Good weather this year. Not too hot and the wind was way better than 2019. Wore knickers and a jersey. Was able to hang with the lead out group through the 2nd Sister. Started separating by the 3rd Sister. Lots of 30+ mph descents on gravel. Kind of keeps you in the moment. 😊
47% was in Zone 3 (130-147bpm) and 48% (148-166bpm) of the time was in Zone 4 for heart rate.
Was able to gain some time this year in the sand pit climbs. A person in front of me stalled and I tried to go left but the front wheel washed out immediately and went down. Luckily it was a section free of boulders. I think I had to walk/run 4 short sections in the sand. Many sections were ALL loose sand from the left trail tree line across to the right trail tree line. 35mm wide tires cut right through it and no way to get any traction. Doing a track stand with the rear wheel spinning like a drag race burnout doesn’t do much but get you tired.
Finished at 2:20:46 which was ~9 minutes faster than 2019. 15.34mph avg. The top podium finishers have paces of 20+ mph which is hard to comprehend. I figure if I filter the data to over 60 white males from Batavia, IL . . . I podium and get to be up on the stage for the awards ceremony.
Could have gained a little more time except for two things : 1) There was a crash at the finish with an ambulance and they flagged us down at the last turn and had to coast in. 2) Still not 100% from the flu I caught 2 weeks ago. I think I got cheated on some potential oxygen reserves. Ha!
Thx to all my training partners this season. Those high speed chases paid off.