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This race is a unique
one. Devoid of singletrack, wide open fire road, downhill
start, uphill finish. It's a lesson in lactate threshold very
similar to a road criterium race. Which is probably why so
many roadies do this one each year, and skip the brutal courses.
 The
Sport Sr 2 class began with a tangle of bikes falling over
right in the middle of the pack. I was fortunate to be on
the right side and got around it. After flying down the first
hill I tried to settle into a rhythm and find a wheel to draft.
My plan was to draft as much as possible on the fast sections
and save energy for the hills, because I needed every last
drop of energy for those climbs.
The climbs were tough and are my weakness,
but I felt comfortable on the high speeds descents and loose
corners. I drafted who I could find, and they pulled me through
the entire flat section. The big climb at the end of each
lap is where I got passed, which is ironic because when I
raced road bikes 10 yrs ago, climbing was my strength. Where
did those climbing legs go?
I can't complain about my race though; no
flats, crashes, or technicals. Just a 1:41 and 78% into the
pack. It's going to be a hard progression up through the ranks
of the sport class.
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