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| eat dirt #36 B. Bartzen!! (have to trash talk to someone) |
Yep, not last but definitely not first yesterday at the Yankee Springs Time Trials in Middleville, MI. I came in 35th out of 38 in the 50-59 Sport class and I think the guy that came in last had a flat tire. As Coach Stevenson used to say, there is always someone better out there and I found out yesterday that there are a LOT better. Some areas for this rider to improve on (read: excuses) in his second race ever:
- don’t fall down
I took a nice spill through a sandy area and ate some dirt. The lungs took a hit but there was no time for whimpering. The dirt sandwich was delicious.
- don’t try to shift the large gear while climbing
Duh!!!! Why I did it I don’t know but off went the chain (not broke; just had to stop, walk the hill and put it back)
- know the trail
I had only ridden the trail once before yesterday so I forgot when the hills of hell came into play; and there were some hills.
- stop day dreaming
The ‘ADD’ in me will unfortunately always curtail my performance I think as it was such a nice day to ride and the park had so many beautiful hills, I found myself in some deep thoughts during those moments when I wasn’t getting passed by a pack of 20-somethings. Snap out of it!!!!
- find out what the 70-somethings are eating
Three guys in the 70-79 class beat my time so I need to pick their brains.
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| view coming off the starting line |
Excuses aside, the event was great. They had 777 riders and were so well organized. The minutes leading up to the race are almost as exciting as the race itself. You are assigned a riding number with all Sport riders due to take off at noon; pro riders at 9:30 AM (most of the pictures below are the pros). They herd the riders (feel like cattle) into the starting line staging area by number, similar to the maze you go through at the bank. I was mixed in with not just the 50-59 riders; it was all age groups. Every 20-30 seconds or so a rider is announced and off that person goes. The adrenaline was going for me as my start approached. I was next and……then they announced they were ahead of time and to hold off for a bit so they could catch up. First in line but waiting. Boo. The trail overall was in good shape. I enjoyed the people that planted themselves at various points within the trail cheering you on. One group had a cowbell and I had to say it while going by.......“need more cowbell!!!” And more cowbell I received.
As the recent book I read, "The Subtle Art of not giving a fuck" taught me, there a only a certain amount of things that you should give a fuck about and while winning would be cool, don't get me wrong it would be the shit, the mountain bike addicted atmosphere is just fine with me and there is only one way for this slow rider to go but up.
Look out Traverse City as I'll see you in two weeks for race number two and 34th place!
Trail Head out.
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| yours truly at the finish line |
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| starting line |
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| I am getting ready to take off here after these three - exciting!!! |
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| finish line |
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| the bicycle herding area prior to launch |
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