes since last year, it was that natural to stay on a 29er, by the way. After 20 km a realized that i'm gonna race with Oli from the Bikenet team from Cluj. I knew he's a powermachine, and if i'm not pushing it hard on the climbs he will beat my ass...oh sorry for that. At one of the last climbs he managed to pull of and got a pretty nice gap, but i had him in sight, thanks for the red outfit he had. In the last 10k's i pulled out all of my cards and got hard on the pedal, taking the risk of a puncture to get Oli. The rocky flats really shake me off, but thanks to the carbon frame it was a bit comfier than last year, not to mention the big wheels. This way i managed to get  Oli with 1k before the finish, passed him and pulled out a strong sprint, but on a tricky descent my chain got of and i lost my position. At that point i didn't knew what position i was, but at the end i came in 4th in category and 5th in general. Sometimes such things happen, i was lucky to pull off a good race with my new bike, so im not that disappointed. Next year i will do better and there are more races to come.
Congrats to Oli for the good fight. 
Many thanks for the timing-guys, organizers and congrats to all the participants who came and made this event a special event.
My special thanks to my partners and sponsors who help me race and keep my motivation alive: Createch, X-factor.ro, Nutrend and KROSS.
cheers!
Photo credits: Bihoreanul.com, Freestylesport.ro




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