Ka_Jun

Participated in a race in the local series on Sunday, stuff just wasn't hitting and I probably should have waved it off. I didn't. Felt vaguely ill from the cold that my wife and kids have, pushed it. Conditions were rough, the race organizer noted at the start line that someone who was a points leader wasn't racing that day because he had come out the day before to practice and broke a rib. Rained that morning, so the rock gardens were slick, not to mention covered up by wet leaves. I started okay, got passed by some folks on the initial climb, passed them on a descent, hit the singletrack, and then the s**t started. Crashed once after taking a bad line, looked at my heart rate monitor, saw I had hit 170bpm, tried to pull it back, ended up puking, then got lazy in a rock garden, ate it and my head snapped into a rock. Neck and shoulders are sore, feels kinda like when I got rear ended in the car. After that, as I was on the ground, some other racers checked on me, and I said to myself, "On that note, I'm out for today." On the way out, I ran into two other guys who were bailing as well. One who broke a chain, another who bent his rim and waved the rest of the race off.

Ah well.

dminor 

Sorry to hear. Hey, we all have had those race days, I'm sure. Doesn't suck any less but now that you've had the low, the next one will be better.

craigcraigcraig

atleast you were out there! I am hoping to do my first race pretty soon.

Ka_Jun

Thanks, ^don't let my bad run influence you, some days you're the man, some days, you get your ass handed to you.

dminor 

That is exactly the phrase I used to characterize my results at Crankworx this year .

craigcraigcraig

oh i won't i have the immune system of a god and live in texas, the cold doesn't really happen.

Ka_Jun

Ive been saying that more than less, lately. You got race pics?

dminor 

I wish I did. There were photogs around the courses shooting but I have not seen any sets with me in them. And there was no 'official' contract photographer like there are for other big events like Sea Otter .

craigcraigcraig

what were you wearing? and using the white transition??

dminor 

Most of the time just like this except sometimes with a gray Transition jersey.

craigcraigcraig

https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/3856931/ maybe??

dminor 

I had to look twice. Not me; looks like he's on an Intense Socom. BTW, I was bib #695 if you run across any other collections. Thanks for the link.

P.S. - - sorry for hijacking the thread Ka_Jun.

Ka_Jun

*shrug* this is bike forums, if your thread hasn't been hijacked by post 5, it's an off day. Here are the sets from our local race, for fun.

This is the whole series

https://monthofmud.smugmug.com/

craigcraigcraig

which race were you entered in ka jun?? edit: i think i found and that place looks crazy slippery with all the moss and leaves, wow. beautiful scenery though.

Ka_Jun

I had planned to do the whole series, got laid off, though, so that put the kibosh on racing the whole thing. I raced at Moraine State Park, yeah, beautiful. Moss + wet leaves on top of wet granite rock garden. My neck and back still hurt. No guts, no glory, though. Then again, can't say that nursing my wounds after DNF is glory.

craigcraigcraig

haha but you got the guts down, glory only comes next.

Business810

I've been meaning to try riding up at Moraine, and those picture seal the deal. I'll try to pick a day when it's not quite as wet.

Ka Jun, are there any other XC races around the 'burgh worth checking out? I'm pretty much a hack skill-wise, but I hope to change that with a lot of riding over the winter.

Ka_Jun

I'm a hack, too, so you're talking to the right guy. I know that there are some races in WV and that at least a couple of them had scheduling conflicts over MOM. Moraine is great riding, don't go alone, though. I'm sure you read about the guy at Brady's Run, horrible stuff.

Business810

Yeah, I heard about that on Bike Pgh - scary indeed. I definitely will try to check out Moraine sometime, though.