So far, so fun

Saturday was the Stump Farm race. We arrived in plenty of time to get our things together and get registered for the 3 hour. Standing around the start line for the rider's meeting, I realize I forgot my heart rate monitor strap, so I boogied back to the truck (which was on the other side of the parking lot and of course my bike was already "staged" so I had to jog) to get it. That was my warm up. Sweet. Ready to go.

They yelled GOOOO, we ran to our bikes, it was mass chaos, people and bikes everywhere. By the time I got to mine and grabbed it, wouldn't you know, I was the nearly the last person. CRAP! What is with my starts lately???

I put the hammer down and worked my way through the back of the pack to settle in when we hit the single track. I wasn't where I needed to be, but at that point it didn't matter if I was slowed a bit by others in the single track. After all, I did have 3 hours to try and catch up.

Finally about 1/3 of the way into the first lap, I caught the girl in front of me, Ann. We hadn't every formally met, but I knew her name from the race results. So I introduced myself. I have to say that was the first time I've actually held a conversation during a race, especially for that long. We tore through the single track chatting, which was fun, but also a bit more work. As we crossed over the timing line, I informed Ann that I had to stop each lap to exchange my bottle. I wished her a good race and off she went while I pulled to the side to get a new refreshing beverage and some more cliff blocks.

With my new bottle on board I stood up and hammered it out to try and gain back some time I'd lost. Soon after I hit the single track for the second time, I found Ann. She had just had a little scuffle with a tree and was just settling back into the groove of things. We rode that single track out together and I pulled out ahead when we popped out to double track. Since she pulled for most of the first lap, it was my turn. She stuck on my wheel for a while, I introduced her to one of my teammates as we passed her (way to go April!) and then somewhere, I'm not sure where, I somehow shook her loose. I really wasn't watching where she was, I was just trying to ride clean and have a good, FAST race.

Not knowing how far behind me she was, I stopped for my third bottle and cliff blocks. After a quick exchange there, I stood up and hammered again. Looking back, I didn't see her anywhere. I finished out the 3rd lap alone, with a little less speed than the first two as my back was really starting to get sore. My body wasn't used to racing hard for over 2 hours and it showed. I crossed the finish line around 2:19. . . ..not enough time to squeeze in a 4th lap. From what I remember (results still aren't posted) my first lap was 46 minutes, my second lap was about 10 seconds longer at 46 something and my last lap was around 48 minutes. Overall pretty consistent, and a very good time.

I wrapped up 3rd place and took home a nice Stump Farm mug. Now I have a set. Sweet.