Monday, April 30, 2007

NMBS Race #2 - Firestone Classic

Drove up to Santa Ynez last weekend for the Firestone Classic. Met Jacinda and her friend Dave on Saturday for a slow motion pre-ride of the 13 mile XC course. Camped out...



... then woke up early Sunday for an 8:15 start.



Had a lot of nervous energy racing Sport for the first time. After a frenetic and dusty start, passed a number of riders in the first few miles but got passed by many more. About 2/3 through the first lap, got stung by a bee in the face. Nice...

At the end of lap one, started feeling a second wind. Was able to turn a fairly big gear and actually gain back a few lost positions. Too little, too late though. At 17+ miles, reached the start/finish again and was surprised to be done. Kind of anti-climactic as I was expecting at least one or two more miles.

Here's an elevation/hr profile and link to data on MotionBased.



Map of NMBS Race #2 - Firestone Classic

After some drama, ended up finishing 33 out of 45 riders in the Sport 40-44 class. Dave beat me by under two minutes coming in 29th.

Here are a few more random pics from the weekend.



Jacinda sharing the stoke with her friend Dan who's just about to finish first in Expert 30-34.



A 1/4 mile into the Pro Men's XC race. In first through third at this moment are Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (on a 29er), Geoff Kabush and Ryan Trebon. Kabush would end up winning, beating JHK by a second.



Pro Women churning up a ton of dust, much of which would end up on and in my car.

1 comment:

Andre Alforque said...

Nice shots!

Can't believe a bee stung you during the race; that's just something you don't plan for.

Are you going to stay in the sport group, or kick yourself back to the beginners?