During the early morning drive over to Macon Sunday morning I had the feeling that I had forgotten something, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. We (My Hunny & I) had pulled out at 4:15 am, after spending 6 hours in the car the day before taking our daughter to Mobile to catch a cruise ship.
I knew it was going to be cold during my warm up time (about 38*) so I took my trainer & cross bike to warm up with. About 5 minutes into my warm up, I remembered what I left at home.
Legs.
I do my trainer rides by speed, using a rear mounted computer, so I know how much power I should be able to produce. My power during the warm up was way down. I finished my warm up & headed to the start.
I had a good time chatting with all the usual Sport 40+ class suspects. Duckman of course had to yell out "Hey, does anybody gotta go pee?" I asked who all was new to the class this year & got a few hands to raise. I then asked them if they had any weapons such as guns, knives or billy clubs on them. When they replied "no", I told them that if they would go over to the sign up desk, that they would give them one! It's a brutal class! Then we all got to see Duckman, one of the old hands, whip out his multi tool and tighten up his front rotor bolts like he had all day. Thing is, he started this operation with about 45 seconds to go before the start!
As soon as they said "go!", my worst fears were confirmed. I had nothing. Let me tell you, MTB racing ain't no poker game. You can't bluff your way to the front of the pack! I decided to just make the best of it & ride my own race. I went as hard as I could, but still had an average HR about 4 or 5 bpm below threshold. I usually run about 2 bpm over. Not good. But the course was tight, a bit techy & in great shape, so I still had a blast. I managed to catch one guy in my class, make a pass & drop him for good. That was satisfying!
Well, the result of all my efforts was a 12th place finish out of 26 starters. I am still at a loss as to why my legs were so bad. Maybe I did too much the week before? Maybe the driving? Bad nutrition? I don't know. But like the Governator said, "I'll be back"!
