So, a bit has been going on. Lets roll back a little.
Bike racing:
Hermann Cross Under the Lights. Was a wash, literally. Everyone knows what happened, so I won't recap here since it has been talked about before. Super cool race, though, so hopefully it will happen next year and we will get to race a full race, not 2 laps.
Boss Cross 1 and 2. I went and raced both of these. Did not have a good ride, either day even though the course should have been good for me. Day 1 saw me line up at the very back since I was warming up and didn't realize that we were staging. The mens open was set to stary, then 30 seconds later the mens 2/3 race. Everyone was massed together, and I could not get out from behind the 2/3 field. So, I had to fight my way through when they started the open and was in last place. Large pileup in the first corner and I am trackstanding waiting for people to get up off the ground. bummer. I made up some places, but pretty much all motivation was shot at this point. My back started blowing up about half way through the race. Prolly should have pulled the plug. Day 2, race course was the same, but backwards. Tons of sand. Crappy start again, and immediate back pain. Another bad day, but I finished.
Looking at the above 2 races, I am not sure what went wrong. My fitness is good, blah blah blah. I guess the motivation was not there.
I raced the Show Me State/Midwest Fat Tire MTB race at Rock Bridge a couple of weeks ago, just for grins. I did about 3 hours of gravel the day before, so my expectations were pretty low going into the race. It was pretty cold, and I was concerned that I was too naked. Ah well. Lined up for the marathon race. 3+ hours of riding on a mix of dry dusty dirt, large rock, loose rock, with some climbing and a cold deep creek crossing thrown in. I decided to ride my full suspension since my back doesn't seem to like to be beaten for that long. I knew that I needed to get in the trail in the top 5 because the first sections are pretty technical and I figured that a split would happen right away and I didn't want to sit in traffic. So, no warmup, line up on the front, hit the gas. I got the hole shot and just kept the gas on. Finally looked back after a mile or so and I had Nate Means on my wheel. We rolled together until the creek crossing which I almost went over the bars on, and started the big climb. I pushed the pace a little and got a decent gap on Nate. Pretty much kept on the gas for the next few laps to build up my lead. Last lap I sat up a bit since I was feeling a little crampy, but it was all good. Ended up in first place in the marathon class and also had the fastest lap time of the day overall. Pretty happy with that for sure.
I've been switching between road, cx, and trails for riding...and its been pretty nice for sure. I can;t decide whether or not I am going to hop into any more CX races this season. I think I prolly will, though...even though I am starting to already look forward to next season.
Not a lot else, really.
