pre-race nerves are kicking in
July 31st, 2008 | Published in general | 2 Comments
I’m going to celebrate turning 40 with my first endurance mountain bike race in almost a decade. Actually, my first mountain bike race at all in almost a decade. It’s the 24 Hours of 9 Mile event, but i’m compromising and only riding the 12 hour version. I was reviewing the site today for some camping info (not sure if i need to bring water), and saw that i’m on the starting roster. Whoo/yipe!
While on the site, i also checked out last year’s results. It’s a 14-mile lap, boys and girls, or about twice the length of a trip around the typical 24 Hours of Afton course that i’ve done twice before. Granted, it won’t have anywhere near the climbing that Afton has, but seeing average lap times of 90 minutes gives some pause. Man, I really really really don’t want a flat or mechanical in the boonies.
Big thanks to Mark for the use of his big light, and thanks to Ella for picking out a fresh bottle of bug dope for me at the store this week. Should be fun!
August 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm (#)
The race looked fun from your pix… But what’s the story behind your swollen hand?
August 4th, 2008 at 9:59 pm (#)
The trails were really rough and the bike was constantly bouncing around, so even though i wore gloves my hands got pretty beat up. A suspension fork would probably help, but it’s not like i’m doing these races more than once a year. I’m going to try some new grips.