Playing in the Dirt

Yesterday I got the opportunity to race at the Bar H Bash, a mountain bike race of the Texas State Championship Series at Saint Jo. As in the last couple of years, the event was a lot of fun and very well organized, thanks to Cap and Tobin’s tireless efforts. Well, as the team had a weekend “off” (i.e. no racing) and the event was sponsored by Mad Duck Cyclery and Yeti Cycles, I got a chance to get back on a mountain bike for a change and see how far my skills had already degenerated after riding on the road that much ;-). As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad and I managed to finish the race in third place. This was not quite the result I had hoped for, but I still had a great time. The fact that I got to ride the new Yeti ASR Carbon only added to the fun! Rachel also raced and came in second in her class.

All in all, everyone had a blast, no crashes and got a great workout. I had forgotten how different mountain bike races were from the rather steady efforts of road racing. There’s no sitting in and rolling with the pack; you have to red-line it from the get-go and never look back. But then again, this is just part of what makes riding your mountain bike so much fun. And if nothing else, this weekend was a perfect preparation for Rouge-Roubaix, the next “road” race the team will tackle this coming weekend. With plenty of dirt roads, this race should hopefully be just as much fun as it was yesterday!