Race Report: Pick Your Poison XC

The first race of the season. The first race since the crash with the boat/truck last June and surgery. It's been a long time coming and I was very eager to get back in the saddle and push the pedals full throttle. I had decent expectations that unfortunately didn't plan out. It's tough to be efficient and good at something if you don't do it regularly and I've only mountain biked 4 times since last May: my fault, my choice. Mountain biking is a different beast than road cycling, as the soreness in my lower back and neck can attest.

After several delays in start times and 3 warm up sessions, the race was ready to start. Some guys jumped out of my category and up to the Pro/Open category leaving only me and one other guy racing the Cat 1 19-29 division. From the start, I jumped out in front and hammered. I was hoping to break the other guy and then settle into my own pace and race. He didn't break. I was redlining and still not going that fast. I would put some space between us on the fast, downhill, technical sections, but he would catch back up once the elevation went up again. I knew I couldn't keep this effort up as every time I looked down at my computer my HR was over 180bpm. I gradually slowed and decided that if the he wanted to just sit on my wheel, then we would cruise at a slower pace.

Three-quarters of the way through the first lap, I slid out in a left turn, catching myself, but still slowing dramatically. He moved around me at this point and I rode his wheel for the rest of the lap, losing ground when the terrain went up and rubbing tires when we went down. We came through the start finish together to start the second lap, but as we headed back into the woods I had to drop off. My body had to take a break from the effort I had been pushing that first lap. That was the last time I saw the other rider. After about 2-3 minutes of easy pedaling, I was back to racing, a little disheartened.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful and I simply finished the last lap, knowing that I wasn't racing anymore and I was guaranteed second place. My body was aching and the miles were tough requiring a lot of effort and wasted energy to cover because of my rusty mountain bike skills. I might have been able to descend, but I was out legged and efficiently handled by the other rider. I finished the almost two hour race with an average HR of 173bpm, maxed out at 190bpm, and spent 23 minutes over 180bpm. HR was only below 151bpm for 1:40. We climbed 2,500 feet in only 19 miles.

I have to remember this was just a training race (very solid metabolic and cardiovascular training) and more racing is to come. A lot more racing. Next weekend I'll be on the track and back to racing the following weekend.