Sadly, another year of MTX has come to an end. I hate that because I really enjoy this format of racing. At least spring is around the corner (hopefully) and with the warmer weather and longer daylight comes more opportunity for riding and racing. You are probably asking yourself did you really have a race in all that rain? The answer is YES, we did!!! It was awesome too!!! Despite the 1.29" of rain Bedford got today, we were out there getting it done! The MTX format is unique in that it runs regardless of the weather, in other words POSTAL - what's the old addage, neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will keep.... wait, my mailman failed to deliver the mail several times last winter. So, I guess we're better than postal!
As with the two previous MTX races I participated in, I had to race for 51 minutes. My biggest concern today was how to stay dry. I can't honestly say that I've ever intentionally gone mountainbiking in the rain. Sure I've been caught out in a summer thunderstorm and I've ridden in snow or post snow, but intentionally gotten dressed and headed out, NOPE. Seems like a weekend of firsts huh? My first option was my rainsuit - the problem with it is that in order to have pants long enough, I had to upsize, so the jacket is huge. This would never do in a race. I found my cycling rain jacket which hadn't seen the light of day in forever (remember I don't usually go out in the rain on a bike). I decided if all else failed, I'd wear the rain pants and this jacket. As far as my head, I grabbed a polar fleece beanie as I figured it would soak up the rain before it got to my scalp; and my feet got to be warm and dry in my GoreTex winter boots. As I was getting ready to leave home, I remembered a pair of tights that I had ordered from Performance Bike. I had debated sending them back as they weren't quite what I thought when I ordered them. Were they waterproof? I grabbed them out of the drawer and looked at the hang tag. Sure enough!!! So I went ahead and wore them. Did it work? YES! I was dry for the most part of the race. Other than my face which was obviously exposed and my gloves which got soaked before we ever started I stayed dry.
The course was about 1.25mile. We started off in front of the old nursing home, went down the big hill which was comical as it was like a boat cutting through the water - immediate soaking of the face. There were two dips which today were small streams, splash splash. Across the bridge at the bottom of the hill, left turn onto the trail..uh, stream bed, uh yea. Even more fun. Slip, sliding. Across another bridge and up a long hill to the road back to the start. The single track was awesome. I did alright despite it's slickness. If one thing I've developed from this series in my 3 years of trying it it's bike handling skills. There were several times today where I thought I'd wreck, but I stayed upright. I think I rode up the hill the first lap and a little bit each of my other 6 laps. I lost my rear brakes about halfway through the race. I don't know if debris got in them or what, but by the end of the race, I could squeeze the brake lever all the way to the bars and still pedal. HMMMM. I was hesitant to use the front brakes much because of the conditions. At one point I was trying to adjust the rear brakes while pushing the bike up the big hill. I stopped at the top because the slightest tap of the lever would lock up the rear wheel. I found a compromise that would work and kept going.
A few times on the road back to the start/finish I used the big chain ring, but it was almost too cold to ride fast. It was funny toward the end because the rain stopped. I laughed at that. The temperature dropped during the race and by the end I was pretty chilly. I was happy with my effort today. I got in 7 laps and finished 7th out of the 11 people who were there today. I guess had I not missed a race, I would have been higher in the final standings, but we'll see where I end up when they are posted.
Hopefully I'll have a picture or two to share with you soon. You won't believe the mud. =)
I had thought about racing in Danville next Sunday, but I think I'll pass. Not quite ready for a long race yet. I'm planning to do the Bedford County Mountain Bike Championships so that means I'll have plenty more racing to do in Bedford County, plus I'm now pondering the Trail Nut 10k which is in May at Falling Creek Park. I guess I really like Bedford!!!
1 comment:
You are very brave. I'd have stayed home in bed!
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