First XC Mountain Bike Race

I know this isn't cyclocross related, but we've got at least 3 months until the season starts. I decided to do my first cross country mountain bike race. There is a low-key mid-week race series that alternates between Soldier Hollow and Sundance. This last week's race was at Sundance. As this was my 2nd mountain bike race ever and 1st XC race I decided to sign up in the Beginner A category. After registering I got a little worried that I'd be racing against a bunch of kids. They started each group, starting with the Expert A's, in 30 second increments. There happened to be a few teens and other men in my class so I stuck with it instead of going with the Sport class. Boy am I glad I stayed with the Beginners.

The race started with a longish paved uphill ride, long enough to get people strung out pretty well, without bunching when we reached the single track. I finally made it to the single

track section only to find

it's the same trail I've ridden dozens of times. The only problem is I've always ridden it in the other direction, as a downhill. After riding for what seemed like hours uphill I began to wonder why this category of race is called cross country, that would imply some sort of up and down riding across varied terrain. The only downhill I encountered for the first 40 minutes of the race was a periodic 3 second downhill stretch that wasn't even long enough to drop my hear rate one beat. After the initial couple of miles I gained a couple of spots, but lost a few when my rear tire spun out on a steep section. It was too steep to try to start from so I had to push to the top of that climb and hop back on.

After the final hill it was time to start that blessed downhill. I found that I had now sapped all of my

energy and was not able to hold a line very well through the sweeping corners. I was forced to use my breaks much more than I would have liked. After a bit of downhill the course cut over for one last bit of climbing through some trees. I had a bit of speed coming into one corner cut that was cut in close to the trees. I was really leaning into the corner to maximize the momentum I had before the trail cut uphill when my left shoulder slammed into a tree and I was brought to a sudden and painful halt. A quick check revealed a small cut on my arm and a still functioning shoulder so I got back on the pedals and pushed up the hill. I managed to get some strength back for the last fun downhill stretch. Jen and the kids were cheering for me as I flew past the lift area where the spectators were hanging out on the grass. I have no idea where I placed and I really don't care. As hard as that race was I think I'll go for it again next week in Midway.