I decided to move up to the Expert field for racing mountain bikes. My first race was in Chelan and I was very nervous. Our field was pretty small, only about 8 of us which also included pro women. I was mostly nervous about the amount of climbing on the course. I am not very good at sustained climbing and this course was either straight up or straight down.
It was a tough race, I suffered and finished dead last, at least 15 minutes behind the last rider. They had even started awards for the other categories as I was finishing. A bit humbling for me, but it also lit a spark in me to improve my climbing.
The next weekend we went to another mtn bike race in Port Gamble. The Stottlemeyer 30 miler was a lot of fun last year and I was really looking forward to it again. It is one of my favorite courses as it is very technical with roots and twists and turns. Over 30 miles, your body takes quite a beating. The best part of a technical course is that there is so much to thinking about and concentrate on that you never have time to dwell on how much your body hurts. That comes when the race is over. And also into the next day.
We had a really fun time during the Stottlemeyer. Brian and I both improved our times from the previous year so that was exciting.
Here is a great shot of me during the race. Note - I think I am having fun at this point!
Afterwards we drove to Port Townsend for pizza. One of our favorite pizza places is Waterfront Pizza. Pretty sure I could eat pizza every day from this place. Yum!
Next weekend is the Spokane 24 hour mountain bike race. Team Shredded Bits and the Funky Junk will race again! It will be our 4th time competing in this event. Looking forward to it!
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