Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

Thanks to SORBA Woodstock and Mountain Goat Adventures for a great event! This was my 2nd solo endurance race and I'm moderately pleased with my results. My legs had a few knots in them before the race so it was hard to get loose. I definitely wouldn't say I felt fresh, maybe a bit tired. My first endurance race was a 4-hour last fall which I didn't but I didn't even make the cutoff and was done after 3 hours. Bummer! For me to make the 8pm cutoff at this race was a huge mental hurdle. I finished 5 laps (my gps read 42.5 miles but if the course was 9.4, that should be 47 miles). First lap was really slow and lots of people in front of me hiking bikes. This was my own fault since I chose to walk the lemans start. In my mind, it was all about pacing and trying to conserve energy. This was a huge mistake and put me at an instant disadvantage since I had to fight my way through logjams on the 1st lap. Yes it was crazy hot and trails were powdery but the heat wasn...

Good: Nutrition - ate well on the trail and at pit stops. hammer gel was huge. shot bloks , perpetuem, nuuns Hydration - stayed well hydrated, never really became overly thirsty Pace - about 7.9 mph according to GPS, my fastest yet for an endurance ride. Stayed mostly in first ring, 5 or 6 in back. 3rd lap did a lot of middle ring. Climbed well. No hike a bike! Fitness - never really became to stressed cardio wise. Plenty of leg cramps though Focus - kept mainly focused on task at hand. mind didn't wander too much. Positive internal dialog was kept up. Not too many negative thoughts Bike handling - mostly good, aggressive through downhills and switch backs, rode with confidence despite 3 crashes I was so glad to make the 8pm cutoff which allowed me a 5th lap. This was a huge mental hurdle for me since I missed the cutoff at the 4hr Raccoon Mtn. race last October. Bad: Really hurt my chances to place higher with my brain-dead LeMans start. I was last to le...

Saturday went out on a rainy ride by myself for about 4.5 hours. Put in about 32 miles. The rain let up on the 2nd half of the ride but it was still puddly. I ate a ton out on the trail. Rode well despite the conditions. Biked up fire road 4 miles to top of Bear Creek in steady rain. Funzies! Bear Creek was really wet so couldn't bomb down. Pinhoti 1 was easier and shorter than I remember probably because I was on the singlespeed last time. I also felt good on Pinhoti 2. It wasn't until Pinhoti 3 that I started to feel tired. Legs were getting really sore and Pinhoti 3 had non-stop climbing for what seemed like hours. It just doesn't end. I wish I had kept my composure together but I began to curse loudly in the woods for no one to hear. I would hit the smallest of sticks on the trail and would topple over. It was pretty slick out there. The switchbacks on Pinhoti 3 are tough on a good day but I did manage to clear a few but fell horribly on one gaining much red cla...