Smithville, TX 11/09/2008. This mountain bike race was only special because it was attended by none other than Lance Armstrong himself. I did not get to race against him, but I thought it was cool anyway.
As far as races go, it was another poor showing for me. The heat I was in had 40 people in it at the start, so I needed to be fast out of the gate if I wanted to finish well. I made a critical mistake by starting out in to high of a gear. So everyone pulled away as I struggled to get up to speed, putting me behind some very weak riders. To make matters worse, this course started with some pretty strenuous climbing, which would not be a problem for me, except all the people walking their bikes up the hills.
Once I was at the top, there was a bomber downhill, and another big climb riddled with more bike walkers. After this, I found myself alone in the woods, as all the better riders that had good starts were able to put some distance on me. After a few lonely miles, I caught some riders that made this a race.
Actually, a rider caught me towards the end of the race, so I had a good battle to retake my spot. One of the things that made this battle interesting is that while I was trying to take my position, a kid from the kids race ended up between us in the single track. I found this very frustrating, and is one of the reasons I will be moving from Cat 3 to Cat 2 next season, even though I'm not sure I'm ready.
Any way, I got past the kid, but not without rubbing his tire. Now before you accuse me of intimidating a twelve year old kid, this happened on accident. I would never do that on purpose to a kid.
Once I got around the kid, I shifted into the big ring for the last climb, because the race ended in a huge downhill sprint. As it turns out, I reclaimed my position right at the finish line. Even though, it was only 19th place.
As a side note, since there were 40 people in my heat for this race, and none of them could ride a mountain bike very well, and having kids on the course during the race, I have decided to cat up to Category 2. I had always envisioned winning a bunch of races, and being forced to cat up, but instead I'm moving up without fanfare because of snot-nosed kids. Maybe I'm just a better racer in my own mind
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
BTU Power Pedal
Bryan, TX 10/12/2008. Well, what can I say. This was one of those races where I found myself wondering why I'm doing this. As it turns out, these are the kinds of thoughts that you have when you are in the trough of the over-training curve.
The weekend was going great up to the race. Tim picked me up early Saturday morning at the house, and we drove to Academy Sports where we met with Rick, Jim, and Drew. From there we headed to Bryan.
Once in Bryan we unloaded the bikes, and completed a nice pre-ride of the course. After that we set up the team area, checked into our hotel, and went out for dinner.
Everything leading up to the race was going well too. At the gun I had a great start, and hit the single track in 6th place. After getting slowed up in some turns by a slower rider, we hit a jeep road, and I was able to pass. I could see the lead group of four up ahead riding in a pace line, so I put the pedal to the metal to try and chase them down. As I was gunning for them, I was not making to much ground, and I could hear someone closing in on me fast from behind. Tim rocketed past me like I was not even moving. He was actually able to catch the lead group before hitting the single track again, and the guy that was slow in the twisties passed me to get into the next twistie single track. So I was behind a bum once again.
It did not take long for me riding on this guys wheel to get around him again, but since I was over-trained my mind was wondering, and I could not concentrate well on what I was doing. I ended up sliding going into a corner and two guys got by me. This was just a small set back, and I was not to concerned. I settled back in and caught one guy pretty quickly, and the second was within sight.
This is a good time to stop and let you in on what some of the symptoms of over training are. First, your legs go dead, and you feel like your 300lbs heavier than normal while pedaling your bike. Second, you loose enthusiasm over riding and exercise in general. Lastly, you become so fatigued that you begin to loose concentration on what you are doing. It is almost like bonking.
I was riding down a stretch of single track where I could get a good look at who was behind me, and I was trying to look for some friends when I wandered off the single track, and a bush reached out and tore me off my bike. Now this was not a small crash. I landed on my shoulder and went skidding down the trail. When I hit the ground, the wind was knocked out of me. When I came to a stop, I looked and saw that my bike was not on the trail, so I just laid there to catch my breath. I'm not sure how many people went by me, but I sure got a lot of comments from other riders surprised to see my lying on the side of the trail in such an easily ridable section.
Eventually, I got back on the bike and did a quick recovery spin. I was very frustrated, but at the feed zone Rick, Jim, and Drew were there to cheer me on. Which actually did make me feel a great deal better, until I crashed head-on into a tree.
I did work my way back to 16th place which was a disappointment, but what was most important is the life lessons I learned from the weekend. Sometimes, it is not only a good idea to take a few days off to rest, but it is probably recommended. Finally, any race is fun as long as you have positive people there to share it with you.
The weekend was going great up to the race. Tim picked me up early Saturday morning at the house, and we drove to Academy Sports where we met with Rick, Jim, and Drew. From there we headed to Bryan.
Once in Bryan we unloaded the bikes, and completed a nice pre-ride of the course. After that we set up the team area, checked into our hotel, and went out for dinner.
Everything leading up to the race was going well too. At the gun I had a great start, and hit the single track in 6th place. After getting slowed up in some turns by a slower rider, we hit a jeep road, and I was able to pass. I could see the lead group of four up ahead riding in a pace line, so I put the pedal to the metal to try and chase them down. As I was gunning for them, I was not making to much ground, and I could hear someone closing in on me fast from behind. Tim rocketed past me like I was not even moving. He was actually able to catch the lead group before hitting the single track again, and the guy that was slow in the twisties passed me to get into the next twistie single track. So I was behind a bum once again.
It did not take long for me riding on this guys wheel to get around him again, but since I was over-trained my mind was wondering, and I could not concentrate well on what I was doing. I ended up sliding going into a corner and two guys got by me. This was just a small set back, and I was not to concerned. I settled back in and caught one guy pretty quickly, and the second was within sight.
This is a good time to stop and let you in on what some of the symptoms of over training are. First, your legs go dead, and you feel like your 300lbs heavier than normal while pedaling your bike. Second, you loose enthusiasm over riding and exercise in general. Lastly, you become so fatigued that you begin to loose concentration on what you are doing. It is almost like bonking.
I was riding down a stretch of single track where I could get a good look at who was behind me, and I was trying to look for some friends when I wandered off the single track, and a bush reached out and tore me off my bike. Now this was not a small crash. I landed on my shoulder and went skidding down the trail. When I hit the ground, the wind was knocked out of me. When I came to a stop, I looked and saw that my bike was not on the trail, so I just laid there to catch my breath. I'm not sure how many people went by me, but I sure got a lot of comments from other riders surprised to see my lying on the side of the trail in such an easily ridable section.
Eventually, I got back on the bike and did a quick recovery spin. I was very frustrated, but at the feed zone Rick, Jim, and Drew were there to cheer me on. Which actually did make me feel a great deal better, until I crashed head-on into a tree.
I did work my way back to 16th place which was a disappointment, but what was most important is the life lessons I learned from the weekend. Sometimes, it is not only a good idea to take a few days off to rest, but it is probably recommended. Finally, any race is fun as long as you have positive people there to share it with you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
