New Bike: I sold my Madone last week back to its original owner and picked up this thing of beauty...
It is a 2009 Gary Fisher Presidio cross bike with True Temper OX Platinum steel frame and all of my old standby components (all of the components have been on my last three bikes). Because of this bike Jess now has a brand new Rival drivetrain and brake and Bontrager wheel set up on her road bike.
OMBC #4 Race to the Hills: Lake Hope
It rained from 6 AM until halfway through my race. That should be enough of a description. There was mud everywhere. I wound up sitting 3 rows back at the start and had to fight tooth and nail to hit the trail head in the top 20. After that, I was thankful for mud tires and cursing my derailleurs. I had awesome traction, but couldn't shift. Chain suck was a huge problem (to the point of ruining my front mech) and my cassette (rear gears) was so clogged with mud that I could only access 3 gears. I wound up finishing 6th in my class, one spot out of the money.
England-Idelwild Time Trial series:
For the past month, Jess and I have made the trip down to Kentucky of the Thursday night mountain time trial series. So far I have posted two 6th and one 9th based off of average speed (I have been racing three laps which is the longest allowed). This past Thursday I not only bettered my personal time by a handful of seconds, but also slotted in the 5th fastest average speed. Things are looking up!
DInO #4: North Vernon- Mascatatuck Park:
First off, by the beginning of the race it was clear that I wasn't going to have reliable access to my large chain ring which meant that I was going to have to attack every climb in order to limit my losses on the descents and flats. When the gun went off I managed a good start, hitting the woods in third position. The second placed rider slid out in front of me about two turns in, allowing me to move up. On the first climb, with four or five guys sitting behind me, the leader let me pass, at which point I gave the hill everything I had. The rest of the three lap race I spent climbing like mad, and picking up as much free speed as possible when heading down. I never saw another racer from my age bracket, though one junior from my starting wave nipped me by a second or two at the line. I would blame my lack of a big ring, but at that point, I don't think it really mattered.
In other news... I have qualified for the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships! To bad I only found this out today and the race is in three weeks... in Idaho. Hopefully I will qualify again next year.
Enjoy the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment