I'm here in Hot Springs, Arkansas recovering from yesterday's Spa City 6 hour XC. Conditions were primo with blue skies and 60 degree temperatures. It was AWESOME to ride without all the winter gear and only shorts and short sleeves. It was hard to prepare for this type of event in the dead of winter. Kinda hard to taper for a 6 hour event when the usual winter training ride is roughly 2 hours.
The race is stop number two of the USAC Endurance Series. There were a few pros, namely Evan Plews, Rebecca Rusch and several other talented riders in attendance. While we walked up to the La Mans start line I chatted with Rebecca about her races in South America earlier this month. She struck me as a very nice person and a class act while also being amazingly fit! Damn, where was my camera?
The race course contained every possible feature found on a trail with the exception of sand. The rock in Arkansas is limestone and the trail was covered in a mix ranging from gravel to brick sized chock stones, all with very sharp edges. In a nutshell the trail had short technical climbs, creek crossings, MUD, switchbacks (uphill & downhill), roots, flowing singletrack, long climbs and fast rocky descents. Repeat over and over...
The course was set up on a 10 mile loop. The start was at 10am and you must finish your final lap by 4pm. The first 2.5 laps were great but the mud quickly gave me a bad case of chain suck and I struggled to get back to the pit area unscathed. I slathered on some lube and all was well again. I was starting to hurt. My lap times were over an hour and as I finished lap five I was told that if I went out for a sixth lap and did not make the cut off, the lap would not count. I came to ride 6 hours so I went back out regardless. I missed the cut off and the lap was discarded. My 5 lap time was 5:31:xx and I placed 6Th in my age group.
Overall, I think the hardest part for me was the upper body punishment the trail dished out on my shoulders, forearms, and especially my wrists. I could barely squeeze my bottles on the trail. And yes, I'm pretty sure I was staying light on the grips.
CyclingNews story:
Great event! Arkansas has some great riding.
RESULTS:
2 comments:
Good work Craig!
Thank you Ali!
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