Today was the first MTB race of the season down in Macon on a course known for being a bit of a beast. While not a particularly difficult course in terms of its physical demands it has lots of sand in the corners and it punishes every little mistake by scratching at your skin with thorns, throwing fallen branches into your rear wheel spokes and pushing you into small trees. Add to that the central Georgia heat and humidity along with 4 medium length, moderately steep climbs in the last two miles of each six mile lap and you have a powerfully difficult race made all the more difficult by the largest field of the day full of riders amped to rip off the start line for a new season of racing. When I moved into the 40-49 year old Sport class I thought I'd be hanging with a few laid back guys with cool stories. What we had was more than 40 guys with sinewly looking legs and hungry faces ready to rumble.I got my usual crappy start and ended up in a lot of traffic which is always annoying because all it takes is one guy to miss a shift on a climb and we're all walking. That happened early in the first lap and then I dropped my chain at the bottom of the hardest climb on the course and got passed by about everyone who had been behind me. Still I hung in there and ended up making up a lot of ground pretty quickly. My first lap time wasn't too good but I made up huge time on my second lap where I was just cruising. The whole first lap my body felt like it was behind the curve but by lap two everything seemed to be dailed in and physically I was clicking on all cylinders. My knowledge of the course was really helpful and I found out that I seem to have figured out how to corner through technical conditions somehow in the last 16 months of almost no real riding. My third lap time was about as bad as my first lap time but the heat was getting to me pretty badly and I was racing a bit more conservatively as the course began to deteriorate under the pounding of hundreds of laps being ridden on a hot, dry day. I was poised for a possible top five even given my mechanical troubles when I dropped my chain again and got passed by three guys. I only caught one of them and ended up finishing eighth. Still though I avoided crashing and made some strong moves when I needed too.
Actually, I was really pleased with the result as I was hoping to finish in the top third of the field and I beat that mark pretty handily. Had it not been for myriad of mechanical issues including the dropped chain issue, crappy shifting and, as I discovered at the end of the race, a badly rubbing rear brake pad I feel like a top five finish was well within my grasp; something I haven't felt like in a mountian bike race in almost two years. I feel like I can compete in the series and today's result seems to comfirm that. I have about eight more races to go and I get stronger as we move into the summer so this is a good start. I still need to improve on some things including losing a little weight and being able to maintain my output for a full ninety minutes but I can do those. I have to sort out the mechnical issues and get them solved with the bike shop to become really competitive but I have every confidence that I can do that.
The next race in the series is May 7th on my home course at Dauset Trails which should give me a lot of time to prepare and to learn every turn, rock and root. I have five weeks to train, improve my fitness level and drop about ten pounds. If they run us over Huff 'n Puff I'll need to make sure I can handle the "ledges" at race pace and can climb in strong form. Another top ten there would put me in a good position coming into the summer and the brutal racing that comes with the heat. In the past it seems like the heat doesn't affect me as much as some of the other racers so those races are generally ones I do well in. Of course, all of this is counting chicken before the eggs are even laid so I'd best focus on what I can do in the next several weeks: watch my diet, train and practice my skillz.
Thanks for Reading.
