Poor Mountain and Stuff

As is normal for this time of year, I'd rather chatter on and on about hunting than riding but I Need to make my final race report for the year.

I Looked at the points race right before I went to PM and found out that due to some mishaps along the way for some of my much faster opponents, I actually had a ghost chance to get third place if Todd forgot what day the race was again. OR flatted...twice...or had a cheeseburger and 3 beers on the way to the race. Stranger things have happened. :P So I packed up and went to the all uphill slugfest. Knowing I had to pace him, I lined up behind him at the start. There was a delay while Dick figured out what time it was and by the time we started I had three different stories going with the crowd around me. I lost track of Todd's Jersey in the mayhem at the mass start and tried in vain not to get pushed into the left lane we are supposed to avoid since it's an open state road. I hadn't ridden in a large peleton in quite a while so I was having trouble pacing and was more than a little wary of some of the novices around me so I kept leaving a bike length hole that somebody always seemed willing to fill. I spotted a Cardinal jersey three rows in front of me and thought I'd get behind the big guy and draft him if possible. The pace seemed a bit faster than usual and I was soon out in the wind and chasing the pack as it pulled away with more riders passing in pursuit. I realized I wouldn't be able to finish and sat up in wonder at Todd's apparent "berzerker" moment. After about 20 more riders filed by I started wondering why I had "lead legs" so early in the race. Then Todd rode up beside me and we exchanged double takes. Turns out I was chasing the wrong Cardinal jersey and was chasing some expert rider instead of my close (close is such a relative term) competitor. This would explain why the pace seemed way too hot but it was too late to recover my legs and I had most of the climb in front of me. I tried to hang with Todd after he passed but I didn't have the leg left. I slowed down and let most of the pack go and started coaching the kids at the back end. At about the mid point I found one of the kids had discovered the challenge of a real hill climb. He was laying motionless on the ground. I called up to him to raise his hand if he was alive. He eventually caught up and passed me. In the end I won a struggle not to be last though there was some discussion between us about going in and making it a tie so no one would be last but I like a race...at ANY level so I stood and sprinted (yes that was my sprint) to the finish from 200m. Jerry got it on memory. Too bad blogger won't upload the picture. I'll try again soon if I think about it.

Turns out I wasn't the only one who crashed out or burned out last year resulting in less than the required training for the longer Clydesdale events. I won't name names but you know who you are you slackers! I already got my FSR frame out and mounted it on the stand so it would nag at me until I start hanging parts on it again. I'm planning to build it with all the heavy stuff from my collection of junk and the armor plating needed to make it more of a freeride bike to train on and just to play on without worrying about how fast it goes. I have some decent Panaracer fire mud monsters to put on it. A few folks may have seen those tires on my bike at a few of the really muddy races back when it would RAIN, whatever that is. Seems like I remember it involving being wet but I may be mistaken.

Keep living, train when you can, and ride when you can't.