Monday, June 09, 2008

Afton recap

What a great race yesterday. Good conditions, challenging course. It was nice to get back out on the dirt. It's kinda strange for me though. I used to know everyone, not personally but I knew all the faces and who the fast guys were. Not so much anymore. Does that make me a roadie? Or, the cringing that ensued after we hit the first section of mud. That has to make me a roadie.

Anyway, the race got under way and like last year I got hosed on the start. I was in 50th or worse position out of 69 riders. :( That's what you get I guess when you don't cheat and line up with the Experts. Douche move guilty parties. So after coming to a complete stop in the woods and chatting with people to pass the time we finally got moving again while the lead group was way up the trail. I have to admit it was nice just being there for the training and not really caring about my result. So after that we were single file for a while not really moving that fast. Then we got to Shady Lane. Not to toot my own horn but that's where I poured it on. I probably passed close to 20 riders. Then came the Man Handler. Dropped another 15-20 riders. I remember thinking that this was kinda fun. In truth I was excited that I hadn't paid for my effort up the first two climbs. I figured it would catch up to me real soon.

The second lap was just like the first except the passes where a little less frequent. On the third lap I was starting to feel it, starting to get caught. It didn't help that I had lost my second bottle on the 1st lap. :( I was starting to slow and my dreams of gaining on the leaders faded fast.

All in all I was stoked with how I rode. Hopefully I'll be more prepared for Stillwater on Sunday, maybe even turn the proverbial corner. We'll see.

1 comment:

Adam said...

How many laps did you race? 3?
Sounds like a great race. Glad you made it out and didn't wipe out. I'd hate to be somewhat responsible for hurting your road career...

Nice work though. Sorry Trace wasn't there for your water handuo.