BluesDawg

I am now 1/3 of the way toward realizing my goal of entering and finishing 6 XC MTB races.

Today's race was at Heritage Park near Athens, GA. We had very hard rain last night with light showeres continuing through the morning. I was afraid that the course would be muddy, slick and awful. To my surprise it was in great shape. The only problem was some of the roots on the trail were a little slick, requiring extra care not to slide and fall, especially on some of the twisty downhill sections. But I managed to complete the two 6 mile laps without a fall and only a couple of real scares. Temps in the low 50s and winds gusting to 25mph made standing around the start area miserable, but out in the woods on the course it was a non-factor.

I felt good about my race. I met my goal of finishing and not being last. I didn't stick around to see the results posted, but I think I was again about 20th of 25 with 2 DNFs. My only dabs on the first lap were caused by other riders stoppping or falling ahead of me in some tricky sections. I cleaned the second lap without dabbing. That was a real accomplishment as there were a few technical sections that gave me trouble when I prerode the trails last weekend. My biggest problem remains being slowed and winded by hauling my 200lbs up the hills. I recover fairly quickly, but I need to keep working on keeping my output level going when I'm tired and hurting.

The next race is in 2 weeks at Ft. Yargo, a course with more of a rolling profile that favors power generation over climbing. Maybe I'll be able to get ahead of a few more of those skinny younguns. My wife didn't go this time so I don't have pictures.