Woke up this morning pretty excited to race my mtb. It had been raining for about 24 hours so I figured the course would be crazy wet. Once I drove through almost 2 hours of constant drizzle, I arrived at the course and warmed up. It had officially been 7 years since I last raced my mountain bike seriously. I had only been to Fort Custer once previously, so I vaguely remember the "trenches" and that's about it.
From the gun I hammered the first 2 miles, which were pretty wide open for a mtb course. After the first few miles I settled down into a great rhythm; hammering the open parts and trying to maintain speed through the rest of the twist.
The tires today were Bontrager Jones, and I must have had only around 35 psi or so in them. They hooked up like champs. They also remained clog-free, which was equally important. The course was greasy at parts, with standing water in the low spots, but for most of the course it was just very fast. Please take note to the GIANT waterbottle in the cage. Since I ride for Team GIANT - Michigan, I felt it necessary to sport the kit plus the water bottle. If anyone had asked why I was on a 1999 Cannondale F3000, I would have told them that Cannondale was actually made by Giant Bicycles back before 2004. Well actually not, but that's ok.
If you're observant, you'll see that is a 2x8 drivetrain with Grip Shift ESP 9.0SL shifters. Not the lightest of the light, but very forgiving in the mud and grit today. Who needs the granny ring anyway? WE LIVE IN MICHIGAN!!
So I finished with a time of 1:04.57, which was first in the sport 19-29 class by just over a minute. For my efforts I got a medal and I won a wireless computer from Trek in the drawing. Not a bad day's work.
I'm pretty happy with that time and my overall feeling coming into 'cx season. This TT was supposed to be a bit of a test; roughly 60 minutes of alternating pace, just about as close to 'cross as you can get without actually being cross.
Speaking of 'cross, my race yesterday and ride today felt like mid-November. The rain and cooler temperatures have been welcome (to me). I don't think I'm ready for winter yet but I sure don't mind the cool off and wet down. My favorite weather for 'cross is cool and rainy, so I pretty much don't mind this at all.
As for the Ithaca Grand Prix of Cyclocross, I just got a shipment of Tifosi eyewear in today to add to the pretty strong prize list. While you're reading this, why don't you go ahead and pre-register and save $5?
Any questions about the race please ask!
See ya.
No comments:
Post a Comment