Dead last... but in all fairness to myself, I raced the Sport course on the organizer's website in the above image. Apparently, they changed the course and did not mention it in the rider meeting. I was told after the race that they had a map at the registration area with the correct route... thanks for that. I added around .75 miles of super slow technical trail.
I knew going in to this race that I was out classed in Sport at this time, but rode it anyway. I really underestimated how much spider woman would slow down my average. I had over 12 mph average going in, going out I was around 10. My plan was to conserve and try to maintain an 11 mph average that I'm use to, but I never recovered from my poor technical skills in spider woman. When I got to the bluffs I saw the rider in front of me not take them. I yelled back to the rider behind me, "don't we have to do the bluffs?" which he affirmed. There was yellow tape across it, but someone had placed rocks on it so you could ride over. It looked like we were suppose to ride it, especially if you saw the map on the organizer's website clearly showing it. About half way through the bluffs my rear wheel slipped on a root on a tough climb and I laid the bike down and let the guy behind me pass. I had to hike up a ways to remount. After I finished the first lap, I started cramping up and had to back way off. I knew I would be pushing it fitness wise, the race was longer than any of my training rides even without the extra bit I tacked on. This race did push me to my limit.
I did get a little glory at the end. I saw a rider about 100 yards in front of me on the climb to the finish. I could tell he was hurting, but so was I. I could not tell what class he was in. I was passed by two guys that snuck up on me and my bike would not shift for me to catch them. This really got me mad, at this point in the race I just KNEW all these folks were "cheating" buy skipping the bluffs and here two guys pass me in the last climb! I finally got the Cake to shift and dropped the hammer. I could see the first guy had let up a bit and was really hurting so I stood and sprinted. I passed him by a bike length at the line and could hear everyone clapping... he was in the 40+ class though... bummer.
So... cramps, racing the slowest trail in the forest that I did not need to race, and a sprint ending... wins me dead last in my division. Without the cramps I could have been in the middle of the pack even with the bluffs. Take the bluffs out and I think I'd have been in the middle of the pack as well. It all boils down to this, I need more off road miles and more fitness. Should I have raced beginner, I guess so if I wanted to place. Chalk it up to experience and as a motivator to get faster! I'll have to work hard to stay in Sport, but I think that's where I'm going to stay.
Stats: 1:57:53 ride time
9.63 mph average
183 bpm average
2010 calories
2 packs of Gu
2 water bottles of Heed
-$27 bucks
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