Proud of myself
Today I was planning on again racing in the Farmall Hill Challenge. After racing this course two weeks ago, I was a bit terrified. In taking with Ellen's niece's husband, an avid mountain biker, even he said this was a knarly technical course. Some of the downhills scared the crap out of me the first time. So while I wanted to race, my gut was churning all day long. I recently swapped out my pedals for ones I could clip my racing shoes into so I don't lose contact with the pedals. Which also concerned me because I'm a newbie to clipping in and I was afraid of falling over while trying to unclip going up a hill I might need to walk.
Top all of that off with running into a traffic jam on the way out to the race. I literally arrived as the expert class was starting the race. I had the family with me so Ellen started to get my bike off the car rack while I ran to register and make sure I could race. I got there literally with 5 minutes to spare. So quick get on my gloves and helmet, bike computer, drink, quick pit stop to pee, and I'm lining up just before they count down the beginner start.
And I was off! Since I was now familiar with the course, I took it much easier. I also was smart enough to use easier gears going up the hills. The result? Last race I walked up most of the hills. Today, I rode up most of the hills! As a result, I shaved 5 MINUTES off my time. That's huge! And I didn't crash once. I fell over a couple of times trying to get unclipped from the pedals and had my rear wheel come out from under me in a turn when it hit a really sandy spot, but not ending up on my butt in the brush or a puddle!
That big hill on the course still scared the crap out of me, but I finished the course and acutally had a lot of fun! I felt a lot better as well, though that may be due to the much lower humidity today than the last time. Now I just need to keep training so that next year, I can ride up all the hills and those downhills are no longer scary.
Top all of that off with running into a traffic jam on the way out to the race. I literally arrived as the expert class was starting the race. I had the family with me so Ellen started to get my bike off the car rack while I ran to register and make sure I could race. I got there literally with 5 minutes to spare. So quick get on my gloves and helmet, bike computer, drink, quick pit stop to pee, and I'm lining up just before they count down the beginner start.
And I was off! Since I was now familiar with the course, I took it much easier. I also was smart enough to use easier gears going up the hills. The result? Last race I walked up most of the hills. Today, I rode up most of the hills! As a result, I shaved 5 MINUTES off my time. That's huge! And I didn't crash once. I fell over a couple of times trying to get unclipped from the pedals and had my rear wheel come out from under me in a turn when it hit a really sandy spot, but not ending up on my butt in the brush or a puddle!
That big hill on the course still scared the crap out of me, but I finished the course and acutally had a lot of fun! I felt a lot better as well, though that may be due to the much lower humidity today than the last time. Now I just need to keep training so that next year, I can ride up all the hills and those downhills are no longer scary.
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Have a groovy week!