Even though we've done recent races, both my dad and I went into Neshaminy feeling like it's been forever since a MASS race. After the W101, Bill Nagel invited us to stay at his house the night before the race. We drove down there, and ate dinner with Bill, Chad, Cameron, and Jay. It was lightly raining, and everyone knew that the race might get canceled because of the rain. In that case, they planned a ride in Wiss. Got a good night's sleep, but we awoke to pouring rain. Things slowed down a bit, and then Bill got a txt saying that the race was still on. So we loaded up the bikes and drove to the start. Still light rain, and the beginners were looking muddy when they came out onto the field. I was trying to be optimistic about things, but the course was as muddy as Granogue. The race started well, and as long as you were focused, the mud wasn't that slippery. But the race would get interesting as the mud messed with the bikes. Coming off of a downhill and into an uphill, Noah lost his chain and needed to get off his bike. It was still really early, but I knew that this was when I needed to break away. So I did, but right when I was starting to recover from the attack, I kept hearing my cassette pop. I backed off a bit, and it went away. When Jeremy passed me, I stopped and tried to get the mud out of my derrailleur. The cage was completely covered. I ended up getting passed by a bunch of other people, but finished the race. I had to walk most of the climbs because of the gears, but I felt good physically. I had fun even though I was a bit dissapointed. Everyone else had a good race, so I'm happy.
Later that week, my dad convinced me to get new bars for my road bike. I feel much better on shallow drop bars, and we had one of the best road rides we've had in a while. My mom wanted to do a sport race sometime this year, and she was able to go to French Creek, so she came along with us. The race was really hot and humid, but they cut the lap down to 10 miles, putting the race at around an hour. The course was full of rocks, climbs, and techy descents. So what it lacked in distance, it made up for in trails that you'll never see in a MASS race. Everything was a little slick, but sliding was predictable. It was a good race. I'm a little dissapointed that I didn't break an hour (only because I came so close with 1:00.14), but I was really happy with the race and nothing makes me happier than rocks. Both my dad and I came out with wins, and my mom had a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment