Finished 14th in my class. VERY happy with that given I thought I’d barely survived because I basically started my offseason prior to this race. I wasn’t really training anymore. Also, the trail was snow and ice and I was running Renegade tires, which don’t work good in dusty conditions, so snow is horrid. I did have one bad fall that left a huge bruise on right hip. Just cruising along on the ice and next thing you know I’m sliding on my side. My right arm was trapped behind me so I had nothing to protect my face. I stopped within inches of a tree trunk. It did turn my handle bars a bit, which I had to correct. Cost me about 90 seconds so I had to go on the attack to re-gain my position.
The wave starts were based on your time the previous year. No longer separated by age/category. You’re still ranked at finish that way, but not at start. I think this is the reason I finished so much higher than I thought I would. Everybody was going the same pace. It did cause some bottlenecks but not nearly as bad as previous years. At least not for me, but I was wave 6, so relatively close to the front.
Now it’s off-season until December 6. Two weeks….WTF.
I like the first picture because it shows perfect form. Weight centered, feet flat, head up and two fingers on brakes. Of course if I even tap the breaks I’m eating snow. The second shows attack. I started with the guy in front of me. We must have passed each other a dozen times during the race. Never saw the kid in blue again. The bottom two are finishing photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment