Buck Hill Birch Bump

I recently read an article in which the author suggested road riding as an alternative training method for mountain biking. His argument made sense as he indicated you could get the benefits of an aerobic workout without the pounding your body takes from riding single track. This week.....I believe him. My body hurts, both from the recent wrecks and the continuous riding.

I spent Saturday afternoon at Buck Hill for the pre-ride. I rode the course three times and felt very good about it once I finished. The trail has no major ascents or descents and is very, very fast. I understand the course condition was not typical as the rain had packed the sand down which led to very easy riding on the traverse sections of the course. Buck Hill is covered in trees on the back side which provided shade during a very warm and humid day. In addition, the course had no technical areas worth mentioning.

After my pre-ride, I expected I could go under 40 minutes for the two laps. Unfortunately, I underestimated the heat and humidity and crashed hard that night. I am not sure if was the heat or perhaps a cold that is going around the house. Regardless, I was a mess and did not get much sleep. For some reason, I still dragged myself out of bed and headed to the race. It was a cooler day and I was going to be miserable whether I stayed home or raced, so why stay home? I got to the race about an hour early and did my warm ups. I began to feel better quickly and began to focus on the task at hand.

As I have mentioned in past posts, I am the series leader of my age group. A benefit of this is the 'call up.' Before the race begins, the announcer calls up the top three riders in each age group. This gives the rider the advantage of a clean break and less chance of an accident. The first time I was called up like this I was a bit embarrassed and decided to stay back in the pack. I soon learned that being back in the pack is not fun. So........I now try to take advantage of the opportunity and get out front.

The beginning of the race is a slight uphill climb to the area with the ski lifts. From there we hit the only meaningful ascent which took us to the top of the ski hill. During the climb, I found myself in sixth place. Toward the end, people began to drop off and I found myself behind the 'ghost.' Way behind the 'ghost.' From there on I was racing for second. Like I said, the trail was fast and I was able to get through the first lap in just under 18 minutes. As I was climbing the beginning hill for the second time, I noticed a rider behind me who had beaten riders I have lost to in other races. With this in mind, I worked harder to get to the top of the hill and really hammered the single track. It turns out I needed all of it as he finished 13 seconds after I did.

I finished in 34:13 which was below what I expected. I placed first in my age group and 16th out of the 65 Citizen racers. All in all it was a fun ride and I had a good time. Next week we jump right into the Minnesota Wisconsin Border War. I have two training sessions there and a couple of decent wrecks. I hope to get back on Thursday and for the pre-ride on Saturday. From there, I have a month off before the last two races of the year. Looking forward to the break. See ya!