Race Report: Uxbridge Icebreaker

The Course

Most people who find this blog post probably care more about the course and race than they do about my race, so let me start there.

In a word - beautiful.  It was on private property, a home and large chunk of forested land called "Skytop".  I don't know the history of the place, but it's just a little slice of mountain biking paradise.  They occasionally host races there, and in turn the race community helps them maintain their large trail network.

For April, it was really dry.  Just a couple of wet spots, but really nothing.  Awesome!

Singletrack was great, lots of flowing stuff.  LOTS of sharp climbs, up down up down.  Very challenging for me (I'll talk about me later though).  No stump jumping, just really fast flowy singletrack.  Great!  Of the 15km loop, I'd say a good 12km of it was singletrack, the rest double.

It was put on by Superfly Racing / Chico / BixeNXS / who the hell knows.  Lots of guys with different names doing stuff, and doing it well.  Top notch as usual from those folks.

My Race

Being "gravitationally challenged" (fat) plus "courage challenged" (chicken) did not prove to be a good combination.

Extra weight on the way up the hills... and hills... and more hills... omg why were there so many hills... really cooked me, early and often.

On the way down I tended to wuss out, at least compared to way some of those around me bombed down these awesome single track sections.  The second lap I felt like I brought a bit more courage, but maybe a 30km MTB race isn't the best first MTB ride of the season!

One last thing that worked to my disadvantage was feeling pressured from the folks behind me.  I hate holding people up, and because the singletrack was so long it was hard to avoid... I ended up pushing hard just to try to not screw other people up, mostly folks in waves behind me.  But it was inevitable!

At the end of the first lap, I seriously considered bailing... I felt so cooked.  But then I looked at my watch, and it was only just over an hour in.  I couldn't do just an hour and go home, that's lame, so I figured I'd go out and enjoy the second lap, pace myself.

The second lap I was almost entirely alone.  I didn't pass anyone, I didn't get passed (except by one guy who had cramped up but was clearly better than me and recovering!)... I really just enjoyed the property and had fun.  Sure, I occasionally saw folks on trails parallel, either ahead or behind me, but that's really it.

Next Up

Paris to Ancaster next weekend.  Totally different kind of race, my weight shouldn't be as much of a detriment, and not nearly as much climbing + time in the red.  Should go OK?  I hope?