Turtleman was my last standard tri of the year and the last MM race I'm doing for the season. When I got there, I noticed that there was TONS of bike racks, and most of them were already full.
I set up next to 2 ladies on mountain bikes, and got ready. The lot wasn't sweeped, so I used my bare feet to sweep away the dirt. I wasn't feeling really motivated. This was to be an "A" race, and my goal was to average over 24mph on the bike. Having trained little this week for a few reasons--book club, shin splints, and the general need to do laundry.
Since my number was 700-something, I got to wait while nearly 700 people started before me.
Swim: 23:23. 1:26/100yd I took about 10 steps into the lake, where my legs sunk almost knee deep into mud. I then decided to begin swimming the the ~1.5ft deep water. The water was black--it completely cut out the sun only a few inches down. It was difficult to get a feel for pace, since I didn't really have anyone to swim against. On the way back, the swim exit on the east bank was difficult to see as the morning sun made for some dark shadows.
T1: Clusterfuck. 1:33 Biking was allowed in the transition! Effing Ridiculous! I got my bike and rode off into the steep uphill immediately at the transition exit, except I couldn't clip in my right foot. It took a long time to actually get it clipped in, so I sacrificed some speed here.
Bike: 23.6mph I tied my best bike effort. It was my intention here to go 24+, but I just couldn't do it. The course was pretty flat, and had LOTS of turns, and most of them were fast. There was also cones out to apparently protect bikers from traffic, but they did more to obstruct me on a busy course.
T2: I almost ran a guy over coming into my rack. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on. No biking in transition please.
Run: 7:25/mile Most people told me this was a pancake flat run, but they live in a parallel universe. There was a couple long inclines. About 300meters out of T2, I felt my calf tense up, and almost seize. This really kills your confidence when you want to run fast, since I didn't want to walk 5 miles. About 2 miles in, I did feel a rhythm setting in, but it didn't last long. I have found that I'm a pretty good runner when it comes to hills, and I did pass tons of people that I was jousting with on that hill, but overall, I felt slow. It hurt. The finish line came up alot faster than I thought it would.
Age Group 4/37 (just missed podium)
Overall 78/79x
Now, the floor in my room is covered in dirty clothes. My bikes are filthy. My car is full of crap and clutter. My desk looks like a paper bomb went off at tit. It's all a perfect metaphor for my future triathlon & other sports goals--complete disarray.
I've felt quite burnt out during my last couple races, and I don't feel like I'm becoming as fit as I want to be. I will surely compete next year, but to what extent I don't know.....maybe a 1/2 ironman, a road race here, a mountain bike race there.....
Backpacking.
Camping.
Mountain Climbing.
Friendship.
Family.
Focus.
Showing posts with label race report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race report. Show all posts
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Half Time Wreck to Half Iron
So I went out on Thursday to meet up with some friends for Hunk's mini-bachelor party. I ran into the group full swing at Billy's and later we all headed over to the Half Time Rec. We all ended up splitting pitchers, and it started to get late -- but nothing a little Red Bull Vodka can't handle, right?
Anyways, everyone was kicking off around 1:15am, and the idea of getting White Castle was introduced to the group. It did indeed seem like a good idea. 15 minutes later, I'm driving home with 4 sliders and a sack of deepfried onion peely things. To stem your fear, I was perfectly fine to drive--I seem to be pretty good at taking alcohol in moderation when I have to get myself home....but I was hungry.
I got home and wolfed down the food, and finally hit the deck at around 2:45am.
Around 5:30am on Friday my first alarm clock went off, and I decided that I wanted to die. My stomach distended with undigested disgustingness on top of a headache and sleep deprivation is not my idea of a livable condition.
I walked to the bathroom and puked.
Then I took an extra half hour getting ready for work. The day was horrendous. I only wanted it to end, and I had like 30 things to do after work--I got home finally around 7pm & had time for a half hour nap. Fortunately, the last thing was to enjoy a traditional pre-race meal of bruschetta, since I was racing the Liberty Half Iron Triathlon the next morning.
I made it to bed at 10:30p, and was at Baker park by 6:30am.
-----------------------------------
The Race
Swim. 31:41 I found another swimmer to draft off early, and although he tried to shake me a couple times, I held for a good 2/3 of the swim course--and was able to avoid some amount of zigzagging.
T1 1:56. A little below par for the course, but I decided due to the short runout to a tight turn & big hill that I would just put my shoes on in transition rather than have to put my shoes on while on the bike.
Bike: 21.3mph avg.
I'd ridden the course a couple times, and went out knowing that I had to take the bike leg with some amount of ease--I haven't had a computer on my bike since my Garmin decided to play in traffic, and just relied on my gut and my HRM. The course was challenging and last 6 miles would be painful, and I needed to run 13 miles afterwards. The road out to Hamel gave a slight tailwind, so I gave a solid effort when I had the wind advantage.
My CX & MTB'er readers would have gotten a fuzzy warm feeling to see how I handled the loose gravel road construction at the turn to Hunter. I figured it would be finished by raceday, but it was worse! Anways, I rode through on both laps barely dusting the brakes and dodged all the Zipp-clad folks precariously rolling through at 4mph. Ha! I never knew my rock garden skillz would help in a tri....
I dropped my chain on a steep hill--user error :oops: . I lost about 30 seconds for a foolishly timed shift. Yes -- Even DA isn't idiot-proof.
By the second lap, my back was pretty sore--not enough time on my TT bike apparently. I'll also be using different Tri shorts for anything longer than an olympic. The chamois on the team LG shorts has no utility...It doesn't provide any padding...something my clydesdale-calibur heinie desperately needs.
T2: 1:31 Not bad considering I forgot to put out my salt tabs, and I had to dig through my bag to get them.
Run: 8:27/mile, 1:50.35 I was passed by about 5 people in the first mile of the run -- my legs didn't want to do anything more than a half-assed scamper. But once I got the gummy out of my legs, I picked a pace and held it. I used all the aid stations, but I only completely stopped at a couple to slam down 3-4 cups of HEED & water in rapid succession. I tried a coke at the last aid station -- banking on a boost of caffiene, but it just made me nauseous. I crossed under CR19 and up the last incline, and I didn't break stride--one little goal I had for the run.
Over the run leg, I was passed by tons of runners, but I did reel a few back, and in the last mile, I was passed. I heard another guy coming in behind me, and ran down the wildly steep woodchip trail in pursuit of the guy who had passed me. When I saw the finishline, I gave a 100% effort and passed him in the chute, and held off my pursuer.
Finish: 5:03:40
Overall 46/255
Agegroup 6/17
Perspective: In my 25-29 agegroup, there were 17 competitors. Next year, I'll move up to the 30-34AG which had 37 competitors. The 35-39AG had 46.
I'm surprised by how well the race went for me. Despite yammering to everyone about how I haven't been meeting my training volumes, prolific wine and martini consumption & late nights out with my super-awesome girlfriend, I handily knocked down my season goal time (5:10) for a half ironman distance race. This is a vast improvement over my Pigman Half last year (5:27)
Anyways, everyone was kicking off around 1:15am, and the idea of getting White Castle was introduced to the group. It did indeed seem like a good idea. 15 minutes later, I'm driving home with 4 sliders and a sack of deepfried onion peely things. To stem your fear, I was perfectly fine to drive--I seem to be pretty good at taking alcohol in moderation when I have to get myself home....but I was hungry.
I got home and wolfed down the food, and finally hit the deck at around 2:45am.
Around 5:30am on Friday my first alarm clock went off, and I decided that I wanted to die. My stomach distended with undigested disgustingness on top of a headache and sleep deprivation is not my idea of a livable condition.
I walked to the bathroom and puked.
Then I took an extra half hour getting ready for work. The day was horrendous. I only wanted it to end, and I had like 30 things to do after work--I got home finally around 7pm & had time for a half hour nap. Fortunately, the last thing was to enjoy a traditional pre-race meal of bruschetta, since I was racing the Liberty Half Iron Triathlon the next morning.
I made it to bed at 10:30p, and was at Baker park by 6:30am.
-----------------------------------
The Race
Swim. 31:41 I found another swimmer to draft off early, and although he tried to shake me a couple times, I held for a good 2/3 of the swim course--and was able to avoid some amount of zigzagging.
T1 1:56. A little below par for the course, but I decided due to the short runout to a tight turn & big hill that I would just put my shoes on in transition rather than have to put my shoes on while on the bike.
Bike: 21.3mph avg.
I'd ridden the course a couple times, and went out knowing that I had to take the bike leg with some amount of ease--I haven't had a computer on my bike since my Garmin decided to play in traffic, and just relied on my gut and my HRM. The course was challenging and last 6 miles would be painful, and I needed to run 13 miles afterwards. The road out to Hamel gave a slight tailwind, so I gave a solid effort when I had the wind advantage.
My CX & MTB'er readers would have gotten a fuzzy warm feeling to see how I handled the loose gravel road construction at the turn to Hunter. I figured it would be finished by raceday, but it was worse! Anways, I rode through on both laps barely dusting the brakes and dodged all the Zipp-clad folks precariously rolling through at 4mph. Ha! I never knew my rock garden skillz would help in a tri....
I dropped my chain on a steep hill--user error :oops: . I lost about 30 seconds for a foolishly timed shift. Yes -- Even DA isn't idiot-proof.
By the second lap, my back was pretty sore--not enough time on my TT bike apparently. I'll also be using different Tri shorts for anything longer than an olympic. The chamois on the team LG shorts has no utility...It doesn't provide any padding...something my clydesdale-calibur heinie desperately needs.
T2: 1:31 Not bad considering I forgot to put out my salt tabs, and I had to dig through my bag to get them.
Run: 8:27/mile, 1:50.35 I was passed by about 5 people in the first mile of the run -- my legs didn't want to do anything more than a half-assed scamper. But once I got the gummy out of my legs, I picked a pace and held it. I used all the aid stations, but I only completely stopped at a couple to slam down 3-4 cups of HEED & water in rapid succession. I tried a coke at the last aid station -- banking on a boost of caffiene, but it just made me nauseous. I crossed under CR19 and up the last incline, and I didn't break stride--one little goal I had for the run.
Over the run leg, I was passed by tons of runners, but I did reel a few back, and in the last mile, I was passed. I heard another guy coming in behind me, and ran down the wildly steep woodchip trail in pursuit of the guy who had passed me. When I saw the finishline, I gave a 100% effort and passed him in the chute, and held off my pursuer.
Finish: 5:03:40
Overall 46/255
Agegroup 6/17
Perspective: In my 25-29 agegroup, there were 17 competitors. Next year, I'll move up to the 30-34AG which had 37 competitors. The 35-39AG had 46.
I'm surprised by how well the race went for me. Despite yammering to everyone about how I haven't been meeting my training volumes, prolific wine and martini consumption & late nights out with my super-awesome girlfriend, I handily knocked down my season goal time (5:10) for a half ironman distance race. This is a vast improvement over my Pigman Half last year (5:27)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Bismarck Tri Race Report.
I just finished my first race of the season.
It was a pretty small race since there's next to no tri scene in ND, but there was some pretty good competition available since the olympic distance was ND's best of the US qualifier. There were 11 olympic entrants and around 35 sprint entrants.
65F at the start. Partly cloudy with small sprinkly rain cells. Pretty bright when the sun was on you.
Swim.
course. The swim was in a marina off the Missouri River, which is damn cold runoff from MT's Rockies. I was surprised the water was 63 degrees.
I took my second swim ever in my new wetsuit, and it paid off, despite my incessant zigzagging on the course. I was shoulder to shoulder on the last 50meters with the woman who got the women's BOUS title later on. I completely forgot bodyglide, but I had no chafing from my '08 QR hydrofull.
~23 minutes for the 1.5km. 1:09min/100 according to the printout.
T1. Fast! I was second onto the bike course. ~30 seconds
Bike.
course: The oly bike was an out & back, and was half along the river flats, and half extending up into the Buttes lining the river. Decent road surface for the most part. Great ND scenery!
On the way out, I was flying--but the top woman screamed past me in a matter of minutes. I don't know how fast I was going since I don't have a computer on my Cervelo right now, but I was spinning out on my 53x11 going down some of the hills. I was met with 12-19mph headwinds at the turnaround, and saw about 4 cyclists within about 1/2 mile. It seemed like there was more uphill on the way back and that coupled with the wind was murder. I ended up gapping the other cyclists. 21.5 mph ave(I think)
T2. I struggled with my socks, so I was a little below par. ~1 minute
Run.
course:Flat as a pancake around the marina. Lots of big houses under construction. Should be really scenic in years to come.
I was hoping for a better time than I got since I've been doing more running than in the past, but I'm going to blame my time on a lack of training in the last few weeks coupled by a simultaneous abundance of red wine. The first mile was tough as usual, and I felt slow until I passed the second aid station, at which point 2 guys passed me. After I passed the turnaround, I pushed my pace after getting passed by a 3rd guy. There was alot of people cheering at the finish.
7:37min/mile. (the guy who won did 5:48/mile)
Finish
6/11 overall
2:23:??
1st in the 19-29 age group-- I got a coffee mug and a pair of socks!
Malfunctions:
My neck was shellacked with 50SPF, but I got cooked anyways. I thought my dork helmet might help prevent that, but I guess not.
