Frosted Fat Tire Relay Race Recap

 Yes this is a race recap.

Yes this race was the Frosted Fat Tire Relay.

Yes, it was 75 degrees and sunny in October.

Yes the race was rescheduled from February.

No, it was no longer a fat bike race.

No, I am not in shape to be racing. 

Ok, now that I got that out of the way I figured I would give a recap of the race. 

With a 1pm start I got to sleep in for a change. The Fitness Ranch is only about an hour from my house, so I didn't have to get up in the dark. The animals however, they are on a schedule and still had me out of bed at 6:30 am. I was able to take care of them, and get some food in my system early.

I loaded up and headed out around 10am. I got to the Ranch just after 11am where Lisa was already waiting. We headed in and registered. The parking lot was pretty empty honestly. The longer race (50 mile) was already in progress but I was surprised by the low turnout. This is what happens when you have to reschedule and there are other events going on already. Peak 2 Peak was the day before, and I know a lot of people that were there instead. The original date for this was back in February, and from what I heard the course was pretty much liquid at that time. So they made the decision to move it. 

Once we got registered we went and found a spot to set up. Plenty of options. Eventually Tom and Heather got there and we were watching the end of the 50 miler. This event is a four person relay. There are all men, all women, and coed teams. The lap is only around .5 miles, so the people were flying in and out of the exchange area like crazy. It would get quiet for a minute, then zoom....a person would go through and swap out to their next rider. We tried to develop a strategy by watching the longer distances.

After the 50 mile race it was time for us to check out the course. Out of the exchange area there is a right hand turn. This opens to a straight away that starts to trend downhill a bit. Then another right, followed by a small incline before needing to turn left. Then a bit of a downhill straight into the single hill on the course. At speed you can generally roll over the top of it. At the top of the hill there is another right and a downhill that leads to the last right before crossing the start/finish line. If you are doing multiple laps you can stay on course to the right, or go left into the exchange area. And that is the entire course. 

It was time to start. Our order was Lisa, Heather, Me, and Tom. They did a rolling start with a atv and it was off to the races. The front guys came through so fast that I almost missed them. They were trucking. Lisa ended up doing 4 laps to start. When she came in her lungs were screaming at her. Heather did her two and then it was my turn. I took off as hard as I could. Short course, all out right? I planned on doing 3 laps, but when I came into the exchange area I flagged Tom that 2 would be enough. I held a solid average for those two laps as far as I know. Then it was time to wait. Tom did his planned two and Lisa headed out again. Then Heather, and it was my turn again. I took off and legs felt awful. Starting and stopping isnt great for me. I still did my 2 laps and Tom headed out again.

Just that quick we were already at 18 laps out of the 50 we needed. The laps ticked away and then the leaders were only 10 away. Then they were 5 away. We did what we could to keep up. On my third set I left the pits with another guy. I ended up passing him and another person on my second lap in that set. 

First place was in. Then Second place. I took off for what would be my last set. On my second lap I heard the announcer say that "COED IS FINISHED".....ugh. I just eased up and coasted into the finish area. This race is unique in that when the top 3 seeds of each division are finished, they pull the remaining people off course. This gives the remaining people less obstacles I guess.

 

We took 5th place....out of 5. HA. We did have fun, and we learned a lot about how we will approach this event if we ever do it again. Single laps....as hard as you can. Pretty simple. We did the best we could for a group of people that haven't ridden much since June....let alone at race pace. It was a good time for sure. Not sure how I would feel about it when the temps are below freezing and there is snow. But, we shall see if we ever try again.

Overall, I felt decent doing what equates to intervals. I know I can ride hard for half a mile at least. lol. The longer into the event we went the better everyone seemed to feel. So next time we will have a plan of attack and will see what happens. This did do something else though......it reminded me that I really missed racing. Lisa mentioned it too, that she needed something to light the fire again. I am now looking ahead to Barry Roubaix and what that will look like. I should be lighter and in better shape than I am right now. 

Overall, thanks to my team (The Frosted Funky Bunch) for a good day on the bike.