3/23/13
36 Mile Men 11-29
So the goal at this race was just to have fun, get racing again, build some endurance, test it out to see if you still have some race legs, and just generally see where you're at. The start of the race went well, I easily moved up to the first line of a few riders and could tell I was one of the 3-5 strongest guys in the field. The course had some rolling to uphill terrain, a lot of snow, a lot of ice sections where there really was only one way to negotiate the trail (just respect it and you won't crash)...but truly the only part that really threw you a bit were the deep divots throughout the hard-packed gravel sections as it was really impossible to predict a good line and the result was quite the waterbottle graveyard. Regardless, the race pretty much went like this for me: ride at the front, dropped chain, pace myself back, dropped chain, pace myself back, dropped chain, dropped chain, snapped chain, jump in a nice person's truck and drive back to Hastings. Not a big deal, I had fun, I knew I had it, it's just time to find a real cross bike for the fall and have some fun on it. The trip was a blast though. Katie did it, which was her first bike race in nearly 5 years...and ended up getting 2nd in her age group! Definitely far more rewarding to experience than any win or podium I've had. Plus, we hit up the Founders brew tent afterwards and then went to Bells Brewery in Kalamazoo. Pretty tough 24 hours to beat in my book.
Next up - Austin Rattler - 4/13/13
