I had good-not-great-races both days. On Saturday, I was able to overcome a near last row call up and make it up to about 8th wheel by the first corner. Sweet. I battled in a group for a bit that was dangling off of first place, but got spit out the back after about 2 laps and rode solo the rest of the race. Ugh. Tough place to be on a windy day. Watching the 3 ahead of you work together and feeling the group of 4 behind you working together to catch you is rather unsettling. The course was full of flat to slightly uphill sections of grass and wasn't very technical, just climby.
I put my mtb skills to work and rode the run up that consisted of a super-steep pitch with 3 log steps to climb up and over, making up valuable time. I managed to burp a rear tire on one of the 3 rocks on the entire course while flying downhill. My bad-total pilot error. I had to ride a lap with 12 psi in the rear, loosing that recently gained valuable time, hampering my chasing efforts. You just can't rail a corner with low pressure squirming under you. However, I got to practice a trip to the pits for bike change. With Nate's help it went off flawlessly. Rode a lap on the B bike and pulled into the finish solo for 5th place.
Sunday's race was a totally different story. It rained lightly all night and we woke up to pouring rain in the a.m. I was psyched. I'm not particularly good at riding in mud as western mtb conditions typically provide dry, dusty trail conditions. However, I dig it because mud evens the playing field and really is just a heck of a lot more fun than fast grass. Sunday's course also had a lot of climbing but the mud and slick grass made for a totally different ride.
I got a second row call up and blew it. I had a terrible start, dug myself in a deep hole early and had to chase the entire first lap. My brain just didn't register that a race was going on. I crawled back up slowly passing people and then battled for 4th for a while. I made up time in the corners and technical sections and lost time on the long, sustained slight uphills on the grass. Seems my weaknesses in mountain biking are carrying into my cross season...Rebecca Wellons threw down some impressive power and shed me with a about a lap and a half to go. I rode in solo and had to settle for another 5th place. However, my efforts gave me the very valuable UCI points I was looking for! This is especially important for my next 2 race weekends, Gloucester and Providence.
Today we're heading off to a friend's place in Martha's Vineyard for a few days of sailing, paddle boarding and burning through all the good books I don't get to read while I am buried in graduate work.
1 comment:
Great job and great pics! How many total racers did the race draw? Just curious what the scene is like there.
Our course is looking rad...SO much better than last year.
Post a Comment