Back in the saddle
Whew. What a holiday weekend.
I've not been getting out on the bike as I would like lately. I changed that this weekend.
Saturday was the Stoney Creek Marathon. As I said before I was really looking forward to this race. The course seemed like a lot of fun, and I was anxious to get my first XC race in on the year!
Well, the course was brutal, as was the heat. I still had a lot of fun, but, whew.. I got my butt kicked. For the record, saving 2 lbs by taking the suspension fork off..... NOT a good idea.. .=] My upper body was so beat up after the first couple laps. The susp. fork would have made those last coupld laps sooooo much more pleasant.
I executed my race plan to a T... for the first lap, anyway. I went out hard, and soon found myself in line with Andy B, Jay Jones, and a couple other expert SSer's. We kept a good pace through the pines, after which I decided to let them go, knowing that I couldn't maintain that pace for another 5, let alone 35 miles.
I never did see another single speeder. I passed a few expert riders, got passed by a few sport riders, but held my place throughout the rest of the race to hold on to 2nd in sport SS. A finish I'm pretty happy with, but I would like to have been a little more competative.
On Sunday I attended the Moss' excellent 4th of July bash. Much fun was had by all. I'm pretty sure I broke my big toe playing volley ball. Whatever, as long as it still fits in my bike shoe I'm good.. ;)
Tuesday brought the 3rd annual Brighton Brushbuster, led by CycloDan. What a ride this is every year. The pace is billed as being "spirited at times", and boy is it. Gearing for this ride was tough, knowing that the Torn Shirt loop waited at the end of theday. Too high a gear and I would be hating life when we got back to Brighton rec area, but too low I I'd be hating life the rest of the day on the roads. I stuck with my 36x17. I spun out a lot on the roads, but when I could I'd tuck into the paceline and let the draft pull me along. I think next year I will go with a higher gear, though, and just suck it up and walk a few climbs on Torn Shirt.
21 riders started the BB, and 9 finished. Many ran out of time, and some ran out of gas. Those who stayed got over the 100km goal for the day. We were rewarded with a refreshing dip in the lake. As far as I know, family holiday obligations superceded any post ride margaritas this time =[ I'm already looking forward to the 4th Annual Brushbuster. Start planning, Dan!
I've not been getting out on the bike as I would like lately. I changed that this weekend.
Saturday was the Stoney Creek Marathon. As I said before I was really looking forward to this race. The course seemed like a lot of fun, and I was anxious to get my first XC race in on the year!
Well, the course was brutal, as was the heat. I still had a lot of fun, but, whew.. I got my butt kicked. For the record, saving 2 lbs by taking the suspension fork off..... NOT a good idea.. .=] My upper body was so beat up after the first couple laps. The susp. fork would have made those last coupld laps sooooo much more pleasant.
I executed my race plan to a T... for the first lap, anyway. I went out hard, and soon found myself in line with Andy B, Jay Jones, and a couple other expert SSer's. We kept a good pace through the pines, after which I decided to let them go, knowing that I couldn't maintain that pace for another 5, let alone 35 miles.
I never did see another single speeder. I passed a few expert riders, got passed by a few sport riders, but held my place throughout the rest of the race to hold on to 2nd in sport SS. A finish I'm pretty happy with, but I would like to have been a little more competative.
On Sunday I attended the Moss' excellent 4th of July bash. Much fun was had by all. I'm pretty sure I broke my big toe playing volley ball. Whatever, as long as it still fits in my bike shoe I'm good.. ;)
Tuesday brought the 3rd annual Brighton Brushbuster, led by CycloDan. What a ride this is every year. The pace is billed as being "spirited at times", and boy is it. Gearing for this ride was tough, knowing that the Torn Shirt loop waited at the end of theday. Too high a gear and I would be hating life when we got back to Brighton rec area, but too low I I'd be hating life the rest of the day on the roads. I stuck with my 36x17. I spun out a lot on the roads, but when I could I'd tuck into the paceline and let the draft pull me along. I think next year I will go with a higher gear, though, and just suck it up and walk a few climbs on Torn Shirt.
21 riders started the BB, and 9 finished. Many ran out of time, and some ran out of gas. Those who stayed got over the 100km goal for the day. We were rewarded with a refreshing dip in the lake. As far as I know, family holiday obligations superceded any post ride margaritas this time =[ I'm already looking forward to the 4th Annual Brushbuster. Start planning, Dan!
Labels: Racing
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