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| Pre-race "Happy" picture. |
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| On the Grid!! Ready to Go!! |
And now, the real work begins...
Well, let's just say that I have a lot of work to do before next years race! It was a pretty abysmal finish to what I though was going to be a much better race than last time. Although I was NOT dead last, it wasn't far behind me. I finished with a time of 3:57:37. Yep you read that right, almost 4 hours to go 16 miles. But out of that 4 hours was about an hour and a half of rest stops. My actual moving time was 2:39:49. If that would have been my race time, I'd have been ecstatic!! There were, however, 2 other guys that finished behind me at just over 4 hours each. I didn't fail to finish, I just had my expectations a little too high. I'm still struggling with my hill climbing on the dirt. I can't seem to find a cadence and speed that gets me to the top of the hill that won't burn out my lungs and legs. I have to maintain a minimum of at least 7 mph or I fall over. But the best speed I can maintain for the distance and elevation is 5 mph. See the problem? I think where I need to start, is learning how to ride sloooooowwwww. I need to build up my core so I have the balance to stay up at lower speeds. I have plenty of gear left on the bike, just not enough leg or lungs to maintain a higher cadence. The trail itself was not overly technical, no big ass boulders to climb over, no tree roots to avoid. it did have some really tight single track sections and a couple of really scary descents, with a few jaw dropping cliff-side trails that one wrong move would definitely ruin your weekend. But the hill climbing is what took it's toll on me. Every race is a learning experience, the lesson here is climb slow to climb fast and don't underestimate the trail!! What I'm taking with me from this experience is that I didn't die, didn't get seriously injured (although I took a little spill near the end of the race.), the bike came home in one piece and I did have some fun!! I WILL be back!! Hopefully a little stronger, better trained, and hungry!!
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| "Charging" to the finish!! |
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| Post-race "Happy it's over" picture. |
It is a great starting point. If you perfected it the first time out you wouldn't have anything to strive for! You are doing great. I think it is great you don't give up. Keep up the awesome work!!
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