Had my first race of my "proper" season this past Sunday at Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport, TN. I had hit two OMBC races back in Ohio in the Spring, but had not tapered or prepared for them in any special way. This was my first target race of the year which kicked off my two months of racing nearly every weekend.
Being close to home and on a Sunday, Jess was able to sneak into the CAT 3 women's race and was on her way to winning the overall and her category when she missed a turn. 2 hours later after running out water and having to find her way back off of the mountain she rode up the gravel road to collect a nice goody bag of gear for her efforts. Hopefully the course will be a little better marked next time.
My race started off well enough with a great starting climb that pushed me into the top 8 or so. After a bit of gravel road antic we hit the single track were I began catching riders. That is until I felt my rear end begin the wander. After re-inflating my tire and sealing it I quickly caught the two racers who had passed me while I was fixing my flat, only to have the rear go out again. This time the seal seemed good, so I began hammering away and took back both positions I had lost and began catching more riders on a long gravel climb to the top of the mountain.
Slowly working my way through the field at the top of the ridge my heart sank as I heard the unmistakable hiss of air blowing out of my rear again. This time I was out of CO2 so had to turn and walk back to the finish line to pull out. Next time I will have better tires and a spare tube on me in order to finish what I had started.
This weekend brings two days of racing. On Sunday I will hit up the Knoxville SERC race. On Monday I will go back to Bays for revenge on a slightly shorter coarse.
I'll fill you all in next week.
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