Wardrobe. Despite fitting properly, my jersey's zipper compressed down under my wetsuit, and left a nice sore in the middle of my chest. I was also "adjusting" some "essential equipment" since my tri shorts aren't so comfortable, and I think I gave a cyclist going the opposite direction a "nice" view.
I hit one spot of roadpatch that must've been warmed pretty well, and my clydesdale heinie pushed the rear wheel into the tar. My frame cutout & rear brake are covered in tar. Looks great on a white bike. Or not. :(
It was a pretty small race since there's next to no tri scene in ND, but there was some pretty good competition available since the olympic distance was ND's best of the US qualifier. There were 11 olympic entrants and around 35 sprint entrants.
65F at the start. Partly cloudy with small sprinkly rain cells. Pretty bright when the sun was on you.
Swim.
course. The swim was in a marina off the Missouri River, which is damn cold runoff from MT's Rockies. I was surprised the water was 63 degrees.
I took my second swim ever in my new wetsuit, and it paid off, despite my incessant zigzagging on the course. I was shoulder to shoulder on the last 50meters with the woman who got the women's BOUS title later on. I completely forgot bodyglide, but I had no chafing from my '08 QR hydrofull.
~23 minutes for the 1.5km. 1:09min/100 according to the printout.
T1. Fast! I was second onto the bike course. ~30 seconds
Bike.
course: The oly bike was an out & back, and was half along the river flats, and half extending up into the Buttes lining the river. Decent road surface for the most part. Great ND scenery!
On the way out, I was flying--but the top woman screamed past me in a matter of minutes. I don't know how fast I was going since I don't have a computer on my Cervelo right now, but I was spinning out on my 53x11 going down some of the hills. I was met with 12-19mph headwinds at the turnaround, and saw about 4 cyclists within about 1/2 mile. It seemed like there was more uphill on the way back and that coupled with the wind was murder. I ended up gapping the other cyclists. 21.5 mph ave(I think)
T2. I struggled with my socks, so I was a little below par. ~1 minute
Run.
course:Flat as a pancake around the marina. Lots of big houses under construction. Should be really scenic in years to come.
I was hoping for a better time than I got since I've been doing more running than in the past, but I'm going to blame my time on a lack of training in the last few weeks coupled by a simultaneous abundance of red wine. The first mile was tough as usual, and I felt slow until I passed the second aid station, at which point 2 guys passed me. After I passed the turnaround, I pushed my pace after getting passed by a 3rd guy. There was alot of people cheering at the finish.
7:37min/mile. (the guy who won did 5:48/mile)
Finish
6/11 overall
2:23:??
1st in the 19-29 age group-- I got a coffee mug and a pair of socks!
Malfunctions:
My neck was shellacked with 50SPF, but I got cooked anyways. I thought my dork helmet might help prevent that, but I guess not.
Wardrobe. Despite fitting properly, my jersey's zipper compressed down under my wetsuit, and left a nice sore in the middle of my chest. I was also "adjusting" some "essential equipment" since my tri shorts aren't so comfortable, and I think I gave a cyclist going the opposite direction a "nice" view.
I hit one spot of roadpatch that must've been warmed pretty well, and my clydesdale heinie pushed the rear wheel into the tar. My frame cutout & rear brake are covered in tar. Looks great on a white bike. Or not. :(
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Waconia Tri
Well,
Despite a big lack of training due to my vacation, and a gastrocnemius cramp that had been lingering since a hard workout on Wednesday, staying out late the night before drinking beers at Brian's house, and a case of insomnia this past week, I had a pretty decent race.
Swim:
Ok, I haven't been swimming that much, and I've only been open water swimming once this summer, so I did have some diffuculty sighting and swimming in a straight line. I finished the purported 1/2 mile in 16:00, faster than most in my age group, however it was definately longer than 1/2 mile.
Bike:
I felt FAST. I was passing everyone! But I was in the last wave, and that's probably why. I did get passed by a couple in my age group, but I rode my race.
Average speed over ~20 miles: 21.7mph. This was a rolling course with a couple big hills. I'm not disappointed with my bike leg.
Run:
The 4 mile run was PAINFUL. About 1/4 mile from transition, we had to run up a huge hill. And really, there was very little flat on the run course altogether.
My personal record for running pace was done last year. It was a 3.1 mile (5km) course, and I ran 7:39min/mile. Here's what the elevation profile looked like:
(flat as hell, in other words)
My pace today was 7:42min/mile on this course.
