If you have read this blog before you may know I occasionally do a bit of cycling amongst other things. Amanda and I were lucky enough to get new bikes last weekend which we ordered before Christmas. The bikes are fat tyre bikes (previous post about them). These bikes are great fun to ride, from what I have read on all sorts of trails however at the moment the trails here are snowy which is where these bike excel.
The shop we bought the bikes from run a series of races throughout the winter (Abominable Snow Series) on the local trails weather permitting (if it is below -4F the race may be cancelled or if it is to warm/trails ruined due to the weather). When I saw the third round of the series was coming up I convinced Amanda that I really "needed" to race it. It turned out that this round was a time trial just me against the clock, man and machine, the race of truth.... ok enough of that it was like any other race, set off and go as fast as you can and try not to blow up in the first half of the course, tricky when you don't know the course and are riding at night. If any of you have never done any night riding it is a blast and can transform local trails in a good way. On the other hand if you don't know the trails, sharp corners and steep rises really catch up with you.
The race started at 6pm ish, I turned up at around 17:45 and signed on. After a short briefing I realised that I would probably not be starting for another 30min so headed back to the car to keep warm (it was 0F or -17C or rather nippy)
I was watching the starters (from the car) and got really lucky with my timing, I took a chance and got ready to ride and headed over to the start and almost immediately my name was called to start. Then I was off and into the dark dark dark woods, I caught the guy ahead of me then another guy, great I though at which point I was promptly passed by the mechanic who put my bike together :-( I was however having a great time. Continuing on I was passed by another guy then I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the course, I passed one more rider and that was all I saw on my way to the finish apart from some other lights of riders as we looped through the forest.
The trails we were riding are really well maintained with bermed corners, dips and jumps if you are going fast enough, (I was not) and I am really looking forward to riding them again especially in the summer when hopefully it will be a little bit lighter.
Here is my Garmin track of the race. I finished and had a really good time, there is no way on earth I will be anywhere close to a podium in this series......this year but in the future who knows.
The shop we bought the bikes from run a series of races throughout the winter (Abominable Snow Series) on the local trails weather permitting (if it is below -4F the race may be cancelled or if it is to warm/trails ruined due to the weather). When I saw the third round of the series was coming up I convinced Amanda that I really "needed" to race it. It turned out that this round was a time trial just me against the clock, man and machine, the race of truth.... ok enough of that it was like any other race, set off and go as fast as you can and try not to blow up in the first half of the course, tricky when you don't know the course and are riding at night. If any of you have never done any night riding it is a blast and can transform local trails in a good way. On the other hand if you don't know the trails, sharp corners and steep rises really catch up with you.
The race started at 6pm ish, I turned up at around 17:45 and signed on. After a short briefing I realised that I would probably not be starting for another 30min so headed back to the car to keep warm (it was 0F or -17C or rather nippy)
I was watching the starters (from the car) and got really lucky with my timing, I took a chance and got ready to ride and headed over to the start and almost immediately my name was called to start. Then I was off and into the dark dark dark woods, I caught the guy ahead of me then another guy, great I though at which point I was promptly passed by the mechanic who put my bike together :-( I was however having a great time. Continuing on I was passed by another guy then I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the course, I passed one more rider and that was all I saw on my way to the finish apart from some other lights of riders as we looped through the forest.
The trails we were riding are really well maintained with bermed corners, dips and jumps if you are going fast enough, (I was not) and I am really looking forward to riding them again especially in the summer when hopefully it will be a little bit lighter.
Here is my Garmin track of the race. I finished and had a really good time, there is no way on earth I will be anywhere close to a podium in this series......this year but in the future who knows.
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