Tuesday, January 22, 2013

End of Racing (part 2) and Back to Racing...Mountain Bikes

After Dick Collins Firetrails, I welcomed an actual break from running. There were no more races on the calendar for the rest of the year! But I still wanted to be out on the trails. Volunteering was an option but I actually wanted to get away from the whole running culture. So I did the next best thing. I dusted off my mountain bike and headed out with some friends who were looking to get back in shape.

I started off with short rides of no longer than 7 miles. And it was more hike-a-bike than actual mountain biking. I was rusty and my buddies were really out of shape. This went on for most of October and November.

Luckily, or when I was gasping for air on our 20+ mile mountain bike rides, I felt it was unluckily for me, that Tim Long happened to move back to the Bay Area for a short stint to get in some base training for the Leadman Series on his mountain bike so I had a riding buddy. Our first ride was a 22-mile ride on the connecting trails that run from Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach over to Rodeo Valley and back.

This was my first intro to long trail rides. I've never done anything past 10 miles and suddenly, I found myself riding beyond my limits and pushing myself harder than I ever have on my bike. Eventually these long rides became a weekly thing with about 2-3 rides a week. Then, somehow I was talked into signing up for an endurance ride. The 12 Hours of Temecula in Southern California. I have a race worthy hardtail, but I am not a strong biker nor am I a super technical biker. But there I was, down in Temecula over the past weekend, lining up behind hundreds of other mountain bikers.

The race went well for the most part. It was a 9-mile loop on very technical trails, especially the descents, and some good climbs. After about the third hour of the race, the course got pretty trashed and the lines I was taking on the rocky, technical descents started to get sketchier. I had one flat at around mile 30. Then about mile 40 I had my first wipeout where I hit a rock descending the last steep drop and went over my bar. I landed on my already bruised hip from a wipeout a couple weeks prior. My bike skipped over me and landed a few feet ahead of me on the downhill. Racing "for fun" isn't worth breaking my neck over. So I finished up that lap and called it a day at 45 miles and 6:19.

Next race will be Way Too Cool. My bike hasn't seen the sun since Temecula. Maybe I'll ride a day next week. I am missing it a bit.