Simonton Challenge at Mountwood

Last weekend I drove down to WV for a tune-up race at Mountwood Park outside of Parkersburg.  It was a lovely course of about 23 miles with almost all of it flowing single track.  There were a few significant climbs and the rest of it was appropriately rolling.  The most unusual thing was the 85 degree temps -- it was a hot, sticky day that stands out remarkably against one of the coldest and snowiest winters/springs we've ever had.


About 200 or so riders showed up for the event.  There were a number of different categories, but you had to register with the big boys to access the 23 mile distance.  So I signed up with the pro/expert category instead of the sport riders doing only 16 miles.   I had to stand in line for the better part of an hour, so my prerace routine was a bit rushed even though I arrived two hours before the gun.  I also suffered from a slow leaking front tire and noticed it only about 25 minutes before the start.  It was one of those dilemmas about whether to just go with it or to quickly change it.  I decided to change it even though it ate up my warm up time.

So I toed the start line with about 30-40 other much faster guys.  I was not warmed up and was thinking mostly about that incredible heat.  At the start, I immediately floated to the very back, and I mean DFL, on the first gravel road climb.   I cannot believe how fast people shot off at the start.  I do know there were faster riders there but I refused to believe that these guys could really hold on to this pace for 2 hrs or more.  I decided to play it conservatively.   Even with that strategy I knew they were launching the sport riders 2 minutes later and I could here them coming fast.  So I still went out faster than my liking and put myself into my lactic acid zone.  This would have been suicidal for a 100miler but I figure I could hang on for a 2 hour race.



I got passed by the fast sport riders, about five of them, only 16 minutes into the race.   I maybe picked off about 2 or 3 guys in the first hour, but mostly I settled in to a good rhythm and kept an even keel.   Then in the last 90 minutes people started to come back to me in droves.  I was riding decently on the climbs and making big ground up in a hurry.  People were nicely spaced so I could chase another rider down every 10 minutes or so.   I think I picked up about 12-15 guys in total and finished right in the middle of the field.   If maybe I hadn't gone out quite so quickly I could have placed higher as my full leg strength never quite came back to me after burning them out quickly on the start.

But for someone who has done LSD all winter and spring, this was a good speed workout.  And I needed bike handling practice.   Mission accomplished.