Without my family I kind of stood around by myself waiting for the racing to start. A few curious riders chatted briefly, and Tom and Matt from Tryon stopped to chat.
Once again I started at the back of the beginner pack, and the juniors started something like a minute behind. And once again at least some of them caught up with me. And once again one of them had a chain fall off! It's kind of sad to see some little kid standing on the side not knowing what to do while his buddies all ride away. Of course I stopped and fixed it for him, this time having to grab the chain and yank out from between his frame and little ring. Greasy hand. Yay! So that's twice now that the only guy without a chain had to fix one! Hahaha!
The course was modified slightly to avoid a somewhat dilapidated bridge. I don't think anyone thought the bridge was really unsafe, but I guess the insurance company thought different. I think the detour added a touch more distance onto the race, but not much.
I raised my seat about a 1/2" in the hopes it might help my lower back fatigue. I also tried to be more conscious of my posture. I think I might lean my upper body too far forward sometimes, especially on hill climbs. I still ended up with some fatiguing, but not as much. So I might be onto something.
As I have gotten to know the course, I've found some great areas to shift my Schlumpf hub into high gear. I really felt like I was cruising in places.
I think I did better on hill climbs than last week, but unfortunately there were a bunch of climbs that got interrupted by a rider approaching faster from behind. I have no choice but to dismount and let them pass. They often apologize, but I'm a guest in their race so I've got to stay out of the way. And then sometimes there is a train of other riders I have to wait for to pass. Though I guess it's a good way to catch my breath. I didn't stop to rest like I did last race.
Between the Schlumpf and resting less, I shaved about 7 minutes off my time. Last week my time was 1:24. This time 1:17. I had thought I might have done even better than that, but it's a step in the right direction.
Once again I got a ton of positive comments from riders as they passed and from spectators as I passed. I kept hearing "Go uni-man!!" There was also a swimming event going on and the racers ride down a hill adjacent to the pool. The first time I rode past I got a huge cheer. All the positive comments help to keep me moving.
No comments:
Post a Comment