Buck Hill #3, training, etc...

I'm getting a little behind on the posts lately so here's a little bit of everything to catch up.  Not that anyone's reading--if there is I'm sorry for you.  This, unlike a blog to sell stuff or make political comments or whatever is, like I said in the beginning, a meaningless rambling about my life so I can look back in a few years and see what goofy stuff I did and wrote about.

Anyway...

Buck Hill #3 was great last week.  I finished 13th (I think) right behind Mike Minneti.  That's the main thing.  I hung with Minneti.  Granted he was on a single speed.  An old one.  With rust on it.  Might even be a heavy steel one.   But the point here is that I hung with Minneti.  Dude has legs the size of our elm tree out front and lungs that fill most of his body cavity.   

The start got a little sketchy.  I was in the second row ready to attempt sticking to B Moore's wheel (insert laugh track).  The gun went off and before I even got in 2 strokes the guys on each side of me both leaned their bikes into me as they started their sprint.  I got pinched and almost fell over.  Plus I felt like if I'd tried to recover I would have taken one out, and there would have been dominos.  So I end up dismounting and running with my bike between my legs trying to protect any potential unborn racers from the effects of my top tube.  I was a little pissed.  Both Moore brothers' wheels were long gone and the field behind me was getting feisty. So I took one more stride, jumped on, and threw down.  I passed most of the field to make it about maybe 20th into the singletrack.  Cool.  I have a chance.

Somewhere along the way Dana caught this pic of me going over the logs.  

Why am I in the air you ask?  Well, because by this point Mike had caught up to me and, in typical fashion, was heckling me to get going.  Geez, my legs hurt and my lungs were exploding, and he's like trying to have a conversation.  On a bunch of climbs he was on my tail and would be like, "stand up and pedal."  Good times...

So, training has been going well.  I've been able to get in some good rides the last few days.  Went out to Murphy with Brad and Kevin.  That trail is great for training.  Got to try Brad's Bianchi SingleSpeed.  First time on a SS and I liked it.  That is how I'll learn to stand up on the climbs and keep momentum.  I got back on my bike after a lap and felt faster.  I wasn't shifting as much and was standing up more.  Is  a new bike in my future?  Hmmm...

Looking forward to Buck this Thursday and a smoother start.