Race Pace

Wowzers! Just came back from an awesome trip to Kamloops. And just finding out how I did in the race I went to out there, The North Face Dirty Feet 6 Hour Enduro!

The weekend started off poor. Missed the alarm clock Saturday morning by a hour and a half, which in turn meant a hour and a half less riding in Kamloops. Terrible. When I did finally wake up at 6:30 in the am, Colin (a good riding buddy from Cranbrook) and myself started the 7.5 hour trek to Kamloops. It was a good drive up there until we got to the Rogers Pass. Near the top the car started to overheat so we pulled over, popped the hood and realized we were low on coolant. Perfect. Any coolant in the car of any kind? Nope! Wait a sec. Colin bought a Nestea at the last gas station. That should work! It is still keeping my car cool this very minute.

We got into Kamloops in the early afternoon, just in time to check out the local bike shops. Very cool stuff out there and lots of friendly people in the shops. But we didn't come to Kamloops to shop, it was time to bike. First up, RIO!

This picture is not taken on Rio, rather it is the bike (2010 Opus Clutch 2) that made short work of Rio!

Rio is a downhill trail located just outside of Kamloops. I used to be into downhill riding a lot more then I am now, but this trail is the one that keeps bringing me back. It winds down the middle of a gully and is crazy fast. This 6" Opus is perfect for it. So on the Saturday before the race we got in some more gravity rides as well. The other trail network we played around on was the Bike Ranch. http://www.city.kamloops.bc.ca/bikeranch/index.shtml This is a crazy cool network of trails that brings both beginner and more advanced trails together within city limits! Lots of fun was had there. We had to shuttle everything as there was only the two of us. Check out this guy next time your in town - Mostly Mental Shuttles. Good rates and good times.

The Opus Stakh 1 right after she was built

The loaded Focus. 4 bikes, 2 riders

Sunday Sunday Sunday. Sunday was to be a good day. We woke up early again to get to the park where the race was being held. Start time was 10am. The nerves definately go off waiting for the start gun to go. Checking out all the competition, wondering what the trail is going to be like, making sure my rig is in perfect running order, and so on. If there is something to worry about before a race, I probably worry about it.

Then the start gun goes off and everything changes.

Right off the bat everyone is trying to prove to everyone else that they are better then them and trying to jokey for the best position. Laps here were 12.7km long and the course was smooth, dry, and fast. Nothing too technical, but some nasty short steep hill sections. Average lap times for me were around 45 minutes. There was this one young punk that was probably 6 or 7 years younger then me that I kept duelling with. He was fast for his size! Just as I would start letting off the gas a bit because there was no one around me to let me know what my pace was like, he would pass me. This angered me. How could such a young kid be such a good rider already? Anyway, this made me realize that I can't let off the gas at all. Go until I can't go anymore. He slowly passed me on a hill climb, I looked over and realized who he was, and I was on the gas again, and didn't let go until the end of the 6 hours. In the end I only beat him my just over a minute. Oh well, good lesson learned.

The North Face Dirty Feet 6 Hour Enduro - Kamloops, B.C. -  Kenna Cartwright Park  

Boo Yeah!

There was a wack load of learning in this race. Another thing for me was to stop being stupid and drink more. During the first 3 laps I only drank 1 water bottle. That's stupid. I don't even really know what my reasoning was. I just get racing and don't think about things too much, including how rehydrating is going to affect me in the laps to come. Bring lots of bottles, drink lots. Easy. After the 4th lap I drank a bottle every lap and my times increased a bunch. And I felt a whole lot stronger in each lap.

Another thing I learned was to shut off a certain portion of my mind. During the race the first couple laps were easy because I was still at full strength and times were fast. But as the race continues and energy decreases, it's really easy to start thinking negatively about a lot of things including things outside of the race. This can't happen. It brings a person down and starts affecting their performance. Focus on the race, focus on the outcome. Do what I want to do. Simple right? Not so much. I got into this state of mind, just focusing on the race and next thing you know I am layed out in one of the high speed corners and my derailleur hanger is bent. Perfect. A simple tweak and it was all good but maybe a person can focus too much on a race. I don't think I am there yet.

Lessons Learned:
1) Put on the gas the whole time, don't go average pace. Max it out!
2) Stop being stupid - drink lots.
3) Be in race pace mode in my mind

Overall I was really happy with how I raced this race. Somewhere during the last lap I looked at my computer and realized that when this 6 hours was all said and done I was going to do over 100km. YEAH! That gave me even more stoke and my last lap was one of my faster ones. We couldn't stick around for the results as we had a 7.5 hour trip home. I had to wait a couple days for the results but in the end it was worth it. I ended up 4th in my category and had the 3rd fastest lap time of any of the solo competitors. Yeah.

The North Face Dirty Feet 6 Hour Enduro - Kamloops, B.C. -  Kenna Cartwright Park

Big news! Yesterday I went on my first group road ride to get some cross training in. Awesome. So fast. Good group of people. Roads could be a little smoother for sure. I kind of feel a bit responsible for 3 flat tires during the ride (none were mine), but I was the newby, how was I to know I was supposed to be pointing out the holes in the road?

Next mission, Round The Mountain in Kimberley. Excellent trail, excellent riders. Going to be a tough go but there is some home terf to defend here. I bet lots of people are going to be in it to win it. Training is well underway, we shall see what happens.

Over and out.