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Mt Snow Mountain Bike Race Report
Mt. Snow, the standard in which all other MTB courses are compared in New England, and for good reason. There are really two parts to Mt. Snow, up and down. The up is brutal, lots of climbing, and in the past lots of technical sections. After killing yourself going up, you are hoping for a break coming down, but not a chance here. The downhill could be more taxing than climbing, lots of rocks, roots, and it is always muddy coming down hill. So like a good racer, I was looking forward to racing here.This was to be my first race in over three weeks after my 10 day mid season break. I was able to get one for one good ride after this break, and my upperbody was suffering, and with this race coming up I knew that I was in for a challenge going downhill, and I was hoping that I would find my legs when climbing.As the Pro class lined up, looking around it was easy to see that this was arguably the strongest field assembled in Root 66 this season, so it was going to be sweet. The whistle blows and its time to go! We hit the first climb and its time to climb, however I quickly discovered that my legs lacked any snap, and felt a bit heavy. However I was hoping that I just needed some warming up, and they would come around. Well after climbing for about 20 minutes I felt about the same, and I had slipped back to about 12th place. This is not where I had hoped to be, but I felt steady and sustainable, so now time to go down. Well, I was right, my upper body was suffering, I was bombing down the rocks, but my triceps were burning and I was starting to wish for the climb again.So now for lab 2 of 4, and when I started to climb I still lacked snap, however I was able to still manage the same speed as the first lap, and I started making my through the field, and when I came around the second lap I think I was in something like 8th. It was time for some PowerBar energy gel, so I slammed a Strawberry Banana gel, and went out for lap 3. I continued to stay steady and kept going at a pretty hard pace for the whole 2.5 hour race. I finished in 5th place, and it appears that the slow and steady turtle route payed off reasonable well. It seems that every year I am unable to feel great at Mt. Snow, even though I have a great desire to do well, and perhaps this added pressure tricks my legs into thinking that I should be sitting on a couch throwing back some nachos. Well either way, 5th place for not feeling terribly good is all right with me, and riding up Mt. Snow 4 times is always an accomplishment.
Massachusetts, United States
Mountain Biking, Athletes/Active Lifestyle
I hold a professional mountain bike license and enjoy racing throughout the New England ar…MORE
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