Lower Huron Race

Lower huron, I dont know what it is about the park and the race, but it is one of my favorites. I remember my first time doing the race a few years ago, and seeing the run up for the first time. I actually had second thoughts about doing that race, it is a really steep hill. But I really love the course.
There were a few changes this year, less riding down by the river and more up top. The start was on the pavement, and into the grass at the end of the road. This year they mixed in a volleyball court and a couple of tight turns, before you hit first set of barriers by the bathrooms. Two barriers before the run up, and the log on the downhill was removed by the park, so at least there was a little of recovery after the run.
I started out my race with a good pull from the start. I was sitting in the top five and was feeling pretty good. We hit the sand and a few guys tried to ride it, but getting off and running was the better option. John was on my wheel and pushing me to go faster. I attacked a couple of guys, and we were sitting in 2nd/3rd spot. Just before the run up, I let john go around so I could sit on his wheel for a bit, into the barriers and up the hill. I picked a bad line, and didnt run it as hard as I should of. 3 ? guys passed me on the run up and time I got to top John was long gone, and so were the rest of them. I managed to catch back up to 4/5th place, and rode with them. Then the run up on third lap cost me yet again. I went to mount the bike, didnt quite time it right and snagged my shorts on the back of the seat and lost some time. I just didnt have enough in me to close the gap the last lap up to 5th place. I had to settle for 6th. Just missing my goal of a top 5.
This is one of the first races this year that 1/2 hour didnt feel like a hour to me. It went by quick. Must the be the training is finally starting to work. Too bad we are 1/2 through the season, but I think the competition this year is much better than the last few years. All I can say is I love cross. It really is my passion, I really dont see myself doing as many mountain bike races next year. I will be looking at them as training races for the cross season for sure.

Looking forward to a double weekend at veterans park. I am getting ready for a lot of running uphill in that one. I cant wait!

Stony Creek CX Race

So what month is this? It feels like July but it looks like October, the trees are changing colors, pumpkins and halloween decorations are out, and we are 4 races into the cross season but it is 90 degrees in Michigan. Very strange for this time of the year. I knew it was going to be bad when I was getting dressed for my race at 9:00 in the morning and I was already sweating.
I was feeling good coming into this race. I had a light training week, and even took saturday off to spend some time with noelle and get some stuff done around the house. The course was a challenge. They had 3 running sections and a set of barriers. Two of the runs were rideable to some extent, both were through a volleyball court, the first however was a 180 degree turn. The last run on the course was a long run on the beach, 75 yards is what they were saying. Each lap I thought about just running in the lake, sure it might be a bit harder, but it would of felt much better.
Right from the start I knew I was going to have a hard time. The heat really gets to me when I am racing. I did a little research on this tonight and found the following study
http://jrnlappliedresearch.com/articles/Vol3Iss1/PETROFSKY.htm
Basically it said people with diabetes dont cool off as well as non-diabetic people do. I knew there had to be something going on there. After I get done with a race in the heat, I always have goose bumps, chills and I never do all that well in the hot races.
Anyways I wasnt doing great in the race, but I was at least doing ok. Then on the third lap of 4 I heard something rattling on my bike. My seat was coming undone. It was still attached, but the screws were loose. I decided it was probably a good idea to stop and tighten them up instead of trying to mount the bike with a loose seat. I ended up stopping 2 or 3 times on that lap before I finally got the seat tight. By then I lost about a minute, and I had no chance of getting a good result in the race.
I must say I felt much better with mounts, and dismounts than at bloomer. One positive thing at least. I have a few new ideas for training this week that I want to work on also. I am looking forward to the race at lower huron, it is one of my favorites each year. Hopefully the cool weather shows up as promised for the later in the week.