Chainbreaker

Ahh mountain bike racing in Bend. It sure was nice to wake up, sit around drinking coffee, throw a few things in a bag, and head to the race 10 min down the road.

After a long race last weekend and some good racing and training over the last week I went in feeling ready. The weather couldn't have been better. The trails got some rain early in the week and were in great shape with minimal dust.

A tough start uphill and I was feeling pretty worked at the top of the hill. Went backwards a bit, but eventually got into a good pace and worked my way up...I kept catching folks and worked at moving up. There was a real good mix of slight uphills, downhills, and lots of singletrack...not a lot of places to rest, you had to be on top of it the whole way, but a lot of fun sections and a good mix of up and down.

I did this race last year without really any training, I had barely touched the bike all spring, but just decided to jump in... ( I had been finishing grad school, selling the house, and moving). It was miserable. It took me about 30 min less this year...that's pretty significant. More importantly, it was a hell of a lot more fun this time around. The third lap was tough, but I felt strong going into it, I moved up a bunch, catching some more folks, and nearly catching one of the pro racers. Ended up finishing third in my group and was happy with the result.

Yet another strong sunnyside showing...Don won his group, our junior teammate William won his and there was a pile of Sunnysiders out racing. Solid!

Gonna ride a bunch this week, sneak in a little paddling, and some running, in preperation for the Pole Pedal Paddle on Sat and a road race on Sun.