27 March 2010  |  Race Reports

Fontana XC Race Report

For those that don’t feel like wasting their time reading this whole post, here is the synopsis: “a good shock to the system.”

This is the first year I’ve taken so much time off, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the first race.  I had a weird mix of being really nervous and not being nervous at all.  Ok, that makes no sense.  In any case, I was ready to get the first race out of the way, no matter what the outcome.

The race started fast, but I knew there was plenty of leg-sapping steep climbing to go, so I tried to be conservative while still staying as close to the front as possible. I was somewhere in the top 10 after the start loop, and after 1 lap, I was riding in 2nd and  3rd with Willow.  I was feeling pretty good (which was a nice surprise)….for 2 and a half laps.  Then I started cramping.  No, it wasn’t from salt or dehydration, or whatever- I think it was simply overexertion.  I didn’t even feel like I blew up, I was fine- right up until I wasn’t.  At that point, I had to slow down a bit, and the guv’nor was on for the next lap and a half.  Three people passed me, and I ended up 6th- just off the podium.  I was a little bummed, but at the same time there really wasn’t much I could do.

It’s always easy in retrospect to say “oh, I could have gone harder,” but if I could have, I would have and I didn’t.  So there you have it.  Anyway, it was nice to be back on the mountain bike, and the trails here are pretty fun, so it wasn’t all bad. Short track tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be able to get these legs moving and eke out a podium spot!