I packed enough supplies to be able to race up to 7 laps, but my plan was to run a couple of laps and see how I felt. I knew I wouldn't be able hammer after yesterday's race, but I knew I could at least run endurance pace for a while.
By the 10:00am start time it was already starting to warm up nicely. I wasn't terribly excited about the LeMans start, so I just walked to my bike. I did do a cyclocross mount and still managed to get ahead of quite a few folks. I was definitely feeling the effects of yesterday's race though. Not knowing the trails, I decided to follow some other racers around for a while. It's not going well. I'm not smooth, and I'm struggling to ride some of the tight switch backs and rocky sections.
I decide to ride my own pace on lap #2 and things really pick up. The legs feel better and riding the rocks and switch backs is much better. By lap #3 I'm starting to get really dialed in on the descents. They are super fast with just enough turns, rocks, trees and switchbacks thrown in to keep you on your toes.
By this time my new plan was to do 5 laps, but having completed lap #3 in under 3 hours I decided to draw the line at 6 laps. The trail is super fun and the laps go by fast. By the time I get to lap 6, I'm pretty well fatigued. After climbing the last, long, straight climb it was a welcome sight to see the final, fast descent to the finish.
I finished at 5:12 while running 2nd in open men, however the 3rd place racer made the cut-off time to do a 7th lap. Which he did, overtaking me for 2nd. Still a nice, hard fought podium finish to cap off a great weekend of racing.
I have one more MTB race this year: The Shiner's Run Point to Point race on the trails at Kerr Scott Dam. Hard to believer the 2012 season has come and gone so rapidly. Up next: Cyclocross!
See you on the trails! ...though it may be on a CX bike.
No comments:
Post a Comment