Bloomer Race Prep

I'm racing at Bloomer Park tomorrow. I went out there last night to check the course out. I'd never ridden out there before, but the course was (mostly) marked, so I figured I could find my way around.

The course was a pretty interesting mix of trail. There's a lot of very tight, twisty singletrack, but also a lot of wide-open two-track trail. I rode two laps, my first took about 55 minutes, but I was going pretty slow and got off-course twice (like I said, the course was mostly marked). I finished my second lap in about 43 minutes... turns out that knowing where you're going helps. Although I wasn't going anywhere near race pace, you can't help but compare: the guys in my class did laps in the low 30's last year, but the course wasn't exactly the same.

On both laps, I had some trouble on a big switchback descent. I'm not sure what my deal is, it's really no harder (in fact, maybe easier) than the "chute" at Pontiac Lake. I think part of the problem was that I was looking over the edge toward the outside of the switchback instead of where I wanted to go. I'm heading back out there again today for a little more practice; I expect it will go a little better. Right after the big switchbacks, there's a long sidehill trail with lots of exposure to one side; I didn't really have any trouble with it, but I'm not used to trails like that where it's a long way down on one side.

Thinking about goals for the race:

1. Hammer on the flats. There are several long wide-open sections on the course; this is going to be my best opportunity to make up time, because the guys that know the trail will drop me in the singletrack.

2. Stay smooth and relaxed on the singletrack. Stay off the brakes as much as my "inner mother" will allow.


In other news, Ned Overend crushed the Vail Hill Climb at age 51, beating, among others, Floyd Landis.