I had my first Mountain Bike Race this week in St. George, UT. It is part of the ICUP series.
Thursday February 28, 2008
Went to pre-ride the race course. Thought I would ride today and take Friday off. Started off well, and I was able to practice the turn I had been having trouble with a few times, and continued on with the course. Dropped into the first wash and came out. This is where I started to have problems. The course was not completely marked. I had a choice go left or right. I had ridden the course before, but couldn't remember, so I guessed and went left. This turned out to be a wrong turn. I ended up going up the downhill portion of the course. Once I got to the top and found out I went the wrong direction I continued to back track the course. I ran into the man in charge marking the course. He pointed me in the right direction and I continued on my way. Eventually I got to where I had originally gotten off course and turned back around to do the course in the right direction. I did okay, but after riding the course I decided I needed to ride it again the next day .
Friday-February 29, 2008
Rode the trail today at 10 am. Went well. I only had a moment of uncertainity on the trail, and then went forth. I did the trail in 56 minutes, and felt a lot more confident about riding it in the race. Wish I had another day to practice. Took Mandy out to let her practice her race route. Had a little bit of a stumble on one hill, but she got up and conquered the track. I noticed she had slicks vesus nob tires, so we went to Red Rock Bicycle store and bought new tires. They will work a lot better on the dirt than the ones she currently has.
Saturday-M
arch 1, 2008 Race Day
Race day! I raced in the beginning womens division, which was somewhat nerve racking for me, because all the women I raced against were younger than me. Mandy raced in the 9 and under division. We raced at the same time, so I did not get to see her race. I started out quick on the race, but it did not take long for some of the riders to catch me. I kept going strong, but kept an okay pace. On the first hill (which was small) a rider came in front of me and I hit her tire. This caused my bike to stop, and I had to run up the hill. This allowed everyone in my division to leave me. I caught up to a couple of the riders, but only saw the rest from the distance. I tried to catch up, but was not successful. I ended up taking 6th out of 8th. Not too bad, but I hope to do better in the future. Mandy took 2nd in her division. It sounds like she had some of the same problems I did. A rider fell down in front of her, and she stopped to make sure she was okay. Otherwise, according to her, she would have placed 1st. I am proud of her for being a good sport, that is much better than taking 1st.
Thoughts
I learned a lot from my first race. I think I need to push harder than I did. My legs were somewhat sore during the ride, and I think I need to not ride so hard the day before the race. Pre-ride is fine, but I should take it easy not try to go fast, which is what I did. I also, learned I need to not let others around get to me. Some of the riders can be very intense and this kind of threw me.
Rode the trail today at 10 am. Went well. I only had a moment of uncertainity on the trail, and then went forth. I did the trail in 56 minutes, and felt a lot more confident about riding it in the race. Wish I had another day to practice. Took Mandy out to let her practice her race route. Had a little bit of a stumble on one hill, but she got up and conquered the track. I noticed she had slicks vesus nob tires, so we went to Red Rock Bicycle store and bought new tires. They will work a lot better on the dirt than the ones she currently has.
Saturday-M
arch 1, 2008 Race DayRace day! I raced in the beginning womens division, which was somewhat nerve racking for me, because all the women I raced against were younger than me. Mandy raced in the 9 and under division. We raced at the same time, so I did not get to see her race. I started out quick on the race, but it did not take long for some of the riders to catch me. I kept going strong, but kept an okay pace. On the first hill (which was small) a rider came in front of me and I hit her tire. This caused my bike to stop, and I had to run up the hill. This allowed everyone in my division to leave me. I caught up to a couple of the riders, but only saw the rest from the distance. I tried to catch up, but was not successful. I ended up taking 6th out of 8th. Not too bad, but I hope to do better in the future. Mandy took 2nd in her division. It sounds like she had some of the same problems I did. A rider fell down in front of her, and she stopped to make sure she was okay. Otherwise, according to her, she would have placed 1st. I am proud of her for being a good sport, that is much better than taking 1st.
ThoughtsI learned a lot from my first race. I think I need to push harder than I did. My legs were somewhat sore during the ride, and I think I need to not ride so hard the day before the race. Pre-ride is fine, but I should take it easy not try to go fast, which is what I did. I also, learned I need to not let others around get to me. Some of the riders can be very intense and this kind of threw me.
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