Uwharrie XC Race

Sunday was the first XC race of the year. I went with Alan, his wife, and the whole family. We arrived with plenty of time for me to get ready and warm up, warming up would prove to be tough because it was so cold. I wasn't really expecting too much today, just wanted to see where my fitness was compared to the other guys. I had a much better start than usual, as I was sitting in 3rd place, after a 1/2 mile or so I moved to 2nd and sat on the leaders wheel. He was looking for his team mate, so we slowed slightly and settled in. Now, there were 4 of us at the front with a gap, I was feeling good and ready to have a good day. I drifted back a little as we hit some hills, but the long flat ahead would close me back up slightly. We got to the top of the course and now I was with the 2nd group of 3 with the leaders in sight, I was not pushing too hard and I felt like I could move up if needed. After, the first downhill, I crossed the creek and went to climb only to find that my chain was off. I had to stop to fix that, now I was in the 3rd group. I stayed with them until the start of the 2nd lap, Neal pulled off and I set sail to move back up, I left the guys in the third group and caught the next guy up. I went tto the top with him and one other guy and I was looking to hit another spurt after the downhill.

That didn't happen, being off of the mtn bike for a month told on me. I had to be running with too much pressure, I started feeling the bumps, then the front wheel washed out on me and I went down. My right calf cramped and I had to lay on the ground for a minute moaning like a cow giving birth. I got back up and saw my rear derailleur hanger was bent, I rigged it to get rolling again, and went a few miles before I shifted the derailleur into the rear wheel and the chain behind the cassette (awesome). I limped in from the 2nd lap with no east gears on my bike, I thought about hanging it up for the day, but I saw Alan with an evil grin on his face as he was handing me my water bottle, so I sucked it up and kept going. I tried to stay smooth and calm on the last lap, and I made it around with no problems. I finished 8th and got to watch one guy finish a few minutes after me (poor guy).

No good gauge of fitness, my skills were at a 3 out of 10.