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Race Report from Dennis Godber of Team Relentless

Dennis Godber of Team Relentless / 08.11.2007

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to race in the USARA Nationals and it was an incredible time. The opportunity came for me as an alternate on Team Relentless for Paul who couldn’t make it. Mike, Paul, and I raced together in the 2004 Florida Coast to Coast (C2C) where we got 10th overall, so I was somewhat familiar with Relentless, but had only briefly met Lisa on this years C2C. Previously, I volunteered at the 2005 Nationals in Tampa and met many incredible racers from all over country and walks of life. This year the championships were hosted in Potosi Missouri by Jason Elsenraat of Bonk Hard Racing. Looking at the Bonk Hard Racing website I noticed that he does a race at Castlewood State Park in Ballwin Mo. where I used to mountain bike and mountain bike race when I lived up that way in St. Ann, Mo. The race took place in the Mark Twain National Forest which is West of Potosi. The YMCA Lodge that hosted the Race was actually located on Sunnen Lake just inside the Forest Boundary. This is a phenomenal area and I would recommend it to anyone, but when it warms up would be more optimal.

I flew into St. Louis Wednesday evening and grabbed a shuttle to the Sheridan hotel where I met up with Mike and Lisa, who had driven up and met me here. While putting my bike together I notice that the shifter for the rear derailleur had broken at the point where the Tension adjustment screw is. It was somewhat working, but I knew I needed to secure it better for a race such as this and would figure out something the following day. Thursday, we woke up, got the vehicle packed, and went to breakfast before hitting REI. I have a love hate relationship with REI as it is like a candy store to me, but always hurts my wallet! While there I looked for a new shift lever, but they didn’t have one, so I decided I would glue it. The drive to the lodge was uneventful and we hit the Subway up on the way for a nice Lunch and something to eat during the race, where we also met Jason/Race Director. Got checked into the room and our gear unloaded first then proceeded to the race check in. The line was really long and moved extremely slowly which is odd especially when there is no gear check. I was standing there in shorts and took it as an opportunity to start acclimating especially coming from Tampa and 84 degree temperatures.

After check-in, we went back to the lodge to get our gear ready for the next morning, which is when we found out that we wouldn’t get the maps or instructions till 05:00 the next morning and had another race meeting at 06:00. This makes it difficult to plan ahead, but we figured that it was to keep racers from checking out the course early or caching food and water on the course. At this point I decided to fixed my shifter and, holding the piece together, I put super glue on the outside and opened then closed it back up quickly as I just wanted the glue on the plastic and not the cable. Mike held up the bike and I turned the pedal while shifting the back derailleur up and down for several minutes while the glue dried to ensure the glue didn’t get on the cable and that it still shifted. We then proceeded to the dinner and the pre-race briefing in a packed hall. Besides the rules, safety aspects, and ARFE’s fun reminder on Leave No Trace principles of racing, they did let us know that we would start off with a run and that the bikes would be staged near the lodge. We went back to the lodge discussing this and how frigid it had gotten after the sun went down, which was already in the 40’s. Being out in the weather was helpful in narrowing down what cold weather gear we would bring. I am a self proclaimed cold weather weenie and don’t function well in cold weather, which is why I live in Florida! This brings up a point about Nationals, which is why it is always in cold weather, even the year it was in Tampa it got pretty chilly. I understand having it at the end of the year, but doing so gives teams that are cold weather acclimated a big advantage. After the race I spoke to several racers who never wanted to attempt the Florida Coast to Coast because it is to hot and they don’t function well in heat. Regardless I was cold already!

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