The latest round of the TDD series round 4 was held at Ponca City. By an amazing set of coincidences Amanda was able to join Fiona and I as we took a trip out in Baby Groot.
The races were based out of the Wentz Camp and pool area though due to it being to early in the season the pool is currently not open.
The trails at Ponca City are a great mixture of flow and rocky sections. The trails are numbered 1-8 and each trail section has its own character, they all join back up to a gravel access road which would make repeating them easy. It is a super fun trail to ride and with the variety of sections it will improve all of your riding, go ride there!
We arrived a little later than planned but we still managed to get some riding in.
Amanda and Fiona rode the Kids Kup course and practised their skills over the wooden features. Fiona was not happy that we were forcing her to practice these but, reluctantly did with Amanda's encouragement. Whilst they practiced, I nipped off to ride part of the course.
Amanda and Fiona rode the Kids Kup course and practised their skills over the wooden features. Fiona was not happy that we were forcing her to practice these but, reluctantly did with Amanda's encouragement. Whilst they practiced, I nipped off to ride part of the course.
Here we are relaxing post ride.
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| Enjoying the evening |
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| Fiona taking the photo for a change |
Fiona's Race
After a relaxing night in Baby Groot we got Fiona registered for her race which started at 9am.
Here is Fiona's first lap of the race.
As can be seen she was the only one to ride the wooden features on the first 1/2 of lap one which put her squarely at the back of the group. :( I am stoked that she did, but if I had known that the rest of the group would have missed them, I wouldn't have insisted that she rode them. For the remaining four laps Fiona didn't ride the wooden features on the first 1/2 of the lap and clawed her way back up into second place overall.
Here she is crossing the line.
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| Go Fiona Go! |
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| Podium again go Fiona! |
I am hopeful one day she will make the top spot of the podium. This day she rode with some real grit which as we will find out later I lacked for my race, see below.
My Race
After seeing Fiona on the podium I went off to scope out segment 3 of the course as advised to do by Corey White. I was glad I did as the section was definitely the most technical of the course. I did manage to clean ride everything though so wasn't to worried about that part of the lap but I was glad I checked it out.
After riding this section, I headed back to Baby Groot for some food then a little warmup before heading over to the start.
At 12pm we set off in the usual fashion of rocket speed, the only difference being this time I was able to hang with some of the guys ahead of me. The first section of singletrack was a little bit of a mess and someone stumbled and I almost had to put a foot down. Next thing the guy in front of me (Victor) crashed. I passed him and was rolling really well. Section 3 rolled up quickly and I let Victor pass me where he then put a little time into me. As we headed to the technical part I caught Victor again and passed him. I cleaned the sections and Victor followed me back onto the access road I grabbed some hydration and let Victor lead into section 4 where we were soon passed by the 4 leaders of the next category back. I managed to stay on this groups wheel as they caught Victor (I stopped to let them pass me) I watched my pacing on the access road and Victor was in sight as I finished the first lap.
Rolling into the first singletrack I managed to hit a rock pretty hard and flat my tyre. I stopped and added some air and carried on, no big deal. Further around the course in section 3 of singletrack I felt my tyre going soft again, damnit then thunk I rim striked. I'm now pretty frustrated but add some more air and continue on my way. Into the next technical section and thunk again. I stop and put more air into my tyre but now mentally I'm spent. I can honestly say this I don't know why. I have had to add air in races before but this time I hit the road and added yet more air and I was done. I DNF'd my first race ever I think. Not a great example to set for Fiona but sometimes things happen.
Looking at the results now, if I had stopped and taken the time to remove the thorns from my tyre and put a tube in I would have probably finished DFL which is not an unusual for me, oh well.
After riding this section, I headed back to Baby Groot for some food then a little warmup before heading over to the start.
At 12pm we set off in the usual fashion of rocket speed, the only difference being this time I was able to hang with some of the guys ahead of me. The first section of singletrack was a little bit of a mess and someone stumbled and I almost had to put a foot down. Next thing the guy in front of me (Victor) crashed. I passed him and was rolling really well. Section 3 rolled up quickly and I let Victor pass me where he then put a little time into me. As we headed to the technical part I caught Victor again and passed him. I cleaned the sections and Victor followed me back onto the access road I grabbed some hydration and let Victor lead into section 4 where we were soon passed by the 4 leaders of the next category back. I managed to stay on this groups wheel as they caught Victor (I stopped to let them pass me) I watched my pacing on the access road and Victor was in sight as I finished the first lap.
Rolling into the first singletrack I managed to hit a rock pretty hard and flat my tyre. I stopped and added some air and carried on, no big deal. Further around the course in section 3 of singletrack I felt my tyre going soft again, damnit then thunk I rim striked. I'm now pretty frustrated but add some more air and continue on my way. Into the next technical section and thunk again. I stop and put more air into my tyre but now mentally I'm spent. I can honestly say this I don't know why. I have had to add air in races before but this time I hit the road and added yet more air and I was done. I DNF'd my first race ever I think. Not a great example to set for Fiona but sometimes things happen.
Looking at the results now, if I had stopped and taken the time to remove the thorns from my tyre and put a tube in I would have probably finished DFL which is not an unusual for me, oh well.
What did I learn this weekend?
It was nice to get away as a family even if only for one night, though I really ought not to forget the bacon next time.
I felt terrible for quitting however I got a lot of nice comments from friends. I don't think I will quit that easily again but never say never.
I did buy a new tyre for the rear as I now have no confidence in my rear tyre that I was running after two races with flats.
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| New rubber |
I am feeling strong right now so lets hope that carries forward into the Marathon Nationals in TX on the 11th May.
Finally, Amanda is way better at coaching Fiona for MTB (really giving her confidence) than I am and Fiona is better at coaching Amanda in the same way Amanda does for her. I need to work on that and getting them both riding more. They are really great when they get going just lacking a little confidence.
Good Stuff and love seeing the knowledge you gain from not only your racing, but how you handle encouraging and supporting your family:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Corey, I am enjoying writing the blogs. The racing has been a lot of fun so far this year. Family is important to me too.
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