Finally back at it with a mountain bike race! Been a while! My last MTB race was Hanson Hills back in 2021.
Waking up to cooler temps made getting dressed interesting. Wasn't sure whether to go heavy, light, midweight, or thermal. I opted to just wear shorts and a sweatshirt hoping the sun would poke thru and send some much desired warmth. I go to Yankee around 9:30 and found my parking spot. Headed to registration and picked up my number for the day. Not too many people there yet and the Elites were already out on course.
I wandered around a bit and eventually started to get ready. I did pull on a long sleeve under armor because when rolling the temps felt a bit cooler. I watched the Experts start their waves and was beginning to have a realization about my start point. I was seeing Expert plates with numbers in the high 150's. As you can see above, I was only #164. This meant that I drew a very early start time and would have the entire Sport class chasing me. Whoops! ha.
I headed out for a cruise to warm up and actually went down the warmup loop. I just took it easy and eventually got back to the car. I discarded the under armor because it has warmed up enough that I was comfortable without it. Then I headed towards the start chute. Here was where I found out that I was the 4th Sport racer off the line. As we got closer Martin was saying that we would be heading off every 7 seconds. That meant a lot of people strung out across the trail. So cool.
It was time for me to go. I took off and dove into the trail in the first section. Always a cool start because it throws you right into what this trail offers. A few small drops, some rocks, some roots, and a bunch of sand. I cruised up the first section and it wasn't long before the first rider caught me. No worries, he made a clean pass and we pressed on. Across the bridge and up the little climb (where the first shortcut back to the trail head is) and a second rider caught me. Again, clean pass. Then, another....and another....and another....lol. I was in for a long day of people passing me. I just had to ride my race.
I did have a goal time of 1:10 in mind at the beginning of the race. Doable for me I figured. I kept going as good as I could, but I started too hot. I held a decent pace into the ditch climb, but my heartrate so high and I was struggling to slow it down. Knowing I had a stream of riders behind me was making me push to stay ahead of them. When I got to the first real climb on the course (where the concrete Washington monument is) I was over the limit. I had to get off and walk. No worries, just keep going.
Riding into the pines is where I confirmed my descending skills are where I live. I had a guy pass me on the climb, and I caught him easily on the descent in the pines. This happened again on the climb after the pines. A guy caught me easily, and I closed him down during the descent....only to get dumped again on the climb. Still, a fun little cat and mouse style of ride....for me anyway. lol. He probably didn't even know I was back there. HAHA!
I pressed on and got to the last few miles. I was able to ratchet up my speed again. I love the last few miles out there. But with a few to go I stopped to check on another rider. He had crashed just before a drop section and had a bloody nose. I made sure he was alright and told him I would let the volunteers ahead know he was coming.
I got to the last section and a GROM when ripping past. Little dude was hauling with his dad right on his wheel. So cool to him tearing it up. This did however cause one issue. Because the little dude had a major fan base I had a guy step into the trail when I was coming full speed. The kid rode past the guy and he was recording with his phone, so he was excited and was heading toward the finish....but never looked to see if someone was coming. I nearly got him. I yelled "WATCH OUT" and probably scared the bejeezus out of him, but as a big guy....I wouldn't have been able to stop. So as a trail etiquette request....PLEASE do not walk in the trail during a race.
I finished and rolled to my car. I was gassed. Not sure how many people passed. It doesn't matter. It was overall a fun day on the bike pushing my limits as best I could. I did miss my goal time as I finished with a time shown below.
With all of the passing, the walking I had to do from being at limit, and stopping to make sure the rider was ok....I will take that. Yeah I missed my goal, but I tried. At the end of the day I was back out there doing what I love to do....with a whole lot of like minded people.
Next up is Fort Custer Stampede. It is time to really get some long rides in on pavement, gravel, and dirt. I am still losing weight and I need to continue to do that while ramping up my endurance. The stampede will be fun, but looming Memorial weekend is the Hanson Hills 50. That will be a great test for me to see how I am progressing. So stay tuned, and help keep me on track!
No comments:
Post a Comment