So last week I almost broke the double digits in riding time. I also started to do intensity again and I'm really feeling it right now. We did a practice short track race on Tuesday after doing hill sprints and that was pretty tough.
Friday we drove town to Johnson City, TN for a weekend of racing at ETSU. This was pretty exciting since ETSU was the first race I did when I was on Lees-McRae. It was a SECCC race but we decided to do this race since it was better competition and a lot closer than Michigan Tech. With a handful of national champions and national podium riders in the field, it was some pretty tough racing. I didn't want to put any expectations on myself since I'm just coming back from a long break but that didn't stop me from getting frustrated in the short track..
It was a very narrow track and they funneled us right at the start with our 40 rider field down to single file to a double jump. Everyone crashed into each other at the start and all of a sudden the front row guys were gone while the rest of us were tangled and trying to escape and then stuck behind everyone else single file. Needless to say, this was extremely lame and even more crashes occurred in front of me including my team captain, Kip, breaking his collarbone on the double jump. Right as I was finally about to escape the chaos and pass a bunch of people the leaders were already behind us since it was a short lap and that was it.
Later that day I decided that I wanted to give 4 cross a try. I did the B race and the field was stacked with all of our pro bmx riders who hadn't gotten their upgrades yet. Somehow I qualified in the TT but once the first round came I chickened out in a lot of the big jumps. I didn't really want to risk crashing, but I still had a fun time. Definitely fun, but not my kind of racing. Maybe it might be better if I didn't use my 29er xc bike..
Pigged out at Super China Buffet to fuel up for the next day
Sunday was 25 miles of super sick trails. It had it all, giant roots, off camber, tight turns, fast descents, steep climbs, long climbs, switchbacks, and even a tiny bit of wide open grass areas. I knew I would be ok for the first half and then my back was probably going to hate me for the second half of the race. My prediction was correct. I entered the first single track in about 15th position. The starts of these races are chaotic with 40 people trying to get to the same place first... I just kinda took the first part easy and followed the people in front of me since there was no room to pass. I put in a good effort in the first wide open climb and managed to move up a few spots and then started following some more skilled riders to find the better lines. I hadn't ridden trails in a long time so each lap my technical skills were greatly improving. My legs started to feel better as the race went on, but my triceps and back were starting to really hate me. I managed to bridge up to my old teammate Scott and hung with him for a while near the end but then messed up a downhill drop off section and lost a bit of time. I wasn't able to close back the gap in the last lap and by then my upper body was about to give out. I managed to hold on for 7th which I'm really happy about. It was a stacked field and my first real mtb ride in a while. Hopefully I can keep building from where I am now.
Kip's crash was a real bummer. He's one of our top riders and was a big part of our track team. I had originally decided not to do track nationals this year so I could focus on cross. This might change now since I might need to fill in his spot for the team persuit events. We will see, I guess another track nationals could be fun. It's in Indy this year, so it's close which is nice.
As usual, my class and work schedule is insane and leaves me no extra time for training or even sleep for that matter. Looks like my training is pretty much just going to be the races on the weekends. Good thing I got a lot of base this summer..
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