TSB: 7
CTL: 108
Teammates: Mike S in the 35+, Bob Scooby Doo in 45+
40 PSI in Michelin Mud 2 in front and 40 PSI in Michelin Jet in the rear.
This course used some of the same trails as the last Fort Ord race but in reverse with the barely rideable sand uphill turned into a downhill, and the long paved mostly uphill section with a few rollers turned into a long paved downhill section with a few rollers. It also was very dry compared to the last time which was my downfall.
Rode a warmup lap with Mike and thought he was going awfully slow through the corners and when I went a little faster had trouble holding a line but didn't think anything of it.
In my second warmup lap managed to aggravate the quad muscle strain I got from last weeks's cross race but it wasn't that bad so I lined up for the race.
We started at the bottom of the short steep paved hill and off went twenty something of us. I tried to hold back and let the main group get away and coasted and caught up to the tail at the end of the pavement descent and had to brake hard to avoid running into traffic. Was fine until the first corner when I took it a little too fast and washed out the front. This wasn't so bad but was in the big ring and this was tough to get going again. I repeated this on every other rough corner on the first lap so I was fast on the bike and really pokey walking the bike or trying to get started in the big ring. The downhill sand pit was not that bad, had to get some speed up, and take some weight off the front and keep pedaling. Just had trouble with those pesky corners... Let myself get a little flustered and just lost my concentration there and just could not get it back together again.
Need to try slightly lower pressure.
On the bright side went exploring and rode some new trails at Fort Ord, will probably bring the mountain bike next time and a lot more clothing.
T: 44:35
S: 21.9
C: 76
H: 170
PAvg: 157
PNorm: 200
