nice job mike. you won your class. i got 3rd, missed 2nd by half a second, and 1st by like 8 seconds to my sand baggin friend brian haha. im usually faster when we ride. next time. hope you heal roxy
Thanks Scott - good job on the 3rd place finish! I wish I could go that quick when I'm feeling under the weather.
It was a good weekend, as decided to do my own Beginner class All Mountain deal. 1st place in Beginner Men 35-44 in the Lake Sonoma XC race on Saturday, and 1st place the Beginner Mens 35-44 CCCX DH race on Sunday.
That Saturday race was especially tough in the heat, but the triathlon training really paid off. The guys I was racing with seemed to fade as the race went on, while my pace was pretty consistent between my two laps. It's a good thing I didn't lead into that first turn, as I didn't know where the course went or how technical it would be. Passing zones were very limited, but the other people in my wave were very cool about letting others by.
It was a lot different from the CCCX XC races we had grown used to - just about everyone was in matching team lycra. The Fort Ord races we had done had a fair number of people in baggy MTB shorts and t-shirts. Not sure if it was the single shaded area where everyone congregated, or the post-ride burgers / beer that were included in the entry fee, but we met a lot of really cool, friendly people up there - I'm looking forward to doing it again!
Sunday's race went well also - I don't think I could have gone much faster without doing something really different. It was a bummer that Roxy wasn't able to race, but judging by the text messages most of us were receiving later in the day, she seemed to be in pretty good spirits. Hope you heal up soon - Downieville awaits!
