EVO a XC race bike?...you bet!!

[sean k]

Nice tom!  yea i had the same experience last season.  Me, being a crazy 15 yr old, decided to sign up for the 19-29 class Beech Mt Classic xc race in north carolina after my DH race the previous day.  I still had my bike set up for DH/FR for the XC race... man was that a bad idea.  The course was 7 miles, 2-3mi going up the rocky DH course( first mile being a road), 2 of it through muddy, skinny rooted trails with absolutely no grip, another mile down the DH course, and a final mile-ish gradual grassy climb to the finish.  Man was it crazy.  For the first half of it (climbs) i was near the rear of the first pack, dying with the 36lb water bed of a bike on the climbs.  I passed a few people on the decents, and in the wet and rooty singletrack.  At the bottom of the final climb, I spotted one of those crazy 29yr old people spinning in the low gear, and decided to catch up to him.  On the final turn before the 100yd sprint to the finish, i upshifted (yes, upshifted) and cut on the inside of the turn in a mad rush of despiration, to get into 12th place.  In the process, i bent the heck out of my front derailleur because of chainsuck[smiley=doh.gif] causing a crazy noise and challenging sprint to the finish.  I guess we have a similar story, tom, as this was my first XC race, and a kick*** one at that.  Happy riding all!