Short track race was very difficult. 20min + 2laps, we were riding laps between 3:15 and 3:30. The difficult part was the fact that each lap had somewhere between 120ft and 150ft of climbing, so it was basically 26 minutes of steep hill intervals. All the Cat1 age groups went together, so I really had no idea where I was. I felt, though, like I was in last place, because of the effort some people put in off the front. Come to find out I finished 4th out of 7 in the 19-29 group, so I was actually pleased with that result. I ended up torquing myself pretty hard in this race; I got in a decent cool down and got into my compression tights right afterward, but when I went to bed, my legs were just shot. Still had a substantial lactate buildup in them, and they just didn't feel like they wanted to move.
Sunday's XC course starts on a 8-9% loose gravel road that pitches up to what has to be better than 12%, for nearly the first half mile. That's followed by a bunch of switchback singletrack heading up the ski mountain, then finishes off with another 10% dirt road for a quarter mile before starting to traverse the mountain. All in all, its a climb that at race pace takes me somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes to the top. Much of the traverse, both out to the descent and back, has many short punchy climbs that just beat on your legs over and over, not to mention the combination with the technical aspect - lots of rocks and roots on the way out.
I think there were 13 of us that started. I felt pretty good up the climb, but was already in 8th or 9th at that point, and spots throughout the climb showed me I was going to have lactate issues in my legs today. Had a lot of fun on the traverse on the way out - was riding really well technically (for me, anyway). The descent was a little wet from the night before, so I didn't take a lot of risks (its a singletrack that you can easily hit 30mph if you want); between the dampness, the roots, and my tires, one wrong move would be a slapdown of epic proportions. Coming back to the start/finish, there were a number of those punchy 40-50ft climbs, which were just wreaking havoc on my legs and back. By the time I got back to the lap-through, I was back in 10th, and really not wanting to do that climb again. I made it about 3/4 mile into the climb, and just fell apart. Got to this little 10" root step-up, put my front wheel on top, went to pedal the bike up, and...nothing. Literally just fell over. I cracked hard coming up that climb, as I very rarely got out of the easiest gear I had, and even had to get off the bike once. My legs were absolutely on fire, and my back was so uncomfortable...felt like Teva Games all over again. Coming across the traverse, I think I cleared one real technical uphill section, so there was a lot more getting off the bike. By the time I made it to the descent for the second lap, a torrential downpour started, then it hailed so hard it turned everything white, then it started hailing and raining hard. Huge thunder claps in every direction. Turned the entire descent into a 3" deep river, because the trail was the only place for the water to go. Had to gingerly ride the rest of the way back, stopped to take off my glasses b/c I couldn't see with them on, sliding completely sideways in some spots...it was an unbelievable 20 minutes. Crossed the line still in 10th, so I did manage to stay in front of one person, as two people dropped out. The only saving grace - man, is that a fun set of trails to ride. As bad as it hurt, rarely was I not having fun (especially in the rain and hail - that was just surreal).
Couple of things to note about my lap splits:
- My second lap took about 30 seconds longer than my first, and the second lap was 3 miles shorter (ouch!)
- My first lap time, including the difficulty I was starting to have on the trail back, was 20 seconds slower than the first place Cat 2 time (just check those to justify my existence in Cat 1 after what I felt was such a poor race)
- My time was actually 9 minutes slower than my time was as a Cat2 last year (obviously, the slow descent and return on the second lap did not help matters greatly here...probably makes up for at least 5 of the 9 minutes).
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