I participated in another 6 hour endurance race this past weekend. You can see the results
here I finished 16th in the Men's 40+ division. That felt pretty good compared to 23rd a month ago. I came in 'standing up' and was able to turn 7 laps totalling about 60 miles. The first lap was the slowest and the last lap was as fast as the third. Starting slow seemed to work pretty well.
This was the same course as the Ultracentric 12-hour relay competition (at Erwin Park in McKinney, TX) where Kirk and I almost froze to death. The course was setup for a complete loop and included the ‘Expert’ section – this is the segment containing the big dips, elevated bridges and off-camber roller-coaster single track.
The weather was cold with the high at 40 degrees and a constant 20-30mph wind. the sun was out part of the day and that made it much more comfortable than the Ultracentric competition. Comfortable probably isn’t the right word for such conditions. I'm looking forward to doing one of these with windchills above freezing.
I learned that tight shoes make for a very efficient peddling platform. It is a terrible way to treat feet though. My feet were blocks of ice until I loosened them up and gave them a little blood.
The fastest lap of the day appears to be 36 minutes. This compares to my fastest lap of 52 minutes. I don't know how you would run that pace on 400cc two-stroke, much less on a bike. I think I'll keep my day job as soon as I get one.
One guy completely broke his foot off - you can see the carnage
here: (check it out, it is safe for work and not gruesome - this guy is awesome)
About 160 people show up for the competition. The race is started using a "LaMans" start where everyone lines up and races on foot to their bicycles. This helps spread everyone out so the serious people can get on the trail first.
Here are the bikes:
Here are the people:
The trail has a lot of technical challenges. This means you can crash if you aren't paying attention. One section of the trail is called 'Screaming Drop'. I don't think the photos really capture how steep the drop is. From the top it looks like a cliff. You have to get well behind the saddle of the bike to keep from going over the handle bars. This can be difficult after 50 miles of riding.
Here is the Screaming Drop from a different angle:
Another feature of the trail is the Bank Shot. This is a roller coaster-like feature of smooth off-camber single track with deep steep drops through a creek bed. Its about as much fun as I can have for free.
Here is a section of 'Bank Shot'.
Labels: mountain biking insanity
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