Chaos always reigns when you're mountain bike racing. From the weird, semi-controlled starts to the vague and sometimes arbitrary passing rules, it can be daunting. But this wasn't my first rodeo. Indeed, I've raced mountain bikes for 31 years. Today marks the second race this season, thus the second race of "retirement racing". Today, we mashed it up at Creve Coeur park, a very twisty, turny, blind-spot infested, river-trail-esque place that most people write off for being too easy. Let me tell you, it's only easy when you're riding...it's hard as hell when you're racing!
Today there were 18 people in the Cat 1 race. That's a fair sized field. As luck would have it, the sun stayed away and the trail surface was freaking awesome! I hung on to the two leaders like grim death for nearly an hour and a half, finally managing to grab second place. I was being given a clinic on turns, that's for sure. And power. In fact, I was outclassed at everything, and I got second more because of experience than anything else.
All props to my podium mates. These guys were a classy act. And I must say, it was a very strong field.
My thanks go out to Mike Barro and his crew for putting this race on. I had never thought much of racing at Creve Coeur, but I'm so glad I did. And also thanks to the tireless work of GORC, the crew that makes all of our trails so nice!
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