In case you haven't noticed, I've been checking out the race scene in Texas. This time it was the 85 mile Excrutiation Exam mountain bike race on January 2. Only it wasn't really 85 miles of mountain biking. It started at Bluff Creek Ranch in Warda, TX with a LeMans run start and an 8 mile lap on the trails. Then we rode our bikes 30 miles on back roads to Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, TX. After a 21 mile lap there, we were to return using different roads and finish with a half lap at Bluff Creek Ranch.
It's quite a race to do at the beginning of January during the cold, short days but we planned to do it anyway. The way I see it is that the more races I can get myself into, the more I'll train and the more prepared I'll be for a super long adventure race in the future.
Unfortunately I caught a cold again a couple of days before the race. I was congested and had to take some cold medicine right before the start. Shayne, Jayson and I started the race in the 20 something degree weather. It was cold and uncomfortable but we got moving and were able to warm up a little. We decided to take our time and use this race as a "get acquainted" training day since Jay and Shayne had never met before. We talked a lot, stopped here and there for snacks and took our time since it was going to be the longest any of us had been on a bike in a while.
Well apparently we took it too easily because we missed the cut-off to leave Rocky Hill Ranch after the 21 mile trail ride. Oh well, we were able to get in 56 miles in about 7 hours so we were happy with our workout.
It was only my second time riding the trails of Texas and I was pleasantly surprised. I found Bluff Creek to be mostly flat and easy with a hint of technical roots and narrow tree passages to maneuver about. Rocky Hill was definitely rocky. There were lots of creek crossing that made for many short, steep ups and downs with technical rocks and roots. The trails were definitely not the long steep climbs or drops of California but a very different sort of riding that I'm going to have to practice.
Over all it was a great day in the saddle and I was glad to have done as much as I did considering my cold.
3 comments:
nice post. thanks.
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