One day

We missed the good weather by one day. Our second LOHS Fall Harvest Run and MTB races were held on Saturday. It started raining on Thursday and continued into Friday night, off and on. Saturday morning was a light mist at times but certainly nowhere near what we experienced back at the August race. Sunday the sun came out,it warmed up and the trails were a lot drier.

We ended up having the largest turnout for our races so far, both in the run and bike portions. The trails were slick and the grass sections were soft but not impassable. I think a lot of riders were not used to riding in wetter conditions, judging by the lap times. I used my singlespeed and cam in third in my class and third overall. The SS was the perfect bike for the day, assuming you had the correct tires and gearing.

Not content to just race on Saturday, Sandy and I stopped by the cyclocross race that was on the way home from church. I entered the B class again but only managed to complete four laps before pulling out. My body was shot from the previous day's efforts; from spending hours clearing and marking the course on Friday to actually racing on Saturday. Hosting the races puts more stress on me than I think I realize. Plus I am not giving my ribs a chance to really heal, as they painfully reminded me on Sunday. I had taken a muscle relaxer on Saturday and it seemed to help.

I'm not sure if the weekend's activities left me in a weaker state or it was something else but I woke up sick this morning and spent most of the day in bed. I doubt I would have ridden today but at least I would have spend some time outside to enjoy the nice weather.

I can't figure out what we need to do to attract more racers. The events have been publicized and we generally get good feedback on the races from those who participate. By fall many racers are through with MTB racing although the Iceman in two weeks has 4000 riders registered. I thought we might be able to draw out some who wanted a last hard effort two weeks before Iceman. Maybe our trails are too hard, or maybe it's just the weather. It is kind of disappointing to put in all the work and continue to get low turnout. But the school is happy since we were able to raise money for the Food Bank and GAP program.

Next weekend is a the cyclocross double header in Ann Arbor. Races are on both Saturday and Sunday and I have to decide which day, if any I'm going to race. And then the Iceman is less than two weeks away, Long range forecast is calling for cold weather and some snow. Hopefully my new frame arrives but I'm ready either way. Now the question is what tires to use?





10 24 09 LOHS Results