Turned out to be a great day for a race; it warmed up, the sun came out, and the trails were very fast!
Approximately 20 of us started this race (see photo below), I didn't go into the trails too early as I knew I wasn't in that good of shape, so as it worked out, I went into the singletrack in 6th place, which seemed reasonable based on how everyone was riding, it turned out I had one over motivated idiot in front of me who had no trail skills and couldn't hold the pace. He dropped back pretty quick, but I lost maybe 500 feet on the leaders. About halfway through the first lap, another couple guys passed me, so I was somewhere around 8th place, the leaders were long gone and there was a guy not too far off my tail. This first lap was brutal. The term marathon really does not describe this class, it makes it sound slow and long, when in actually I quickly decided this race was going to be more like watching an olympic caliber 1 mile runner (it's a long sprint) and besides that 3 hours really isn't that long of a time anymore in today's endurance/adventure racing scene...
Approximately 20 of us started this race (see photo below), I didn't go into the trails too early as I knew I wasn't in that good of shape, so as it worked out, I went into the singletrack in 6th place, which seemed reasonable based on how everyone was riding, it turned out I had one over motivated idiot in front of me who had no trail skills and couldn't hold the pace. He dropped back pretty quick, but I lost maybe 500 feet on the leaders. About halfway through the first lap, another couple guys passed me, so I was somewhere around 8th place, the leaders were long gone and there was a guy not too far off my tail. This first lap was brutal. The term marathon really does not describe this class, it makes it sound slow and long, when in actually I quickly decided this race was going to be more like watching an olympic caliber 1 mile runner (it's a long sprint) and besides that 3 hours really isn't that long of a time anymore in today's endurance/adventure racing scene...
First lap was completed in less than 30min and already I could see the 3 hours going by rather quickly. I quickly realized there was no strategy for this race other than go as hard as possible until it's over. On the second lap I was glad I decided to go with the full suspension bike as my lower back was sore already. That pain was irrelevant compared to how my legs were feeling. I forgot about my love-hate relationship with Swanson; I love the trails, fast, lots of twists, and steep rollers, very smooth, just a great place to ride, but I hate the homefield advantage everyone in Omaha has, I have never done well at Swanson and I always decide the homefield advantage is the biggest reason, midway through the second lap I realized I was using the brakes too much, being too timid around unknown corners, and having to power out of the turn to keep speed -it was rapidly breaking me down!I tried to focus on smoother turns, and less brakes, but this isn't a skill you develop in an hour. I really just need more seat time on the bike, and it would help if I had some new tires under me that trusted.
In case I didn't mention it; I'm riding my 2000 Trek Fuel, as the guys at the shop didn't want me to break in the new Top Fuel 9.8 in a race, (which is very smart, race conditions are too extreme for break in and if something goes wrong I could potentially damage something really expensive on the bike).By lap 3 I was settled into a decent pace, the only thing I didn't like was that I was "running" the whole time or being chased, I had a guy about 1000 ft back that was not losing ground on me, normally not a problem other than I knew I was gettings slower due the power loss issue, mentally this was very taxing, but it kept me riding hard as I didn't want this guy catching me. On lap 5 I noticed I was putting time on him, so I thought he would soon be out of sight and out of mind, but then on lap 6 he had some great comeback and was all the sudden 500 ft behind me (or I was slowing down). Everything would have been fine if the race had ended on lap 6, but the way the rules worked as long as you crossed the finish line befoe the 3 hour mark you could ride another lap, it was 8 minutes before 3 hrs so I was on to lap 7, my final lap. What happened I really can't say for sure, but I was not only caught by the guy behind me, but about 2 more riders, and I had no answer to hold them off or even try to keep up. The only couple notable incidences on this lap was a hamstring cramp due to stopping for the Experts to go around and stick in the cassette, neither one cost me much time, so I can only assume my power was just depleted and I was in survival mode to make it to the finish line. I ended up finishing around 12th out of 20.
However I look at it, it was a great day, I have to keep in mind this was a training race, and that is was, my mtb skills are better, I found some new aerobic capicity, which is evident by my smoker's cough, and I got to hang out with some good friends I hadn't seen in awhile.
Sadly, I was so tired after the race I didn't have energy to take the new bike out into the trails for a maiden voyage...
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