Silver Rush 50 Mountain Bike
25th over-all out of ~800+
46 miles in 4:29:58. 11.1 miles an hour
7300ft of gain
My technical skill is crap... I'm not a mountain biker. So my #1, and really only, goal was to not crash.
Last year at this race I was in the lead for the first ~15 miles before taking a washed out switchback too fast. My front wheel lost traction and I face planted. After I got going again I remember holding second place and then as my brain started to swell my memory starts to fade in to just spotty flashes of moments. Crashing again. Seeing my wife. Blood filling my eye. A race official cutting off my wrist band. Then I'm in the hospital getting a CT Scan. I rode about 8 miles completely blacked out so it was odd during the race to see parts of the course that I knew I had ridden but had no memory of.
On a mountain bike this would be about the last place I would ride for fun. The vertical was awesome and there were sections that were fun, but over-all the loose, softball size rocks were awful. On a few descents I would be flying (for me ~25+mph) and hit a section of loose rock and there was no way to slow down. My rear wheel would hit a round loose rock and my back wheel would shift 6" to the side, I felt out of control which would spook me and I would then ride overly tentative and overly cautious until my confidence slowly returned. I don't have the confidence or skill to ride/float over the terrain. I was completely amazed at the good and even mediocre descenders as they would FLY by me going twice my speed. I was climbing OK which is the only reason I placed 25th. There was enough positive vertical to keep me in the race.
So, I didn't crash which makes the race a success.
7 comments:
Well done, and good luck going forward. Can't wait to see what you will do on the 100 run.
/Podcast listener
We were watching Saturday to make sure all went good. Keep up the great work this summer, we're pulling for you to get it done.
James
Thanks Jake- I'm a bit nervous because I'm supposed to be an 'expert' and now I have to stop talking and show what I know :)
Thank you James! Much appreciated, I won't let you down.
"Thanks Jake- I'm a bit nervous because I'm supposed to be an 'expert..."
To my knowledge you've done all of one 100 running race. Didn't think that made you an expert! In that case I'm an expert in pretty much everything.
Take the pressure off yourself and enjoy it. We are enjoying watching your hard work pay off.
So, out of interest...
Aug 11th, 12th and 18th are the remaining key dates.
How in hell will you manage your recovery?
I'm having trouble stringing 5 hour weeks together!
Also, when in pain, do you have a mantra or a thought that keeps you going?
Trev- The goal is to get fit enough, then ride easy (and fast) enough to not need a ton of recovery. If I am fit enough to race the Leadville 100 bike in 7:30... but just cruise it in 8:30 then I'm hoping I'll step off with little fatigue. Or at least no muscular damage, just CHO depletion. I'm working hard to make this happen.
No mantras but I do listen to drum music while I'm running/ riding. Native American and also Japanese Taiko. Endless, droning drum beats and I fall in to a natural rhythm with the music. Even when I don't run with my i-pod I hear the drums. I try more to clear my mind and almost meditate on the moment, focus on the movement of my body. I find that this allows me, very effectively actually, to lose track of time. Part of why my race reports are so lame is that I don't remember much of my races. Mentally I have huge blocks of time that are missing.
Lucho 1, Demons 0
Great job, Tim
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