By Dennis Pedersen
After twice finishing 7th out of 8 riders, you'd think I'd learn my lesson. But once again I drove to Fort Ord to race on the awesome CCCX XC courses Keith Defiebre sets up there for us. This race was originally to be on April 16th, though even that was a change from the very first schedule. But here we were, over a month later, for the actual race. As before, I raced in the 55+ age group, Category 2.
Our races start at 11:30, and I got there just in time to sign up, get ready, warm up a little, and line up. I really didn't do anything differently this time, so I didn't expect the results to be much different. The weather was gray and chilly, and perhaps that affected the turnout as there were only five riders in my category.
We started in a wave with all Category 2 racers, just separated by age group slightly at the start. We raced up the only paved section, and onto the dirt single track trail just like the previous races. And, just like the previous races, I started out okay, but quickly had to back off to avoid redlining.
As a result, on the first lap several of the other racers in my category passed me. And on lap 2, I think, several more of them passed me on the one long-ish climb of the course. It wasn't all that long, just long enough to tire me out enough. Pretty soon I was riding by myself. Occasionally I'd pass somebody else, then they'd pass me later, usually on the hilly sections.
Still, I felt reasonably good when I crossed the finish line at the end of the 4th and last lap. I had a feeling I was last, but had to rush off to my dad's 94th birthday party and didn't get to verify the results until a few days later when they were posted online. Yes, I was last, 5th out of five. Still that's better than 7th I suppose, haha.
Like usual, I did a little post-race analysis after the results were posted, and unfortunately it showed that my average speed of 12.9 miles/hour was a bit slower than in race #3, though still faster than at race #1 in February. This race was about half an hour shorter than the previous races, and just 19.31 miles with 1,824 ft climbing. So I was a little surprised at being slower since I'm usually faster in shorter races. Maybe it was the cool, windy weather.
The most important thing was that I did have fun, and I really do enjoy these courses. It's fun to be a part of it and I'll try my best to be at the next race, scheduled for Sunday, June 25th... which happens to be my mom's 88th birthday.
