TDD - Shoreline shred Claremore

Sunday 24th March 2019 was the second race in the TDD (Tour De Dirt) series. The race was held at the Claremore trails in OK

The course was a 8mile loop taking in some of the older trails out there which run along the shoreline and the new trail out there called the boneyard. The trails seem to drain well which is fortunate since it rained on Saturday 23rd March. 

The course was a good mixture of flowy sections and rocky bumpy sections with a couple of steep climbs thrown in to keep us all on our toes. I didn't make the last steep climb out of the stream on any lap however, I did manage to make it up all the others. I was also foiled by one sloping rock with a parallel root on my warmup lap and all three of my race laps. 

How did my race go?

Pretty good for lap one, a soft rear tyre caused a couple of stops on lap two then I had a good lap three even though I tagged a couple of trees, one day I will learn to stop looking at them.

Lap times from Strava

Lap 1 - 48:22 - probably went out a little to hard

Lap 2 - 57:51 (moving time 52:10, due to pumping up tyre two times)

Lap 3 - 52:12

I would have definitely benefited from a pre-ride at this course. At least to learn the lines through a couple of sections. The pace was hot from the start but I think I rode better this race compared to last race. I was still dropped quickly and then passed by a quite a few in the categories who start behind me but I think I rode faster. 

I used bottles today for food/hydration though I still had a camelbak on I didn't drink from it, it just had tools in. Maybe next race I will try and race without my camelbak, that way I can use pockets for race snacks. I didn't eat anything whilst riding so lost a little performance at the end of lap 3, though no cramping. The First Endurance product I have been using is awesome!

The Strava

Photos of me taken by Julie Denton

I don't remember any of these being taken. 

At least I'm smiling. 

I have no idea where this was on the course

Dropping in probably

I'm guessing the trail went left here.

What's next

Well I intend to carry on with the training and keep enjoying the races. TDD has 3 more races before I head to Texas for the Mountain Marathon National Champs. I also need to make sure I check over my bike as the soft rear tyre was frustrating, the new gold chain looked and worked great though. 

And finally

A huge thanks to my family for supporting me through all these races and training. I'm already looking forward to the next race in a couple of weeks.