This is Good!
I'm quite happy with my results given that I've ranked this a "C" race, so I should be in line to do well in the races I want to crush later this year. I've got 3 weeks of hard training to before the Heart of the Lakes, and I'm looking forward to mashing out some tough miles.
I placed 9/28 in my age group, and 60/296 men.
Funny Note: I was jousting with another guy in my age group in the last 200 meters. I thought I had him, but he closed a 10 meter gap at the last second and beat my by half a stride. We both finished in a total time of 1:45:02.
Despite a big lack of training due to my vacation, and a gastrocnemius cramp that had been lingering since a hard workout on Wednesday, staying out late the night before drinking beers at Brian's house, and a case of insomnia this past week, I had a pretty decent race.
Swim:
Ok, I haven't been swimming that much, and I've only been open water swimming once this summer, so I did have some diffuculty sighting and swimming in a straight line. I finished the purported 1/2 mile in 16:00, faster than most in my age group, however it was definately longer than 1/2 mile.
Bike:
I felt FAST. I was passing everyone! But I was in the last wave, and that's probably why. I did get passed by a couple in my age group, but I rode my race.
Average speed over ~20 miles: 21.7mph. This was a rolling course with a couple big hills. I'm not disappointed with my bike leg.
Run:
The 4 mile run was PAINFUL. About 1/4 mile from transition, we had to run up a huge hill. And really, there was very little flat on the run course altogether.
My personal record for running pace was done last year. It was a 3.1 mile (5km) course, and I ran 7:39min/mile. Here's what the elevation profile looked like:
(flat as hell, in other words)
My pace today was 7:42min/mile on this course.
This is Good!
I'm quite happy with my results given that I've ranked this a "C" race, so I should be in line to do well in the races I want to crush later this year. I've got 3 weeks of hard training to before the Heart of the Lakes, and I'm looking forward to mashing out some tough miles.
I placed 9/28 in my age group, and 60/296 men.
Funny Note: I was jousting with another guy in my age group in the last 200 meters. I thought I had him, but he closed a 10 meter gap at the last second and beat my by half a stride. We both finished in a total time of 1:45:02.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A new Obsession
Sunday was my first real Mountain Bike race, Erik's Spring Cup.
The race was to be 2 laps at Harmon Park in Inver Grove Heights. I signed up for "Citizen" which is basically the beginner class. (below Sport, Comp, and Expert) I did have the option for racing Citizen Clydesdale *for which, at 210lbs, I still meet weight requirements* :(, but I figured there'd only be one or two really heavy guys, and I wouldn't have any incentive to race hard. (To my surprise, the C-dale competition was fairly stiff)
There was a "prologue" which was basically a lap around the grassy open park area to spread everyone out before they dump you into the singletrack.
I was the second guy into the singletrack. I knew that I had to get up front early in order to compete in the front pack, and I was sucking wheel of the guy in first place. For most of the time, I was thinking, "I could pass this guy, but maybe I should sit back and see what happens," but this guy had some pretty poor cornering skills. I had 2 other guys right on my tail, and about halfway through the first lap, the lead guy bumped into a tree going into a wooded area after a short descent---I had my chance to pass him, but hesitated, and he got up & going. I'll chalk the fact that I didn't win the class to this rookie blunder.
I kept on his tail and decided to take my next chance to get around him. We wrapped through some more winding uphill/downhill, and started heading toward the last leg within the first lap. I knew there was a big rock up head of us on the trail, and I wasn't comfortable hitting it, and the lead guy went around it too. The 3rd & 4th place guys took it, and got around us. I was now in 4th, and they were pushing hard to get away from us. Now I really needed to get around this guy.
We wrapped around the last leg of the singletrack, and I lost hold of the new leaders, and the guy in front of me. I came through the lap gate, not paying much attention to anything but riding fast and catching up. I got back into the singletrack and after a couple well-executed tight turns, I was back in the mix. When things opened up, they were able to pull away from me, but when the track tightened up, I was there to reap their fear, riding up onto their tails. Finally we entered our last leg of the second lap, and I was right behind the 3rd place guy. There was a hairpin turn that transitions you to the last leg, and his bike flew out from under him. I hit the brakes, almost ran over him, dismounted and ran around him. I hopped on and was now pushing really hard to catch the leaders and distance myself from the guy behind me. A few more hairpin turns and some fast flowing singletrack with the adrenaline pumping, I did bump into a tree with a handlebar which caused me to put my feet down, but I kept going, and cranked up the last hill. I came out of the singletrack and put the hammer down for the last few tenths of a mile, the last turn was a tight sweep along a chainlink fence. I finished in 47:16, (a short race by my measure)11 seconds behind the wave winner.
