Another weekend, another new adventure.
Not only did Cam talk me into doing my first mountain bike race this weekend, he also gave me a guided tour of the course on Saturday afternoon, set me up on one of his old rides (and didn't get upset when I busted the saddle during the practice ride...), and patiently answered my questions and talked me through all my newbie nerves.
I think this was only the 6th or 7th time I've been on a mountain bike (at least riding trails - I don't think that my commuting to the ISU football tailgate on a mountain bike really counts as riding). Thankfully, this wasn't a terribly technical course . There wasn't really any singletrack to speak of - mostly some nice, wide snowmobile trails. But that meant that it would be a little faster course, and at some point, I guess you could say that fast becomes technical again.
I like to think I have a healthy respect for the damage that I could inflict on myself if I got out of control. I lean a little towards caution, but I still like the speed and being just on the edge of out of control. The hard part is finding the fine line between the two.
The venue was Lake Ahquabi State Park, just south of Indianola. The race started at noon on Sunday with Cam and the rest of the Experts, then the Sport Class at 12:05pm, and all five (three dudes and two gals) of us Beginners at 12:07pm. My goal was to survive our single round of the course and to not get lapped by Cam! My warm-up consisted of a few rounds of the last section of the course. It had me a bit nervous as it is a long-ish decent on a torn-up old asphalt road. I went to the line very excited, but not in the same pit-of-my-stomach nervous that I get before a triathlon, just thrilled to be trying something new!
My adrenaline was pumping hard as soon as we got started. I had no idea what to expect out of the "racing" part of the race. I'd seen the course, but not ever really raced a bike before! My heart was red-lined for the first 5-10 minutes with all the adrenaline, but things settled in nicely after that.
The guys in our class were basically out of sight (off the front end, obviously) right from the start, and I quickly dropped the other woman on the first hill. I raced alone for the first 8-10 minutes until I caught someone on one of the hills. And by "caught" I mean that we had both bailed out somewhere on the incline and I was hiking faster than he was. I passed him before we headed out on to the first bridge. At the time I thought he was in my class, but I think he was in the Sport Class, so I'm not sure what his story was... But, the bottom line is he got chicked by some newbie rider!
My HR was more under control and I was enjoying the whole experience by this time. I remembered that the second half was a little tougher than the first, so I just started diggin'. Eventually, I motored up behind another guy and made a clean pass - although I think this guy was hurtin' from an altercation with a tree. As I made my final turn back into the woods before the final decent, I was bummed that the race was nearly over. I was finally getting into the groove and that was it.
Not only did Cam talk me into doing my first mountain bike race this weekend, he also gave me a guided tour of the course on Saturday afternoon, set me up on one of his old rides (and didn't get upset when I busted the saddle during the practice ride...), and patiently answered my questions and talked me through all my newbie nerves.
I think this was only the 6th or 7th time I've been on a mountain bike (at least riding trails - I don't think that my commuting to the ISU football tailgate on a mountain bike really counts as riding). Thankfully, this wasn't a terribly technical course . There wasn't really any singletrack to speak of - mostly some nice, wide snowmobile trails. But that meant that it would be a little faster course, and at some point, I guess you could say that fast becomes technical again.
I like to think I have a healthy respect for the damage that I could inflict on myself if I got out of control. I lean a little towards caution, but I still like the speed and being just on the edge of out of control. The hard part is finding the fine line between the two.
The venue was Lake Ahquabi State Park, just south of Indianola. The race started at noon on Sunday with Cam and the rest of the Experts, then the Sport Class at 12:05pm, and all five (three dudes and two gals) of us Beginners at 12:07pm. My goal was to survive our single round of the course and to not get lapped by Cam! My warm-up consisted of a few rounds of the last section of the course. It had me a bit nervous as it is a long-ish decent on a torn-up old asphalt road. I went to the line very excited, but not in the same pit-of-my-stomach nervous that I get before a triathlon, just thrilled to be trying something new!
My adrenaline was pumping hard as soon as we got started. I had no idea what to expect out of the "racing" part of the race. I'd seen the course, but not ever really raced a bike before! My heart was red-lined for the first 5-10 minutes with all the adrenaline, but things settled in nicely after that.
The guys in our class were basically out of sight (off the front end, obviously) right from the start, and I quickly dropped the other woman on the first hill. I raced alone for the first 8-10 minutes until I caught someone on one of the hills. And by "caught" I mean that we had both bailed out somewhere on the incline and I was hiking faster than he was. I passed him before we headed out on to the first bridge. At the time I thought he was in my class, but I think he was in the Sport Class, so I'm not sure what his story was... But, the bottom line is he got chicked by some newbie rider!
My HR was more under control and I was enjoying the whole experience by this time. I remembered that the second half was a little tougher than the first, so I just started diggin'. Eventually, I motored up behind another guy and made a clean pass - although I think this guy was hurtin' from an altercation with a tree. As I made my final turn back into the woods before the final decent, I was bummed that the race was nearly over. I was finally getting into the groove and that was it.
I cleanly made it down the asphalt road and to the finish line. I even had time to get off the bike, grab a drink and enjoy a banana before Cam came sliding through at the end of his second lap (he lapped the other gal during that last decent). My goals were met, and I ended it with a huge grin on my face!
Final time was 36 and change, good enough to win the Women's Beginner class and take home a box of Clif Bars for the effort!
No comments:
Post a Comment