dulcecoeur
07-21-2003, 11:51 AM
Hey, thought I would start the thread this week with a telling of my race this weekend :-) It's pretty long so be warned!
For those who do now know...I only started riding this late spring, and actually, I have actually only been "truly" riding the last month or so when I actually got my own decent bike. So needless to say, having really only a month experience at best, I was extremely nervous about racing this weekend!
The race was a 24 Hour MTB relay, held at Falcon Trails in Manitoba.
Of course, my boyfriend had told me the course should not be too bad! He said there was a bit of technical stuff, more than I was used to, but because it was going to be ridden at night as well, it should not be made to be too bad. Now that was an understatement! Even he later admitted it was actually one of the harder courses he's ridden..lol.
It was an 8 K lap (5 miles)...there were a lot of climbs (both the long inclines, and the shorter steeper ones), and a lot of technical parts (very rocky & rooty narrow trails - it was in the Canadian Shield after all) with a couple downhills as well (it did not seem like enough to make up for the uphills though!). The last part of the trail mercifully went to a gravel road, which at the last couple hundred metres was pretty much a fast downhill to the finish. It was pretty hard course for me though, I admittedly walked up a LOT of the climbs
Since it was pretty tough, plus it was so HOT out, we decided to switch off at every lap. I was the slowest of the team (and maybe of all the participants!), my laps taking my about 51 minutes..and my teamates between 30ish and 45 minutes. Granted, they have a lot more experience and riding years on me.
I also ended up with the first night lap, and then for the night we decided to switch to two at a time. I was told I only had to do one, but when I came through to the finish, the rest of my team was still sleeping so I went around a gain and got the dawn lap, and let them get some more rest. And okay, also I was pretty determined to contribute an equal amount of laps as everyone else on the team...I am pretty stubborn that way!
I was pretty scared on the night laps, I had never ridden at night before...first of all I never saw another soul until I hit the gravel road, and I almost wished someone would come by..it was a bit scary! Plus there were a couple deer who kept crashing around in the bush around me and running down the trail in front of me for about 10 minutes, and I kept worrying they were going to run into me as well! Lots of animals out there at night, a few bunnies were on the trail, and I kept hearing things rustling in the bushes (motivation to NOT get off the bike!)
But at the same time, while I was pretty much scared of falling on a rock or crashing into a tree at night, it was also pretty cool, because there was no one else around you kind of just took your time and enjoyed it. It was a pretty cool experience.
So I ended up doing 56 K (7 laps) in the race, and another 2 K in my pre-race ride to check out the course. Adding it all up, it took me 6.2 hours to ride. Both the distance and the time are the most I have ever rode in a day so I am pretty happy with myself.
Our team came in second in the mixed relay, which was awesome. Those that could of beaten us just decided to stop riding . I must say, I am amazed at the soloists, I think the top soloist did like 28 laps or something crazy like that! Our team did 31 (two of us did 7, one did 8 and another 9)!
I was exhausted when I got home...I fell asleep at 3:30, intending only to have a short nap, ending up sleeping until 9ish and ate some dinner, and went back to sleep until this morning. I was just dead to the world. But it felt good.
So all in all, it was a pretty fun experience, and after that, I think most other races will be much more doable!
Rachel
For those who do now know...I only started riding this late spring, and actually, I have actually only been "truly" riding the last month or so when I actually got my own decent bike. So needless to say, having really only a month experience at best, I was extremely nervous about racing this weekend!
The race was a 24 Hour MTB relay, held at Falcon Trails in Manitoba.
Of course, my boyfriend had told me the course should not be too bad! He said there was a bit of technical stuff, more than I was used to, but because it was going to be ridden at night as well, it should not be made to be too bad. Now that was an understatement! Even he later admitted it was actually one of the harder courses he's ridden..lol.
It was an 8 K lap (5 miles)...there were a lot of climbs (both the long inclines, and the shorter steeper ones), and a lot of technical parts (very rocky & rooty narrow trails - it was in the Canadian Shield after all) with a couple downhills as well (it did not seem like enough to make up for the uphills though!). The last part of the trail mercifully went to a gravel road, which at the last couple hundred metres was pretty much a fast downhill to the finish. It was pretty hard course for me though, I admittedly walked up a LOT of the climbs
Since it was pretty tough, plus it was so HOT out, we decided to switch off at every lap. I was the slowest of the team (and maybe of all the participants!), my laps taking my about 51 minutes..and my teamates between 30ish and 45 minutes. Granted, they have a lot more experience and riding years on me.
I also ended up with the first night lap, and then for the night we decided to switch to two at a time. I was told I only had to do one, but when I came through to the finish, the rest of my team was still sleeping so I went around a gain and got the dawn lap, and let them get some more rest. And okay, also I was pretty determined to contribute an equal amount of laps as everyone else on the team...I am pretty stubborn that way!
I was pretty scared on the night laps, I had never ridden at night before...first of all I never saw another soul until I hit the gravel road, and I almost wished someone would come by..it was a bit scary! Plus there were a couple deer who kept crashing around in the bush around me and running down the trail in front of me for about 10 minutes, and I kept worrying they were going to run into me as well! Lots of animals out there at night, a few bunnies were on the trail, and I kept hearing things rustling in the bushes (motivation to NOT get off the bike!)
But at the same time, while I was pretty much scared of falling on a rock or crashing into a tree at night, it was also pretty cool, because there was no one else around you kind of just took your time and enjoyed it. It was a pretty cool experience.
So I ended up doing 56 K (7 laps) in the race, and another 2 K in my pre-race ride to check out the course. Adding it all up, it took me 6.2 hours to ride. Both the distance and the time are the most I have ever rode in a day so I am pretty happy with myself.
Our team came in second in the mixed relay, which was awesome. Those that could of beaten us just decided to stop riding . I must say, I am amazed at the soloists, I think the top soloist did like 28 laps or something crazy like that! Our team did 31 (two of us did 7, one did 8 and another 9)!
I was exhausted when I got home...I fell asleep at 3:30, intending only to have a short nap, ending up sleeping until 9ish and ate some dinner, and went back to sleep until this morning. I was just dead to the world. But it felt good.
So all in all, it was a pretty fun experience, and after that, I think most other races will be much more doable!
Rachel