There was a second wave with older people, women, c-dales, and singlespeeders a few minutes behind us. The fastest citizen time came from this wave; a guy from the 50+ age group....less than 1 minute ahead of me.
The Results
4th of 60+ citizen male riders
3rd in the 19-29 age group.
I got a medal for the 3rd place finish, but I was pretty pissed to see kids and the women on the podium getting free stuff (water bottles, cycling socks, jerseys, bike tools, etc) when I didn't get shit on the podium. I'd happily trade the bronze medal I got for some cassette & crank servicing tools.
I plan on doing at least 2 more MTB races this summer along with the 3 triathlons I'm signed up for.
Sidestory--I had my bike ready for the race in the nick of time--earlier in the week, I nearly destroyed it. On a practice run, I got an innocent stick jammed in my rear derailleur, yanking it off the frame and trashing the chain & some spokes in the process. Penn Cycle really did a good job getting my bike ready on time.
The race was to be 2 laps at Harmon Park in Inver Grove Heights. I signed up for "Citizen" which is basically the beginner class. (below Sport, Comp, and Expert) I did have the option for racing Citizen Clydesdale *for which, at 210lbs, I still meet weight requirements* :(, but I figured there'd only be one or two really heavy guys, and I wouldn't have any incentive to race hard. (To my surprise, the C-dale competition was fairly stiff)
There was a "prologue" which was basically a lap around the grassy open park area to spread everyone out before they dump you into the singletrack.
I was the second guy into the singletrack. I knew that I had to get up front early in order to compete in the front pack, and I was sucking wheel of the guy in first place. For most of the time, I was thinking, "I could pass this guy, but maybe I should sit back and see what happens," but this guy had some pretty poor cornering skills. I had 2 other guys right on my tail, and about halfway through the first lap, the lead guy bumped into a tree going into a wooded area after a short descent---I had my chance to pass him, but hesitated, and he got up & going. I'll chalk the fact that I didn't win the class to this rookie blunder.
I kept on his tail and decided to take my next chance to get around him. We wrapped through some more winding uphill/downhill, and started heading toward the last leg within the first lap. I knew there was a big rock up head of us on the trail, and I wasn't comfortable hitting it, and the lead guy went around it too. The 3rd & 4th place guys took it, and got around us. I was now in 4th, and they were pushing hard to get away from us. Now I really needed to get around this guy.
We wrapped around the last leg of the singletrack, and I lost hold of the new leaders, and the guy in front of me. I came through the lap gate, not paying much attention to anything but riding fast and catching up. I got back into the singletrack and after a couple well-executed tight turns, I was back in the mix. When things opened up, they were able to pull away from me, but when the track tightened up, I was there to reap their fear, riding up onto their tails. Finally we entered our last leg of the second lap, and I was right behind the 3rd place guy. There was a hairpin turn that transitions you to the last leg, and his bike flew out from under him. I hit the brakes, almost ran over him, dismounted and ran around him. I hopped on and was now pushing really hard to catch the leaders and distance myself from the guy behind me. A few more hairpin turns and some fast flowing singletrack with the adrenaline pumping, I did bump into a tree with a handlebar which caused me to put my feet down, but I kept going, and cranked up the last hill. I came out of the singletrack and put the hammer down for the last few tenths of a mile, the last turn was a tight sweep along a chainlink fence. I finished in 47:16, (a short race by my measure)11 seconds behind the wave winner.
There was a second wave with older people, women, c-dales, and singlespeeders a few minutes behind us. The fastest citizen time came from this wave; a guy from the 50+ age group....less than 1 minute ahead of me.
The Results
4th of 60+ citizen male riders
3rd in the 19-29 age group.
I got a medal for the 3rd place finish, but I was pretty pissed to see kids and the women on the podium getting free stuff (water bottles, cycling socks, jerseys, bike tools, etc) when I didn't get shit on the podium. I'd happily trade the bronze medal I got for some cassette & crank servicing tools.
I plan on doing at least 2 more MTB races this summer along with the 3 triathlons I'm signed up for.
Sidestory--I had my bike ready for the race in the nick of time--earlier in the week, I nearly destroyed it. On a practice run, I got an innocent stick jammed in my rear derailleur, yanking it off the frame and trashing the chain & some spokes in the process. Penn Cycle really did a good job getting my bike ready on time.
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