Iron Hill and Such...

  The first place I ever rode a mountain bike was Iron Hill. It was also the first park I learned my way around. I have always liked racing there, and I've had good days and bad days.

 This past Sunday I raced the 4 hour marathon single speed. Things started well. I hit the single track in 5th and feeling pretty good. It didn't take long to caught behind the back of the 45+ group. It took a while but, I finally got through them. I was riding with Mark Weaver.

 We had a good pace going and started moving up. Lap 1 went by quick. Lap 2 was more of the same, but I soon realized I was going a little harder than I wanted to. I backed off the 3RD lap and lost contact with Mark. I was still feeling OK so I just tried to maintain.

 I got caught by a couple of guys, and I caught and passed a guy, so now I was in 7TH. I finished lap 5 and was really starting to hurt. By lap 6 I actually walked a little. I finished up lap 6 with ample time to get in a 7TH. I didn't want to do another, but I wanted to finish this race.

  I did finish and I did stay in 7TH. Not bad, but I know I can do better. It was a good day on a tough course. In the end it was 35 miles with 5000 feet of climbing.

 I also had to replace my geared frame. The Ventana broke, so I now have a Breezer Lightning 29er. Steel is still real baby.

 Next up, 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey with Marc and Travis.

Cheers,
Buddy