it's still sinking in
yesterday was the first race of the MN series. Beautiful day in Inver Grove Heights for Eriks' Spring Cup. Erik's was flexing it's muscles and showing off it's sales ability through the presence of a sweet Cannondale and Specialized demo. the cannondale truck alone was one of my favorite parts of the day. very cool.
H and W were happy because there were not only 1 but 2 playgrounds and lots of kids to play with while waiting for my race and between laps.
i started said laps at 2 minutes past 11am. got around in about 20 minutes. another fun course. grassy fields for about 2/10ths of a mile until the single track. i thought the hole would be a mess but it wasn't bad at all. to do it over again i would have gone for the hole shot more. i thought there was going to be a logjam there and a good shot at a pile up so i held off a bit. in the woods was a lot of fun. twisty and good flow and i felt like we were moving at a good pace. came out onto the open prairie and started some passes. this area was definately a big pay-off for months of riding the paved trail. felt like just another morning ride with some race fun added in. pass on the right of one guy to look down and see what looked like a 5 foot wash out. "oh shxx!!" did i say that out loud? thought for sure they would find me about 50 feet from my bike but i actually came out of it. (place high recommendation of cannondale scalpel here). don't know how much i owe to the bike and how much to my guardian angel for surviving that wash out but i know the bike cushioned that out a lot. used that extra adrenalin to push a little harder and felt like i was in a good place in the pack. saw the 20 minute lap going over the start/finish line and liked that. had some more fun on the single track, hung with a couple of groups, moved on when it felt good, and life was good. one guy passed me pretty easily to kill my buzz and i thought i would never see him again. he got slowed down by a group and found a washout similar to my earlier washout to send him flying. i asked and he said he was ok. he caught up with me later i could see at a corner. turned it up to try to get rid of him and felt pretty sure he and i were in a battle for a top spot, maybe the division win. didn't look back because i thought for sure he would be there for about the last 2 miles. looked back at the final sprint and nobody was there. crossed the finish at 1:02 exact and felt good about it all being left out there (as B would say). a photographer had said "good job, top 10" in the last mile or so. that was exciting to hear. checked the results after eating and getting breath back... 1st place in the division! 9th overall. still sinking in. that beautiful day and race with my family would have been awesome as it was but my first division win and it is quite a feeling.
takeaway: remember my gear! again spent much of the race in the middle ring while thinking i was in the big ring.
H and W were happy because there were not only 1 but 2 playgrounds and lots of kids to play with while waiting for my race and between laps.
i started said laps at 2 minutes past 11am. got around in about 20 minutes. another fun course. grassy fields for about 2/10ths of a mile until the single track. i thought the hole would be a mess but it wasn't bad at all. to do it over again i would have gone for the hole shot more. i thought there was going to be a logjam there and a good shot at a pile up so i held off a bit. in the woods was a lot of fun. twisty and good flow and i felt like we were moving at a good pace. came out onto the open prairie and started some passes. this area was definately a big pay-off for months of riding the paved trail. felt like just another morning ride with some race fun added in. pass on the right of one guy to look down and see what looked like a 5 foot wash out. "oh shxx!!" did i say that out loud? thought for sure they would find me about 50 feet from my bike but i actually came out of it. (place high recommendation of cannondale scalpel here). don't know how much i owe to the bike and how much to my guardian angel for surviving that wash out but i know the bike cushioned that out a lot. used that extra adrenalin to push a little harder and felt like i was in a good place in the pack. saw the 20 minute lap going over the start/finish line and liked that. had some more fun on the single track, hung with a couple of groups, moved on when it felt good, and life was good. one guy passed me pretty easily to kill my buzz and i thought i would never see him again. he got slowed down by a group and found a washout similar to my earlier washout to send him flying. i asked and he said he was ok. he caught up with me later i could see at a corner. turned it up to try to get rid of him and felt pretty sure he and i were in a battle for a top spot, maybe the division win. didn't look back because i thought for sure he would be there for about the last 2 miles. looked back at the final sprint and nobody was there. crossed the finish at 1:02 exact and felt good about it all being left out there (as B would say). a photographer had said "good job, top 10" in the last mile or so. that was exciting to hear. checked the results after eating and getting breath back... 1st place in the division! 9th overall. still sinking in. that beautiful day and race with my family would have been awesome as it was but my first division win and it is quite a feeling.
takeaway: remember my gear! again spent much of the race in the middle ring while thinking i was in the big ring.
Thank you to Dana Schoppe Photography for the pictures below.
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and that goes for the entire day.