Rayce Reeport
Hey Gang. Been a while again, and especially since my last rayce reeport. I finally entered another real race, and got myself something to talk about.
For the worriers out there (aka Dad!) this was not one of those dangerous downhill races, but a cross-country (XC) race aka "How much are you willing to suffer for an hour?" race. I am not actually sure which is worse for the body, but anyway, I survived the weekend, which panned out something like this:
My new bike shop friends asked me to join in their team race on Sunday in the 'relay' - as the name implies the pain is shared around in this one. They also said a few people were entering the main event on Saturday - the individual XC. I thought that if I was going to drive 150km to race my bike I wanted to get as much riding in as possible, so I signed up for the individual race too. Most of our gang were beginners, so they entered the beginner category, which was 1x4km lap, but as above, I wanted to ride more, so decided to enter the sports - it was 2x6km laps, juuussst right, I thought.
Fast forward to Friday, I head down early to practice the course on Friday afternoon, get there at 2, and head out for a few easy laps as the rain starts to fall. Good news is that the course is SS (singlespeed) friendly, my bike has only one gear, and the hills are not so steep that my heart will implode while trying to ride up them. I do three easy laps, discover that all the climbs are rideable, however how many times in one race I can ride them all is in doubt.
Bad news is that I only brought dry-weather tyres and I am slipping all over the shop in the wet bits of the track. Bugger. Was fun to ride though, and I manage to save my legs from getting tired out, I think all the riding this summer has really paid off.
Clean up, pack up and head off for a hot spring before a few beers and an effort at an early night, which turns into an almost sleepless one. I finally manage 2-3 hours of decent sleep just before dawn, but it hurts to get up at 6.
About 6:30 I meet the rest of the team who are just arriving, and we head up to the race course. Set up our tarp and tables, start warming up then watch the beginners ride. Now its almost time for my race...
For the worriers out there (aka Dad!) this was not one of those dangerous downhill races, but a cross-country (XC) race aka "How much are you willing to suffer for an hour?" race. I am not actually sure which is worse for the body, but anyway, I survived the weekend, which panned out something like this:
My new bike shop friends asked me to join in their team race on Sunday in the 'relay' - as the name implies the pain is shared around in this one. They also said a few people were entering the main event on Saturday - the individual XC. I thought that if I was going to drive 150km to race my bike I wanted to get as much riding in as possible, so I signed up for the individual race too. Most of our gang were beginners, so they entered the beginner category, which was 1x4km lap, but as above, I wanted to ride more, so decided to enter the sports - it was 2x6km laps, juuussst right, I thought.
Fast forward to Friday, I head down early to practice the course on Friday afternoon, get there at 2, and head out for a few easy laps as the rain starts to fall. Good news is that the course is SS (singlespeed) friendly, my bike has only one gear, and the hills are not so steep that my heart will implode while trying to ride up them. I do three easy laps, discover that all the climbs are rideable, however how many times in one race I can ride them all is in doubt.
Bad news is that I only brought dry-weather tyres and I am slipping all over the shop in the wet bits of the track. Bugger. Was fun to ride though, and I manage to save my legs from getting tired out, I think all the riding this summer has really paid off.
Clean up, pack up and head off for a hot spring before a few beers and an effort at an early night, which turns into an almost sleepless one. I finally manage 2-3 hours of decent sleep just before dawn, but it hurts to get up at 6.
About 6:30 I meet the rest of the team who are just arriving, and we head up to the race course. Set up our tarp and tables, start warming up then watch the beginners ride. Now its almost time for my race...
posted by kurisu at 9:40 AM
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