Survived my first mountain bike race
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Survived my first mountain bike race
Saturday was my first mountain bike race, for some reason, I thought a six hour race would be fun in the tejas heat. On the drive out there the radio man said it was 102 headed for a high of 105. Perfect weather for a race that starts at 4:00 in the afternoon right? I got there with plenty of time to spare to get setup and find out the course layout. It was a 5.5 mile course that had us ending each lap at the camping/parking area so we could refill water, stop and rest and the teams could switch riders before heading through the checkpoint and back out on the course.
I was in the mens solo singlespeed category, but we had a mass start. It was tough dealing with traffic for the first half of a lap, but by then everyone had mostly thinned out. I felt pretty good at first, and my wife was waiting for me at the car everytime I came through. I would chug a gatorade and some water, eat a couple fig newtons, and get a fresh cold water bottle before heading back out. About the middle of lap three, I had dabbed my right foot when I got into a corner a little too fast and my calf cramped bad. I had to stop on the trail for a few minutes to get it stretched out, but kept on riding. I was drinking as much as I could, but guess I was still a little dehydrated. On my next trip through camp, I had the bright idea to stop at the showers and rinse off. That helped a lot. I was pretty steady up until the last two miles of my last lap, then my left calf started to cramp also. It wasn't too bad as long as I was clipped in to the pedals. I would get my left calf stretched out, then the right one would cramp and vice versa. On the last corner coming back to camp, I had to dap a foot again and both legs cramped up from top to bottom. I managed to get going again and make the checkpoint and call it a night at 9:49pm. Technically I could have started another lap, but I was pretty much spent.
I counted seven laps, but the women at the checkpoint must have missed me once, because they only had me downfor six. I'm not that worried about it, my goal going in was to do six laps, and I definately got that. I was third out of three in the singlespeed category, but we were all on the same lap, so I don't think I did too badly. The most done by anyone solo was 9, man that guy was a machine. The winning team got 10 laps.
Someone had a GPS log of the elvation of the race, so you can get an idea how the course was. That first mile and a half was a beating! That guy had done eight laps apparantly.
Sorry, no pictures, my computer at the house is down.
I was in the mens solo singlespeed category, but we had a mass start. It was tough dealing with traffic for the first half of a lap, but by then everyone had mostly thinned out. I felt pretty good at first, and my wife was waiting for me at the car everytime I came through. I would chug a gatorade and some water, eat a couple fig newtons, and get a fresh cold water bottle before heading back out. About the middle of lap three, I had dabbed my right foot when I got into a corner a little too fast and my calf cramped bad. I had to stop on the trail for a few minutes to get it stretched out, but kept on riding. I was drinking as much as I could, but guess I was still a little dehydrated. On my next trip through camp, I had the bright idea to stop at the showers and rinse off. That helped a lot. I was pretty steady up until the last two miles of my last lap, then my left calf started to cramp also. It wasn't too bad as long as I was clipped in to the pedals. I would get my left calf stretched out, then the right one would cramp and vice versa. On the last corner coming back to camp, I had to dap a foot again and both legs cramped up from top to bottom. I managed to get going again and make the checkpoint and call it a night at 9:49pm. Technically I could have started another lap, but I was pretty much spent.
I counted seven laps, but the women at the checkpoint must have missed me once, because they only had me downfor six. I'm not that worried about it, my goal going in was to do six laps, and I definately got that. I was third out of three in the singlespeed category, but we were all on the same lap, so I don't think I did too badly. The most done by anyone solo was 9, man that guy was a machine. The winning team got 10 laps.
Someone had a GPS log of the elvation of the race, so you can get an idea how the course was. That first mile and a half was a beating! That guy had done eight laps apparantly.
Sorry, no pictures, my computer at the house is down.
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Sounds like it was a "Death March", Bataan style.......my favorite kind of ride.
Good job!
Good job!
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. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant