I wanted to add another photo to the blog so here is a random picture of me mountain biking in Alpine, UT right after Thanksgiving 2012.

My first Mountain Bike Race

So this year I have decided to focus more on mountain biking instead of road biking.  Not that I am giving up on road biking, I will still do it to mix things up.  In my quest to become a good mountain biker, I decided to trying actually racing instead of just riding for fun.  Throughout the Wasatch front area there is a MTB racing circuit called Intermountain Cup or just ICup that I will mostly be racing in.  There are 12-15 races throughout the season and I am only going to be able to do 3-4.

Well, today was race #1 for me and it was held at 5 mile pass which is about 20 miles west of Lehi, UT incase you don’t know where it is.  I don’t know if this is the most difficult race in the series (probably not) but let me just tell you, it was plenty hard for this old man.  I smartly signed up for the beginner men’s division and the course is an 11 mile loop through the mountains.  Makes sense you know, because we are on mountain bikes.

Well, we got started about 9:25 AM and I was really hoping for a sub 1-hour finish.  I had looked up the times from the beginner men’s division from last season and the winners were coming in around 53-55 minutes.  As much as I love to win (I really do love to win) I knew I would probably not be able to match those times since it is the beginning of the season and I am 1) inexperienced in the ways of MTB racing and 2) terribly out of shape.  I did not disappoint myself.  Actually I did disappoint myself a bit, coming in at around 1:16:00.  I don’t know my official time yet but I had my daughter time me so it is probably pretty close.

So, what was the course like?  Something like this, you go up and then up some more and then up some more and then a little section of rocky downhill followed by more uphill.  I swear, this course had two uphill sections for every downhill section.  And let’s not forget the most famous attraction of this course, “Yellow Pages Hill”.  The best way to describe this section is that NOBODY is able to climb it.  Even the expert and pro class.  I don’t know the actual length, but I can tell you it feels like it will not end…EVER!  This section defines the term “hike-a-bike”.  I only stopped twice during the entire race to catch my breath and this was one of them.

Actually, I stopped three times, but the last one was not by choice.  I was coming down a fairly steep road and misjudged a rock.  My front tire hit it and over the handle bars I went.  I got a little scrapped up on my shin but after a few seconds I picked my bike up and headed back down the trail.  I certainly could have been a lot worse so I am thankful that I am okay.

This course effectively kicked my butt, no question about it.  I think I was a little overconfident in my fitness level since I had just completed the Porcupine Rim trail in Moab a week ago.  I guess I forgot to factor in the innumerable time we stopped in Moab versus the nonstop pace of a race.  Hopefully I will get better as time goes by.

I have to give ultimate props to my wife who despite it being my daughter’s 2^nd birthday, supported me in attending this race (probably against her better judgment).  I love you darling J.