tbf race and rockville post-ride
I took half the night off work last night, so I could go to sleep before midnight, wake up at 5am and race in Folsom (Near Sacramento) this morning at 9am. Sleeping was by far the biggest effort to put into action. Add the recent changes in my schedule and 3 days in a row of about 5 hours sleep a night, and I wasn't a happy camper. I am not very happy that I drank coffee the last 3 mornings in a row. Since quitting drinking coffee on a regular basis almost a year ago, that's the most I have drank. Maybe once a month, I'd have a cup.

Anyway, I am getting sidetracked. We arrived at the TBF Race location at about 8am with time to pick up registration packets, get dressed, go to the bathroom (3x), and do a 30 minute warmup. It was a little chillier than I was expecting and I borrowed a pair of flourescent orange armwarmers that I wore almost the whole race. I saw one of my old teammates from velogirls there, and we rode around near the entrance of the course for a few minutes. I was really checking out the terrain because I was told there would be lots of mud. I probably should've spun faster during my warmup, because I didn't really feel ready when we started. I knew the loop around the parking lot was wide and not very technical, so I didn't really push when I started. I should have! When I got onto the singletrack, I would find myself unable to pass someone and getting unnecessarily slowed down (I fit well in the Novice category). I kept telling myself that I would just conserve energy for that burst that I was going to need to get past them at the next fireroad or paved section. I kept an eye on my HRM, about 167 most of the time. I had plenty of enery to spare, just waiting for that chance to move. It just seemed like there were so few... a couple times the passing opportunity came and went so suddenly that I didn't have time to pick my line. In addition, I wasn't so sure I wasn't going to slow down the rider in front of me sometimes, because I hadn't pre-ridden the course much at all and there were so many winding, blind turns that I couldn't really maintain the pace I normally would, even though it was relatively flat and not technical at all. I worked hard to avoid the poison oak that was everywhere. There were also a couple of sand pits, puddles and random technical climbs that would bottleneck and a bunch of the juniors/novice men would crowd in front of me. Once my pedal got caught on an obstructing boulder and I came to a sudden halt. I didn't fall over but I also didn't realize there were two riders on my wheel when that happened. It was an intimate moment. The blind turns went on and on, lasting a really long time. I just worked on keeping my cadence uniform, letting my legs recover on a soft pedal as opposed to freewheeling. The pedal momentum was hard to maintain the last 2 miles through the rockier portions. A couse marshal/ volunteer cheered me on and called me "fearless" here, and that really picked up my mood. By the time I got to the last 2 sandpits, I could hardly run. I passed a couple more guys here, and sprinted to the finish, trying to catch a couple more. I was only dreaming; their effort was undetectable but they still flew ahead. It felt good to have some efforts in the race, but overall, I can say its fair to say I didn't really push myself with everything I have. I completed the 9.48 miles in 1:00:03 hr (an hour) @ 9.8 mph, so it was a pretty "fast" course.

When it came time for podium announcements, they called my name for 3rd place and I was shocked, but ecstatic. A second podium?!? The woman I had carpooled with got 1st place, too. I was very satisfied with the results. We got up and took a picture and then someone asked for a recount, she had been counted a novice male, but was actually first place... so I was 4th (and hence not on the podium) and the woman I carpooled with was 2nd. It was a complete buzz-kill when the announcer took away my plaque. I hosed off my bike, put some lube on the chain, laid down in the grass and closed my eyes for 10 minutes. Results will be posted here, but I think I ended up 4th out of 5 finishers. At least one DNF.

3 things I learned from this race: 1) pre-ride is one of the most helpful things to do... try to do it another day to conserve raceday energy, 2) I need to do faster paced rides, 3) get more sleep.

Goals: I want to actually stand on the podium (not miss my name being called like NORBA natz), feeling like I earned it. I want to get stronger, faster, and have more fun while on the course. The patch on my camelback wasn't too easy to read with the bibnumber safety pinned to it, but it says, "Put the fun between your legs" over a picture of a bicycle. I was hoping it would be a comic respite. Sorta like this:


We left the race site, went to eat Mexican food with a couple other people from the race and decided to go to Rockville for some technical practice. We stopped at a pretty new bicycle store in Rockville to use their restrooms to change into new cycling clothes. They had painted bike tread all over the floor and were very enthusiastic. I had heard a lot of great things about the park, but had no idea what I was getting into when I asked about it. I saw a video on http://www.petefagerlin.com awhile ago and thought the boulders were much bigger in the video. Then, we got to the REAL technical part. I made a few attemps on different sections, trying over and over again to pick the right line. It was a lot of fun, even though I walked more than I would have liked. I felt like I had more of an opportunity to utilize my unspent energy here because I was really anxious to ride, ride, ride. I think this kind of riding keeps me on my toes and gives me the adrenaline rush I crave. There was a lot of poison oak here, too, so I am pretty sure I was exposed sometime in the last 24 hours (and yesterday, I went to china camp). This ride was another 6.08 miles, 1:08:00hr (just over an hr), so we rode about 5mph. What polar opposites!

I cleaned my bike again, showered, made some vegetable tofu stirfry, and am about to go to sleep. Tomorrow, I have to clean all the clothing that may have had contact with poison oak, and go for a recovery ride. My heart rate target will be < 140, and its going to take some discipline.