Quote... feeling bad during a race
"If you feel bad in a road race and you get dropped, usually there's a group you can ride in with. You can joke around with everybody else who got dropped, and trade snacks or whatever. But in a mountain bike race there's nowhere to hide."
From: John Tomac
I met briefly with a good friend and discussed his plans for racing this year. He is moving up a category and is hoping to have a successful year (last year he won most races he entered). He has been training and doing his best to be his best for his first race (this weekend), and I thought to myself how sad it would be to find myself in the same position (but with my currently level of training/preparedness).
It got me thinking about my recent years efforts/results in racing. They have not been that stellar really...but they were a lot of fun. As a family man, I have better learned the meaning of the term "pack filler", but I am happy to serve this duty. I enjoy the excitement of a race, and love the experience. Winning is great, but you must be committed to riding and training. I have been enjoying far too many other dimensions of life lately...and honestly, I am not afraid to admit it.
This year I plan to do more on the road, and probably less competitive racing on the MTB. This quote sums it up nicely.
A New Marathoner
The talk got me thinking long and hard about what objectives I'd like to see myself accomplish this year. I've decided yesterday that I will be racing Marathon in the Fat Tire Series, and expert in the Heartland Series.
Thinking about it, I would be no more than a middle of the pack filler in a expert race at this moment in time. I'm not a early season peaker, I'm more of a mid-summer peak kinda guy. Also, with Ouachita coming up along with Sylammo's Revenege, I need all the on trail training I can get. I've been doing alot more endurance riding on the road, but have spent little to no time on the trail. So there it is, I'll be racing Marathon for the first time this weekend.
My first expert race will be the weekend after Ouachita, granted the weather prevails. I'm beggining to really like riding longer, and harder and this year the endurance races are going to be a big part of my racing. So here's to a great race season to all of us!