BCSP Dino

This weekend was the was the rain out date for the Brown County race. After the trail conditions last weekend at North Vernon and the weather forecast for the week, it did not look like a great weekend. I had the bike rolling good again after the mud, but was not looking forward to another race like that. Not sure why since I can actually ride fairly well in mud, but it just leaves everything in a mess.

Thankfully the weather did not meet up to expectations and seemed to miss the area. It sounded like it could still be pretty wet, but it was not getting cancelled. So, I made sure to getting stuff ready and headed to bed early. Morning rolled around early as normal and I almost didn't wake up. I got ready and loaded up as quickly as I could and headed down the road. It was going to be a long drive all by myself. I went from a car full to no one in a matter of two days. I had all of the tents, so getting there early to snag a spot and get everything set up would be a good thing.

Thanks to Wes Kemp for the picture

It was an uneventful trip and I was there soon enough. I set up shop with a little help from a friend since I didn't see any other teammates around at that time. the race turn out was way down from the last few years, but probably still well attended for the series. As the parking lot was filling up and time was running out, I got my stuff ready. I headed out to get a warm up in, but I think I went out too early or stopped too soon. I think I took too long before it was time to start and I cooled down some.

My plan was to stay smooth on the climb and just see what happened from there. Apparently my legs didn't get the memo. They decided to check out half way up the hill. I really don't know what happened to them. All of a sudden they were just completely exhausted. I limped along the rest of the way up the hill and in to the woods. I was just about the last of the group in to the woods. I did what I could and tried to recover as I could. I didn't ride bad on the flowy stuff, but anytime it went up more than a few feet, the legs didn't have anything.

I am very disappointed in my legs. I know they are not where they need to be, but this was way worse than it has been. I will say I am happy with what I did for the rest of the race after hitting the trail. I think I went as fast as I could have with the way my legs were. I was really pushing them to go as fast as I could make them go. So, all was not a total loss, but it was nothing near what I would want. I would really like to know how I could have done in some of the other races if I could have pushed as hard as I did the rest of the race. I did have one small issue and went over the bars on one section near the end. I jumped up and got on the bike as quickly as possible. I had just passed a rider not long ago and didn't want him to catch and pass me. The next little bit I was riding a little shaky and not up to speed. I was almost caught, but the trail finally went down again and I could put some space between us.

I now have two weeks to get my legs in some kind of shape and see what I can do yet. The season is running by quickly and I still have a long way to go. I have some big ideas for the fall and really hope to get somewhere by then. I will be passing on the 6 hour race this weekend. I just can't see driving that far to race when I am not in any better shape that I am. I need to see if I can just get some better training rides in.