This weekend several of the southeast colleges came to our little town to race at ETSU. The ETSU guys were very nice and let a few of us non-college kids join in the festivities. Wilson, Lees McRae, Florida State, Florida, UNC Asheville, Brevard College and several more were on hand. Saturday Angie and I got up early to watch the short track and downhill. I like the wide open-ness of short track! You start and pin it for 30 min plus two laps in the "A" class. Lactic acid threshold the whole time.....NO REST. After the A's were finished the top 10 places had Lees McRae taking 8 of those first ten spots,they came with their A game son!!
The downhill was very entertaining. Several crashes in the inexperienced B & C classes , no one was hurt except maybe a pride or two.
Today (Sunday) I got my turn to mix it up with them in the XC. I was racing in the B class and Wes and Eric raced the A class. I'm no where fast enough to be racing those A's. I lined up with the B's and they got us started. I lagged back due the knowledge I have of my home track...lol. I just pedaled at a casual pace knowing that the log jam I would encounter entering the first single track part. As I was ascending up the small field there they were standing waiting to get their turn to enter. Just as I reached them the last rider mounted and in the woods we went. Ha ha, all that eager energy wasted getting up there by everyone. The next problem I would encounter was BEES, yes BEES! At the top near the radio station someone had stirred up alot of bees and I mean alot of bees. I got popped twice going through there. I think almost everyone got stung in the group I was with. My left thigh was on fire now from the two stings. Before I got around to the 4X course I had passed alot of riders. I just set a hard pace for myself and trudged onward and upward. I hooked up with some kid from ETSU and rode a pretty fast pace. He started to tire on lap 2 and I went around him. Back to the bee spot, I knew where they were this time so I hammered through the section almost wrecking. I seen them swarming near a huge stump, I tucked my head and rode through them! I dreaded it.....I felt them hitting me like a bug on a windshield. I made it through sting free though....awesome! Onward....I kept catching riders and passing them. Before I knew it I was passing A riders, the way I knew was the # plates they had were yellow and we B's were blue. My slowest lap was number two. After completeing lap 2 I started pinning it on all the climbs, my legs were on fire at the tops, this was my final lap, time to go and go hard. I came by the pits and got another bottle from Austin and was wanting it to be over. My legs were burning bad but I kept stroking the pedals. I got to the bees again and this lap they were not swarming around but I still high-tailed it through...... no stings, yeah! A couple of the leaders passed me (lapped me) and that ETSU rider must have hung on those dudes wheels 'cause he caught me and passed me back, grrrrr. I tried to hang with him but my legs just wouldn't let me reel him in even though I picked my pace up even more. Several spots on the course I could see him but when I would attack he would counter. I never made it back to him and I wasn't that far behind. I got to lap a few more riders before I got back around and I finished with what I thought was a descent strong quarter-mile sprint to the finish line. Man I'm glad thats over I thought to myself. I had another lap in me but I didn't want anymore. I'm glad they changed their minds to only let the A's do 4, the B's 3 and the C's do 2 laps. The original plan was to do one more lap per class, I came with the mindset to race 4 but I'm not disappointed that we only did 3...lol. My first lap was (by my garmin's calculations) 30:21. My second lap (which I mistakenly thought was my fastest) was 32:19. My last lap was a 30:41. That felt really good after I recovered. I'm 43 and it's nice to know that an ole kinda-outta shape trucker can hang with those young kiddos. I'm pleased with my efforts.....PEACE OUT!!
Later G ..........................................................................
The downhill was very entertaining. Several crashes in the inexperienced B & C classes , no one was hurt except maybe a pride or two.
Today (Sunday) I got my turn to mix it up with them in the XC. I was racing in the B class and Wes and Eric raced the A class. I'm no where fast enough to be racing those A's. I lined up with the B's and they got us started. I lagged back due the knowledge I have of my home track...lol. I just pedaled at a casual pace knowing that the log jam I would encounter entering the first single track part. As I was ascending up the small field there they were standing waiting to get their turn to enter. Just as I reached them the last rider mounted and in the woods we went. Ha ha, all that eager energy wasted getting up there by everyone. The next problem I would encounter was BEES, yes BEES! At the top near the radio station someone had stirred up alot of bees and I mean alot of bees. I got popped twice going through there. I think almost everyone got stung in the group I was with. My left thigh was on fire now from the two stings. Before I got around to the 4X course I had passed alot of riders. I just set a hard pace for myself and trudged onward and upward. I hooked up with some kid from ETSU and rode a pretty fast pace. He started to tire on lap 2 and I went around him. Back to the bee spot, I knew where they were this time so I hammered through the section almost wrecking. I seen them swarming near a huge stump, I tucked my head and rode through them! I dreaded it.....I felt them hitting me like a bug on a windshield. I made it through sting free though....awesome! Onward....I kept catching riders and passing them. Before I knew it I was passing A riders, the way I knew was the # plates they had were yellow and we B's were blue. My slowest lap was number two. After completeing lap 2 I started pinning it on all the climbs, my legs were on fire at the tops, this was my final lap, time to go and go hard. I came by the pits and got another bottle from Austin and was wanting it to be over. My legs were burning bad but I kept stroking the pedals. I got to the bees again and this lap they were not swarming around but I still high-tailed it through...... no stings, yeah! A couple of the leaders passed me (lapped me) and that ETSU rider must have hung on those dudes wheels 'cause he caught me and passed me back, grrrrr. I tried to hang with him but my legs just wouldn't let me reel him in even though I picked my pace up even more. Several spots on the course I could see him but when I would attack he would counter. I never made it back to him and I wasn't that far behind. I got to lap a few more riders before I got back around and I finished with what I thought was a descent strong quarter-mile sprint to the finish line. Man I'm glad thats over I thought to myself. I had another lap in me but I didn't want anymore. I'm glad they changed their minds to only let the A's do 4, the B's 3 and the C's do 2 laps. The original plan was to do one more lap per class, I came with the mindset to race 4 but I'm not disappointed that we only did 3...lol. My first lap was (by my garmin's calculations) 30:21. My second lap (which I mistakenly thought was my fastest) was 32:19. My last lap was a 30:41. That felt really good after I recovered. I'm 43 and it's nice to know that an ole kinda-outta shape trucker can hang with those young kiddos. I'm pleased with my efforts.....PEACE OUT!!
Later G ..........................................................................
5 comments:
Great job man! Way to put the screws to those young uns. Just think how tired you'll be after 3 laps at Haw Ridge going solo with way more climbing, rocks and roots. Whew! I sure am glad to be racing on a team like GRT!
Thanks it was hard, you're not giving up are ya??
what? heck no! especially not on you and GRT!
I'm glad you changed your picture on the front. The other one was scaring me.
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