Seven Mad FORCs made the trip to Rockford for the Rock Cut race - Berlie, Melissa, Kathy, Barb, Amy A. , Renee V and myself. And we recruited one new member while we were there. Carol just moved to Madison, she has a purple bike and is a big fan of purple . . . it must have been fate. Hopefully she'll be able to make it to the ride and social on Thursday so everyone can meet her.
.Awaiting the start . . . Melissa doing her first race (well, except her times doing 24-9)
Renee V. ready for her first mountain bike race.
And they're off!
Here's my thoughts on the race . . .
Wow, 20 miles is a long way in April. I haven't been doing any mtn bike racing for a while now and I really can't remember the last time I raced for 2 hours. It really makes me appreciate cyclocross and racing for only 50-60 minutes!
On the upside I did better than I expected. I was really fading by the end especially given that the last part of the course has lots of climbing and I could feel myself struggling to keep up a good pace. Luckily I was sandwiched in between Carol and a Team Pedal Morraine rider which gave me a lot of motivation to keep going as hard as I was able. All of us went back and forth a bit but Carol got out a head and all I could do was keep her in my sites but not catch her. The Team Pedal Morraine rider was really strong on the uphills but I was able to keep her working by getting little gaps on the downhills and technical sections. In the end she laid down a ferocious sprint on the finishing climb and I was too gassed to respond. Unfortunately for her she missed the finishing chute. I felt bad for her (really!).
I'm glad I got out and did the race and it was nice to be at the race with everyone. Who knows maybe I'll get out to another race again!
Renee C.
1 comment:
Missing the shoot is definately a sad thing, but I took a wrong turn, along with some others to the sounds of it, and discovered some sweet little single track trail. Too my surprise - I still got 2nd place, but it was odd not being passed. It was like entering a time warp during the race. The weather was great on Sunday and it was awesome to have 7 FORCs all racing.
(not "wrench 'ho" as some jealous beef cake called out while he was pumping up his flat tire realizing that everyone was going to pass him, boo hoo) Thanks FORCs! New weekend riding spot? Could be fun!
Melissa
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