Wednesday at Wakefield is a very popular and hotly anticipated mid-week race series. While they are supposed to be training races, people take them very seriously, as its an opportunity to show off your MTB prowess in front of the regular local racers. I enjoy these races as they require every bit of mountain biking skill you have in order to be successful. The race begins with a steep uphill sprint, leaving you gassed immediately, requiring you to hang on for dear life as you careen around corners, over roots, and through rock gardens.
I drove through a brief but torrential rain storm on my way to the race. When I arrived, the rain was gone, but wet grounds and puddles were evidence that the course was not missed by rain. Generally, once the first race has already begun, the second race is not cancelled unless there is a lightning storm. I chatted with a couple of other riders who shared my despair for the conditions. After some warmup runs through the side trails, it was apparent that today's race was simply going to be about staying safe and trying to keep upright through the slippery conditions.
At the start of the race I had some trouble clipping into the pedals, giving me roughly a 10th place position up the hill. This was not a great start, but last week I worked my way from 8th to 2nd during the first lap, so the situation was not hopeless. The first turns into the trail created a significant amount of mud splatter, but grip was ok. There is a small creek crossing which was slightly higher than normal, which only consumed about 1/4 of my tire going through.
As I approached the woods, mud was slinging everywhere and my front and rear tires were sliding all around. Wet rocks, wet bridges, wet roots, and a slick top layer of mud. I realized that even if I felt in good enough fitness to pass riders, I did not have the confidence in these conditions and with my equipment (racing ralph tires) to be aggressive. I nearly took a dive on the poorly offset backside of the first log jump (I went around it the second lap).
For some reason I was really having trouble keeping up with the pack. I placed reasonably well last week. While conditions had me riding a bit slower, riding in poor conditions is one of my strengths relative to others, even though I don't enjoy it. My rear brakes were making an awful scratching sound, which I assumed was mud and grit. Even after my levers began to squeeze all the way to the handlebars, I assumed not stop as there would be nothing I would be able to fix trailside. Upon finishing the race I found the culprit to be the wire bracket hugging the pads was displaced and squished in between the pads and the rotor, which I guess equates to a 25 watt handicap and may explain my inability to keep up with the folks I was easily able to pass last week.
About halfway through this first lap, it began to pour. I mean, it really poured. The cool rain was somewhat refreshing, but it was contributing to increased mud and grit getting into my contact lenses and affecting my vision. The trails became completely inundated by water. In some cases, the trails were rivers of water. Interestingly, traction improved substantially, but speed was was further impaired by the friction of hitting large pools of standing water. The tops of small bridges and rock gardens disappeared below the rising water. I could no longer determine the edge of a bridge, or the path of the winding rock gardens. While scary, this was exciting at the same time, as it tested my memory of the trail features lying beneath the water.
Near the end of the second lap, we exit the woods into a field, and after a steep turn is a shallow creek crossing, with a rock platform that guides you through. At this point of the race I'm very fatigued and focused on the conditions right in front of me, not paying much attention past 5 feet in front of my bike. A rider, who is about 5 feet in front of me, begins the creek crossing. I momentarily pause, in shock as the water sweeps his bike out from under him. He falls but is able to catch himself, grab his bike, and wade across the stream. I stop abruptly, deduce that the creek is unrideable, and cross. While the stream is no more than knee deep, the current is very powerful and I feel that if I slip I will likely be swept off my feet. If I'm feeling uneasy at my 190 lbs, then surely other lighter weight riders are going to have to take some risks to get over this creek.
Not but 200 yards away is yet another (generally shallow) creek just before the rise to the end of the lap. As I approach the creek, I see a chain of people across the creek helping people across. I grab someone's hand and accept help. This stream is deeper and the current is even stronger. A slip here and one can easily be washed away. Flooded creeks can be extremely dangerous due to body entrapment risks and trees and brush which cause deadly 'strainers'. As I make it across, a race marshall says to take it easy as the race is now cancelled and no more laps are to be taken.
I finish my second lap, relieved, and then proceed down the hill to pick up a water bottle that I had left prior to the race start. As I do this, I see commotion as some riders dart past me. Shortly following are fire and rescue crews, with life jackets. I proceed back up the hill and hear a racer telling his story. At the first creek crossing (the one that previously only covered about 1/4 of my tire and is only about a tire width wide), he witnessed a girl get swept into into and taken away by the current, with her bike. In an apparent attempt to save her, he either jumped into the current, or lost his footing while trying to reach her, he too being taken away. At some point the water entered a drain pipe. He witnessed the girl get sucked into the pipe (bike and all). He too got sucked into it and struggled to keep his head above the water level. He gripped the edges of the drain pipe in an attempt to both prevent himself being sucked into the pipe and to pull himself out of it. He claims to have swallowed a lot of water in the process, but managed to free himself and escape the current. The streaming blood on his arms and legs legitimize his story. The injury looked very much like what would be caused by scraping against concrete. Fortunately, what he learned once he freed himself, was that the drain pipe was rather short in length. From within the water he could not see to the other end of the pipe, but outside of the water he could see where it ended. The woman apparently was swept through to the other side, but was able to swim to the side and escape the current.
As he is talking, the expert race leader comes through the finish, being the only one to complete a third lap and discusses his experience. As he came through his second, he recommended to the race marshals to cancel the race. As no decision had yet been made, he went out for a third lap. He was likely 10 or more minutes after me, so the creeks were even more swollen. He was quite angry that the marshals did not take his word and that he had to take this lap, crediting his good swimming skills to surviving it, as the danger level at that time must have reached extreme levels. I believe he literally had to swim the current to get across.
It was truly amazing how in such a short amount of time, a small creek can become flooded and dangerous. I can understand how the folks at Potomac Velo running the race were not able to react quick enough to cancel the race, but I hope some lessons learned here go into the 'DR Plan' for the future.
Thanks Ian for this fantastic video!
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