Category:
Result: Mid-pack

I set of from Livermore at 5:45am in the middle of a torrential downpour. The rain didnt let up until I pulled into Laguna Seca 2 hours later. Several times on the way there I contemplated turning back.

As it turns out the weather at Laguna Seca was perfect for mountainbiking and the course seemed to drain very quickly. There was a strong wind but it was warm and sunny and it started raining again just as I finished.

The race:

I had no idea what my fitness was going to be like as all this week I have been doing gentle rides so as to not bring my chest infection back. I felt good and for once my nose was actually clear so I decided that my best tactic was to try to get to the first bit of single track near the front and then just survive.

The race started fairly briskly up the climb to the corkscrew and a rider at the front went down (same place as last year). In true Belgian style I put it on the big ring and attacked. I managed to get a good 20 meters over the field and was leading the Sea otter :-) at the top of the climb.

Just as we hit the offroad some guy flew past me and I was In second place when we hit the single track but still 20 meters up on the field. It was at this point that things went pear shaped. My lungs suddenly started objecting to the efffort they had just been put under and I started to get a horrible burning sensation (the sort you get when you do a sprint on a cold day when you are not fit). I was toast! I could hardly get my breath and had to slow to a crawl coughing and wheezing. I rode on for a bit and felt worse and seriously considered packing especially after i lost my drinking bottle on the descent. I decided to just enjoy the ride and ride steady to see if I could recover.

I did eventually start to feel better about half way through the race so I went into time trial mode and started steadily pulling back places. Once we got onto the fire road climb near the end my winter endurance miles started to pay off and I was overtaking a continual stream of riders (not necessarily from my race though). I could ride hard but if I went aneairobic the burning lungs came back and I started to slow. I had a good sprint with a bunch of 6 riders for the finish line (got second).

Overall it was an excellent event and tons of fun. I am suffering for my efforts this afternoon and I sound like an old wheezy tramp. Next year.....

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