Screened Porch project.
I hadn't raced in a while and have never been that competative. My race went well and I had no problems such as flats or crashes. We decided to race the 40ish mile XXC race which is twice as long as the regular race and leaves the park for some rough, back country trail in the National Forest. The weather forcast had called for 10% chance of precip., so it rained off and on during the race adding to the challenge. On top of that, we all were riding single speed, Joel and I on fully rigid bikes (no suspension). I started pretty slow and eased up the first climb, then kept a tortoise pace going the rest of the day, trying to keep moving without pushing too hard. I avoided cramping until the last couple of climbs, but was able to push through. I was actually riding pretty strong on the last segment up Stoney Run and down Blue Suck to the finish. I crossed the line around 5 hours and 55 minutes which beat my rough goal of 6 hours. I was pretty far down the list, but not last. I gave all I had, leaving enough to drive home. Ted ended up doing fantastic and finished 5:22. This was his first race, incidently. Joel had some trouble with cramping and had decided to end the day early. Some other locals did very well. David, Todd, and Paul from the Design Physics Team posted some great times. Francine ended up winning the Womens XXC and I have to say that I was very impressed with her. I ended up seeing her a lot during the day. I fell in behind her at the start and she was patient with all the traffic up the first muddy climb. She rode a log skinny over a creek that many of the men walked. I eventually went ahead but she kept catching me on the longer climbs. Darn gears. It was a long, tough race and she handled it in style.
