Last Sunday I did my first race in 4 years. I can't believe it has been that long. Before that race it was about a year. Why so little racing you ask? Kids! Once we had Luke the weekends changed and the priority was the family. Now that the kids are a little older, they enjoy seeing daddy hurt himself in a race. I also think it is good for them to see their parents challenging themselves with something physical. It will just be common for them to workout or do something outdoors.
I did race at Iron Hill(part of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series) in the past. The course was basically the same as before. Not overly tech singletrack with many ups and downs. Their is one longish downhill and one longish climb. The loop is 6 miles and had some very steep short climbing sections. Overall a very fun race loop!
Lets talk bike set up. When I raced pre-kids I was sponsored by a local shop and had a super sweet 26in. wheeled Indy Fab. That bike is still in the stable but, does not see much action. Basically 29in. wheels are just better! Now that I have kids I could not afford to get a high end 29er. Like many people I ended up with a Gary Fisher Rig. Cheap, solid, fun, and reasonable to race. I have ridden the the Rig for almost 2 years and have really grown to like the bike although it has its limitations. The biggest problem from a XC race stand point is the weight. With the rigid fork on it weights 24.5lbs. Not bad not great. My gear (34x18) was to big for the course although I did not realize this until in the race! Going into this race I had never raced a singlespeed or 29in. wheels!
Going on past glory and how I did on some training rides with certain people I entered the Open Singlespeed group for the race. This means 17 super fast guys and all of them train more then me. My mind set for this race was to try to get a good start and not go to hard on the first lap, then depending how I feel go from there. The start went well. Top five going into the woods! Then I got to that time about 10 minutes into the race that is just really hard. You know the anerobic part. I forgot how bad that can feel. After the group got organized in the woods I was in the top 7 feeling pretty good. Lap 1 in the books. On the second lap I settled in to my pace and felt good. This is also when I realized 2 things. One, I was not as fast as the fastest guys in the group. Two, 34x18 was to big for the short attaks I needed to make. On lap three I got some confidence due to passing many geared riders and two singlespeeders. 4th lap I felt strong and was able to ride all the hardest sections just like I did on the first lap! Lap times for the race were consistant!
One area I know I did a better job now as apposed to pre-kid racing is nutrition. Three bottles of water or propel and 3 gels did the trick. I would have liked one more gel. That would have been perfect!
Ended up in 5th place out of 17. Not bad for the situation. Next race could be on June 20th. I hope the weather is good I love the course. The pictures were taken by Becki. You can tell it has been a while since she took race photos. I am easy to pick out. Green shirt no sponsors!
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