Pic by AmyOn paper Hilton lakes looked like it would be a good race for me. Not very technical, and with a lot of flat fast power sections. Unfortunately it was not to be.
My warmup was a little short to begin with. After doing a 1/4 lap recon I showed up to the start with a not so great feeling. My start was actually not very bad. It was probably the only good thing about this race. The first lap was fast and chaotic, there were several crashes all over the place. I managed to avoid crashing but definitely traded some elbows with other racers.
I think the large purse and pack size made the first lap very twitch and nervous. People kept crashing and dropping chains and having all sorts of mechanicals. The run up was pretty killer and it really hurt me on every lap. I usually lost time or spots there and it was pretty dissapointing. The sand pit was a quite a hoot and I really enjoyed powering through the first section. After the initial sorting out I once again noticed how far up I was than normal. Unfortunately I was unable to hold my spot as riders started passing me.
The second lap and the middle part of the race start to suck more and more. The legs were not responding too well. I got sloppy and overshot some turns. I also managed a couple of times to awkardly remount my bike after the second sandpit. Jim of the pony shop and Paolo were able to pass me. I couldnt hold their wheels like I have been doing all season long. I also rode with Al for a while but the legs just weren't there.
Even though my legs sucked I had a blast going through the sandpit everytime. At first I could only manage to ride the first sand pit and would run the second one. Towards the end I was able to power through the second one and it felt damn good. Although not much sand was encountered last season I was very timid about being able to ride through. This year I have come to love riding the sand and look forward to any sandy bits.
The last lap really hurt. Not in a "I'm riding so hard" kind of way, but more of a "I want my race to end but I am running on fumes" kind of way. I am counting this race performance as a fluke and after some workouts during the week I think I'll know. And far as Woodstock goes, man my mouth is just watering at the thought of that hill...
No comments:
Post a Comment